A Knight's Walk in the Kingdom

theophilus November 9th, 2009

In the early nineties, I toured Berlin and stood at what was left of the Berlin Wall.  I was actually kind of amazed because it was just a wall – a man made edifice that we use to hold up structures and tame hillsides.  But, this wall was something more – it was a wall that personified evil.  It was used to crush the human spirit and deny our brothers and sisters on the other side the very basic of the rights given to us by God as his children.

When President Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, history remembers his call of “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”  Unfortunately, other parts of his speech are left without remark.  And, it’s a shame because he gave such an exhilarating embrace of freedom – an embrace that we need in this day and age.

President Reagan was unapologetic about freedom -

“[T]here stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.”

How is truth and prosperity tied to freedom? -

“[T]ruth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom.”

Do you want peace – real and lasting peace? -

“[W]e believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.”

President Reagan then hit his stride -

“[W]e must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those twenty-four years ago, freedom was encircled, Berlin was under siege. And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe.”

And then came the call for self-reflection for the people of Berlin – the call for self-reflection for us all -

“[W]hat keeps you here? Certainly, there’s a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage. But I believe there’s something deeper, something that involves Berlin’s whole look and feel and way of life – not mere sentiment. No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions. Something instead, that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence that refuses to release human energies or aspirations. Something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin is love – love both profound and abiding.

President Reagan then gave the unassailable difference between liberty and oppression -

“Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West. The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and our worship an affront.”

And then President Reagan finished with a story that brings us back to the source of our freedom and liberty – back to God.

He told how the East Germans built a huge television tower on Alexander Platz as a grandiose secular monument. Unfortunately for the authorities, the top of the tower turned into a Cross whenever the sun shined. President Reagan used this symbol to emphatically exclaim that “this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.”

God gives us freedom as his children; Christ gives us freedom through his Cross.  Let us never ever forget that this freedom is given to us as a divine gift, as a birthright. It is up to us to decide how we will use it and whether we will strengthen it or squander it.

And it’s up to us to pray for those of our brothers and sisters that live under political oppression – that someday their walls will fall as well.

I believe God has a sense of humor, or he just finds innovative ways to get our attention. One way was through the Opening Prayer for this Sunday’s Mass.

“God of power and mercy, protect us from all harm. Give us freedom of spirit and health in mind and body to do your work on earth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

“Freedom of spirit!”  Freedom to do God’s work on earth. On this anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, let’s renew our commitment to freedom, liberty and peace. Let us gratefully acknowledge and embrace this most divine and precious of gifts, and cast off the illusions that will separate us from this freedom and separate us from God’s plan for us.

• Holy Spirit , Role Models , The Battle , U.S.A.
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theophilus October 29th, 2009

The 40 Days for Life Fall Campaign is coming to an end on Sunday.  The organizers keep a “babies saved” account which counts the number of babies saved (at least for the moment) by their prayer vigils.  This number represents the number of women who come to the abortion clinic with the intention of killing their child and leave with their baby still kicking and breathing.

For this campaign, the count stands at 460.  They also just passed a milestone of 2,000 since these vigils began.

These babies represent the miracle of divine intervention brought about by the prayers of the courageous and faithful opening up the hearts of pregnant mothers with a “choice” to make.

But in all truthfulness, what is this choice?

I was born to a single mother.  It was pre-Roe v. Wade, but I know full well that my mother had a “choice” to make.  Thankfully for me and my family, she listened to God and placed herself and me in the hands of Christ and his Blessed Mother.

I was thinking about this “choice” the other day when I read the Daily Devotional that the 40 Days campaign puts out every day during the campaign.  This particular devotion was written by Fr. Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life and National Pro-Life Religious Council.  His reflection on this day centered around the nature of this “choice”-

Norma McCorvey (the former Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade) used to work at an abortion mill named “A Choice for Women.” She now realizes what a cruel irony that title was. She saw first hand, just as pregnancy resource center counselors see, that women don’t get abortions because of freedom of choice, but rather because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. They feel trapped, abandoned, desperate and afraid, and have been led to believe that abortion is their only option.

As Frederica Mathewes-Green has written, no want wants an abortion like she wants a Porsche or an ice cream; rather, she wants it like an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” That doesn’t mean that the Spirit allows us to do whatever we want or to decide for ourselves what’s right and wrong.

