Noting the Passing of the Boy Scouts of America

  

Symbol of the Sea Scouts, the Scouting Logo imposed on an anchor. The fleur-de-lis is a pointer to right paths, the three points of the fleur are the three parts of the Oath taken. The stars are Truth and Knowledge. The Eagle and Shield are the Country and readiness to defend the Country. The Boy Scout motto inscribed on the banner. The knot is a reminder to ‘Do a good turn daily’. The anchor indicates the intent to practice the virtues in service at sea.

          Lord Robert Baden-Powell served in the British army and rose to the rank of Lt. General.  This was a notable achievement.  However, his greatest achievement would be to establish an organization for boys beginning in England and growing into the world-wide organization of Scouting.  It began with his authoring of Scouting for Boys.  It began at the height of Victorian England, but was based on much earlier concepts of Knighthood and chivalry. He intended to teach boys how to become self-confident and self-reliant, and grow them into learning how to become interdependent teams of gentlemen in whatever they endeavored in their lives.

            The Oath taken by the boys is this:

On my honor

I will do my best to do my duty to God and my Country,

To obey the Scout Law,

To help other people at all times,

And to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

This is the Oath of a modern Knight of the Realm, as Baden-Powell imagined it.  It became the Oath of millions of American boys beginning in 1908 when the Boy Scouts came to the United States.  It would become the premier program for the physical, mental, and moral training of American boys for seventy years.  Boys became men of character under the close watch of their fathers and uncles, grandfathers and brothers.

            The Scout Law included twelve virtues a man should have.  Perfecting these ideals involved a life-long commitment, and that commitment began with a Tenderfoot’s journey.

A Scout is

Trustworthy	Loyal	Helpful	Friendly
Courteous	Kind	Obedient	Cheerful
Thrifty	Brave	Clean	Reverent

Boy Scout Handbook, Sixth Edition 1970, pp 38 – 51; Twelfth Edition 2009, pp 24, 25

These twelve virtues are what Lord Baden-Powell intended a grown man should know.  These were the foundations of modern chivalry.  My own tattered and worn 1970 copy of the Boy Scout Handbook shows a full page essay for each one of these twelve virtues.  By 1970, 24,525,00 copies of this handbook had been printed and distributed.  These were the foundation of the American social fabric for the 20^th century.  

            Two major social issues forced a change in the practices of Scouting.  No fault divorce and child custody battles would leave boys without routine fatherly influence.  More and more boys were entrusted to leaders unknown to their families. People lacking the chivalrous character built into the structure of the program took advantage of this same situation.  Unscrupulous people turned the Scout troops into hunting grounds and predators committed unspeakable acts against the trusting youths.  The Boy Scouts faced an era of pedophilia, breaking the sacred honor the program was intended to instill and uphold.

            Families, well meaning mothers in particular, rightly demanded accountability.  Scout leaders forced to resign and fewer men were willing to fill the leadership roles, mothers filled the voids.  Scouting, from the youngest Cubs to the oldest Explorers, found itself conducting open family events.  Though there is no harm in this practice, what was diminished was the role of the boys as chivalrous men in society, taught by those making a life around the principles of the Oath themselves.

            As the millennia turned over, outside influences took control of the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America and forced programmatic changes.  The predatory nature of those in the 1980’s that was aghast to society became the norm for control of the finances and policies of the organization.  By the time the centennial celebrations were underway in 2008, the internal operations of the Boy Scouts of America were in a deep state of change.  Chapters about the Knightly virtues intended by Lord Baden-Powell became pages, then mere paragraphs in the official Handbook.  Scouting needed to ‘evolve’ with a changing society.  So all the virtues were not virtues any longer.

Thirty-nine years after I was a Scout the virtues of the Scout Law were reduced to less than a page in the twelfth edition of the handbook.  Inside the front cover a parental handbook concerning child abuse is pasted with exercises for the families to work through to help the boys and girls involved in the programs avoid ‘difficult’ situations.  The ‘Boy’ Scouts of America certainly had evolved, but away from the virtues it once focused on teaching to those who will one day lead our nation.

            Changing the name of the organization away from the Boy Scouts has been a necessity for several decades.  It is no longer an organization focused on guiding boys to become virtuous men, something our Country desperately needs.  That is a failure of leadership in society and a failure of the foundation of society, the family, to require of its leaders.

