Glorious Mysteries

Christian Entertaiment is Not Catholic Education

Changing Jesus

I came across this rather scathing critique of the popular epic series, The Chosen. As a disclaimer, I enjoy watching The Chosen but I also think Crisis magazine raises some good points cautioning us to not confuse entertainment for dogma. The article does lay it on a bit thick making The Chosen seem like a tool of Satan. This shows how you need to educate yourself and discern all forms of entertainment and information whether it be Crisis Magazine or Angel Studios.

The False Christ of The Chosen

I love watching The Chosen and I think this Crisis Magazine article is being a bit unfair, especially when it targets the production company as being anti-Catholic because they are protestant. There are many inspiring movies and shows created by non-Catholics. Ultimately, we need to remember that this is a form of entertainment. It’s not meant to replace the Mass and the Sacraments. It’s also not meant to replace prayer and catechesis.

It is a dangerous spiritual game for moderns to start dreaming up new, fun, and strangely contemporary scenarios to “humanize” Him for our emotional desires… Catholics forget that the devil is exponentially more intelligent than we are. If we do not adhere strictly to Catholic truth, especially regarding Our Lord and Christology, we will be lost.
Leila Miller (The False Christ of The Chosen – Crisis Magazine)

Understanding The Chosen is Entertainment

The Crisis article sets up a false choice – you either entirely accept or reject the characterization of Jesus and the apostles in The Chosen. I think you can watch The Chosen and be inspired by it similar to watching The Passion of the Christ, The 10 Commandments, Ben Hur, and many other religious movies. None of these movies follow the Bible nor Church teaching to the letter. They all take some creative license because they are movies after all.

This is why it’s so important to learn the Catholic faith. You need to be able to enjoy movies like The Chosen realizing that it’s not doctrine. You can’t watch The Chosen and claim to have studied Scripture. It’s not a substitute for encountering Jesus in prayer. You can’t watch Law and Order thinking you know criminal law. You don’t watch CSI (is that show even still on?) and expect to handle real forensic science. So don’t watch The Chosen believing you have built a strong relationship with God.

Entertaining Theology

If you’re looking to branch out from The Chosen, I suggest watching Life Is Worth Living by Bishop Fulton Sheen. You have to remember that this show was on prime-time TV enjoyed by millions in the 1950’s and 60’s. Imagine ABC broadcasting a show like that now! I watched a few episodes, and his lessons are as relevant today as they were back then. He’s teaching real and deep Catholic theology; not some artistic portrayal of Jesus and the apostles.

Mary’s Prescription to Building Deeper Faith

Finally, I encourage you to meditate on the Fourth Glorious Mystery — Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. I like to think about how Mary is in Heaven acting as our guide. She offers this prescription for forging a deeper relationship with God:

Prayer
Fasting
Reading the Bible
Confession
Eucharist

Item #3 is what I’m driving at in this article. You need to learn your faith through the Bible and other Church documents to learn who Jesus is and how he is calling you. If you stop at The Chosen and don’t continue your faith journey as Mary prescribes, you aren’t actually forming a relationship with Jesus. Instead, you’re merely a patron of Angel Studios.

Beware of Creating “Golden Calves”

As I go through Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast, I come across some readings that help fuel my Rosary prayer. This is what I’ve been trying to communicate through RosaryMeds — so many of our life experiences can supercharge our Rosary experience. Conversely, great encounters with the Rosary then lead to a more meaningful lifestyle. When we surround our days with Scripture, Rosary, prayer, and the Sacraments we plant the seeds for a fulfilling life. Let’s take a look at the Book of Exodus and about what it tells us about our relationship with God.

Reshaping God

The Israelites in the Old Testament started their covenant with God on the wrong foot. Immediately after escaping Egypt, they started worshiping a golden calf when Moses didn’t return from Mount Sinai. They grew impatient waiting for Moses but felt the urgent need to honor something for bringing them out of Egypt. Fr. Mike Schmitz pointed out that they did not reject God for an idol. Rather, they re-attributed God to the golden calf. They proclaimed, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4) They reduced God to a statue that they crafted with a narrative they could control.

The Israelites did with the golden calf what we do all the time — reduce God to work on our terms. Often, we happily follow Catholic teaching when it’s convenient. But we are full of excuses and justifications when it becomes inconvenient or confusing. We tell ourselves, “God will understand if I miss Mass this once. After all, my kid’s baseball game is at the same time and is in another city.” Or, “I’ve been so good, why can’t I loosen up this once and go on a bender with my friends?” But where in scripture or Church tradition is it taught that God is okay with sin? Where does that perception of God come from? We aren’t that much different from the Israelites reshaping God to fit our actions rather than shaping our actions to serve God’s Will. We reduce God to being our buddy who’s cool and chill with how we want to live and won’t be too preachy or judgmental.

