A School for Beginners

(The Rich Man in Hell, Seeing Lazarus Embraced by Abraham, courtesy commons.wikimedia.org) Amos is, perhaps, the harshest and most scathing of the prophets. His words are striking and clear; he leaves no room for ambiguity in condemning the sins of those whom he is preaching to, both his contemporaries and us. God is sounding a warning to us of what will happen if we become complacent in our temporal goods, reveling in them as if they were our own. He is crying out His hatred of our turning away from His commandments and pursuing our own desires and pleasures. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus, reiterating the consequences of complacency and self-indulgence. The rich man, who was complacent, self-indulgent, and completely ignored poor and starving Lazarus on his own doorstep, ends up suffering in the netherworld while Lazarus ends up in the bosom of Abraham. His petition to Abraham for Lazarus to relieve his suffering is denied precisely becaus...

Modern American culture is obsessed with profit. It is obsessed with riches and luxuries. We are taught to praise those who use cunning in order to amass more wealth than anyone could possibly have any real use for save that of the gratification of earthly desire. And yet God condemns very harshly this attitude. He condemns this materialism and devotion to earthly goods and worldly ways of gaining opulent wealth, and we hear it very clearly in the reading from Amos, wherein God says that he will not forget the works of those who take advantage of the needy for their own gain. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us a parable about a dishonest steward who goes to all of his master's debtors in order to make deals with them. He is afraid of being destitute and so does what he can to gain their favor. The master praises him for his shrewdness and Christ tells us that the children of the world are wiser in temporal wealth than the children of light are in dealing with the true wealth. Th...

With the Democratic debates going on and the revving up for another presidential election, there is a lot of emotion and clamor from both sides of the aisle. Conservatives hail President Trump as the savior of America, while liberals loathe him and compare him to genocidal dictators. Conservatives rightly complain about the corruption that is rampant in D.C. There is ample evidence of power hungry politicians who will stop at nothing in order to gain and keep their positions. They abuse their office, sometimes criminally, and tyrannize the American people. Prominent voices on the right such as Glenn Beck deem the current political problems as a Constitutional crisis. They incessantly push the narrative that in order to return to sanity we must return to Constitutional orthodoxy. They insist that we must rally around the flag and the Declaration of Independence. While there is certainly nothing wrong with patriotism, the American civil religion of both sides is nothing short of ...

"This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost." These are the words we hear from St. Paul addressed to Timothy, and, by extension, the rest of us. We are all sinners, and Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father. How? His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. For our part, we cannot be reconciled to God unless we "rise and go" to our father, as the Psalm refrain says. With the prodigal son, we must first recognize our sinfulness and then pray to God for his mercy. Even so, it can be difficult, especially in our modern culture, to recognize our sinfulness. We are taught to search for self-acceptance, self-esteem, and to believe the lie that everyone and everything is ok so long as we find pleasure in all the things we do. Jesus is the good shepherd and is not content to leave behind any of his sheep who wander. He leaves the flock in search of the lost sheep. He l...

The United States of America has been politically divided from the beginning. We had the federalists and the anti-federalists, followed by the two-party system that we have today. Relatively speaking, the argument is easily made that the positions of both parties in the past have been more cogent and particular points more easily understood than they are today whatever the truth or error contained. We see a rising emotionalism that has taken precedence over reason and charity. Conservatives rightly point out this problem among modern liberals and the logical absurdities that result from it. The hatred among the left is becoming more and more overt and their resorting to violence continues to increase. Yet conservatives aren't acquitted merely by pointing out the errors and moral corruption of their political opponents. Many conservatives have a problem of hatred and putting emotion before reason themselves. It is blatantly apparent on social media platforms such as Facebook a...

My previous post on this subject was mostly a rant in an effort to call out liberally minded Catholics and their bearing false witness regarding other Catholics. It was an effort to point out the error of taking one aspect of Catholic teaching out of context in order to justify a false, romantic narrative and support actions that would actually harm both refugees and American citizens as well as continue, rather than solve, the problem. Here I will take on some of their other arguments, hopefully in a more coherent way. Two things that I wanted to address in the previous post but didn't are: Using the claims that were made against us are inherently hateful and racist That illegal immigration is beneficial to the economy First, in criticizing fellow Catholics who use the safety arguments that were made against us coupled with the racism that has existed in this country, and that this supposed rhetoric is the return of hate, is a claim that has no evidence to support it, ...

In the Collect for today, we pray for "true freedom" and an "everlasting inheritance." In our modern culture, especially here in America, we have a faulty, and ultimately dangerous, definition of freedom. The modern idea of freedom, formalized during the "Enlightenment," is the mere absence of restraint in order to pursue whatever pleasures we want so long as we don't interfere with others' ability to do the same. Even we, as Catholics, can fall into the trap of being influenced by it. We tell ourselves that we have no business telling other people what to do, how to live their lives, or what to believe. We think that non-interference and toleration lead to peace. Yet this is a false peace and not really loving. The reading from the book of Wisdom tells us that our deliberations are timid and our plans unsure. Wounded by original sin, we are unable to gain true wisdom and see clearly on our own. The only  way we gain wisdom and the ability ...

Neither Democrats nor Republicans deny that we have a humanitarian crisis at the southern border of the United States. People are living in less than ideal conditions. Border Patrol and other law enforcement and government entities are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers that have come. Food, water, and other basic necessities are lacking for these people in need. The question is, how are we, as Catholics, to view and respond to this situation? A friend of mine recently asked me for my thoughts on a  podcast  discussing this very thing. First, it should be obvious that, as a Catholic, I am sympathetic to their arguments. Nobody of goodwill would deny the essential dignity of each and every human being. What I take issue with is when they, and other Catholics, use this as a bludgeon against those who support immigration restrictions or reform as being somehow racist, white supremacist, or xenophobic (all three terms are used). They paint them as being anti-immigration. Nothing...