            However, it is not necessarily a complete failure.  I have a granddaughter who is part of a Scout troop and working through her programs with the diligent support of her mother and her troop leaders.  Diminished in presentation as they may be the twelve virtues currently remain an outline of what Scouting used to be.  And since Scouting has evolved to include entire families, the possibility that these virtues may still be instilled into the consciences of our youth remains.  This will only occur if the families involved remain vigilant about the program and the changes initiated by leadership.  Our society is no longer based on Victorian era chivalry and Knighthood. 

The principle virtues of Scouting no longer drive the goals of the Boardroom.  Other social engineering principles are used as guides, many that are in opposition to the virtues of Scouting. Participants in the new organization should be watchful of continuing ‘evolution’.  Some have decided that other organizations are more closely aligned with the intentions and have made their choice to move into those organizations.  The results will only be known to the successive generations of those boys and girls now participating.

Our Country’s future depends on the virtues we pass on.  Be Prepared!

It’s Just a Bathroom Bill

Anyone remember when this was ‘just a bathroom bill’ in NC?

Lake County Florida

“The Osceola, Lake and Citrus County School Boards faced angry parents demanding answers this week about a recent settlement between the State of Florida and the LGBTQ group Equality Florida that will weaken the Parental Rights in Education Act.”

“Although the settlement leaves the act in place, it provides a roadmap for activist teachers to violate the original intent of the law, including by allowing LGBTQ-promoting “safe space” stickers, student cross-dressing, and even discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, as long as they are not part of formal “instruction.””

The argument in Florida is between two extremes. One (Christian group) wants to ban all LGBTQ conversation in the schools. The other is the flagrant teaching in any/every venue of the LGBTQ lifestyle (‘story time’, library books, formal coursework). The in-between is always present. Older students especially want to know their teachers beyond the work at the head of the classroom and this cannot be legislated nor policed. So it is a matter of Character. It always has been, always will be.

In Ohio, the majority population recently enacted a law through the ballot box that parents may NOT have access to their 13 – 17 y/o medical records. [‘protection’ of the girls’ abortion rights and trans-treatments/counseling] At least in Florida, we do not have restrictions yet on what parents may/may not know about their childrens’ behavior, medical, and school records.

The fact should be plain 12 years later after North Carolina. It was never ‘just a bathroom bill’ and those tepid to social change are now subject to the LGBTQ agenda in law and social ‘justice’ as those of us who opposed that change. We are long-past the concept of the 1990’s where all the LGBTQ community was common respect for their personal dignity. Their activism has paid off and the majority are now bound to respect whatever laws (marriage and divorce, medical treatment, adoption services, family law, Christian denominational schisms, et al) is enacted until such time as the majority engages in dismantling the same legal structure.

Our 21st century social structure has been build over the last 50+ years. The 60’s liberals have won the argument. It will be the post millennial generations that make the next set of changes.

Who is the most committed? Who will fight harder for their principles/theologies/philosophies? My grandchildren’s children will know,… not I.

Louis, J. “A Three-Ply Cord: Making and Keeping Covenant Marriage”, Pittsburg; Dorrance Publishing Co. Print and e-book May 2024 to be released. A scripture based book intended to extend the Christian Gospel concepts of covenant marriage and how to hold it together. Marriage preparation, reaffirmation, and sacramental healing for those committing themselves to life-long commitments.

In the Breaking of the Bread

It was such a confusing and disturbing seven days.  They had entered Jerusalem for the Passover celebration and he was lauded as a king!  People threw down their robes, cut palm branches to lay before him, and shouted ‘Hosanna’!  It was euphoric!  Was the kingdom of Israel about to be restored?  Hope was about to be realized!

There was some confrontation with the Temple authorities.  And there were miracles.  He had raised a man, Lazarus, from the tomb and they had witnessed it firsthand.  A blind man was made to see.  A withered hand made whole again.  It was simply unimaginably joyous.  They were looking forward to the Passover meal together.

