Why do Catholics have a devotion to saints?

Imagine you know one of the advisors for the President.  (ok, imagine the president is pro-life).  This advisor has studied the president, tried to live a life similar to the president, loves the president and truly wants to please the president. The advisor has even thrown himself in front of a bullet to protect the president. The advisor loves the president so much that he has committed his life to being an example of how the president lives his life.

Imagine that advisor is someone you could totally relate and look up to.  He is just an ordinary man like you or I but for some reason has gone beyond the call of duty to make great choices in life.

That is how Catholics look at saints.  They are people, like us, that have lived a life pleasing to God.  They have done amazing and brave things to truly live Catholic lives.  They have exceeded our worldly expectations and serve as an example to us of how to act so that we too can be pleasing to God.  They have kept themselves pure and devoted to the Lord. 

Catholics do not worship saints or hold them higher than God.  Catholics don't worship or pray to the statues.  We do pray that the saint who we know is in Heaven will pray on our behalf.  It's like knowing that God is super happy with that saint and will listen closely when the saint brings our intentions to Him.

Saints are only windows to God.  We look through them to see the beauty of the Father.  We know that by following their example we have seen a way to seek sanctity.  Saints pattern their lives off of Jesus Christ never to exceed the Son of God but ONLY to glorify Him. 

Some of my favorite saints:

St. Terese the Little Flower
St. Gerard
St. Clare
St. Francis
St. Philomena

Evangelization in the home

Sometimes I get this urge to proclaim the love of Christ to the world.  You know what I mean?   I read Scripture and I read how we are called to evangelize and I wonder in what capacity that means?  God has been so faithful with His teachings throughout my life and I am convinced that the knowledge He has shared is meant to be shared. 

So, I was talking to my mom and sharing with her my frustrations of determining to what extent we are supposed to be evangelizing and she said that the most important evangelizing I can do is to my daughter.  She firmly believes that upon entering the gates of Heaven we will be asked what we did to bring Christ to our children.  In one breath this is a simple statement. Of course we need to evangelize to our children.  On the other hand it takes that breath away!  I am responsible for being the first Christ that my daughter encounters.  My actions, my words and my teachings must all consistently reflect the love of Christ.  What  a HUGE endeavor!  What a HUGE gift!  What a HUGE responsibility!

I think it such a testament to the gift of a child.  I am someone who has a very difficult time getting pregnant and then maintaining the pregnancies.  I am beginning to really see the miracle of life in that God is truly in charge of our fertility.  This can be difficult for me because I wanted many children!  And God has blessed me with one on earth and one in Heaven.  How much more am I being called to raise the one I have been given to truly serve the Lord and bring Christ to all she meets. 

I pray that I am always a witness to Christ's love in the world but I pray even more so that my little one knows and loves the Lord so that she may be a witness to all.  Whew!

Jump rope and Mary

This morning as I was opening my eyes I saw my three year old starting at me.  A welcomed sight indeed I asked, 'Liv, what are you doing?'

She very innocently shared, 'Mom, I am crushing the snake like Mary does'.  

And there she was stepping on her jump rope.  Crushing the snake.  Just like our statue.

How cool is that?

Pope to canonize new saints!

American Catholic.com shares here about 8 new saints that will be cannonized later this year. 

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Benedict XVI will create six new saints Oct. 17, including Blessed Mary MacKillop, who will be Australia's first saint, and the Canadian Blessed Andre Bessette, who will be the first saint of the Holy Cross Brothers.

For those in the Columbus, OH area

2010 Diocesan Respect Life Conference will be held at St. Patrick's Church downtown Columbus.  See more details here.

Featured Speaker:


Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

Director of Education and Ethicist

National Catholic Bioethics Center
 
 

The Immaculate Conception

Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to Mary?

After I wrote this one I realized that this is a BIG topic to cover.  So I will do my best to provide concise information that will be helpful to the family or friend who really doesn't understand why we love Mary so much.  It will be broken up into a few different posts.  I decided to start with a few beliefs that a lot of non Catholics struggle with.

