Clearly Catholic

Bringing Clarity to Uncertainty in Our Church

Tag: Jesus (Page 2 of 6)

My Response to Polly Toynbee, Vice-President of UK Humanists, on The tragedy of religious baggage that comes with Christmas

December 24, 2022 /

Today’s post is my response to Polly Toynbee’s article in the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, Christmas comes with good cheer. The tragedy is the religious baggage.

By the time I reached my early twenties I had rejected Christianity and identified as an atheist for many of the reasons Ms. Toynbee mentions in this article along with my study of Marxism. However, after a series of unexpected events I decided to embrace Catholicism.

Why would I become Catholic? Was I unaware of the hypocritical Catholic politicians, priests, bishops, and popes? Never mind the abuses that some men and women committed on behalf of the church. Did I willfully ignore all this? Of course not.

Photo by Kenny Eliason from Unsplash.com

I also did not ignore the role that Catholics played in the advancement of Western Civilization. The role of Benedictine monks in the modernization of agriculture across Europe. The role of copyist monks who preserved the ancient works of Greek, Roman, and Arabic philosophers (even ones that were contrary to Christian doctrine). The founding of modern universities. Contributions to the advancement of science, particularly in physics, astronomy, and biology. One notable example is physicist and Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre, the formulator the Big Bang Theory.

Continue reading

Are You A Source of Darkness Or Light In The World?

December 21, 2022 /

On Christmas Eve of 1914 Belgian, French, and German soldiers hesitantly climbed out of their blood and mud filled trenches and navigated barbed wire to meet in “no man’s land”. They shared tobacco, drank wine, exchanged pleasantries and even played friendly games of soccer. This historical Christmas day has come to be known as “The Christmas Truce.” Soldiers who were trying to kill each other on the French battlefields of WWI a couple of hours earlier, were now enjoying each other’s company and celebrating Christmas. There wasn’t an atom of hate, as one biographer described it. 

How is it possible that groups of people who seemingly hated each other all of a sudden became close friends? 

Such acts of humility, kindness, and joy are signs of Christ’s Spirit alive in people’s hearts. This historical event shows us that God’s spirit is inside everyone. However, we have the choice to ignore or embrace that voice. On Christmas of 1914 these men embraced God’s Spirit. As a result they became liberated from hate, anger, and fear and became Jesus’s light in the most unlikely of places – a bloody, muddy, disease infected, desolate battlefield. Men who were once sources of darkness to the world became sources of light.

There’s a lot of unavoidable darkness in the world. The question we need to ask ourselves this Christmas and beyond is this: Am I going to be a source of darkness or light to the people around me? This is a decision you and I need to make every day we wake up. 

Let us pray,

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

God, my light and salvation, enable me to find joy and hope even in my darkest days. Ignite my heart so that I may be a source of joy and hope to those surrounded by darkness and doubt. Amen.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

The Persecution No One Talks About

December 17, 2022 /

Yesterday marked the beginning of the third week of Advent. This Sunday has traditionally been called by the Latin name Guadate, which translates to “joyful” and is marked by lighting the pink candle on the Advent wreath. The reason this Sunday depicts joy is because it marks the second last Sunday of Advent before the birth of Jesus.

For many Christians around the world Advent is a time of fear. While it is rarely spoken about in our media, in the last 20 years Christians have been the most persecuted and displaced religious group around the world, particularly in the Middle East, and parts of northern, Sub-Saharan and Western Africa. For example, Syria contains the only majority Christian town that has Aramaic as its official language – the language that Jesus spoke. Between 2011 and 2013, Churches have been bombed, Christian icons (some well over 1000 years old) have been destroyed, and priests publicly executed. In Syria in 2011, there were 1.7 million Christians, today there are less than 450 000. In Iraq, the Christian population shrunk from 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 120 000 today. Even in Biblical areas such as Gaza and the West Bank the Christian population plummeted from 11 percent to less than 1 percent in the last 100 years. 

Many Christians in the Middle East are ethnically Assyrians, Suryani, or Coptic. These ethnic groups are indigenous to the lands and are even mentioned in the Old Testament. 

A couple years ago I met a Coptic Christian Egyptian man, who was staying at a monastery outside Cairo, Egypt. The monastery attacked and his life was spared because the attackers saw his peaceful faith in God even in the face of death. Another gentleman, I met 12 years ago, who today runs an NGO smuggling persecuted religious minorities out of the Middle East, shared with me that when he was a young man the Cairo police arrested and tortured him because he was found with a Bible. Even in our school, there are Middle Easter Christians who have escaped with their lives. I am grateful for their stories. 