Looking in All the Wrong Places

Remember that the Israelites thought they were justified in turning to an idol. After all, think about how confused they must have felt. Moses led them out of Egypt, a civilization they called home for generations, into the wilderness only to leave them stranded at the base of a mountain. We may sympathize with them seeking answers about their situation. Since Moses had disappeared and God was silent, they were left to their own devices. Being impatient and scared, they found comfort by re-attributing God as a golden calf.

We also want answers but often aren’t patient enough to wait for God to answer us in our prayers. So we turn to simplified solutions from whoever has a justifiable answer. Our “golden calf” may be a friend, politician, TV personality, or just our justifications telling us we can support abortion, artificial contraception, and divorce. Or that holy days of obligation, fasting, abstinence, and prayer aren’t necessary. We proclaim, “I’m following God and his Church!” although it’s a fictional god of our own design.

Learning What God Wants

How do we prevent ourselves from reducing God to fit our desires? First, we have learn who God is and what he asks of us. We do this by reading Scripture, learning from the teachings and examples of the saints, and learning about our faith. Of course, we also need to receive the sacraments. Many people believe that the only way to learn about the faith is from a priest’s homily on Sunday. But the Mass is more than the homily. That is why you need to be reverently present in the Mass allowing God to speak to you.

Think about Simeon and Anna in the Fourth Joyful Mystery. They prayed constantly at the temple doing God’s Will. They didn’t look for a way out of the life God called them to. They didn’t justify a different life telling themselves, “Maybe this is what God was actually asking of me?” No, they chose the hard life because they knew that’s what God wanted from them. Remember, God rewarded their sacrifices by allowing them to be among the first to recognize Jesus as the Christ.

We can often become scared and confused like the Israelites and start redefining Church teachings to justify our behavior. But we become like the Israelites worshipping a false god. This is why it’s so important to embrace a life of prayer and continuously learn about the Catholic faith. It is in the silence of prayer that we see that God is always with us. And when we know He hasn’t abandoned us, we won’t go seeking comfort in a god of our own creation.

How Our Faith Brings Hope into the World

My apologies for my month-long absence from RosaryMeds. Of all months, I should be cranking out the most content in October, the month that we celebrate Mary, Queen of the Rosary. But between family, school, work, and activities, I just couldn’t find the time or energy to write. But I continued to pray the Rosary and ask our Mother Mary for her intercession in all matters, big and small and global and personal. I hope you did the same.

Seeking Hope in a Troubled World

I understand that there isn’t a ton of good news out there right now. Many of us are worried about the multiple wars, growing antisemitism (which leads to growing anti-religion), and some of the concerning actions and statements coming from the Vatican. We should continue praying, especially the Second Glorious Mystery, Jesus’ Ascension. The fruit of this mystery is hope. We must remember that we are a people of hope who know that God’s plan reigns supreme even when everything appears to be falling apart.

I have a hodge-podge of stories that all center around conversion and the importance of prayer. They demonstrate the comfort that one receives when one chooses to listen to God instead of the world. These are stories of hope because they show God has the ability to change the hearts of those who seem the most distant from him.

Atheist Turns to Christianity

Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently converted from atheism to Christianity. She is a well-known critic of Islam to the point where she has a fatwa against her (she needs a full-time security detail for protection). Her Muslim upbringing left her so emotionally and spiritually scarred that she initially took the stance that all organized religion is bad and that God cannot exist. However, she now embraces Christianity. Here are her thoughts why:

“Atheism failed to answer a simple question: What is the meaning and purpose of life?” she said, arguing that “the void left by the retreat of the church” in the modern world “has merely been filled by a jumble of irrational quasi-religious dogma.” Hirsi Ali said in the essay that there is “no need to look for some new-age concoction of medication and mindfulness” to address these present crises: “Christianity has it all.”

I think she says it best when she uses the word void. There are so many people who have stopped practicing their faith creating a void in their life. They may try to fill it with activities, work, leisure, and family. Or they take up some political cause. But that is like trying to fill a round hole with a square peg. The only way to truly fill the void created when we stop practicing our faith is to start practicing it once again. There are not enough YouTube videos or community events to fill the void created by abandoning the sacraments of the Church.