Mary is the Immaculate Conception:

Mary was not born with original sin.  Consequently, her Son, who had no human father, could not inherit original sin.

Jesus was also immaculately conceived but his conception is a little easier on most people of other religions.  

Immaculate means: without stain

When discussing the Immaculate Conception, an implicit reference may be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary. The angel Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. It therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary (taken from www.catholic.com)

CCC 491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God was redeemed from the moment of her conception.   

            
                                
Pope Pius IX Ineffeabilis Deus in 1854 said:  The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Fundamentalist Objections:

Romans 3:23 "all have sinned"- The author of this article from http://www.catholic.com/ says that this statement obviously excludes Jesus and a later Scripture reference Romans 9:11 stating that when Jacob and Esau were unborn babies they had done neither good nor bad.  So unborn babies are excluding from Romans 3:23 as well. 

This would indicate that the New Adam, Jesus, is excluded from this verse.  And consequently the New Eve, Mary could also be excluded from this verse.

So if Mary is without Sin is she equal to God?

No, and we only have to look at Adam, Eve and all the angels to know that although they were without sin they were not equal to God.  Being sinless does not equate being a human being.  More so it is when we strive to be sinless that we are fulfilling what God desires of us.  www.catholic.com



Two fantastic books to read if you want to learn more about Mary:  Introduction to Mary or Meet Mary: Getting to Know the Mother of God by Dr. Mark Miravelle.  Dr. Miravalle is a Mariologist.

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It is of importance to note that Catholics believe in Scripture and Tradition regarding our faith. This means that we are not 'sola scriptura'. Our belief in the Immaculate Conception has evolved through Scripture references and Sacred Tradition.   Vatican II issued the following statement about the Bible:

The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation:
"Since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation".

We acknowledge that the apostles were directed to preach the Gospel and to communicate the gifts of God to all men (CCC 75).

The apostolic preaching was handed down:

- orally:  by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves have received- whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

-writing:  by those apostles and other men who associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation in writing.  (CCC 76)

Of course this subject is a huge post in itself but I thought I would provide some background.

Great Catholic Answer Books

Here is a list of some of the fantastic books I have used to get my Catholic answers!

Catholic Questions Catholic Answers- by Fr. Kenneth Ryan (my fave)

What Catholics Really Believe- 52 Answers to common misconceptions about the Catholic faith- by Karl Keating

Why Do Catholics Do That?- A Guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church- by Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D

The Catholic Church and the Bible- by Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Are Catholics really Christians?

Are Catholics really Christians?

I had no idea that some Christians are unsure if Catholics are even Christians! I found out recently when I had a conversation with a non denominational friend.  She shared with me that as far as she had known Catholics were not considered Christians.  So from this comes the answers as to why Catholics are not only Christians but truly the first Christians! :)

1.     The word 'Catholic' first appears in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch (110 AD) to distinguish Christ's Church from heretical groups.  The word 'Christian' also originated in Antioch (Acts 11:26).  St. Ignatius' letter indicated that by 110 AD the original Christian Church was already well known as the 'Catholic Church'.   Taken directly from 'Beginning Apologetics- How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith' by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham.

 2.    Early Church Fathers and their writings tell us what the first Christians believed.  Their practices are all specific to Catholic doctrine. Taken directly from 'Beginning Apologetics- How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith' by Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham.

3.   Catechism 73:  God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever.  The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after Him.

Catechism 259 (last sentence of 259):  Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.

4.  Scriptural references:

Mark 1:11-  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

John 14:1- Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.

John 1:18- No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

John 6:46- Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God.  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father come to me.

Matthew 11:27-  All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

It is imperative that the world knows that Catholics are Christ based!  It seems almost comical to me that someone would not know that Christ is our savior and redeemer.  But truly it falls back on Catholics to remain consistent and alive in our faith.  Catholics can proclaim to the world that Jesus is King! 

