Theology: Eternal Life: When and How?

I usually don't just copy-and-paste like this, but I want these thoughts all in one place before I write a blog post about it; since it's here, it might as well be public. I said I wasn't going to blog during Lent, but that didn't stop me from taking part in numerous threads at Catholic Answer Forums, including a lengthy one on the Catholic understanding of Eternal Life. The final post I made was an on-the-spot interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

I'll follow this up with a regularly-formatted blog post in the near future. For now, feel free to comment on the posts I've copied and pasted.

---

Eternal life -- that is, as opposed to eternal death (as contradictory as it sounds) -- is given to those who endure to the end (cf. Matt 10:22). Eternal life is a direct result of perseverance in a temporal life being lived in Christ. Contrast that with the temporal life lived in Christ until the times get tough (Matt 13:18-23):

Quote:

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Not all who hear the Word understand it. Not all who understand it believe it. Not all who believe it let it take hold in them. It is not for us to say "so-and-so has eternal life". Even Paul wasn't sure of his own salvation: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:25-27) Paul admits he constantly fights against his body (that is, his fleshly impulses).

The letter to the Hebrews stresses that we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (Heb 2:1).

Peter's second letter refers to the possibility of being led astray by false teachers who contort Scripture: And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. (2 Pet 3:15-17) If we are to beware lest we lose our stability, surely that stability must be related to our salvation.

The love of God is unconditional; we can only love because He first loved us. However, salvation is conditional. Jesus, Paul, and Peter make that abundantly clear.

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socrates4Jesus "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." -- Jesus Christ (John 14:15-17)

You left out something VERY important in your citation. Allow me to include it for you:

-- Jesus Christ to his Apostles (John 14:15-17)

Jesus is talking specifically to the Apostles at the Last Supper. He's not staring off into space, dreamy-eyed, he's talking to the first 12 members of his Church. He's speaking to the Church. Throughout this chapter, certain Apostles ask questions, and Jesus answers them. Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus responds (John 14:9-21):

Quote:

"Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. "I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

The Spirit is in the Church; it will be in the Church for ever (cf. John 14:16). The world cannot accept the Spirit, because it does not know him. The Church knows and accepts the Spirit, but a single member of the Church who returns to the worldly way of life will not be with the Spirit.

If we assume that Jesus is speaking to every future Christian individually, you will run into the problem of the Spirit being with a person who stops loving Jesus. Let's look at a timeline:

1. I love Jesus, therefore I keep his commandments. (cf. John 14:15)
2. Jesus prays to the Father and the Father sends the Counselor to be with me forever. (cf. John 14:16)
3. I stop loving Jesus and disobey his commandments.
4. The Spirit remains with me. (See #2)

So if I go to Hell, is the Spirit of God, the Counselor, with me in Hell? What purpose is that serving?

So the typical response is to say either a) "you won't stop loving Jesus" or b) "if you stopped loving him, you never really loved him in the first place, so you never got the Spirit". That's what happens when you don't understand that the Spirit resides in the Church and therefore in all members of the Church.

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socrates4Jesus Can anyone else think of another passage of the Bible that explains John 5:24? "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

There are two ways of understanding this statement of Jesus; one follows from a belief in universal predestination (God has destined some of us to salvation and some of us to condemnation), the other follows from a belief in the active participation of each person in the life of grace and faith offered to us by God.

Consider: "Whoever crosses the finish line first has the gold medal." Does one have the gold medal before finishing the race? No, the gold medal is the result for completing the race first.

Consider: "Whoever crosses the finish line first has great speed." Does one have great speed before finishing the race? Yes, winning the race is the result of being tall.

So which is Jesus saying? Which is the cause, the belief or the eternal life? Catholics believe the former, that eternal life is the result of belief in Jesus Christ; many Protestant denominations believe the latter, that only those who have eternal life can (and will) believe in Jesus. They see "eternal life" as a line (that is, stretching infinitely in both directions) rather than as a ray (that is, an infinite length with a definite starting point).

As for passages of Scripture that support the Catholic doctrine in this regard, I find Peter's shaky history an excellent example. Let's go through a series of pericopes and try to determine the status of Peter's "eternal life":

Quote:

So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matt 10:32-33, cf. Luke 12:8-9)

Quote:

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 16:15-17)

Quote:

Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And so said all the disciples. (Matt 26:34-35)

Quote:

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." And again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man." After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matt 26:69-75)

Quote:

if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us. (2 Tim 2:12)

So, did Peter have eternal life when he professed, by the grace of God, that Jesus was the Christ? How could Peter have professed that Jesus was Christ in the midst of the Apostles (either gaining eternal life, or as a sign he has eternal life) and denied Jesus in front of many witnesses (clearly an act for which he would be denied by Jesus)?

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by petra Respectfully, Japhy, the scriptures disagree with you. While eternal life is also something we hope for (Hebrews 10:3), it is also something that we can presently have.

I think the Scriptures point to eternal life as an inheritance that we must come in to, in order to actually "have" or "receive" it. Here's a look through Scripture; this isn't exhaustive, but contains passages which I believe point to the "inheritance" idea, as well as some which are less certain:

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Dan 12:2) At the resurrection is the realization of everlasting life in our entire bodies (as opposed to just our souls).

"And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." (Matt 19:29) An inheritance is a promise of a future receipt.

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14) Note Paul does not say "sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit". He says we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (which we had been promised), and that is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:11-12) It's like the best "junk" mail ever: "You are already qualified to inherit Eternal Life!"

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. (Col 3:23-24) We will receive our inheritance.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. (Heb 9:15) The eternal inheritance has been promised, but only those who are called will receive it.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. (1 Pet 1:3-4) Our promise of eternal life is realized in a heaven.

And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 18:18) More inheritance.

And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30) We receive sustinence from God in "this time", and eternal life "in the age to come" (which I interpret as meaning at the end of time).

"And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matt 25:46) The righteous go into eternal life at the Judgment.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14-16) The juxtaposition of "eternal life" and "perishing" speaks to the ultimate destiny of our bodies.

"But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) The "water" of Jesus produces a spring, which wells up to eternal life, as if filling a well which measures the completeness of our sanctification, the result being eternal life.

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal. ... He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:27, 54) If this is not to contradict with the rest of Scriptures, I think Jesus is speaking of an inheritance acquired by eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

(continued)

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28) Jesus is again juxtaposing the giving of eternal life (salvation) with perishing (being condemned).

"And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3) I guess this is the definition of eternal life, eh? Knowing God is something we accomplish when we are face to face with Him; we know the Father through the Son, but we will know God in His Completeness when we see Him.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48) To "ordain" means "to dictate, to decree; to pre-arrange; to establish". I think this fits in with the "inheritance" economy.

But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. (Rom 2:5-8) On the day of judgment, God gives eternal life to the righteous.

But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. (Rom 6:21-22) Upon submitting ourselves to the will of God, we begin the process of sanctification, the end of which is eternal life.

For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Gal 6:8) Eternal life is the "crop", a life in the Spirit is the "seed".

Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Tim 6:12) I think Paul is challenging them to live their lives as though they have already received what was promised to them, or else he's using emphasis to say "wake up and live like a Christian!"

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago. (Tit 1:2) We are in the hope of eternal life, which is a promise from God.

So that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life. (Tit 3:7) We are heirs to eternal life (our inheritance).

And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. (1 John 2:25) It is a promise to be realized.

Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15) This is tricky. I think it means that eternal life is a part of us, so long as we are in Christ. That is, eternal life is due to the dwelling of the Spirit of God in us, and so no one without the Spirit of God dwelling in him (such as an unrepentant murderer) has eternal life within him.