Rather, it means that the Spirit gives us the freedom to do what is right, the power to choose what is good, when we see it before us and yet feel pulled in the opposite direction. Liberty means that we no longer have to feel doomed to do what we know is wrong.

We are the people of the Spirit of the Lord, and when we take action on behalf of life, especially by being present at abortion mills, we are acting on behalf of true freedom, and imparting to those who are in bondage the power to do what is right.

As a kid, I always wondered why God allowed evil to exist.  It’s only really recently that I’ve realized that it’s not necessarily that God permits evil to exist, but that he so loves man that he gives us our freedom.  It’s this freedom that either leads us to embrace the goodness and love of our Father and his Son and his Spirit, or leads us to turn our back on God and allow evil to occur.  It’s not God that permits evil to occur; it’s man.  We have a choice to make; it’s up to us to make the right one.

For the past 40 days, the choice for many throughout the nation has been to exercise their freedom to pray outside the abortion mills.  At times, they were even able to get information in the hands of the mothers entering these abortion mills so that these women would know exactly what choice they were making.  It’s the fact that this information isn’t given to the mother by right that makes the “choice” so ironic.  What kind of choice is it if mothers can’t even see an ultrasound of their baby before they give a nod to the doctor to proceed?  Who truly loves these women and who is trying to hide the truth?

This campaign is the first one that I followed and I wish I could have done more.  The problem is that I’m too chicken to go down there alone.  But I have been to two vigils and I’ve prayed the devotionals everyday.  I’ve been with them in spirit.

But I know that’s not enough.  The Holy Spirit is kicking into gear.  It’s up to all of us who believe in the sanctity of all life and the dignity of all men to step forward to ensure mothers make the right “choice” – just like my mother did oh so long ago.  We have to get off of the sidelines and do something.  Christ is calling us to follow him.  Our Blessed Mother is imploring us to get moving.

BTW, the next campaign starts on Ash Wednesday.  Details to come.

• Culture , God's Call , The Battle , U.S.A. , pro-life
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theophilus September 11th, 2009

In 2004, the Knights of Columbus resolved that September 11th be observed each year as a World Day of Prayer for Peace.

The Knights’ prayer is from Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer at the Prayer Service at Ground Zero on April 20, 2008.  Everyone is encouraged to pray this prayer throughout today and to dedicate your Rosary in remembrance of the events of 9/11/2001 and the struggle for peace throughout the world.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where truce peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Pope Benedict XVI
Prayer Service at Ground Zero
April 20, 2008

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theophilus May 26th, 2009

If you are a man of honor and integrity (and most men are), you want to keep your word to others.  You want to have the reputation of getting the job done and being dependable; whether it’s your family, friends, community or job.  You don’t want to let others down.

But do you take the same attitude with Christ?  He has a plan for each of us.  He asks something of each of us every single day.  As a member of his body, we are called upon daily by him to do something, big or small, to help build his kingdom.

Yesterday for Memorial Day Mass, our priest talked about all of us being “Soldiers of Christ.”   He spoke about each of us having a duty to Christ to do his will; to stand up and join the battle.

Ask yourself these questions.  Do you strive to do your duty as a treasured son of God?  Do you strive to do his will?  Do you strive to keep your word to him in living your life?  Do you put your body, heart and soul at his disposition?

Today’s first reading is about a man who answered these questions with a resounding affirmative.  In Acts 20, St. Paul is giving one last sermon to the Ephesians.  He concludes by stating – “Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. . . . And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”

There you have it.  St. Paul had no regrets; he knew he had done what he was called by Christ to do.

How about today’s Gospel from John 17.  Here we have Jesus praying to our Father in heaven – “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

Talk about a great performance review -  “They have kept your word.”  His apostles and disciples had answered the questions the same as St. Paul.

How about today’s Saint of the Day – St. Philip Neri.  He lived in 16th Century Italy at the height of the Reformation and the start of the Counter-Reformation, when Catholic faith and devotion were rapidly declining and in need of someone to help reverse the plunge into the abyss.  St. Philip responded to Christ’s call as well by doing great things to reinvigorate the faithful throughout Italy, most particularly in Rome.  He enflamed the laity and fostered a great love among all for the Blessed Sacrament.

St. Paul; the Apostles; the first disciples; St. Philip Neri – all became worthy Soliders of Christ.  They kept God’s word and fulfilled their duty to Christ.  They gave their lives to be used according to the Lord’s will and then, more importantly, kept their word to him.