The meal was far more somber than the preceding days had been.  There was a palatable tension in the air.  He was distracted.  Did the Temple encounters shake him?  And then there was Judas acting so strangely, leaving the ritual meal before it was finished.  And speaking of, the ritual meal was never really finished.  He blessed the bread, broke it, and passed it around the table saying it was his body.  If that wasn’t odd enough, the third cup was taken up and blessed, and then he said it was to be his blood, the blood of a new covenant.  What did it mean?  When they had drunk from the cup, they were up and out the door, headed to the Gethsemane, the olive groves.  The Psalms were sung as they walked down the hill, across the city, and then out the gate.  They went through the valley and just a short distance up the hill before stopping in an area not already filled with other travelers, a place they’d stayed before.

The Temple guards came in force.  Judas was leading them.  He stepped up and kissed the Master and the guards pounced to subdue him.  Peter raised a sword and it looked like someone had been struck.  The Master raised his voice to Peter to put the sword away and the rest began scattering.  Were it not for the Master’s further intervention they all would have been taken.

They all filtered back to the house over the next several hours, stealing through the streets in the dark of night for fear of being swept up in the furor.  The High Priest’s house was in the same neighborhood and they had to steer ‘round it and its guards.  It was strange to see so many of the Sanhedrin in the streets.  Joseph, the Arimathean was one of them.  Was that where they took the Master?

They didn’t sleep.  Word came near sunrise that the Master was being taken to the Antonia fortress to be questioned by the governor.  Pilot was not known for his mercy and they feared the worst.  John took the Master’s mother in that direction.  Cleophus’ wife and the Magdalen went with them.  John didn’t come back and they feared for the party.  All day they stayed hidden in the house in the upper room, fearing every knock at the door and tussle in the streets below.

The storm only added to their fear.  The earthquake in the late afternoon only pushed the fear and trembling even further.  Who could stay in the city?  Shortly after, John and the women returned.  The Master had been crucified.  The Arimathean had provided his own tomb in which to lay the Master.  The Romans and Temple guards had posted a guard after.  Passover ended, and so did hope.  They were confused, disoriented, and feared for their own lives.

Cleophus decided to get his wife out of the city.  He took all day Saturday to make some excursions around the neighborhood and to check which gates the Romans had left open.  His wife, Mary,  gathered some food.  They only lived a few miles away, in Emmaus.  But Mary and the Magdalen wanted to anoint the Master’s body before leaving the city.  Cleophus went with them and stayed at a distance to watch over the three.  He would be recognized by the Romans. When Mary came back out of the garden, she was shaking, nearly inconsolable.  She was alone and would say nothing in the shadow of that Skull hill.  Cleophus took her close to him and began the walk toward home. 

The crowds lessened as they made their way up the road.  He was still working to comfort her when he noticed a stranger walking in close proximity.  Cleophus moved toward the side of the road, but the stranger did not pass by.  He asked if he could help.  Cleophus started to thank the stranger when Mary just poured out her story of the visit to the Master’s tomb.  The guards were gone, both Roman and Temple.  The stone was rolled back and the tomb empty!  The Master’s body was gone!.

The stranger was curious.  Who was this Master they knew?  Why did they follow him?  Cleophus began to describe the man he had come to know well and the message he taught.  He followed with the events of the last seven days and the terror they were feeling.  The stranger began talking about the scriptures and relating them to Cleophus’ story.  His words were calming, his voice as a melody.  The two felt their hearts lighten as they walked and the journey to Emmaus seemed swift.  All too soon they arrived.

Cleophus and Mary stopped in the village.  The stranger seemed as if he was walking on, so they asked him, implored him to stop with them for the night.  Mary prepared a meal and the stranger offered to bless the meal.  When the stranger broke the bread, they knew him!  It was Jesus, their Master and Lord!  In a moment, he was gone from their sight!

They were beyond themselves.  They were giddy with emotion.  They could not sit still.  They could not calm down.  They were quickly seen to be out of their minds as they rushed out of the place and began going down the road back toward Jerusalem.  It was insane to do so.  Pitch black of night, bandits and thieves along the road, the gates of the city shut at night and only the eye of the needle to walk through, where Roman guards would be stationed and questioning anyone entering through the night.  None of it mattered.  They had seen their Lord and Master ALIVE!

They know him in the breaking of the bread, in the “efcharistia” [Greek], the eucharist, that perfect sacrificial remembrance of Jesus’ reconciling humanity with God, renewing he covenant of Genesis and Eden.  They know him as we recognize and continue to celebrate him today.