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 3:11-13) This (which you quoted) is also kind of tricky to reconcile with the previous Scriptures. I think the key is that John says "this life is in his Son", so eternal life isn't "had" as a possession is had, it's "had" in the sense that we abide in it (as it abides in us) when we are in Christ. I'm open to other interpretations, so long as they don't end up contradicting the previous passages.

But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 20-21) I think this speaks towards the inheritance of eternal life as the "final act of mercy", if you will, of Jesus Christ to us who remain in him.

---

In another, simpler approach to John 17:3, if eternal life is God, then if one "has" eternal life, one "has" God, or one is in God. As petra stated, it's not your possession of the life which is eternal, but rather, eternity is a quality of that life, and as long as you are a partaker in that life, you are a partaker in eternity. You can lose (or deny) that knowledge of God, and thus be apart from it, but that doesn't change the fact that the eternal life is God.

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by petra However, they do not preclude that a specific quality of eternal life can be experienced now. Scriptures and the Catechism support this. It is both. We can have eternal life now, and it is also our future inheritance if we remain in Christ.

Ah, we find agreement. Yes, I agree with you now. The bolded part of your response clears things up for me, especially in light of 1 Tim 6:12 (Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.)

---

2 Peter 1:10-11... choose your translation. Preface (2 Peter 1:3-9) is from the RSV:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

(RSV) Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(NAB) Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble. For, in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

(KJV) Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It sounds like Peter is saying it is our duty to make certain (or sure, or firm) our calling and election. We must make sure of it, so that we will not fall. How do we do that? By manifesting the qualities found in the first verses of the letter: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. But not only must we have these, they must abound! The person in whom they are not present, or are shown grudgingly (that is, not aboundingly) has forgotten that he was cleansed of his sin; it doesn't say he was never "elect" or never forgiven in the first place, it says he forgot that he was forgiven (and therefore, what was expected of him in return).

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by guanophore Peter lied to save his own skin. that is not the same as denying his belief in Christ. He never stopped believing that Jesus was/is the messiah. He just got scared.

I disagree that it was that simple.

"So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 10:32-33)

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matt 13:18-23)

Jesus is talking about people being ashamed of him when the situation for a faithful witness to Christ comes about, a situation that may be a tribulation or persecution. When Peter had to follow through on his promise to Jesus (not to deny him but rather to die with him)... he couldn't. Whether or not he lost his faith in Jesus is not the issue -- if he lost it, certainly he regained it -- but that he was afraid for himself because of Jesus and denied having anything to do with Jesus, lest harm come to him.

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socrates4Jesus I agree that there is no doubt these are things all Christians should do. After all Jesus suffered to bring us to the Father, how can we do anything else?

Well, specifically, we are called to share in his suffering, which for us is manifested not only by dealing with the temptation of sin, but with persecution. Paul litters his epistles with the theme of suffering with Christ so as to share in Christ's rejoicing; Peter's letters contain the theme as well. Here are a few passages:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Rom 8:15-18)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Cor 1:3-5)

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. (Phil 1:29)

[T]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil 3:10-12)

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Col 1:24) Yes, Paul said it! Our sufferings are a necessary part of the ongoing sanctification of the Church! Of course, he does not say that Jesus's sacrifice was lacking, and the Catholic Church wholeheartedly agrees.

Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God. (2 Tim 1:8)

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Tim 2:3)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13)

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socrates4Jesus The doubt with which i am struggling is whether eternal life (and heaven itself) is one of the rewards or is a gift for which i can do nothing to merit or earn.

Eternal life is our inheritence from God our Father, if we are truly His children by being truly brothers and sisters of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. An inheritence is not "earned" or "merited" except through sonship; but to denounce sonship is to denounce the inheritence. Does this make sense to you?

Let me put it to you the way Jesus did, in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The rash youth decides he wants to go his own way, and his father accepts his son's decision and gives the boy his share of the property at that time. The son squanders away his property and wealth and eventually realizes he must return to his father, if only so that he can survive (cf. 15:17)! He decides he will say, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants." (15:18-19). Notice the son doesn't even ask to be forgiven -- just that he be treated as a servant. He does not consider himself worthy of an inheritence, just a laborer's wage!

Does he get to say it all? No, his father cuts him off after "I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (cf. 15:21-22). What the son has just said is an admission of guilt ("I have sinned"), and an act of contrition and humility ("I am not worthy"). The boy's father -- who has already embraced and kissed him before the boy even spoke -- knows the penitence of the boy and celebrates his return. His return from what? The father says "my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" (15:24). Was the lost son, the dead son going to receive an inheritence if he remained dead and lost to his father? All the hoping in the world, on the father's part, would not have brought his son back if the son had not actually returned.

And what does the son receive upon his return? Is it something the father would have given to a hired servant? No, the son receives a fine robe, a ring, shoes for his feet, a fatted calf, and a feast and celebration (cf. 15:22-23). This is part of the inheritence, part of the joys of sonship. Truly he did not "merit" or "earn" such gifts -- this is attested to by the faithful son who feels cheated, because he did not receive such things. The father tells the faithful son "all that is mine is yours" (15:31), and so it is revealed that the gifts of the father are bestowed on his children as he wishes and not by any merit of their own.

What the son took with him when he left was not his proper inheritence. He returned to his inheritence only when he returned to the father. His real inheritence never disappeared, he was only disqualified from it.

Fr. Cantalamessa at Seton Hall: Recap

What follows is a recap of the talk given by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa at the Evening of Spiritual Renewal at Seton Hall University on February 21, 2007. Exact quotes (as best I was able to write them) from the talk are denoted not just by quotes, but with blue text as well.

---

Come, Creator Spirit!
Fr. Cantalamessa began by reminding us of the words of the prayer Veni, Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit). Creation, he said, renews us. Creation is an ongoing process, not something God completed eons ago, but something we see happening even today. Creation is recognized by the transformation of chaos into order: at the beginning of time, it was the creation of the whole cosmos. Today, some of the most profound creation is taking place in ourselves, in our hearts. Our hearts are chaotic, but the Holy Spirit is continually working within us to transform our hearts. The "cosmos of our hearts", so to speak, is Christian harmony.

Ash Wednesday
Marking the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday reminds us of the call to repentance. The first reading at the Ash Wednedsay Mass this year, Joel 2:12-18, begins thus: Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. When we receive the ashes on our forehead, we hear one of two verses from Scripture; Fr. Cantalamessa focused on that of Mark 1:15: "Repent, and believe in the gospel." This call to repentance shows up at three key places in New Testament Scripture: at the beginning of the ministry of Christ, immediately after the Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles at Pentecost, and in the book of Revelation.

To repent means, broadly, to "make a U-turn". When we sin, we break the covenant -- the everlasting covenant -- God has made with us through the blood of Jesus Christ. In order to re-enter the covenant, we must choose the opposite of sin: the way of life. The Greek word used in Mark 1:15 is metanoia (μετανοῖεν), which means "a change of mind" and is translated most often in Scripture as "repent". To repent, in the context of Jesus Christ, does not mean "to go back", but rather, it means "to go forward and enter the kingdom".

Repent #1: Believe in the Gospel!
Christianity is the religion of grace. In the end, it is not about what we must do, but what God has already done for us, without which there would be no hope of salvation! Faith comes first (Mark 1:15); Jesus says that those who wish to enter the kingdom must "turn and become like children" (Matthew 18:3), referring to the total dependence of a child upon his parents: in the same way, we must have that same kind of dependence on our heavenly Father. Fr. Cantalamessa said that children ask for things, not as if they deserved them, but with the notion that they would receive them. In the same way, knowing we do not deserve anything from God, we must rely totally on His love and mercy, becoming "beggars in faith".