Can the same be said of us?

• Catholic Men , Divine Filiation , God's Call , Jesus , Liturgy , Saints , The Battle
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theophilus May 21st, 2009

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone is rejoicing; while you’re stuck with a feeling of anxiety mixed with a spark of hopelessness?  That somehow, you’re left on an island, solitary and alone, worried about the future; while everyone else is regaling in the excesses of the present?

Recently, I’ve actually been talking to a great number of people who share this view.  They fear that the world has gotten more dangerous, the economy more uncertain, their futures less promising, and their religious freedom less secure.

Yet, if we are to believe the polls and media, and many of our political and cultural leaders, things have never seemed more hopeful.  We are being told that we should embrace, not fear, the Teutonic shifts threatening to overthrow the way we live our daily lives; that we should join the chorus celebrating these shifts as great progress, just like everyone else.

If you’re one of these “unenlightened” folks, guess what?  Today’s (non-Ascension Day) gospel (from John 16) has a message for you.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Jesus was talking to his disciples on the eve of his Ascension.  He was discussing with them the meaning of the words he had just shared with them – “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” I can’t blame the disciples for not exactly grasping what Jesus was trying to say there; but, his followup – “you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices” – is easy enough to understand.

There are going to be times when you will be on the David side of the fight; when you will stand up for what you believe in and will be laughed at, ridiculed, demonized and demeaned.  You will be told that you are a fool, short-sighted, unenlightened, hateful, counter-cultural.  You will watch others revel in their power, influence and good-feeling, while you are stuck wondering what can possibly come next.  You will grow especially wary when even those you think should be on your side line up with the rejoicers.

The question to ask yourself in these circumstances is – do you truly believe you are standing on the side of reason, faith and truth; that you are doing God’s will and serving Christ as he deserves; that you are living as you should as a son or daughter of God?  If the answer is “yes” than you can take comfort from John 16.  It doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, even if everyone else is “rejoicing.”  What matters is whether your thoughts and actions are in uniformity with God’s will – even if it means that you are left to “weep and mourn.”

And if you hold onto Christ’s hope and God’s will for you, especially when it’s the unpopular thing to do, you will find that you are not alone.  Others feel the same way.  Even better, you will also find that one of two things will happen.  You will find out that you are wrong and you can join in with the happy crowd; or you will find out that you are right.  In either case, you will find that one day “your grief will become joy.”

• Culture , Divine Filiation , Faith , Jesus , Liturgy , The Battle , Uncategorized
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theophilus December 12th, 2008

What’s so hard to understand about the following passage from Luke 1 -

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.’“

The BABE leaped in her womb.  Blessed is the FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB.  The MOTHER of my Lord.  The BABE in my womb.

If you read the Bible, if you believe in the Bible, if you believe in Christ, there is no room for discussion.  The unborn child is a child; the “fetus”, by-product of a woman’s ’reproductive right”, the “blob of tissue” is a human being worthy of the basic human and natural right of life.

I don’t understand these Catholics and Christians who can be pro-abortion or pro-choice or pro-reproductive rights or whatever it is they are calling themselves these days.  The babe in the womb is a child.  The Bible and our faith says so; science has proved it; modern photo-imaging is overwhelmingly conclusive.  The babe in the womb is a child worthy of our protection.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas and the protector of the unborn.  Through this apparition, Mary gave us a gift so profound that it escapes the vast majority of us in the United States.  And how do we repay her?  We for the most part ignore this gift and continue to acquiesce to the killing of her children.

We should know better.  We are America.  We defend the defenseless.  We stand up for the powerless.  We fight tyranny.  We do not give in to evil.  We believe that everyone is endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights – the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  But somewhere along the line, we allowed the pursuit of happiness to trump and undermine every other right and responsibility.

Those who are vocal advocates for the unborn must continue the fight.  Those who are silent supporters of the unborn must make their voices heard.  Those who allow abortion, advocate for abortion, perform abortions, or have had abortions must be prayed for.  And those children who have been aborted or may be aborted must be tended with special care in our hearts and souls.

We are the Church.  The unborn are God’s children; they are Mary’s children; they are Jesus’ flock.  We must do everything we can to ensure that these children are allowed to live and do not succumb to our culture of death.

Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for us! 