Why can't priests get married?

So, why can't priests get married? Does the Catholic Church really expect these men to be celibate their entire lives? Is that even natural?

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1: Jesus and Paul both practiced celibacy during their lives.  Although some of the apostles were married, including Peter, we know that Jesus and Paul were celibate as well as Mary and Joseph. 


2. All priests take the vow of celibacy voluntarily. If you have received a call to be a priest then celibacy is a portion of that decision that must be taken into consideration before a 'yes'.


3. Clerical celibacy is not church doctrine. It is a discipline instituted since the Middle Ages. I didn't realize this until I read it. This means that it could be changed if Church leaders decided it was a beneficial decision.


4. A priest is the head of his parish. He is there to minister to the sick, the old, the yong, administer the Sacraments and so much more. Being married to the church is a 24 hour a day job (if anyone has a priest friend they can attest to this). If priests were allowed to marry there would be a divide between his devotion to the church and his devotion to his family (and if anyone knows the level of devotion it takes to be a dad they could attest to this!). Could it be done? Sure. Would it be difficult to manage the day to day needs of an entire parish and the day to day needs of a spouse and children? Definitely. This is something the early Church leaders took into consideration as they made this discipline.


5. Matthew West writes that their (the priests) celibacy, in effect, brings about “the most fruitful union in the cosmos—the union of the human and divine natures in the person of Christ. All those who live an authentic celibate vocation participate in some way in this new super-abounding spiritual fruitfulness.”


6. 1 Corinthians 7: 32-34


"An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided."


7.  In our 'sex' saturated society some would believe that it would be impossible for a man or woman to remain celibate.  This is a sad and closed view of what celibacy can be.  Anything we do can be used to glorify God.  Is it possible to remain celibate?  Yes!  Can that celibacy be used to glorify the kingdom of God? Of course.  This is actually a beautiful sacrifice that speaks volumes of the devotion and commitment that priests have to the Catholic faith.


Lord, we thank you for the faithfulness of your priests.  We pray for their intentions and their continued commitment to Your Church.  Please help us to support our priests through prayer.  Amen.




For more information about this please visit the following websites:


http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/georgesimjohnston/marriedpriests.asp

http://www.catholic.com/library/Celibacy_and_the_Priesthood.asp

Why do Catholics do that?

There are so many components to Catholicism that are misinterpreted due to lack of information. I thought I would take a few posts to break down some of the most common misconceptions and the Scriptural and Theological basis that will explain them. If you have any that you are wondering about please feel free to post your questions and I will do my best to answer them according to the Catholic faith.

Some of the most common questions:

1. Why can't priests get married?

2. Are Catholics really Christians?

3. Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to Mary?

4. Why does the Catholic Church have a devotion to the saints?

5. Why can't women be priests?

6. Why not contraception?

7. Why not IVF?

8.  I'm not Catholic but why can't I receive during Communion?

It has been my experience that the more knowledgeable we are about our faith, the easier it is to evangelize when we get in those conversations that can sometimes stump us. As we prepare for Lent let us prepare our hearts for the call to conversion in our own lives and to be a catalyst for conversion in others.

Feast Day Coloring Pages

I just love this blog.  Waltzing Matilda provides beautifully drawn coloring pages for your child.  Today being the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, I printed out a coloring sheet found here.  Check out Waltzing Matilda and have a blessed Feast day!

NOW president speaks about Tebow commerical

Really?  Really???!!

In regard to the recent Tebow ad from Focus on the Family:

That was too much for NOW president Terry O'Neill, who told the Los Angeles Times the ad glorified violence against women: "I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it. That's what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don't find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself." (my emphasis added in bold)

I am in absolute shock that the President of the NOW, the National Organization Against Women, has issued a statement exclaiming that the Tebow ad promotes domestic violence.  

The commercial is awesome.  It is not in your face pro-life... it is a true celebration of life.  It is a beautiful example of trusting in the Lord and letting God do His work.  And the result?  Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy Winner. 