We are made by God in such a way that we can make an act of faith, one in which we open our hearts to Jesus and let him enter into our lives. For this reason, Fr. Cantalamessa focused our attention on Romans 10:9: if we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved! Penance, endurance in faith, doing God's will, yes, these things are important too, but they come later.

Before moving on to Repent #2, he likened Jesus to an unexpected visitor who drops by a house. The owner quickly closes the doors to the messy rooms and directs the visitor's attention to the neat and tidy living room, where the owner feels more comfortable (and less embarrassed). It cannot be so with Jesus: he "did not come to call the righteous but sinners" (Matthew 9:13). We must be willing to lead Jesus into the messy rooms of our lives, the ones in disarray and disorder. We must not be so ashamed of our brokenness that we deny it and refuse to fix it. This is what repentence means.

Repent #2: Pentecost
Fr. Cantalamessa said (eliciting applause from the crowd) that Peter promulgated a dogmatic and infallible statement on that Pentecost: "But God raised [Jesus] up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." (Acts 2:24) The result of Peter's preaching was that 3000 people were convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit, and so they asked, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) In response, Peter says, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

Fr. Cantalamessa said that God is "powerless before a repentant heart", meaning (as I understand it) that God, as He is, has no other recourse than to forgive a repentant person of their sin. This repentance is not just substituting one mindset for another, of choosing A instead of B, it is taking on and accepting the mentality, exacting and absolute, of God. It is recognizing that God is Innocent, and that the evil and sin we see in this world depends on us.

He brought up Ezekiel 9 and spoke about how the "mark" on the foreheads of those who mourned for the abominations committed in Jerusalem (cf. Ezekiel 9:4). The Hebrew word for "mark" comes from the Hebrew letter taw (ת). It is understood that the shape of this letter has changed since antiquity and once was drawn similar in appearance to the tau of Greek (τ), a cross similar to a "T". Pope Innocent III, in opening the Fourth Lateran Council (in 1215), said "We are called to reform our lives, to stand into the presence of God as righteous people. God will know us by the sign of the tau, T, marked on our foreheads." The tradition of receiving ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross is an application of this vision given to Ezekiel.

Repent #3: Churches in need of Revival
In Revelation 2-3, John records "letters" to seven churches. These letters contain praise... and reproach. "Wake up and repent!" is the message to the church in Sardis (cf. Revelation 3:2-3). This is a call for "revival" and "awakening".

Fr. Cantalamessa then went into his personal story of recognition of what is known as the "Charismatic Renewal" in the Catholic Church, which he says started in and with Vatican II. Some 30 years ago, he was at Convent Station (near Morristown, NJ), attending a retreat focusing on the Trinity. While there, he had an encounter with Jesus. He saw a vision of himself on a chariot, holding the reins: this indicated him, Fr. Cantalamessa, in control of his life. Then Jesus appeared next to him and asked, "Do you want to hand me the reins?" He was overwhelmed at first, but then assented to Jesus's simple request: to let Jesus have control of his life.

He then had a new-found respect and appreciation for the Charismatic Renewal, something of which, prior to his visit to Convent Station, he had been a critic and skeptic, even considering himself an "adversary". Upon his return to Italy, his change of heart was so noticed and well-received that his friends and family said they had sent Saul to the United States, and Paul returned to them!

Later, had had another vision: Jesus, coming from the Jordan, passed by him and said to him: "If you want to help me, leave everything and follow me." To Fr. Cantalamessa, this was confusing at first: here he was, a Capuchin Franciscan friar, who had taken a vow of poverty, and Jesus was asking him to "leave everything"? We all chuckled with him. Then he realized that he was still attached. He decided to resign his professorship at a university, and became an itinerant preacher, just as St. Francis of Assisi had been. This continued until 1980 when he accepted Pope John Paul II's invitation to him to be the Preacher to the Papal Household, a position he still holds today.

Conclusion
Fr. Cantalamessa concluded by asking a few questions. "Who shall wake us up? Who shall renew this renewal? The very newness must be renewed!" he said. We must pray to the Holy Spirit for the same zeal we had when first we were touched by God's amazing gift of grace in Jesus Christ. Drawing from Psalm 104:30, he closed with "Send out your Spirit, renew the face of the earth!"

He received a lot of applause, which became a standing ovation, which he, in his wisdom and humility, directed to God, turning toward the Crucifix on the wall behind him and joining in the standing ovation.

For more information on the evening, you can read article in the National Catholic Reporter.

What's wrong with the liturgy?

So I'm reading the General Instruction for the Roman Missal (GIRM) at the Catholic Center at Rutgers today, in between the C. S. Lewis discussion group and my class. Someone asks what I'm reading, I show them, and when I'm asked why I'm reading it in particular, I say I'm a "liturgist". I use this term to mean I appreciate and respect the liturgy of the Roman Rite and want to understand it to the best of my ability and be aware of the norms, if only so that I can (to whatever extent) make sure it is performed properly and reverently at my parish.

This person then says something like, "A liturgist? We make jokes about you guys." I responded with, "I'm a liturgist, not a liturgeist," to which he says, "Oh, so you have a soul."

I'm not entirely sure if he was just making a joke about geist meaning "ghost" (therefore, since I'm not a liturgeist, I've got a body and a soul?). What I should have said (although I suppose caritas intervened) was "It's better to make a joke of me than of the liturgy."

What's wrong with the liturgy? I don't mean, "what needs to be fixed", I mean, "why are people so bent on changing it". And I don't mean, "why are people pressing for more faithful (that is, accurate) translations of the Latin text of the Rite", I mean, "why should every Catholic and his brother have their 'own' liturgy"?

There are reasons we have documents like the GIRM, Sacrosanctum Concilium, and other texts on the proper conduct and form of the Mass. There's a reason we have norms and why we're supposed to follow them. There's a reason communion is a communal thing: we're worshiping God in the same way, together, as a family, not as pew 1, pew 2, pew 3a and 3b, pew 4, etc. We don't need separate liturgies and Rites of the Mass for separate age-groups or genders or occupations or political affiliations, we need to respect the liturgy we have and conduct ourselves accordingly.

Bring back Gregorian chant (and scholas)! Bring back Latin! Combine the two: let's return to praying the Sanctus and the Pater Noster and the Agnus Dei. I've recently started saying Night Prayer in Latin to the extent I can.

Let's regain some reverence for Jesus! Bow your head at his name, at the name of Mary, at the names of the three Divine Persons. Bow your head before receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament. I'm not making these up, these are norms, these are standards of Catholic behavior. Check paragraphs 160, 161, and 275 in the GIRM (see the link on the left side of my blog). Maybe we could work on our posture too. And not chew gum during Mass. Maybe?

It's not as hard as it sounds. Or maybe it is. And maybe it should be.

Lessons learned from Lent

1. Daily Mass is great, especially since I was awake anyway.
2. Eucharistic fasting every day is a discipline that takes a lot of concentration.
   
3. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours is an easy way to revive my personal prayer life.
4. Retreats help me focus on the Lenten journey of Christ.
5. Receiving Communion on the tongue is... something. A good something. I can't think of the noun or adjective to use.
   
6. I love being a Lector.
7. The Triduum never ceases to move me; the Easter Vigil is phenomenal.
   
8. I missed Alleluia.
9. There's a lot of literature from the Vatican; two down, a billion to go.
   
10. It was a crazy idea to be silent on my blog during Lent -- I'm going to be incredibly busy writing posts the whole Easter season.
11. Latin is a beautiful language.
    
