“He is possessed by Beelzebul!”

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Deacon Bob

We heard in the Gospel for today’s Mass the scribes uttering, “He is possessed by Beelzebul.” Jesus, in response, asks the question whether Satan can long stand if his house is divided. In other words, Jesus points out that he, Jesus, does holy work, the work of the Father who sent him into this world. In doing so, he points out the utter ridiculousness of the scribes’ assertion because Jesus’ work is:

1. Either work that demands faith for He does what the Father asks of him, or

2. It is Satan working against himself.

The second was impossible; the former was being brought into reality before their very eyes. It was work that was unmistakably divine.

Satan is very good at taking what is holy and good and subtly suggesting that it is evil, and then taking what is evil and planting the idea that it is good. He is very skilled at this, for he is the father of lies.

My friends, take a look at the circumstances of the world today. So often we find, don’t we, that the evils of war, abortion, euthansia, consumerism, egoism, relativism and paganism are made to be good and holy things. Society speaks of them in this way. The predominate manner used by Satan in our contemporary world to deceive us is two-fold:

1. Truth is determined by the individual’s subjective interests and tastes.

2. God is a fussy, competitive being that restricts our freedom.

Now, these are the same two methods Satan used in the Garden of Eden. Go ahead and read the account in Genesis.

We Christians, especially we deacons and other clergy, need to find a new way of talking about God to the world. God is not a competitive being that we bump up against and restricts us. No. God is He who grounds us; He who fulfills us; He to whom we are drawn. He is freedom.

We need to find new ways of telling the world that truth’s objectivity is not an “opium of the people” but rather the fulfillment of our deepest desire, i.e, to know the truth and after knowing it, to pursue it anew with renewed vigor.

Far from possession by Beelzebul, Jesus is the revelation of God. He is the splendor of the Father in the power of the Spirit.

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Quote for the Day

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Deacon Bob

“O most holy preaching more precious than any treasure! Blessed are they who listen to you because you are a great light illuminating the world.” — St. James of the Marche, OFM

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Why Not, Mr. President? Why Not All Our Children?

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Deacon Bob

To all my readers: I post this only to point out that with just a bit of intellectual honesty and common sense, we can take what President Obama said so well and appropriately about the tragedy of the recent school shootings and apply it to all those other children in our society who are victims of abuse and death. Yes, even the unborn who die every day because of elective abortions.

Please view this video, and drop a comment if you wish.

In no way do I mean to diminish the suffering of the Sandy Hook school victims and their families.

Posted in Human Development and Life, Politics | Comments Off on Why Not, Mr. President? Why Not All Our Children?

Papa Luciani on the Catechism

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Deacon Bob

Papa Luciani (Pope John Paul I) was noted for his catechetical manner of speaking to the people. It seemed as if each chance he had would be seized by him as an opportunity to catechize whoever happened to be listening.

In 1961, while still bishop of Vittorio Veneto, he wrote a book entitled Nuove Briciole di Catechetica which translated means New Grains of Catechesis. In it he said,

“Blessed be the Catechism! It is the ‘king of books’ Pius XI used to say, while Pius XII said: ‘That small book is in itself more valuable than a huge encyclopedia; it contains the truths that are to be believed, the obligations that are to be fulfilled, the means for one’s sanctification. What is there of more importance on earth? It is the book of wisdom, the art of living well, the peace of the soul, security in one’s trial. It teaches us how to please God’ (Pius XII, 8 June 1952).”

Of course, Luciani is quoting his predecessors here, but what he deemed quotable expressed, I believe, his affection for catechesis and the catechism available to them at that time.

I write about this for two reasons: first, because of my affection for Papa Luciani and secondly, because I too believe that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a volume that needs to be better read by all of us. It is a well organized, easily read source of all our Catholic beliefs. It is a book that should be in the homes of each of us, right along side with the Bible, from which it draws its source. It is part of the teaching magesterium.

Pick up a copy if you do not have one yet. You won’t be disappointed.

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Attention Deacons! The Feast of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Deacon Bob

250px-Vicente_de_Zaragoza_anonymous_painting_XVI_centuryTomorrow is the memorial of the martyr and deacon St. Vincent. Most of what we know about this deacon comes from the poet Prudentius. St. Augustine delivered a sermon about the deacon Vincent and drew from the Acts Vincent in doing so. What we know for sure about this illustrious deacon is fairly limited, but with certainty we know his name and the place where he was buried.