On a hopeful note many of these Christian have chosen to immigrate to Canada where they can live out their faith in peace, not only among their own communities, but among other religious communities as well. Today, let us pray for the families of Middle Eastern Christians who have started a new life in Canada and for those who continue to live in their homeland. 

Let us pray,

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Lord Jesus, we thank you for loving us. We thank you for the gift of your Middle Eastern followers., especially those who are part of our school community. We pray that those who are experiencing persecution for their faith be comforted by Your loving presence. We pray especially for those who had to flee for their lives and have become separated from their families. Invite into your loving presence those who have unjustly lost their lives because of their Christian faith. We pray this in Your name. Amen. 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

 

Why You Will Never Be Happy

November 27, 2020 /

Reflection & Prayer – November 27, 2020

Story of Michael

By his mid 30s Michael became a successful entrepreneur and social activist for his community in Birmingham, Alabama. After a life of hardship, growing up to a single mom, making bad financial decisions that cost him his home, car and first business, Michael felt that he finally “rose from the ashes.” 

By Teddy Osterblom from Unsplash

Mike was on his way to pick up his mat black 2019 Audi A7. It was going to be the first new car he has ever owned. Mike arrives at the dealership, he’s handed the keys, and off he drives. 

 

He pulled out of the dealership in his brand new Audi and rolled to a stop at a red light. While waiting at the lights Mike noticed a trailer pulling into the dealership carrying the 2020 models of the car he just bought. 

 

The adrenaline he felt from driving his new Audi for less than a minute immediately disappeared as his eyes watered over the newest model. He quickly turned around and entered the dealership desperate to buy a 2020 model. 

 

Thankfully for Mike, sanity kicked in when he realised that, not only could he not afford the latest model, but that he would lose 25% on the car he just got minutes ago. 

 

Black Friday and Consumerism

 

As many people in the world flock to get the best deals on this Black Friday and the upcoming Cyber Monday, Michael’s story should remind us of one important lesson: 

 

We have the tendency to confuse gratification with satisfaction.  

 

Gratification is a high that never fulfils itself. 

 

If you’ve ever bought something only to forget about it a short while later, you know things do not satisfy. Things do not satisfy our longing for fulfillment and peace. In fact they do the opposite, they disturb our peace. 

 

It’s ok to like nice and shiny things, but it’s not ok for your desire for these things to control you. 

 

Finally, when you do shop, be conscious of the items you are buying. Recognize that every item you purchase has the fingerprints of another human being on it. The question to ask yourself, do those finger prints belong to someone who received a fair, living wage or to someone who has been unjustly exploited. 

 

Jesus says, ‘What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?“

 

Regarding consumerism… 

 

Carolyn Knapp says “Consumerism thrives on emotional voids.”

 

Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter said, “Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and pleasure.”

 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Advertising tries to stimulate our sensuous desires, converting luxuries into necessities, but it only intensifies man’s inner misery. The business world is bent on creating hungers which its wares never satisfy, and thus it adds to the frustrations and broken minds of our times.”

 

Let us pray,

 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

 

Lord Jesus, I thank you for all the good possessions in my life. On this Black Friday help me to recognize the human value attached to all my belongings. Help me to recognize that real fulfilment does not come from things, but from a solid friendship with you. I pray for the people around the world who endure unjust working conditions only to make ends meet. Help us as a society to recognize the inherent dignity of every human person, especially exploited workers around the globe who are fighting for their dignity day in and day out. 

 

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

 

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Why is Jesus So Mean?

August 11, 2020 /

I remember as a child playing on my great grandparent’s farm in Romania. The family would often gather on the farm to look after the crops. 

Courtesy of Egor Vihkrev from Unsplash.com

One of the most laborious jobs was cutting off dead branches from fruit trees. Like weeds that choke out plants in gardens so do dead branches “choke” trees and inhibit their ability to produce many good fruits. 

 

The dead branches were thrown into a pile and eventually burned. They didn’t fulfil the purpose for which they were created and were thrown aside.

 

For Jesus we are analogous to the branches on fruit trees. In John 15:5 Jesus says,

 

I  am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (verse 6). 