Easter is a six-week celebration of this reconciliation and renewal.  Join us at a Catholic Church gathering near you.

The Personal Cost of Leadership

Paris, France, on April 23, 1910, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, former President of the United States of America

“The Man in the Arena”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Former President Donald J. Trump personifies President Roosevelt’s comments, as well as those who signed away their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors by signing the Declaration of Independence.

Such is the price of Freedom.

For a review of Roosevelt’s full speech on the 100th anniversary of it’s presentation, see

file:///C:/Users/703153362/Downloads/Scott%20Astrada%20and%20Israel%20Nery%20Post-Conference%20Takeaway.pdf

Photo credit: gettyimages-1400906143-594×594

“Do This in Memory of Me”

The first written account history has of the Last Supper, that meal Jesus of Nazareth shared with his disciples before his passion, was inscribed some twenty-years after the event by St. Paul in his first letter to the Church in Corinth Greece.

“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” (1Cor11:23-26)

The key word in Christian theology is ‘covenant’. Covenant is synonymous with ‘testament’ between the Greek and Latin languages.  Oxford gives the definition of ‘covenant’ as “an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people” (Google, on-line).  The source also provides the history of the word, relating the Greek word diathēkē (covenant) to the Latin word testamentum (a will), translating to English as testament.

So the new ‘covenant’ is the new ‘testament’ between Jesus and his disciples.  Professor Scott Hahn (Franciscan University) traces this through Christian history in his books The Lamb’s Supper and The Fourth Cup, describing how the Church Fathers understood from the beginning the connection of this ‘new testament’ as the body and blood of Jesus. Professor Brant Petrie (Augustine Institute) relates this ‘new testament’ to the ‘old testament’ in his work The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist.  This sacramental ritual begins with a ram sacrificed by Abraham in place of his son Issac, followed by unblemished lambs sacrificed and eaten before the Exodus, to manna received in the desert and ‘showbread’ placed in the Tent of Meeting and Temple Holy of Holies, to the celebration of the Passover by faithful Israelites and in Judeah, culminating at Jesus’ Last Supper. Finally, in Revelation, God reveals to the Apostle John that heavenly worship is celebrated with ‘the Lamb of God’, the “…Lamb that seemed to have been slain” (Rev 5).

It was in a little village outside Jerusalem called Emmaus that the disciples first recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.  Two of them were despondent over Jesus’ crucifixion, discussing the events that lead to it when they were joined by a fellow traveler.  This traveler explained all that they had heard from Jesus over their years spent learning from him. They were so excited by the conversation they invited the traveler to stay with them in Emmaus and share supper.  Only when the traveler blessed the bread and broke it at supper did they recognize Jesus, who then vanished from their sight.  This was the evening of the first day of the week.  It was the first Easter Sunday.

Catholics and ritual Christians recognized the wonder of this gift, and all Christians should know, that in stepping toward the altar to receive the Eucharist one intends a Communion with God.  And we proclaim by our actions, individually and jointly, “as often as (we) eat this bread and drink this cup (we) proclaim” this new covenant, this new testament of commitment between ourselves and God.  Thousands of people around the world will make their profession of faith in this new testament at Easter Vigil masses and step up to commune with God.  Join us with them in celebrating the renewal of the Covenant at a Catholic Church close to you.

Happy Easter!

Here we go again…2024

It’s an election year…

the Left – “Your speech is violence. Our violence is speech.”

In regards to the January 6th protests in D.C. vs the riots across the country through 2020.

January 6th was about people getting together and telling their Congress what they expected of government.

The riots of 2020 were about burning federal buildings, declaring city zones independent of elected government, destroying businesses, and tearing down the history and function of the government.

Why are we still discussing any of this? Because the leadership choices we are given by the political classes is the same as it was 4 years ago.

80 mil* of you made the wrong choice 4 years ago. You will have seven choices or so this year. Put your “feelings” aside and use your “reason” when you make your choices this year.