• Culture , Mary , Prayer , The Battle , U.S.A. , pro-life
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theophilus November 21st, 2008

The Book of Revelations always freaks me out.  I quite frankly can’t figure out how St. John didn’t go all loco after envisioning and writing about it.

But he did envision it and he did write about what he saw.  And there is much for us to learn about what God chose to tell him.

This week’s first readings at Mass have progressed through Revelations.  Today, it was Revelations 10.  In it, St. John tells us about an angel who tells him to take the scroll and eat it.  He promises that it would taste “sweet as honey” but warns that it would turn his “stomach sour.”

St. John obeys in his vision and, sure enough, the scroll does taste sweet as honey and does turn his stomach sour.

How much of our present day culture is the same way?  There is much in our culture which feels great when we are experiencing it but leaves a destructive impact in its wake.

Want to have sex with whomever and wherever you want?  Want to look at porn all night?  Want to abuse alcohol and use drugs?  Want to overindulge on fats and sweets?  Want to smoke?  Want to put down the remote when you should be changing the station, or reading something when you should be turning the page, or sticking around on a conversation when you should be walking away?

Want to leave your wife and family because it’s just too tough or too restrictive?  Want to take care of that “little” inconvenience growing in your body?  Want to take care of that “old” inconvenience taking up your guest room?  Want to change the subject when you should be standing up for your faith in conversation with others?  Want to feel like your king of the world by using and dominating others?  Want to buy that new “gotta-have” when you don’t have the money?  Want to work those extra hours even though you should be at home?

There are so many instances in our every day lives when we are tempted to “eat the scroll.”  The scroll consists of all of those things in our lives that may appear pleasurable and harmless, but are in reality destructive to our souls, our relationship with others, and our covenant with God.

Our culture is so toxic and so destructive that we are at a point when we just have to decide to put aside the scroll and embrace the way Christ has set forth for us.  Heck, we’ve veered so far off of the path that most of us don’t even realize the sour feeling in our stomach after eating the scroll, when we give in to our passions and desires.  Our culture is destroying our bodies, our relationships, and our eternal lives; and all we can think about is the fleeting, sweet taste remaining on our tongues and wondering when we will taste such sweetness again.

So what’s the answer?

Today’s Gospel Acclamation proclaims “[t]he sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them and they follow me.”  Today’s Gospel (about Christ clearing the temple) tells us that “all the people were hanging on his words.”

And maybe that’s the answer.  We must hear his voice and follow him.  We must hang on his every word.  If we are listening to him, following him, giving our full attention to him, we will not be tempted by the scroll.  We will let it pass us on by without a moment’s hesitation.  The temptation will come and go.  We will look on the memories of our past lives with regret instead of longing; never to repeat the sins of our past again.

And we will not have to deal with the destruction of so many bad choices.

We’ve been handed the scroll time and again, and we have devoured it.  We must now reject the scroll for something better; for the bread and wine; for the body and blood of Christ.  It is then when we will truly experience the exquisite sweetness that God wants to give us each and every day of our lives.

• Culture , Liturgy , Relationships , The Battle
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theophilus October 30th, 2008

As men, we tend to try and go it alone; to face all of life’s challenges and difficulties with a solitary fortitude.  We may pray for strength and guidance; but ultimately we think it’s up to us to stand up alone to all that life throws at us, our families, and our career.

And we would be wrong in thinking that we are lone wolves protecting our pack.

Today’s first reading is from Ephesians 6.  St. Paul talks about us putting on the “armor of God” to resist the evil in our lives and hold our ground.  He also talks about the “breastplate” of righteousness, the “shield” of faith, the “helmet of salvation” and the “sword of the Spirit.”

In other words, Christ is with us in every struggle we face.  He is our armor, our breastplate, our shield, our helmet, and our sword.  He is everything we need to prevail in the battles of our lives.

But there is more, St. Paul also tells us that we need to “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit” and “be watchful with all perseverance and supplication.” 

And most importantly, we need to ”draw [our] strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.”

We are not fighting alone, if we pray and rely on Christ.  We are not fighting in vain if we use all of the graces given to us by God to help us in our daily struggles with evil and sin.

There is a great battle going on in our culture today; it’s a fight that impacts our families, ourselves, and our neighbors.  God expects us to engage in this fight for us and for them; and we best put on his armor to ensure that we have every chance to win.