12. The Son also rises.

Alleluia, Christ is risen. Amen!

Maintain Radio Silence

I'm trying to do more listening than writing during Lent, so I won't have any new material up here until Easter. I'm going to let myself be absorbed in Holy Week and the Triduum. I'll have plenty to write about, though. A retreat tomorrow (hosted by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal), a retreat next weekend down the shore (with the Aquinas Institute, Princeton University's Roman Catholic Chaplaincy), reflections on Deus Caritas Est and Sacramentum Caritatis, plus the experiences of the Triduum capped with the initiation of Jenna and Lindsay at the Easter Vigil Mass.

Retreat: Adoration Scripture

This is the fifth in a series of posts dedicated to the Sons and Daughters of the Light retreat. First was an overview of the weekend. Second was a lengthy and detailed recap of the events. This post is simply a selection of Scripture I meditate on during Adoration.

---

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19
• Samuel sleeping in the midst of the Ark
• 1 Kings 19:4-13a
• Elijah hearing the Word of God in the silence
• John 6:43-69
• The Bread of Life discourse
• Matthew 17:1-8
• Transfiguration
• Matthew 26:36-41
• Jesus in Gethsemane
• Luke 24:13-35
• The Road to Emmaus
  

Theology: C. S. Lewis Society at Rutgers

I went up to campus (Rutgers, New Brunswick) earlier than usual on Tuesday to see what the Campus Catholic Center was like, and as I approached the house, two doors down was the Campus Episcopal Center with an advertisement outside for a meeting of the "C. S. Lewis Society at Rutgers" that evening from 6:30 to 7:30, talking about Lewis's book The Great Divorce (0060652950). My fiancée and I had just seen a stage adaptation of the book performed at Theatre 315 in NYC (a theatre in partnership with the Salvation Army), so of course I was interested in attending the meeting that night. It turns out that the other seven people at the meeting had also been at that showing.

The next book on their schedule is The Abolition of Man (0060652942). I'll be making another early trip in a few weeks to attend that meeting.

Special Event: Fr. Cantalamessa at Seton Hall

On Ash Wednesday, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher to the Papal Household, will be at Seton Hall leading an "Evening of Spiritual Renewal". I'll be there, along with a couple people from my parish (one is currently in RCIA, the other is her husband who will be receiving confirmation) and a handful of people from the retreat I was on last month.

You can be sure I will have a notebook on hand and will be taking notes meticulously. I might even try to have an audio recorder with me. As my brother Charlie said, he's the preacher to the Pope -- he's got to be good. And indeed, he is. His web site has several of his homilies and talks, and zenit.org posts many of them as well.

Just what the plan for the evening is, I don't know; this much I know: it will be Ash Wednesday, the start of the liturgical season of Lent, during which we prepare ourselves physically and spiritually for the commemoration of the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That alone should set the tone for Fr. Cantalamessa's talk Wednesday night.

Retreat: Christianity is a Marriage

This is the fourth in a series of posts dedicated to the Sons and Daughters of the Light retreat. First was an overview of the weekend. Second was a lengthy and detailed recap of the events. What follow are thoughts about the retreat from my own perspective and experiences.

---

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)

I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. (2 Corinthians 11:2)

Tracey talked about realizing that, instead of praying for God to be in her life, she should have been praying to be in God's life. That is, God is already in her life, He is in all of our lives, He manifest Himself in flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. What's remaining is for us to be in Him. God came to be with us in the flesh so that we could be with God in spirit.

Then she reintroduced us to the marriage vows: she read them as between God and us individually. "I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of My life." To hear those words coming from God, and then to say them back to Him, adds another dimension to marriage. Tracey used the example of her life being a marriage ceremony to Christ. She pictures herself maybe three-quarters of the way down the aisle.

So picture yourself in a church, whether it be a quiet chapel or a grand cathedral. You are walking down the aisle to Christ, to marry yourself to Christ and devote yourself entirely to him as he has devoted himself entirely to you. Christ is the Bridegroom, the Church is the Bride, and so all who make up the Church are spouses of Christ as well.

Picture the aisle of the church, with Christ at one end. He does not stand at the altar, he stands in place of the altar: he is the Priest and Victim. As you look to your left and right, you see row after row of pews. The walk down the aisle is not an easy one, because you must leave your burdens (to which you are so attached) behind to take up the yoke of Christ. How easy it would be to just stop and sit in a pew, instead of advancing down the aisle to Christ.

Don't let yourself be a spectator, a visitor, at your own wedding to Christ. Don't settle for less than Christ himself.

Retreat: God is Light

This is the third in a series of posts dedicated to the Sons and Daughters of the Light retreat. First was an overview of the weekend. Second was a lengthy and detailed recap of the events. What follow are thoughts about the retreat from my own perspective and experiences.

---

God is light and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

The title and theme of the retreat was "Sons and Daughters of the Light". At first, I thought it was a rather "enlightened" title, slightly pretentious. But that disappeared completely when Sam gave his introductory talk on Friday night. We weren't going to the retreat to identify (and separate or sequester) ourselves as "Sons and Daughters of the Light", we were at the retreat because we recognized ourselves as the adopted sons and daughters of God, the True Light of the World. The weekend was an opportunity to renew the recognition, to remember our responsibilities, and to strengthen one another in our lives of faith.

Light receives a lot of attention in Scripture, from the first book to the last. Genesis 1:3 tells us that God began creation of the universe through the Logos, His Word: And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. That this word that God spoke was indeed His Word, Saint John attests to in the opening verses of the gospel (John 1:1-5,14):

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God;
all things were made through him,
and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;
we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

These words clearly identify the Word of God to be that which was made flesh in Jesus Christ. So Jesus, the Word of God, the Logos, is also the Light of all creation. And as God is one God in three Persons, God is Light. In his transfiguration, Jesus's face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light (Matt 17:2). In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, in its final chapters, John describes a vision of the new Jerusalem, the new holy city of God (Rev 21:1-2,22-23):

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband... And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

And then again in Rev 22:5 he writes And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, is Light, the same Light that founded the universe, the same Light that the darkness will never overcome.

Jesus identifies himself as "the light of the world" (John 8:12; 9:5) and says we can become "sons of the light" (John 12:36). But Jesus also says that we are the light of the world and that our light must shine so that others may see the good we do and give glory to our heavenly Father (Matt 5:14-16). It is important to understand that we are the light only because he is the light: we do not shine, but Jesus shines in us, since he is the source of all our good works. The moon does not shine of itself, but reflects the light from the sun; it is likewise with us. As Saint Paul wrote, not I, but the grace of God which is with me (1 Cor 15:10).

This quest for finding the source of the light was an issue of contention in the early church. At the beginning of that same letter, Paul asks the church in Corinth if Christ is divided: For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Cor 1:11-13) In identifying themselves as belonging to anyone other than Christ, they were identifying the source of their new lives as that other person, not as the only one through whom we are made new. It would be the same as me saying I am a "Father Bob-ian" or a "Bishop Paul-ian" or even a "Pope Benedict-ian" rather than a Christian. I might follow their examples (just as Paul offers himself as an example in Phil 3:17), but I do not belong to them instead of Christ. The Franciscans do not "belong" to Saint Francis of Assisi, they follow his model, the way in which he belonged to Christ.

So now I ask you to imagine yourself in the vastness of space. You are staring ahead, and can see objects in your vision that appear to be giving off light. But as you near them, you notice they are not the source of that light, they are only reflecting it. Behind them is the same darkness you see in front of yourself.