(80 million vote count for Mr. Biden and Party was disputed in at least six States based on the methods of ballot harvesting and the simultaneously haulted count in those States followed by subsequent reversal of the leaders/ winners in those States. Multiple law suites ensued and media outlets promoted the validity of the counts. The Supreme Court of the United States refused to become involved, specifically in the Pennsylvania case where that State violated its own Conferating documents in its process. The SCOTUS only put off an inevitable involvement as it is now in 2024 deciding at least two cases directly resulting from the events in 2020)

Food For Thought…The Eighth Day of Christmas

(Pictured above, Cave of the Nativity, Bethlehem, St. Joseph’s altar.)

Those on and/or ‘from the farm’ have no trouble understanding what a feed trough looks like.  Some in smaller cities and towns might know what chicken feed looks like and a bowl or feeders sees and smells like.  Urbanites with pets certainly know what the cat or dog dish looks like.  Some are simple bowls.  Others, fancy names and décor to match the pet persona they want to imply.

No matter the size, horse trough, cattle bin, bird feeder, or dog dish, someone occasionally gets to clean up the mess.  Food sticks to the sides.  Water gets splashed over from the other dish into the food.  Some of it dissolves.  The pets lick the bottom for every last morsel.  The floor needs to be cleaned up, or the mat the bowls rest on.  Typically, in the home once every couple of days this chore has to be done.

In the barn, the same routine.  Horses, cows, donkeys… they all need their feed bins cleaned.  The floor about needs clean straw.  The feed bins have to be clean to keep the animals healthy.  Then, there’s the rest of the ‘mess’ the animals leave in the stalls.  Daily, every couple of days, maybe once a week they have to be ‘mucked out’.  I never had to do it but I grew up with friends who lived on farms.  The odors are different in the barn than in the kitchen where the domestic pets feed.  Earthy, the combination of straw, feed, animal dander and dust, the wood in older buildings adds a special memory for me from my youth.

Christmas is the Christian celebration of the Son.  It displaces the old Roman solstice festival of Apollo, where the days begin again to lengthen after the Winter’s darkest day.  Scripture and Tradition hold the Son, Jesus, was born into a poor family during a migration and census.  Displaced from their home, the father needed a place for his pregnant wife.  But Jewish ritual cleanliness required her to have space and be isolated from others for up to three months following the birthing.  What place could hold the small, young family for so long?

Actual history shows us that those who lived in Bethlehem in Roman Palestine through the nineteenth century lived mostly in limestone caves.  Underground, a constant temperature is held year ‘round, whether winter cold (it does snow at those altitudes) or summer desert heat, the cave was and is a comfortable ambient temperature to conduct daily life.  Fires could be built, workshops erected, and animals sheltered and fed. For the woman, the back of the cave with the animals was a good place to live and nurture a child, away from the daily routine of others, warm enough, with straw for bedding, safety from predators (men and beasts), and the company of nurses and midwives to help with the newborn.

The feeding troughs provided a place to lay the child, above the traffic of the animals’ hooves, off the ground from drafts, and soft enough with warmth from the straw.  “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”(Luke 2:12)  All the earthiness of the barn, with the dust of stone in place of the musk of wood.

It seems fitting, doesn’t it, that the babe Jesus be laid in a feed bin?  The child who would come to be understood as the Bread of Life begins his life presented in a place meant for feeding? It would be a short thirty odd years later when he would feed thousands with bread on a mountain.  He would tell them “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry,…” (John 6:35). He would say to his disciples at the last Passover meal with them, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1Cor 11:23-26). And on the night of his resurrection, he would share supper with two of them in Emmaus after a day’s walk and “30 And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them. 31 And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30, 31).

Lord, let this be the Christmas where we come to know, that your cradle prepared us to know you in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, that You are present in body, soul, and divinity in the simple host that is presented to us when we present ourselves to you at each holy mass.  Amen.

The Ol’ Horse-to-Water Axiom and Offering God’s Mercy

It’s a simple concept, especially if you are a horseman, though less likely understood in a growing urban society.  Except, it’s such a good metaphor that it is engrained in our society as a sidle into anything we teachers, leaders, managers have to work to get newer people to comprehend, act upon, and internalize.

Simply put, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’.  If the horse doesn’t want the water for whatever reason its horse sense tells it, it’s simply not going to muzzle in and draught down the life-giving, cleansing essential its body needs.  I guess knowing this is why I have so much respect for horse people.  They partner with their animals and pick up on those more sensible things.