Outspoken atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali says she is now a Christian | Catholic News Agency

Father Baptizes His Dying Baby

The next story is the tragic events around baby Indi Gregory, a UK baby that was taken off life support against her parents’ wishes even after the Vatican granted her citizenship so she could receive care in Rome. But the moving part of these events is that Indi’s parents, neither of whom are baptized, baptized Indi before her death. Her father, Dean Gregory, said he wanted Indi to go to Heaven if she died. He is now in the process of being baptized as well.

As tragic as this story is, it serves as a wake-up call for all of us. Dean Gregory said that his experience with the British court system and NHS exposed the evil that exists all around us. He desired protection from that evil both for himself and Indi. We too, should realize that evil exists in many forms. Just read Father Spitzer’s books that I reviewed. But rest assured, by practicing the Catholic faith and receiving the sacraments, we have all the protection we need from any evil we may encounter in this life.

Baby Indi Gregory’s father says he chose baptism for her after feeling ‘dragged to hell’ | Catholic News Agency

Knowledge of Church Teachings Tied to Mass Attendance

A national survey found that 90% of Catholics who attend Mass weekly believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. And while that seems great, we must realize that only 17% of the respondents attend weekly Mass. The majority of Catholics surveyed (51%) believe that the Eucharist is only symbolic of Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper.

That survey results make me wonder what people think “being Catholic” means. It seems like we’ve watered down Catholicism so much over the years that it has become more like a forgotten gym membership than the focal point of our existence. But God has his ways of waking us up. I believe that the Church is due for a wake-up call.

National Survey Finds 9 in 10 Weekly Mass Attendees Believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist – CatholicVote org

It’s unfortunate that we need to have moments of experiencing Hell like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Dean Gregory to realize just how important our faith is. This is where our prayers come into play. I like to think that each Rosary prayed and each Mass celebrated helps bring others back to the Church in ways that are dramatic, but not traumatic. We need to remain hopeful that our sacrifices will help convert those who are so far God’s grace. Keep up those prayers!

The Rosary is a Daily Five-Item “To Be” List

I’m a huge fan of lists, whether “to do”, bucket, thanksgiving, etc. The Rosary can be considered a new type of list, the “to-be” list. The beauty of the Rosary is that it serves as a daily reminder of the type of person God wants us to be. If you pray the Rosary daily, you have an opportunity to review at least five items in your “to-be” list.

When I read news and articles, particularly ones with a list of their own, I often connect them to Rosary mysteries. This way, I solidify the central meaning of the article every time I pray. For example, I read this article on the Five Traits of Resilient Fathers. That immediately got me thinking of how each trait maps to a Rosary mystery. Now I can reflect on each trait, and whether I’m practicing it, whenever I meditate on a particular mystery.

For those who didn’t read the article, here’s the rundown of the five traits parents, fathers in particular, must show. I’ll then show you the Rosary mysteries you can meditate on to remind you of each trait.

CLOTHED IN VIRTUE
READY TO FORGIVE
RULED BY PEACE
STEEPED IN SCRIPTURE
ALWAYS THANKFUL

Clothed in Virtue

In the Fourth Joyful Mystery, it’s hinted that Simeon and Anna spend all their time in the temple praying. Scripture also says that Simeon was a “righteous” man. Put those two concepts together — always praying in the temple = righteous. If we want to be clothed in virtue, we need to be constantly practicing our faith through prayer, attending Mass, and receiving the Sacraments. These are all necessary practices if we are to know what is virtuous and find the strength to live righteously.

Ready to Forgive

Picture Jesus on the cross in the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery. The criminal on his right asks Jesus to “remember him.” He’s essentially asking Jesus for forgiveness which Jesus readily gives. Even in his suffering on the cross, Jesus asks God to forgive the people who are crucifying him. Jesus shows us that we must always be willing to forgive regardless of circumstances or transgression.

Ruled by Peace

Picture Jesus in the Garden of Gesthemene in the First Sorrowful Mystery. Jesus was scared about his coming Passion and Crucifixion. He prayed multiple times that he would do God’s will. The Gospel writers then show everyone losing their minds — Pharisees yelling for Jesus’ crucifixion, apostles scattering in fear, and mobs of people crying or taunting him. And yet, through all of this chaos, Jesus remains calm and level-headed. He had peace about him even when he had every reason to be upset. Peace is the result of earnest prayer, learning God’s will, and asking him for the strength to do it.