So you turn towards the source of the light. It is a powerful light, with an intensity in its brightness far beyond the objects'. In its light you are illuminated, and you see yourself as the light sees you. You notice, then, when you turn aside from that light, there is shadow; if you turn your back to the light, you cannot see it (though it can still see you), and you see only your own shadow, your own voidness of light.

So you turn towards the source of the light. You recognize that it must be the source of all light, the source of everything. But it is brighter than your eyes can handle. You hold up your hand to shade your eyes. You squint. You close your eyes, but the light still permeates your eyelids. You can't ignore that light. But it is too bright for you, so you turn away from it and focus your attention on some other objects on which it shines. Then you notice that some of these objects do appear to be giving off light. Unlike the other objects which shone only where the light touched them, these objects are illuminated from every angle. They do not hurt your eyes to look at, but as you look closer, you become alarmed. They aren't giving off the light, the light appears to be passing right through them, as though they were only transparent objects with no substance.

So you turn towards the source of the light. You want to see the truth of the matter. You resolve yourself not to shield your eyes from its intensity. You circle the light, and find it shines in all directions. All the while, you never take your eyes off it.

Have you ever stared at an active incandescent light bulb? At first, all you see is a glowing bulb of light. But the more you stare, the more your eyes adjust to the brightness, and you can begin to see the internal workings of the bulb: you can see the filament, the individual complexities that make the bulb work.

Your eyes begin to adjust to this powerful light, and you begin to see inside of it. It is not some unformed cosmic lump, it is a precise and defined entity, though you cannot seem to bring yourself to define it. You see into the light and recognize that the light sees into you. It is a living light. Father, Son, and Spirit, it lives: the very nature of its infinite existence (the Father), the filament inside which seems to be shining directly at you (the Son), even the very waves and particles of light which emit from it and permeate you (the Spirit). No longer is it just "some light", it is the light, the only light, the Light of all creation. You hold your hand up, and are surprised that you can see the back of your hand -- the side facing you, not the light. You are suddenly afraid you are becoming transparent, that the light is just passing through you.

So you turn towards the source of the light. And all at once you feel that the light is not passing through you, it is living in you. It is not passing through you, it is refracting inside you and shining out from you in all directions. You have not lost your substance, your substance has been illuminated.

As Paul's letter to the Romans states (1:19-25), the evidence of God is all around us. But the revelation of who God is, not just the Creator but our Father, and the revelation of the Trinity, is not something you just stumble upon. If it was easy to discern that, Israel would have recognized Jesus for who he was. Sometimes, noticing the light is not enough: you must observe the light.

Liturgy: Youth Masses, pros and cons

Katerina Marie over at Evangelical Catholicism wrote up a post on "Youth" Masses. Yes, I've just come back from a Young Adult retreat, and yes, the music sung at Mass was primarily CCM (with the exception of a few hymns sung during Exposition and Benediction), but I feel I should weigh in on the matter, lest my personal stance be mistaken or assumed away. What follows is an expansion of the comments I wrote in the aforementioned blog post.

First, as someone else stated, "one Mass for one people should suffice". Now, I grew up on the Novus Ordo Mass; I have never (yet) attended a Traditional Latin Mass, nor a Mass of any other Rite (such as the Byzantine Rite) although I am eager to do so. I have seen excerpts of TLMs, and I have read its Missal, and I can see things I appreciate in it, but there are also parts of it that confuse me (such as why so much of the Mass would be said silently by the priest) and parts that raise some theologically-deep questions (such as why the congregation does not partake of both Species, Body and Blood). One practice I have recently taken up after reading a commentary on the TLM is this: I no longer chew the Host, but let it dissolve on my tongue to the point where I can simply swallow it. There are multiple reasons I find this particular process superior to my previous one:

1. it distinguishes the Eucharist, which is spiritual food, from bread, which is material food
2. it keeps me from rushing, physically and mentally, through the Sacred Mystery
3. it is more scrupulous (although I am not overly so) in its care of the Host
1. I should add that I receive the Eucharist in my hand, a tradition which I hold to be supported by Church Fathers, and one that, if done reverently, does no disgrace or disservice to Christ
2. I may one day (or many days) receive on the tongue, but I have never had my questions about the worthiness of the tongue over the hand to receive Christ answered, so while I admire the practice, I do not understand it to be "better"
4. it instills the sense that Christ is permeating my body

To get back to the point, I have seen the Novus Ordo Mass carried out with varying levels of reverence, and I understand that the TLM makes it hard for such a variance, but I don't think the Novus Ordo is inferior (as some people do). But I do not think that, for all that is different between the two rites, that the Novus Ordo is a fundamentally different Mass from the TLM.

I've never been to a "rock Mass" or an equivalent, where I felt uncomfortable with the music, but I do feel weird singing CCM songs at Mass. I have a fondness for more traditional liturgical music, although my only exposure to chants is quite limited. I like the organ. I like the piano as well. I don't have a problem with guitars and drums, it's just that CCM songs seem foreign to me at Mass (perhaps because so little of it is overtly Catholic, although I would have to say all the songs sung at Mass this past weekend were in line with Catholic theology).

I was glad to see such devotion paid to the Eucharist; it had been some time since I'd participated in Adoration, and seeing such respect for and belief in the Real Presence rejuvenated me (although I met my breaking point at 3:00am). There was no doubt in my mind that my fellow Catholics on that retreat saw nothing less than the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ on the altar, in the hands of my brother Fr. Charlie, and encased in the Monstrance. I was glad to sing Tantum ergo and "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name". Call it "that old-time religion", but it moves me in a more profound way than most CCM does.

When it comes down to it, I'd rather hear and sing more traditional, liturgical music at Mass. There was nothing during the retreat that I took offense to -- let me make that clear. And let me also say the parish I grew up in had a "folk Mass" with guitars that I enjoyed. Then again, the songs were all songs I knew already (albeit with an organ or piano behind them). It's just that there's a weirdness I feel when singing CCM songs at Mass.

The heart of the matter is that I don't think we need to concoct a Mass (a "liturgy lite" as I refer to it in my comments at Katerina's site) to cater to younger Catholics. I think more time should be spent focusing on proper catechesis, on teaching the liturgy as it is and fostering respect for it. I don't deny that younger Catholics can feel out of place and un-attended-to, but Youth Ministry needn't avoid the liturgy in reaching the younger generations. It should embrace it and make it embraceable to a group that may need extra assistance in finding the beauty and grace in something that might seem "old".

G. K. Chesterton said that we don't need a church that moves with the world, we need a church that moves the world. I recognize the truth of that statement when I consider the various compromises and changes being found in other denominations these past several years (such as renaming the Persons of the Trinity to be politically correct). When the Church becomes just an expression of our temporal fancies and preferences, the Mass ceases to be the vehicle by which God invites us to share in the Holy Sacrifice of the Lord.

(If anyone is reading this and thinking I must be a hypocrite for admiring the Novus Ordo, I'm afraid you're mistaken.)

Retreat: Recap

This is the second a series of posts I'll be dedicating to the Sons and Daughters of the Light retreat. First was an overview of the weekend. This post is a lengthy and detailed recap of the events. Next will be a personal entry that approaches the retreat from my own perspective and experiences.

If you know the last names (or the correct names, if I've made errors) of the people mentioned, please email me or leave a comment here so that I can edit the post.

---

Friday
The weekend began with a simple wine-and-cheese social. Once the majority of the attendees showed up, there was a brief ice-breaker: a Bingo sheet with 25 squares (the center one was free, "like grace") containing descriptions of people ("is a Giants fan", "is a lector", "lives the farthest away", etc.). People swapped papers with one another, signing off on a square, until someone had scored five in a row. Simple but effective. Once the ice had been broken, we braved the outdoor ice -- temperatures were definitely below freezing -- to walk to the (heated-but-chilly) chapel for evening Mass.