One of Pope Francis’s mantras is ‘mercy’.  I’m no one, so who am I to say its commendable of him to preach what is a core thread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Commendable as well is how the faithful leadership has picked up on this mantra and made it their own, all the way down to the ‘deck plates’ of their own ministries.  Mercy is very much a needed component of the understanding of Christianity and acceptance of Truth (yes, a capitol ‘T’).  Here’s where the horse sense comes into play.

Those being offered mercy have to want that mercy.  They have to believe that they need that mercy.  They have to know in their being that this mercy is life giving and has to be ‘ingested’ in order to strengthen and heal their hearts, their minds, their souls.

So, what if they don’t?  What if those who are being offered mercy won’t ‘drink the water’? What if they don’t believe they are in need?  What if they are perfectly content with their choices, even and especially choices contrary to the Gospel?  What happens to the gift of mercy that is offered?

It’s still a gift.  It’s still there, in the well, in the watering hole of the love offered by Christ.  It’s just waiting for them to turn their hearts toward the Word made flesh.

St. Ignatius of Loyola penned a prayer of his asking for Jesus to enter into him fully.  Ignatius was turned toward the well of mercy and taking a full draught of the gift. Here’s his prayer;

ANIMA CHRISTI

Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Separated from Thee let me never be. From the malignant enemy, defend me. At the hour of death, call me. And close to Thee bid me. That with Thy saints I may be Praising Thee, forever and ever. Amen.

Probably the majority of us are familiar with the concept of inebriation from one or more experiences.  I want to consider, though, the next line.  It’s a more imagination driven line from the physical aspect.  Most of us today are likely not familiar, though those in the butchers’ trade and hunters will know this well.

“Water from the side of Christ, wash me.”  Can you imagine?  You are at the foot of the cross, with the three Mary’s and Jesus’ best friend.  The Centurion says, “Make sure he’s dead,” and the soldier is lifting up the spear to pierce Jesus’s side.  Around you all are local and national leaders jeering and mocking what they think is a dead man, cheering even at his demise.  As the spear penetrants, body fluids drip out.  When the spear is removed and the back prongs tear open His torso, water and blood and bile and whatever else the body uses for defenses pours out over top of you and sprays on the others.  You are actually baptized in to the body and blood of Christianity.

We teachers and leaders clean this up of course, most times to our own squeamishness of the whole situation.  Two beautiful and most prominent pictures of Divine Mercy show white and red light shining down from a peaceful resurrected Jesus, opening the top of His cloak with His left hand while blessing us with His right.  We speak of mercy and love as the Hippies of the 1960’s spoke of ‘peace, love, and togetherness’ with a near complete lack of understanding of actual life events. It’s a utopian shadow that lies over the actual need to change the way we think so as to change the things we do.

Image of the original painting commissioned for and approved by Sister Faustina of her vision of the Divine Mercy

This is the offer of mercy, though.  It is volunteering to suffer, by seeing Jesus and his family suffer and watching, even intervening as our own families suffer.  It is to ‘get messy’ by being enveloped in a faith that understands now the necessity of giving up oneself in the promise of resurrection. Our lives or necessarily difficult.  We make mistakes.  However, every day we can start anew, every moment we err we can reverse the choice and live better. And resurrection means to be perfectly in union with the Creator, the Son, and the Spirit.

We can, and we should, preach mercy often.  We should remind the faithful and beyond that Christ’s mercy continues to pour out for them.  We should also, while we wait for others to choose to walk into the outpouring of blood and water that is Christ’s mercy, to drink, and be prepared to live the disciplined path (discipleship) of the Gospel.  From the Pope to the Bishops, to the priests and deacons, to the Lay Ministers who are the foundation of running the Church, all must make this their commitment to present discipleship as the blessing for drinking from the Source.

STOP! The Power of Words

Holiday lights and decorations have been up for more than a week now as the commercial industry works to brighten our lives while enticing us out to purchase their products.  We use words to describe these like ‘twinkle’ and ‘sparkle’, call out colors of ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘white’ and the myriad of others in the rainbow.  There is ‘fluffy gold’ garland and ‘shimmering silver’ tinsel.  We describe our emotions as ‘happy’, ‘joyful’, and wish others ‘glad tidings’.  All of these words ‘create’ our holiday environment whether it’s The Birth of Christ, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice of Apollo Rising, or the simply the secular Christmas extravaganza.

