A School for Beginners

The central theme of this Sunday's readings is humility. It is a virtue that is difficult to obtain. Really, it is impossible to obtain it on our own. We don't even know what true humility is. Some mistake it as self-flagellation, as accusing ourselves of all of our faults and sins; but the mistake lies not in that of itself, but leaving it there. Self-accusation is only half of the equation. The Church teaches us true humility throughout the entire Mass every time we celebrate it, but it is specifically emphasized today. The Entrance Antiphon states, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you." Following in the Collect, we ask God to "put into our hearts the love of your name" and that by "deepening our sense of reverence" God may "nurture in us what is good." Right from the beginning we are given the formula for humility. It is recognizing ...

There are times throughout the year when the readings seem rather harsh. They are difficult to hear. But they are an admonition to all of us, both individually and the Church as a whole. For example in the second reading we hear: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." It is difficult to hear that God "reproves" and "scourges" his children. Our modern culture doesn't like discipline. Indeed,  America is founded upon a "right" to absolute self-determination, where no one has a right to tell anyone else what to do. We read in the Declaration of Independence of the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit  of happiness" (emphasis mine), happiness being defined as whatever pleasure you want so long as you don't interfere with anyone else. This is contrasted with the Catholic doctrine of the attainment ...

It recently came out that, according to a Pew survey, seventy percent of Catholics don't believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, that it is really his body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine. Much has been made of them and many have tried to find blame in various causes from the failure of catechesis, failure of the hierarchy, and even bad liturgy (I place emphasis on the latter). While all of these are certainly factors of this major problem of the Church since the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, one thing is forgotten in all of this effort to place the blame. That is the problem of the thirty percent of us who do believe. We say that we believe, but do our actions reflect it? Not only during Mass but in our daily lives? When others look at us, is it obvious to them that the Eucharist is the cause of our joy and the source of our strength to accomplish the good? When I ask myself these questions I can count numerous failures on ...