In the chapel Sam Chey (Youth Minister at Guardian Angel parish in Allendale, NJ), one of the coordinators of the retreat, gave the first presentation, an introductory speech. Sam asked us what the Church offers us. He cited the all-too-familiar example of a "cradle Catholic" (one brought up in the faith since birth) who wonders why he (or she) keeps going to Mass week in and week out. It seems like "young adults" (which here applies to people in their 20's and early 30's) are the overlooked and underappreciated members of the Church. We're not the only ones who noticed this, which is why the USCCB developed the Sons and Daughters of the Light Pastoral Plan for Ministry with Young Adults a decade ago.

Sam spoke his own words as well as those of our Evangelists. Jesus, the Word that was with God in the beginning and is God, is the light [that] shines in the darkness, and [that] the darkness has not overcome (John 1:5). Jesus, true man and true God, is the Light of the world. As brothers and sisters in Christ, and the adopted sons and daughters of God, we are brothers and sisters of the Light, sons and daughters of the Light. Sam called to mind the models of St. Mary and St. Joseph, as well as the rocky example of St. Peter. This weekend would be one of reflection, reverence, redemption, and rejuvenation.

Once Sam was finished, we prepared to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (the Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops). My brother, Fr. Charlie Pinyan (pastor at Guardian Angel), was there that evening to be our celebrant. His homily derived primarily from the Gospel reading (Mark 4:26-34), about the seed of faith. He talked briefly about the history of the CYO Retreat Center and the chapel, about the faith that lead to their construction, and the faith that allows them to remain in use today. Then he talked about our own faith, grown, we know not how, from a seed planted many years ago, that brought us to the retreat.

Mass concluded with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We sang songs of worship and listened to Scripture and silently adored the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. After about an hour of Adoration, we returned to the Retreat Center. Shortly afterwards, in the downstairs chapel, began the overnight Adoration. Nearly a dozen of us took turns in front of the Holy Eucharist, praying, genuflecting, prostrating, or just being in the presence of Christ for an hour at a time.

Saturday
The day began with the Morning Prayer and the Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament. A handful of Salesian Sisters led the prayer. After breakfast, we met in the desert -- one of three beautifully-decorated rooms on our floor of the retreat center -- for some songs of worship. Then came the second presentation of the weekend was given by Tracey Vieira (Associate Director for Retreats and Spirituality for the Newark Archdiocese). The theme was Marriage, but it was on a completely different level than any of us were expecting. Tracey, a 20-something who isn't married and admitted the material was foreign territory to her, talked about marriage to Christ. This concept transcended Matrimony and the religious life: it was about surrender to Jesus, accepting him not just as the Husband of the Church, but as your Husband. Tracey started by reading Isaiah 54:1-8, where God speaks of the great compassion with which He accepts Israel. She described the book of the prophet Hosea, where Hosea learns what the relationship between God and Israel is: God instructs Hosea to marry a harlot, an unfaithful woman, whom he shall love despite her inconstancy.

Tracey then applied the Scripture to her own life. It is one thing, she said, to pray that God be in your life. It is another to pray that you are in God. God lived with us, in the flesh, as Jesus Christ: now God wants us to live with Him and in Him. She talked about how hard it is to give yourself completely over to Christ; she described herself as having one foot in and one foot out, for fear of devoting herself completely and failing. She likened her life to a marriage ceremony to Christ: she's somewhere down the aisle, maybe three-quarters of the way. Then Tracey explained "marriage to Christ" in the simplest way possible, using words we'd all heard before, but giving them an entirely new context.

I, God, take you, Tracey, to be My wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of My life.

I, Tracey, take you, God, to be my husband. I promise to be true to You in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love You and honor You all the days of my life.

Tracey described the assurance of knowing that God will love us and honor us all the days of our lives -- indeed, for all eternity, as God is timeless -- and the recognition that we are making the same promise to God.

At this point, we had intended on having Saturday morning Mass, but due to difficulties in finding available priests for the weekend, we made different arrangments. Christy Guerra, who also runs the Young Adult fireside Bible study held at the Retreat Center, had made Rosaries for everyone present out of twine. We were then led in the Rosary, meditating on the Luminous Mysteries, by Aida Flores de Leon. After completing the Rosary, we split up into four groups and met in separate rooms to share among ourselves our thoughts about the morning's activities, as well as the theme of the room we were in. Then we all gathered together in the Desert again to share things brought up in our small groups.

(A brief word about these rooms. Three of them were wonderfully decorated (by Sr. Nivia Arias, Eileen Guerin, and Craig Johnson) in the style of the desert, the temple, and the gardens of Eden and Gethsemane. The fourth was the fire-side room.)

After this, we had lunch, followed by an hour of free time. During this time, our two guest speakers for the afternoon arrived, Liliana Soto (Coordinator of Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Newark) and Al Forsythe (Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry). Two musicians, Raphael Giglio and his wife Aly, also arrived. Raphael, the concert coordinator for Star 99.1 FM (the local Christian radio station), and Aly were there to join us in praise songs and attended the afternoon sessions.

The next presentation was in the Temple, and its theme was Mary, Daughter of Light. Liliana spoke of Mary, both the Mother of God and a daughter of God, devoted to His will. She read Luke 1:26-38 to us and focused on two phrases: "Do not be afraid" (Luke 1:30) and "May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). Then she showed us five containers of decreasing size, that fit one inside another, which represented the typical concerns of a young adult: our family, our career, our relationships, our finances, and finally (in the tiniest box) God. Placing the boxes inside one another, we see how God should be at the center of all our concerns.

She followed that by explaining how to follow the model of Mary:

• Surrender to Christ,
• Obey him,
• Form a Relationship with him, and
  
• Trust him with
• Humility,
• Praise, and
• Joy

She mentioned the hard times that Mary had to endure because of who Jesus was (alluding, I believe, to Simeon's prophecy to her that a sword will pierce through your own soul also (Luke 2:35)). Liliana spoke with wisdom when she said she would rather suffer in God's will than out of it.

She closed with two passages from Scripture. First, Jeremiah 29:11-14, where God tells His people of the plans He has in store for them, a future of hope, where we would seek Him with our whole hearts and He would hear our prayers; and second, John 10:10, where Jesus tells us that he does not come to take life, but to give life in abundance.

We then returned to the Desert for Al's very personal talk on Joseph, Son of Light. He spoke to us of his childhood, how his father played an important role in his life, guiding him and supporting him. He related to St. Joseph, a man who does not appear to be revealed much in Scripture; but Al thought otherwise. God would not have chosen just anyone to be the foster father of Jesus, and the man Jesus grew into depended on his earthly upbringing as much as his being God in the flesh. What we know of Jesus should reflect, at least in part, on his parents. Joseph was visited by an angel of the Lord on three occasions and obeyed what was commanded of him, that he should accept Mary as his wife, that he should take his family and flee to Egypt, and then that he should return to Israel, to Nazareth. Joseph was a man of faith and humility, putting God first in his life. He was a man of compassion and prayer. Jesus's own person reflects these characteristics as well, demonstrating the important role a father -- whether biological or adoptive -- plays in the development of his children. The virtues a man of God should strive for are: patience, humility, simplicity, obedience, servanthood, purity, modesty, committment, humor, faithfulness, and prayerfulness.