Vincent was ordained by St. Valerius of Saragossa in Spain. The Church was still being persecuted, and the Roman emperors published edicts against all the clergy in 303. Thus, Vincent and his bishop were put in prison in Valencia and subjected to hunger and torture. Since Valerius had a speech impediment, the deacon Vincent spoke for them both which angered the Roman governor, Dacian. Valerius was thus sent into exile but Vincent remained and was subjected to severe torture which, paradoxically, resulted in Dacian falling apart. Vincent refused to surrender the Scriptures to the Dacian. Vincent’s torturers began to lose control of themselves. He converted his jailer. Dacian continued his emotional breakdown. Finally, Dacian ordered that Vincent be given some rest, and when his friends came to put him to bed, Vincent died.

According to legend, after being martyred, ravens protected St. Vincent’s body from being devoured by vultures. His body was taken to what is now known as Cape St. Vincent and a shrine was erected over his grave.

St. Vincent’s story is a good one for all of us deacons to remember. He kept custody of the Word of God entrusted to him at his ordination. He willingly suffered being misunderstood and tortured for his office and his faith. His fidelity to his bishop and the Church converted the hardest of hearts and defeated evil.

St. Vincent of Saragossa, pray for all of us deacons!

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Random Thoughts

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Deacon Bob

I have been very busy of late, on all sides of life. The demands of people upon time and talent are significant and justified, so I can do nothing less than respond as best I can.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about evangelization, the New Evangelization, and the opportunities before us in this New Evangelization. I have a couple of Days of Reflection coming up that I will lead for two different diaconal communities in two different dioceses as soon as Lent starts and in each I will be reflecting with my brother deacons on these themes. I am looking forward to these chances to be with these men and their wives. It will be a time of enrichment for all involved.

My annual talk to seminarians at the nearby college-level diocesan seminary is coming up in a couple of weeks. The vice rector there invariably asks me to present on the same topic, i.e., Male Spirituality. It always engenders a good bit of conversation between me and the seminarians in attendance. It also fits in nicely with my thoughts about evangelization. In talking with these young men about “masculine spirituality” I will hear described by a few if not more difficult relationships with their fathers. So much, it seems, of our spirituality as men finds its roots in our experience of our fathers’ spirituality which was either overtly or indirectly taught to us as young boys.

I am anticipating with eager delight conferring baptism on a young child this weekend. This will be the second baptism in less than an month! I just love it! O the smell of Chrism….

It is my hope that all of you have a very peaceful week, and a renewal in this “ordinary time” of your hearts, minds and spirits. May God bless each of you richly!

Deacon Bob

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Child Labor in the Mideastern Country of Yemen

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Deacon Bob

Fides (http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=33093&lan=eng) reported recently that 1,300,000 children are child laborers in that country. It identifies (no surprise) that poverty drives this exploitation of the young.

Here is the article:

Sanaa (Agenzia Fides) – In Yemen over 1 million and 300 thousand working children have been registered. This is what emerged from the findings of the first national Study on child labor carried out in the Asian country. We are talking about 17% of all children. Of these, 469 000 in the age between 5 and 11 are girls. The research defines “workers” all children under 14 years of age who are somehow exploited, and those between 14 and 17 who work more than 30 hours per week, or who are involved in any hazardous activity. According to the International Labour Organization, poverty is the key factor that triggers and feeds this phenomenon, as well as the lack of jobs for graduates and the growing number of young people. 42.5% of the population of the Asian country is under 15 years of age. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 21/01/2013)

Let us pray for an end to all violence and exploitation of children in our world. Let us continue to work for a more just world in which justice prevails, a justice that lifts the burden of poverty off the shoulders of so many families.

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Quote for the Day

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Deacon Bob

“Where there is mercy and discernment, there is neither excess nor hardness of heart.” — St. Francis of Assisi

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Whom would you rather offend? – By Randy Hain

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Deacon Bob

I ran across an article by Randy Hain, Managing Partner of Bell Oaks Executive Search in Atlanta and Senior Editor for Integrated Catholic Life eMagazine.  He has published two books on living the Catholic faith. In this article he talks about what is essentially lay evangelization. You can read it all at Whom would you rather offend? – By Randy Hain.