Steeped in Scripture

When I was in a summer college seminar, my roommate read the Bible every night before falling asleep. At the time, I thought this was a strange practice. Reading the Bible routinely seemed like something only priests did, not 21-year-old college students. Later in life, I learned the importance of learning the faith through the Bible, Catechism, and other Church writings. When meditating on the Fourth Glorious Mystery, I think about how Mary was assumed into Heaven and helps guide us closer to her son, Jesus. In her apparitions, she instructs us to read Scripture so that we may grow closer in communion with Jesus.

Always Thankful

The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” When we pray the Fifth Luminous Mystery, The Institution of the Eucharist, let us remember to give thanks that Jesus is present in our lives. He’s more than just a person who lived 2,000 years ago. He’s here with us today, teaching, healing, and guiding us closer to God. Of the billions of years the universe has existed, we should be thankful that we live in the relatively small sliver of time that humanity has known God through Jesus. And we should be thankful that we have an opportunity to rest in Jesus’ presence whenever we pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

There you have it. Five traits and five Rosary mysteries. Hopefully, these mysteries will remind you to practice these traits. Ask God to strengthen you and everyone in the areas you need help.

God Wants Us to Lead this World

Leaders are meant to go that extra mile for their team or organization. They need to set a great example for others. They inspire people to do their best. People want to work for great managers. Athletes want to play for great coaches. But being a leader isn’t easy. You can’t phone it in or be a hypocrite — creating rules that you don’t follow.

Jesus calls us to lead

I was thinking about great leadership when I read the Gospel for Wednesday, March 23. Here Jesus talks about fulfilling the law.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent | USCCB

Jesus is telling us that we need to be great leaders in our spiritual life. He is telling us how God calls us to follow Him in all ways, both big and small. We may not know it, but the way we live sets an example for others. It may be for our kids, our family, friends, or coworkers. They all see us as a representative of a group whether that be a family, community, company, or faith. Jesus tells us we need to be great leaders and examples of the Catholic faith for others to follow.

Not acting as leaders

Unfortunately, I think many of us take our calling as leaders of the Catholic faith too casually. We don’t realize that the way we live paints a picture of Catholic life to others. When we don’t attend Mass, receive the sacraments, or do not acknowledge the importance of Jesus in our life, others will think that’s what Christianity teaches and promotes. And that is what Jesus in the Gospel tells us we can’t let happen.

You can’t lead the Church if you don’t go to church

I feel like we Christians are called by God to be his elite leaders. We are like the star athlete or rock star employee. God asks a lot of us and He expects us to come through. An athlete can’t ignore the rules of the game or slack off in the middle of a big game. A manager can’t ignore the needs of the company or his employees. And a Christian can’t ignore God’s plan.

As you go through Lent, think about what God asks of you. Be thankful that He wants you to succeed in living a Christian life. All those rules and laws are there to help you achieve that. They help mold and shape us into the humble leaders God intends us to be. Lent is that period of sacrifice and prayer that can strengthen us in our faith and eventual joy if we choose.

Mary’s example of leadership

Meditate on Mary in the Fifth Glorious Mystery. She wears the crown as Queen of Heaven because she accepted God’s calling for her to be a humble leader. She obeyed God’s Will in all ways, big and small. Imagine the difficulty, sorrow, and confusion she faced when you meditate on her seven sorrows:

The Prophecy of Simeon
The Flight Into Egypt
The Loss of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem
Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
Jesus Dies on the Cross
Mary Holds the Life Less Body of Jesus in Her Arms
Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

God laid out this challenging path for Mary to follow and she did. He lays out a path for us to follow as well. It may not be an easy path, but it’s one that we have the ability to traverse and ultimately succeed. We don’t do it alone. We have the help of Mary, the saints, the Holy Spirit, and our Christian brothers and sisters. Rejoice that God has put a path before you that ultimately leads to His Kingdom of Heaven.

Who do You Say I am?

Challenging His Disciples

On Feb. 22nd’s Gospel (Yes, I know I’m way late), Jesus asked his disciples two questions — “Who do others say I am?” and “Who do you say I am?” He got two different responses. To the first question, people said he’s a prophet. To the second, Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-16).

I can imagine that it was easy for people to see Jesus as a prophet. There were many prophets in the Old Testament. Much of scripture at that point were the writings of prophets. Therefore, a Jewish person had a model for how prophets acted and Jesus fit that mold. He preached about God and had supernatural abilities much like the prophets the Jews had learned about in scripture. When trying to define Jesus, “prophet” would have been a natural choice.