Words can also command action and change the status of existence.  Consider the STOP sign.  It is intended to cause an action for safety.  A single word controls traffic flow and it doesn’t matter what vehicle is being used, the word means the same thing.  The word ‘indicted’ immediately creates a change in status of the person to whom it is applied.  The person is not to be trusted based on the conditions of the indictment.  The words “You are arrested” spoken with authority immediately limits the freedom of the one under ‘arrest’.  These words change the status of the person and change how others view them.  The reverse is true as well.

A person is ‘blessed’ by another.  That person knows there is someone who is looking out for them.  Likewise, a person who is blessed by the action of Christian Baptism is blessed by the Church, those around them committing themselves in covenant to look out for them in the name of God.  The words “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” enact the words of Jesus’ Great Commission, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.  The blessed one’s status is changed for their entire lifetime, making them more than a blessed creation of God, but God’s adopted child.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth at Christmas is a celebration of the power of his words, and his life as the living Word of God.  Through this life with us in Time, Jesus demonstrated the power of the spoken word.  “Your sins are forgiven.”  “Rise up and walk.” “Go, and sin no more.” “Talitha cum (rise little one).” “Lazarus, come forth!” “Forgive them, Lord. They know not what they do.” Such powerful words changed the state of so very many lives, both in that time and throughout Time since, around our world and even from the moon (Apollo 8, Christmas, 1968)

Jesus left us all with a permanent gift in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The synoptic Gospels record that he spoke words over bread and wine with a command to “Do this in remembrance of me”.  The Gospel of Luke records a second meal at which Jesus blessed bread, broke it, and shared it with disciples in a little village called Emmaus.  The Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is the first historical written record of those spoken words; “…on the night he was handed over, took bread and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” Jesus changed the substance of bread into the physical and spiritual food for us by the power of his words.

To this day and until he comes again, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church proclaims these words in the languages of humankind around the world and present the Eucharist, the celebration of Jesus Christ death and resurrection, to all the people who come to believe these words and practice the deeds of the one who’s birth is celebrated in this season.  This is the Eucharist.  This is the Sacrament, the promise we keep by presenting ourselves before the altars of Church in the world.  It is not a mere symbol.  It is “living bread come down from heaven” by his Word.

[Those so inclined, or rather, Inspired, may wish to delve more deeply into this through Bishop Baron’s booklet This Is My Body. It may be acquired for a small fee of $2 U.S. at https://books.wordonfire.org/thisismybody?_gl=1*e1z3z2*_ga*MTcyMjE2MjQwLjE3MDExODIwMjI.*_ga_4081DYV3TL*MTcwMTE4MjAyMi4xLjEuMTcwMTE4MjA3Mi4xMC4wLjA]

Praying For Others Now

“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins,

Save us from the fires of Hell.

Lead all Souls to Heaven

Especially those who most need of Thy mercy.”

Before the now famous “Miracle of the Sun” in October of 1917, the Seers of Fatima were visited by an Angel who taught them the simple prayer above.  I learned this prayer from my mother as she taught my seven siblings and me the prayers of the Rosary.  It comes, in order, on the larger “Our Father” beads after the “Glory Be…” and before the Lord’s Prayer.

Now, I have taken this prayer as one prayed for those who just recently passed, those who’s spirits were leaving their bodies at death and invoking for them a safe journey to Heaven’s gates.  This changed recently to a more immanent time.  It changed to “now”!

Christ taught us to show mercy to all.  His creative power wills the best life for each of us and His mercy is perpetually offered.  Our modern culture encapsulates this offer of mercy in the phrase “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”  As sinners, all we need to do is get up after we fail, ask for help, and move on.

Praying for “all Souls” now, especially for those who need His merciful grace blesses all we pray for, including those we are adverse to, those who are our ‘enemies’ and our ‘brothers/sisters’.  It is worthy of Jesus’s scriptural directive to go to our enemy and make restitution before we bring our gifts to the altar.

Maybe you already knew this.  I hope so.  If not, and in any case, why not have a conversation with a couple of people about this simple prayer and spread the Word.