Take a look at an excerpt.

There is a secular tidal wave sweeping our country and much of the world. In the name of fairness, equality and political correctness we are being asked (and sometimes forced) to accept things which are absolutely contrary to our faith. Because we often “don’t want to offend others” by speaking out or acting on our convictions, we are living with the consequences. Political correctness is pervasive in business environments today and we have too few leaders willing to stand up for their convictions and do the right things regardless of the consequences.

Merry Christmas has been watered down to the meaningless “Happy Holidays” or offensive “Merry Xmas.”

Because many of us may be shying away from living out our faith in the public square, we run the risk of being “two-thirds” Catholics, who live out our faith at home and at Mass on Sunday but not in public. This split personality is toxic as we can’t possibly separate our spiritual beings from our physical selves.Religious liberties are under siege and it will likely get worse unless we make a stand. Weakness and apathy in the face of an aggressor will only encourage worse behavior from the aggressor. Our silence in public may lead people to assume an implied acceptance on our part of things contrary to the teachings of our Church. Over time, this silence may even lead some of us down the path of defending and promoting the wrong positions on abortion, gay marriage and other issues where Church teaching is crystal clear.

I suggest that the reasons people gravitate to the “I don’t want to offend” position include fear of job loss, fear of being criticized or judged, fear of losing social status, poor understanding of the teachings of our Church or the belief that somebody else will stand up, since we are too busy to get involved.  The consequences I have identified are a sliver of the many challenges we face because we don’t want to offend anyone and are a direct result of us not acting on our beliefs.

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Refuting an Illogical Argument Regarding “Same-sex Marriage”

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Deacon Bob

I want to thank my brother deacon, Scott Dodge over in Salt Lake for posting a wonderful piece on refuting a commonly voiced argument that if you support marriage as the union of one man and one woman  then you are a bigot. The argument is, “If interracial marriage is sanctioned, then same-sex marriage must be sanctioned. Society sanctions interracial marriage, therefore it must sanction same-sex marriage.”

Anyone who has ever had a basic course in logic will see, if he or she is intellectually honest, that this argument is fallacious, i.e., it is not a valid argument in any manner.  I call it muddy thinking. The argument fails in its assumption, which essentially is that there is an equivalency between interracial marriage and same-sex relationships. You may wonder why I say that. Deacon Dodge explains why.

This argument asserts that if you are in favor of a man and a woman of different races being allowed to marry, then, logically, you must be in favor of two people of the same gender being allowed to marry. The argument runs something like this- If you favor the former (i.e., “interracial” marriage) and not the latter (i.e., “same-sex marriage”- differing placement of quotation marks is not accidental), then you are illogical and incoherent, thus making you an intolerant bigot, whose views fly in the face of reality. Since ultimately what is at stake here, at a deeper level, is reality and our engagement with it, I would draw the interested reader’s attention to Douglas Wilson’s recent and relevant post on Wendell Berry’s public support for “same-sex marriage”- Wendell Berry’s Halcyon Bean Patch. In this regard, I would also draw attention to one of my previous posts, Opposing God to nature: the denial of the ontologically obvious.

While it has been years since I’ve done serious philosophical work, it is precisely the kind of subtlety noted above that makes this argument sophistry- logically identifying like with unlike and then drawing out the implications of this, all-the-while depending on the fact that most people intuitively grasp the following form of logical argumentation:

If A, then B
A, therefore B

If you support “interracial” marriage, then you must support “same-sex marriage”
You support “interracial” marriage, therefore you must support “same-sex marriage.”

Such debaters also rely on the fact that most people won’t examine the truthfulness of the premises, which, in this case is premise A (i.e., If you support “interracial” marriage, then you must support “same-sex marriage”). This is untrue because a false identification is made, equating like with unlike, commonly referred to as comparing apples to oranges.

The falsity of the premise is easily demonstrated by briefly examining the teaching of the Catholic Church on “interracial” marriage. Canon law, going to back the earliest era of the Church, has never prohibited a man and a woman of different races from marrying. In the course of history, including here in the United States, civil governments have done so. The Church has always viewed such legal prohibitions as unjust, despite not always being in the vanguard of change and/or having certain of Her hierarchy and membership agreeing with and in some cases supporting such unjust laws.