NOW states that they promote equality for women.  If you know me, you know that I LOVE women's rights.  I love equality and a basic understanding that all men and women are created equal.  O'Neill, you have just made a statement that actually challenges the credibility of your organziation.  To make such an off the wall statement about this commerical is like reaching for straws.  That is the only thing you  can think to ctiticize?  Because we know it's not the message of the actual commerical that could be argued against.  Because the commerical is thoughtfully crafted so to speak to all people whether prolife or proabortion about the beauty of life.  It definitely isn't to criticize Focus on the Family for being overly critical of proabortionist because that message does not exist.

No, the only thing that could be criticized is the non-existent domestic violence message.  Yep, I am sure that's what Focus on the Family overlooked when they created a commerical to support life.  Please. 

I have to remember to pray for Ms. O'Neill and the entire NOW organization.  And I also need to pray in thanksgiving that such an amazing message was able to reach so many viewers during the Superbowl.  How amazing that a man (Tebow) in such a high position is able to use that 'power' to glorify God.  Amen!

And for your viewing pleasure I have also included a picture of Tim Tebow and his beautiful mother. 

If you haven't see the Tebow commerical yet check it out here.


Life News writes about the commerical here.

Prayers tomorrow at 9am

Hello everyone- Thanks again for all your prayers.  Tomorrow morning at 9am est my mom is getting an MRI done to look into the mass on her pancreas.  Please pray that this mass is benign.  We are well aware of the severity of pancreatic cancer and I am praying so hard that this is not something that she has.  Please know that I am so grateful for your support.  Thank you!!!

Three year olds and Mass

I took Liv to noon Mass the other day.  Everything went pretty well.  The church is really old and beautiful and of course with that comes amazing acoustics.  It feels like every noise, sound and creak she makes is amplified by 1000.  I mean it's hard enough taking a 3 year old to church when the place is full (like on Sundays) but during the week, daily Mass can be a little stressful.

Now I have to say, she did really well.  For the most part I can get her to sit and kneel.  She will play with her baby doll or sit in my lap.  But truth be told she is three and she squirms. I am working on it.  But let me tell you what doesn't help.  It does not help when there is a lady a few rows in front of you who seems highly annoyed by our presence.  Liv did have a little coat issue, 'Mom take off my coat.' 'Hold on Liv'.  'Moomm, my coat.'  It was at this point that the woman thought it would help the situation by turning around and giving us a look like Liv had just did a flip in the pews.  I couldn't believe it.  Then I realized that not everyone is blessed with the love and patience a mother must have with her three year old.  And I prayed that I could just 'let it go' and God is faithful.  It only got worse when Communion came and the lady moved a few more pews away.  I mean, moved her coat and everything.  

But don't think we won't be back to daily Mass because we will.  And don't think that this is the last of my three year old making noise.  It's bound to happen again. 

Lesson learned:  Sit toward the back?  No, take Liv's coat off right away! :)

Tebow Part II

Found this article on Tim Tebow and wanted to share it with you all. This article is AMAZING! Take a minute to read Sally Jenkin's thought as she writes for the Washington Post. The irony of this article is that the writer is actually pro-abortion ( or choice as she puts it). But her response to Tebow's commercial celebrating FAMILY is beautifully written. Did you know that in the actual ad 'abortion' is never even mentioned? NOW, the National Organization of Women has made many a statement about the inappropriateness of this message. What message? That family should be celebrated? NOW should really stop and look at what they are fighting against. If there is one thing we should all agree on, it's that the family unit is the basis of our society. And it should DEFINITELY be celebrated.



As Jenkins comments, Tebow has every bit of a right to share his point of view. And in a day and age when most celebrities are living lives filled with moral atrocities it is quite refreshing to hear a celebrity speak out positively about something moral. I am so proud that there is an individual out there who is in a position of such power and has chosen to use that power to bring more people to Christ. THAT is what it is all about. I will definitely be praying for Tebow and for the positive effect his commercial may have on our fallen society.