I’m reminded that David refused the armor of men when he faced Goliath.  Instead, he chose the armor of God.  And that choice made all of the difference.  We cannot rely on our strength (i.e. the armor of men) in this fight.  We must, like David, rely on the armor of God.  He is all that we need to prevail.

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theophilus July 20th, 2008

I have found myself growing more and more anxious about events in the world.  It seems we are under seige from a variety of fronts – cultural, economic, domestic, international.

So, I’ve been praying for a sense of security, a hint of optimism.  And God sent such a thought to me the other day as I was contemplating the half-million teenagers and young adults at World Youth Day in Australia.

Our optimism and our security needs to come from knowing that God is going to win when all is said and done.  Things may get down right ugly but God is in a no-lose position.

The question for us is: which team are we going to be on?

Today’s gospel (Matthew 13) presents a perfect parable to answer this question.

The parable is about weeds being sown amidst a crop by the enemies of the farmer in the story.  In the end, the weeds are harvested with the crop; the crop stays fruitful and the weeds are burned.

If you are reading this blog, you are probably endeavoring to be one of the crops.  And you are probably faced with weeds in your life in those people who are trying to pull you away (either deliberately or not) from God’s will for you.  They are the naysayers, relativists, and no-gooders who influence our lives.  And there are also those who mean us outright harm.

So, if we are endeavoring to be the crops (i.e. be on God’s team), what are we doing to stay on this team?  What are we doing to pull other people onto this, the winning team?  Are we living our lives and presenting a good example so others want to wear our team colors?

In the end, it’s up to each of us to want to be on this team; to decide to be on this team.  And then to follow-through with our actions.  The youth of the world who have been Australia over the past week get this simple truth.  It’s up to us to follow their lead. 

Crops or weeds?  It’s up to us, each and every day.  And it helps us knowing that only one team can win in the end, and that is God’s team.

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theophilus December 29th, 2007

Yesterday, we dealt with the devastating consequences of one man’s fear for his power – Herod and his massacre of the Holy Innocents.

Today, we deal with the devastating consequences of one man’s anger arising from his thirst for power – King Henry II and the assassination of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Here’s how the story shapes up – St. Thomas was a former Lord Chancellor for Henry II (think of a modern day presidential chief of staff).  He was very good at advising Henry and became very close to the king.  St. Thomas was then appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury, the primary see in England. 

As archbishop, St. Thomas turned against Henry and took him on when the king tried to usurp the Church’s authority and use Church property for his benefit.  Henry got angry, brought St. Thomas up on charges against the crown, and St. Thomas escaped off to exile in France.  After six years, Henry relented (under threat of excommunication) and St. Thomas returned to his see - and he continued his stout defense of the Church.  It is at this point that things get really ugly.

Henry was in Normandy, sick and bed-ridden.  He was informed of recent actions of St. Thomas that showed the Archbishop wasn’t backing down.  The king then let loose with an outburst something along the lines of “who will rid me of this turbulent priest”.  Four knights heard his “command” and went off to Canterbury to find and murder St. Thomas.  They succeeded on this date in 1170 while St. Thomas was in the Cathedral.

Reaction was swift.  The faithful unleashed an outpouring of devotion for St. Thomas – people started declaring him a martyr.  Pope Alexander III canonized him in 1173 (three years after his death).  Henry II ended up going to St. Thomas’ tomb in 1174 and doing public penance.

So, what do we take from this unfortunate tale?  For me, it’s that the thirst for power can lead us down a road so dark that eventually we get to a place from which we can’t find our way back.  And that our anger can lead to some rather tragic and ugly consequences.  For Henry, his thirst for power and his impetuous anger led to a grave crisis in the Church, turmoil in his realm, and the murder of a shepherd of Christ. 

Whether it’s Herod or Henry – or you or me – we must check our thirst for power in whatever form that thirst may take.  And we must hold in check our fear and anger in all instances – or watch these emotions devolve into unintended and potentially castostrophic consequences.

Fear and anger take us away from Christ.  We cannot carry out his plan for us if we are afraid and angry.  Let’s keep in mind that the opposite of fear is hope – the opposite of anger is love – both are two of the three theological virtues.  We need those two virtues now more than ever.  We have a plethora of modern day tragedies akin to the Holy Innocents and St. Thomas Becket occurring on our watch.  A little more hope and a little more love in this world will ensure these types of tragedies become a thing for the history books.

Painting: Earliest known portrayal of the murder of St. Thomas Becket

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