In an article on Catholics for the Common Good‘s website, entitled “Bans on Interracial Marriage were About Eugenics, Not Redefining Marriage” (eugenics, supported by such American luminaries as Teddy Roosevelt, has always been denounced by the Church), I read about a 1948 California Supreme Court decision that ruled in favor of permitting an interracial (Catholic) couple to marry. The Catholic Church legally backed the couple’s suit and they were married in the Church.

As Peter Hitchens noted in his piece, “The law in this matter [“interracial” marriage] correctly recognises that there is one race, the human race.” A human being is a human being regardless of the color of her/his skin, or even his/her sexual orientation. But when it comes to gender there are two: male and female.

 
You may think this is all smoke and mirrors, ivory towered babbling. It isn’t. Quite frankly, it is common sense, but unfortunately, our educational systems in recent decades have failed, in my opinion, to teach common sense (basic logical critical thinking) to students. So many of us accept what is “stupid” in the sense of illogical reasoning.
 
Log on to Deacon Dodge’s blog at: www.scottdodge.blogspot.com
Posted in Marriage and Family | Comments Off on Refuting an Illogical Argument Regarding “Same-sex Marriage”

Quote for the Day

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Deacon Bob

“I gratefully accept both joy and tribulation from our heavenly Father for He knows best what’s good for us.” — St. Conrad of Parzham, OFM Cap.

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Quote for the Day

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Deacon Bob

“If the fire of God warms the human heart, then it will dispel the cold of human sins. It will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring release to prisoners and redress the wronged.” — John Michael Talbot, bsc

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Deacon Bob’s Homily for the Baptism of the Lord – Cycle C

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Deacon Bob

Here is my homily for this weekend. May God bless you all!

Audio: Baptism of the Lord Cycle C

Text:

Baptism of the Lord – Cycle C

Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7; Acts 10: 34-38; Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22

January 12/13, 2013

 One of the joys of being a deacon is baptizing infants and children. It is one of the sacramental ministries deacons are ordained to perform, along with weddings and funerals, preaching at Mass and presiding at Holy Hours, and taking Communion to the sick and dying. I have been thrilled to be able to baptize several children from this parish, and I have baptized both of my grandchildren since I have been ordained. Deacon Gerry and I are always ready and willing to serve you in these ways; all you need to do is ask us.

The Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord gives us the opportunity to reflect on baptism in our own lives and in the life of the Lord Jesus, and the opportunity to understand more fully who we are as Catholics.

We hear today that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin, John. Why did Jesus do this? Why would he ask to be baptized?

Jesus was baptized not because he had any sin, not because he needed to be cleansed from anything, not because he had to become God’s Son through baptism because he always was the Son of God, he always beheld his Father  face to face and did so continually from all eternity even during his time here on earth.

No, Jesus was baptized for other reasons.

First, he was baptized to provide us the way and the means by which we would be able to make it safely back to our heavenly home.

Jesus was baptized to show us clearly the need for the sacrament of baptism if we are to hear God say to us, “You are my beloved son or daughter” and if we are to be saved from sin.  Jesus was baptized to sanctify water which would be used for baptism. When Jesus entered the water of the Jordan River he established, if you will, that running water, flowing water, would be used in baptism and that the water would be filled with the Holy Spirit who would be given to the baptized person. That is why even today, in the sacrament of baptism, only water can be used and it must flow. It must flow over the person’s head or body when the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” are said. Just as the river water flowed over Jesus in his baptism, so too the water of the font flows over the person baptized today.

Jesus showed us that baptism is so important that the Church teaches that parents have an obligation to have their children baptized soon after their birth.

There is a second reason why Jesus was baptized. He was baptized to lead us and to reveal to us who he is and who we are to become through baptism.

Do you remember the Old Testament account of how the Hebrew people, fleeing Egypt, came to the Red Sea and how God appeared to them as fire and led them through the Red Sea to safety, but had the water drown out all the Egyptians after the Hebrews had been delivered? The ancient Fathers of the Church saw in this account the foreshadowing of baptism. God led his people into the water. He went first, and they followed and were saved. So, too, Jesus went first into the waters of baptism to reveal to us that he is, in fact, God who leads us to safety, and that he as a man we need to enter the water of baptism after him.