 

If our lives are not rooted in Jesus we can achieve “nothing” in the same way a branch apart from a tree withers and dies. 

 

By “nothing” I don’t mean sitting around and relaxing. Unfortunately, we are very good at being busy and doing things, but that doesn’t mean being “useful” in the spiritual sense. 

 

Blind business is not holiness. 

 

By patiently asking the Holy Spirit to guide you in your day you will achieve more meaningful and fulfilling things then if you just were busy for the sake of being busy. 

 

My devotion to Jesus gives me focus and context. 

 

Avoiding the Flames

 

Jesus continues to say,

 

If a man [or woman] does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 

 

This sounds harsh. Is Jesus saying if our lives are not rooted in a friendship with him we will end up in hell? ….Yes. 

 

If you and I know that we have the choice to root our lives in a friendship with Jesus, yet we intentionally strive to live apart from his love, hell is a logical consequence in the same way death is a logical consequence of a branch that is cut off from its host tree. Except in our case we cut ourselves off from our source of life. 

 

Conversely, if we continuously strive to be rooted in Jesus we will experience life to the fullest and bear fruit beyond our greatest imagination. 

 

In Christ. 

Loving God All Our Heart When We Can’t See Him…?

November 3, 2018 /

 

Looking to outsmart Jesus a scribe asks, “Which is the first of all commandments?” Jesus responds: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” Jesus continues: “The second is this: You shall your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Isn’t it strange that the scribe asked Jesus for one commandment, yet Jesus answers with two commandments? Did Jesus not hear correctly? Did Mark make a grammatical mistake? I don’t think so.

Keep in mind that the gospel writers did not have Microsoft Word where they can start writing without much thought and not have to worry about using up paper. Papyrus went for a premium in the ancient Near East, so those who were able to afford it used it with intention. So why did Jesus respond with two commandments instead of one?

#LoveIsLove….?

I think the answer is quite clear; you can’t have one without the other. Skeptics or atheists may respond by saying that they don’t believe in God, much less love him, yet they are capable of loving their neighbour. I agree, you don’t need to love God to love your neighbour. As a Catholic Christian I believe that every human person is created in the image of God. Since God is love (see 1 John) he can only create out of love; therefore, it follows that humans are created from love to love (though sin distorts authentic love).

Yet when I was an atheist I found it difficult to find an objective source for what we call love. Is love merely a feeling associated with survival that is the result of an evolutionary process. Do we love in order to survive. We know that’s not always true. Many people throughout history loved to the point of suffering and even death.

In our relativistic society some believe that love is subjective, evidenced by popular phrases as #LoveIsLove. This is an incoherent phrase because if anyone can define love to be whatever they wish. Love is…euthanizing one’s neighbour; Love is…aborting one’s neighbour; Love is…a cozy feeling towards my cat. Love can quickly be twisted into something unrecognizable if the source of love is not affirmed in our lives.

Everyone appears to have a sense of love, yet no one can point to one love that is perfect – a love that is not lacking. Yet, we all have a sense of perfect love – the sense that things can always be better. The source of this perfect love, I believe, is God, whose very essence is love.

Tapping into the Right Source

So if we acknowledge God as perfect love and ground ourselves in Him we tap into the source of authentic love and we can learn to see our neighbours a little bit more like God sees them.
We all know the saying, “You are what you eat.” I believe we also are what worship. Does this mean if we worship God we can become gods ourselves? Of course not. We can no more become a god anymore than we can become the salad we had for dinner. Like food that can effect our physical health, our object of worship affects our spiritual health, which in turn affects how we treat others around us.

The process of learning to see things as God sees them is called “theosis.” When we love God with all our heart, mind and soul it becomes impossible to not see the inherent dignity of other people, independent of their social status, personal struggles or utility.

Getting to Know Perfect Love

So if we want to love our neighbour to our fullest potential then we must tap into perfect love first. Tap into God.

Luckily, we as Christians believe that God became human in the person of Jesus Christ, so knowing God and loving him becomes a little easier. St. Paul writes that Jesus has become “the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). God is no longer an abstract concept or entity, but a person, so it can become a little easier to love him.

I can only speak for myself, but there is a major difference in how I see the people closest to me and even those who I may not like that much since becoming a Christian. Knowing Jesus allows me to know others as Jesus knows them. That changes everything.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Clearly Catholic

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