Once again we split into our groups for private discussion. In addition to the two presentations, we had another conversation piece: a short story titled "The Tea Cup". The story presents a beautiful teacup that recounts its tumultuous history, starting as a red lump of clay, ending as a delicately-crafted teacup. The moral is that all our trials and tribulations make us who we are, and it is God who is there alongside of us carrying us through them. We convened again in the Desert to share our small group conversations, and then went to eat dinner.

Between dinner and the scheduled Bible study, I led a group of about a dozen in Evening Prayer. We concluded right at 6:00pm, when the Bible study began. We split into three groups (led by Christy, Candace Tarabocchia, and Katie Daily) and focused on a number of Scripture passages relating to reconciliation. We all gathered for one last large group sharing before heading out to Chapel for Mass.

Fr. Charlie, who had returned to Allendale to fulfill his pastoral duties (in a one-priest parish), came back in the evening, shortly before dinner, so that we could have a vigil Mass. We started with an hour of Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Jer 1:4-5,17-19; 1 Cor 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30) recounted Jeremiah's call to be a prophet before he was even born, Paul's beautiful exposition on love (agape), and Jesus's rejection from his home town of Nazareth. Fr. Charlie, in his homily, connected all three readings to the vocation of love to which we are all called. The people in Nazareth rejected Jesus because they failed to hear what he spoke to them in love -- Fr. Charlie likened it to our tendency to ignore parts of Scripture that admonish behavior we'd rather continue doing, and to only pay attention to those parts which praise behaviors (we think) we embody.

After Mass, we returned to the Retreat Center for an evening of musical entertainment by the Giglios. One of the participants on the retreat, Christina Albanese, who has a CD (Undivided) and a collection of original songs to her name, played for us as well. There was also overnight Adoration of the Eucharist in the downstairs chapel again.

Sunday
After Morning Prayer, Reposition, and breakfast, we met in the fire-side room to sing a few songs of worship. Then five participants, forming a Young Adult Panel, came up to introduce themselves and talk about their Life in the Light:

• Lee Ann Aguila, who had attended Rejoice! 2006 last April, and works with Savannah Sights, a charity organization that works with blind children
  
• Eric Cruz, a member of the Charismatic Catholic covenant community BLD (Bukas Loob sa Diyos, Filipino for "Open in Spirit to God")
  
• Mike Temple, a member of the Catholic covenant community People of Hope
  
• Raphael Giglio, who returned to Christianity after a rocky youth thanks to his Jewish grandfather who told him one day that he'd "found the Messiah", and is the Executive Director of Autumn Blaze, as well as Star 99.1 FM's concert coordinator, and the Minister of Music at Zarephath Christian Church
  
• Aly Giglio, who talked about her long years of single-hood where she learned to direct her passion to Christ (much in the same way Tracey talked about) and wrote a nightly journal composed as a letter to him
  

In sharing their stories, the panelists also hoped to inspire interest in us for the programs they are associated with, as well as Youth and Young Adult ministries in our own parishes. We had a brief period of question-and-answer between us and the panel, and ended the retreat with group prayer. After that, there were a few announcements. Sam received an icon of the Madonna and Child from Sr. Loretta DeDominicis for his work in organizing the retreat, and Christy received one as well for her hours spent making the Rosaries for us. Finally, we cleaned up our rooms, ate one last lunch together, and went our separate ways.

Monday
Time to start letting our light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works and give glory to [our] Father who is in heaven. (Matt 5:16) Since the Father brought us to this retreat by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then let us, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, bring Christ with us.

Retreat: Outline and Brief Summary

This is one of (at least) three posts I'll be dedicating to the Sons and Daughters of the Light retreat. This is just an overview of the weekend. From this I will produce a lengthy and detailed recap of the events. When that's finished, I'll have a personal entry that approaches the retreat from my own perspective and experiences.

Times are approximate. All events are in the Retreat Center unless otherwise noted. Most (if not all) of the talks began with a few songs of worship.

• Friday, January 26th
• 7:00pm
  
• Wine & Cheese
• Reconciliation
• Ice-breaker
• 8:30pm (Chapel)
  
• "Sons and Daughters of the Light"
  
• Welcome and introduction
  
• Explanation of the name "Sons and Daughters of the Light"
• What draws young adults (in their 20s and 30s) to the Church?
• What pushes them away?
• 9:00pm (Chapel)
  
• Mass (Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time)
• Eucharistic Adoration
• 11:00pm - 7:00am (Retreat Center, downstairs Chapel)
• Exposition
  
• Perpetual Adoration
• Saturday, January 27th
• 7:00am (Retreat Center, downstairs Chapel)
• Morning Prayer
  
• Reposition
• 8:00am (Dining Hall)
• Breakfast
• 9:00am
• "Marriage"
• The Church as the Bride of Christ
• You as the Spouse of Christ
• The wedding vows as a promise between God and you
• The Rosary (meditating on the Luminous Mysteries)
• 10:30am
• Small group discussion
• 11:30am
• Large group sharing
  
• 12:00pm (Dining Hall)
• Lunch
• 1:00pm
• Free time
• 2:00pm
• "Mary, Daughter of Light"
• 3:00pm
• "Joseph, Son of Light"
• 4:00pm
• Small group discussion
• 4:30pm
• Large group sharing
• 5:00pm (Dining Hall)
• Dinner
• 5:45pm
• Evening Prayer
• 6:00pm
• Small group Bible study (topic: Reconciliation)
• 7:00pm
• Large group sharing
• 7:30pm (Chapel)
• Eucharistic Adoration
• Reconciliation
• 9:00pm (Chapel)
  
• Mass (Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
  
• 10:00pm - ...
  
• Musical entertainment
• Raphael & Aly Giglio
• 11:00pm - 7:00am (Downstairs Chapel)
  
• Exposition
  
• Perpetual Adoration
• Sunday, January 28th
• 7:00am (Downstairs Chapel)
• Morning Prayer
• Reposition
• 8:00am (Dining Hall)
• Breakfast
• 9:00am
• "Living in the Light" (young adult panel)
• 11:30am
• Group prayer
• Wrap-up
• 12:00pm (Dining Hall)
  
• Lunch
  

Theology: Peter as an example for us (Part 1)

The Apostles were present for countless miracles and, as Jesus's trusted circle, received instruction into the meanings behind his parables. I'd like to focus, though, on Peter's experiences with Jesus:

• Jesus called Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew from their occupations as fishermen to be his first Apostles (Matt 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11)
• Jesus cured Simon's mother-in-law (Matt 8:14-15)
• Jesus brought Simon, James, and John into the house of Jairus whose daughter he resurrected (Matt 9:23-25; Mark 5:22-24,35-42)
  
• Jesus called Simon out of the boat to walk on the ocean, but Simon faltered (Matt 14:22-33)
• Simon confessed that Jesus has "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68)
  
• Simon professed, through the grace of God, that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" and Jesus names Simon "Peter" (meaning "rock") (Matt 16:13-19)
• Shortly thereafter, Simon tried to defy God's will for Jesus, and Jesus called him "Satan" (Matt 16:20-23)
• Jesus took Simon, with James and John, up a mountain, where they witnessed his transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8)
• Jesus tested Simon when questioned about paying the temple tax (Matt 17:24-27)
• Simon asked Jesus how often he must forgive his brother (Matt 18:21-22)
• Simon asked Jesus what the Apostles will receive for their sacrifices in following Jesus (Matt 19:27-29)
• Simon questioned Jesus's intent when Jesus prepared to wash the Apostles' feet (John 13:5-10)
  
• Simon promised Jesus that his faith shall not be shaken, but Jesus foretold Simon's denial (Matt 26:31-35; Luke 22:31-34; John 13:36-38)
• Simon, James, and John fell asleep while Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (Matt 26:36-46)
• Simon defended Jesus in Gethsemane with a sword (Luke 22:49-50; John 18:10)
  