Yes, in his baptism, Jesus reveals that he is God and Man, the Son of God and Son of Mary and eternally one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, just as he became one with us in our human nature. He is a divine person, and is both human and divine in natures. Jesus is the favored one of the Father. He has become like us in every way but sin.

As Christians know that we are now called to be Jesus’ presence in today’s world.

Just as God the Father, speaking from heaven, said to his Son Jesus, who had just been baptized by John, “You are my beloved Son. With you I am well-pleased!” so too he says of us, his adopted sons and daughters through baptism.

We are beloved sons and daughters of God! Do you believe this?

“That is a nice thought, but I’m not sure of it” you might be thinking, There is a part of us which really doesn’t want to fully accept this idea that we are sons and daughters of God because if we do accept it, then we have to live like Jesus lived. It is our tendency to fall into a false humility here by saying, “I am only a man or a woman, without any real understanding of religious matters. I leave all that up to people holier than me.” If we do this we put ourselves into a weird sort of dilemma because on the one hand we blind ourselves to our real dignity as sons and daughters of God, and on the other hand we blind ourselves to our real sins, all those sins of omission, those times when we didn’t speak the truth or didn’t shelter the homeless or feed the hungry or accept foreigners, and instead focused on trivial matters.

No my friends, you are baptized into Christ Jesus, into his life, his death, and his resurrection. By your baptism, you become temples of the Holy Spirit. You become a brother or sister of Jesus, His life is now to be your life.

It is through baptism that we are conformed to Christ, we are spiritually adopted as sons and daughters of God, we are cleansed from every stain of sin, we are given the Holy Spirit and made temples of that Spirit, we pledge our lives to Jesus so that we might become the eyes and ears, the hands and the feet, and the voice of Jesus in today’s world. It is through baptism that we have opened to us the door for receiving the other sacraments, and we are made members of the Catholic Church.

Let us now open ourselves, once again, as we did when we were infants, to the graces given to us by this wonderful sacrament, and let us never be ashamed to follow him who has called us to the wonderful life in God.

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The Plight of Women in the Mideast

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Deacon Bob

One of the links I provide my readers is to Fides (see lower right). It is an information filled website sponsored by the Vatican that reports new and events in mission lands which we will never see reported anywhere else that I can find.

There is an article published today on the plight of refugee women in the southern Mideast.

Take a look:

Aden (Agenzia Fides) – The phenomenon of human trafficking continues to rise and poverty causes the sexual exploitation of women who are the most vulnerable group in Yemen. They are bought and sold throughout the country, raped and beaten to death. “Between 2011 and 2012 there was a significant increase in traffic, smuggling and in cases of violence among immigrant women in the country,” is what is read in the latest data of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) that in 2011 registered over 103 000 new arrivals. There are no reliable figures for 2012and are believed to be much higher. Migrant women, mainly Ethiopian and Somali, try to escape poverty in the country of origin and their families. They pay hundreds of dollars to get to the crossing points of Djibout and Puntland, venturing even day trips aboard overcrowded and dangerous boats with the goal of reaching the Gulf states where one can find a job. During the trip they are often raped, suffocated by the overcrowding situation, thrown overboard by the smugglers or even taken hostage by traffickers after reaching Yemen. According to the Desperate Choices report, carried out by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS), criminal networks extended throughout Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia. Local women are victims of trafficking, but not all of those abused in Yemen are migrants. Sex tourism contributes to the worsening of this phenomenon that involves young Yemeni girls from poor families who are forced to marry visitors from the Gulf states, and after having abused these young victims they abandon them on the street. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 11/01/2013)

 

 
It is amazing to me that neither the popular press nor most Church information services covers these stories. People are unaware and uninvolved.
 
Let us pray and speak up. Let us not be silent.
Posted in Church News, Human Rights | Comments Off on The Plight of Women in the Mideast

Quote for the Day

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Deacon Bob

“Do not follow the foolish but in every action, easy or difficult, keep your sight fixed on God, sanctifying your intention and enduring every adversity patiently, for the love of God.” — Blessed Baptista Varano, OSC

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