• Simon betrayed Jesus three times (Matt 26:69-75)
• Simon noticed the empty burial cloths at the tomb, and was later visited by the risen Christ (Luke 24:12,33-34)
• Simon received a personal commission from Jesus to tend to Jesus's flock (John 21:15-19)
• After Pentecost, Simon performed many miracles through the power of Christ, although he did suffer a case of hypocrisy regarding the issue of the necessity of Gentiles following the Judaic law (Gal 2:11-14)
  

As you're probably aware, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes something called the "primacy of Peter", the concept that Peter had a distinguished position among the Apostles, which is one of the foundations upon which is based the institution of the Papacy (Peter being the first Pope, having a successor down through the centuries). Here are only some examples of the Scriptural evidence:

• he is the most frequently named Apostle in the New Testament
• he and his brother Andrew are the first Apostles
• he (along with a couple other Apostles) is often taken aside for specific revelation (such as the Transfiguration and the resurrection of Jairus's daughter)
• he is named Peter by Christ (the only Apostle to receive such an honor, as the bestowing of a new name on a person is a very important sign in Biblical literature)
• he alone was called out by Jesus to walk on the water
• he often speaks on behalf of the Apostles
• he is used by Jesus as a spokesman when asked about paying the tax
• he is prayed for by Jesus that his faith may not fail, and Jesus charges him to strengthen the other Apostles
  
• he is questioned by Jesus in Gethsemane for the failure of the Apostles present to stay awake
• he is named personally by an angel at the tomb after the Resurrection
• he was the spokesman for all who received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, preaching to the crowd that had gathered
• Paul stayed with him for two weeks before beginning his ministry, even after Paul received a revelation from Christ

But let us instead focus on Peter's faults, because it is in Peter's sinful human nature that we see the whole picture of the man chosen by Christ to shepherd the early church. On multiple occasions, shortly after Peter says or does something truly blessed, he follows it by blundering magnificently.

Walking on water, drowning in doubt
(Matt 13:22-33)
After the miracle of the fish and loaves, Matthew records an incident that occurred late at night on the sea by Capernaum. Jesus's disciples were crossing it by ship at night when the water and wind became rough. Then they saw Jesus walking across the water to them. Although Jesus greeted them, they were still unsure, and Simon told Jesus to command him to walk upon the water to him. Simon did walk upon the water, but then he noticed just how strong the winds were and began to sink. He cried out to Jesus, "Lord, save me!" (Matt 14:30) Jesus caught him by the arm and brought him into the boat, and asked Simon, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matt 14:31) What happened to the faith Simon had as he stepped onto the water?

Peter the Rock, Peter the Adversary
(Matt 16:13-23)
Jesus asked his disciples "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" (Matt 16:13). His disciples reported the popular opinions, that he was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other prophet. Then Jesus asks Simon "But who do you say that I am?" to which he responds "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matt 16:15-16) Jesus then tells Simon that this revelation was granted to him by the Father in heaven, and not by men. Jesus then names Simon "Peter" ("Kephas", meaning "rock") and tells him that "on this rock I will build my church" (Matt 16:18) which Roman Catholics understand to be a statement about Peter, not about the declaration he made (although what Peter spoke was the truth). Shortly after this incident, though, as Jesus is explaining his future suffering and death (and resurrection), Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him, trying to assure him that God would never permit such atrocities. Jesus then responds to Peter thus: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men." (Matt 16:23) What happened to Peter, the Rock, the man who received revelation from God the Father?

Unshakeable faith... shaken
(Matt 26:31-75; Luke 22:31-34; John 18:10)
At the Last Supper, Jesus tells his Apostles that they shall fall away from him that very evening. He tells Peter that he has prayed for him, "that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." (Luke 22:32) Peter declares his fealty despite what the other Apostles do. Later, when they went into Gethsemane, Jesus takes Peter (along with James and John, the sons of Zebedee) with him even deeper into the garden to keep watch as he prays. But when he returns an hour later he finds Peter and the other two asleep. Jesus asks Peter why they could not stay awake and warns him that "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matt 26:41) Twice more Jesus goes off to pray and returns to sleeping "watchmen". Peter attempts to save Jesus when the crowd comes to arrest him by cutting the ear of a servant to a high priest, but Jesus rebukes him for this action (John 18:10; Matt 26:52-54). Then, after Peter was waiting in the courtyard to see what would happen to Jesus, some bystanders noted him and recognized him. Three times Peter denied Christ, saying he did not even know him. Then he heard a cock crowing and he remembered what Jesus had foretold; he left the courtyard and wept. Where is the man who would go to prison and suffer death for Christ?

Here we see three instances of Peter at his extremes: full of faith one moment and seemingly bereft of it the next! (How could such a man, the Reformers ask, be the "vicar of Christ"?!) Peter, the man who proclaimed "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.", was also the man to whom Jesus responded, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." (Luke 5:8-10)

So what does all this have to do with Peter being an example for us? I want to compare and contrast the elements of these three incidents: what Peter did right and what Peter did wrong. Peter is a classical case of a prodigal son, a repentent sinner, a man who endured in his faith to the end despite his human doubt.

Look for Part 2 of this post next week some time this month eventually. In the meantime, I encourage you to post your comments and commentaries on the Scripture passages I've highlighted (or point out more of your own -- I certainly haven't covered everything Peter-related).

CRC #1: Do Catholics worship Mary?

(This is an entry for Weekend Fisher's Christian Reconciliation Carnival.)

A common misconception about Catholics is that we worship Mary, saints, statues, pictures, crucifixes, etc., and that in doing so, we're neglecting worship of God. (I dare say people think this is the "Roman" part of Roman Catholicism -- believing in some supernatural pantheon of gods and goddesses to whom we pray.) I'd like to briefly set the record straight on this topic.

The Catholic practice of veneration is showing devotion and respect to Mary, the Apostles, martyrs, and other saints who are clear examples of faithful witness to Jesus Christ. This respect extends to icons and other representations. Veneration is not the same as adoration and worship, which is given to God and God alone.

Veneration is not praising the person, it is praising what God made of that person, for we know that God is the source of all goodness, all virtue, all love. Veneration, then, points to God as the source of grace. The love Mary had for Jesus was not hers because Mary was "lucky", but because God chose her to be the mother of our Savior, and endowed her with the necessary grace to love him and stay by his side even to his crucifixion (John 19:25). Mary, then, is a model of the love God desires of us, just as Paul writes of himself as a model in his letter to the Philippians (Phil. 3:17). Catholics recognize as models for Christian living those who persevered in faith to the end (Matt. 10:22).

Similarly, Catholics don't pray to Mary or the saints, but ask them to intercede for us, just as we ask one another to intercede for us. We pray to God only, whether it be to Him as our Father, as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, or as the Holy Spirit. (Some explain it thus: we pray with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to the Father.) We don't ask saints to intercede for us instead of praying to God ourselves, just as we don't ask other people to pray for us without taking the time to pray ourselves. Let us not forget Mary's words to the servants at the wedding feast in Cana: "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5) This command reminds us of the source of our spiritual guidance and the recipient of our petitions and praise.

Retreat: Sons and Daughters of the Light

I'll be on a retreat from Friday to Sunday this weekend at the Newark Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center. I'll post my thoughts and a recap sometime Sunday or Monday.

I've also been very busy lately (with work and with a night course at Rutgers) which is why there hasn't been a Scripture reflection and commentary this month. I hope to resume those as soon as I can get back into a calmer weekly routine.