But Jesus was constantly reinventing how people saw their relationship with God. He was challenging people to break out of their preconceived notions of who God is and who the Messiah would be. And that was why he pressed his apostles and asked them who they truly believed he was. He wanted them to really think about all they had seen him say and do and speak from their hearts. Would they have the insight and courage to break away from the crowd and acknowledge Jesus as someone more than a prophet?

Challenging the Faithful

During the peak of Covid, the Masses in my parish were closed to the public but live-streamed. I was the lector and often the only person present in the church along with the priest. It’s an eery feeling being the sole member of the congregation. I couldn’t fall back on following along with others. And while I’ve been attending Mass regularly my entire life, it was still difficult to participate as an individual, not as a member of a group.

When we’re at Mass in a large congregation, it’s easy to just follow along with others. But take away the missals, the overhead projector, and the people. How present are you when you participate in the Mass? Are you going through a well-rehearsed script or proclaiming what you truly believe? Even if you attend Mass every week for your entire life, it’s still difficult to embrace the Mass and the Eucharist confidently as an individual. We too often seek the comfort of blending in with the crowd instead of confidently proclaiming what we believe.

The Apostles’ Conviction

I think about Saint Peter and him coming forward declaring Jesus as the Christ. I wonder if he had any hesitancy or doubt. Was he scared about saying something incorrect or foolish? He knew Jesus was the Messiah, but perhaps he had some hesitancy or timidity proclaiming it. He was going out on a limb not knowing how his statement would be received. After all, just moments later Jesus rebuked Peter (Matthew 16:23). So it’s possible that the apostles knew they had to weigh their words carefully because Jesus might take them to task on what they said.

The apostles seemed to ebb and flow in their convictions. Sometimes they would confidently proclaim their beliefs in Jesus and other times they were quite timid. I picture them huddled together in a room right before Pentecost, scared and confused. They lacked confidence in their beliefs and just sort of found safety being together as a group. I think this describes many of us at Mass — together as a group, but all trying to keep a low profile. But after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the confidence to go out alone into the world to boldly teach others about Jesus. The weak “we” became the confident “I.”

Who is Jesus to You?

When you’re at Mass or deep in prayer, reflect on whether you are saying what our faith expects you to believe or what you truly believe. Are you just trying to hide amongst the congregation and going through the motions because you don’t firmly believe who Jesus is? Is Jesus and the Catholic Church more like a prophet to you; someone giving you well-meaning advice on the nature of God? Or do you truly believe in Christ Jesus, wholly present in the Eucharist at Mass? Who do you, not others, say Jesus is?

If You Want God, You Have to Put in the Effort

No Effort, No Goals

I coach youth soccer. My team is composed of 6 and 7-year-olds, many of whom this is their first time playing organized sports. Unfortunately, today’s kids don’t spend as much time playing sports as previous generations. The reason this is unfortunate is that they miss out on working hard towards something that is a little outside their comfort zone. The other day, my team didn’t score many goals in our game. However, they also seemed uninterested in playing that day. They sort of wandered around the field without that drive or that passion to play their best. They wanted to score goals and win but didn’t want to put forth the effort to make it a reality.

I think adults can often act the same way when it comes to their spirituality. We want to form a deep connection with God, but we don’t want to put in the work needed. We wonder why it feels like something is missing in our lives and why it seems so unfulfilling. Or we look at the terrible news and get depressed or frustrated with the state of the world. But at the same time, we don’t pray, don’t participate in Mass, or receive the Sacraments. We want God to do something, just as long as that “something” doesn’t require extra effort from us.

Effort Rewarded

Let’s look at two women who exemplify what it means to put in effort in serving God and ultimately being rewarded for that effort. It meant that their earthly lives would be upended. They would face ridicule, sorrow, and a lack of earthly freedoms. They had a choice — would they put their faith in God and make the adjustments and sacrifices necessary to find greater joy and happiness? Or would they choose the easier, worldly path?

The first woman who had a choice to make was Bernadette Soubirous, better known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. By all accounts, she was just a normal girl from a poor family in France. But she then had an encounter with the Virgin Mary who asked her to return to the grotto where she was appearing and eventually build a chapel there. Whatever plans Bernadette had for her life came to an end when she accepted Our Lady’s requests. She became the subject of ridicule and much scrutiny from church and government authorities. She later entered a convent and died from tuberculosis. Saint Bernadette led a challenging life but she never stopped making an effort to serve God by doing what our Mother Mary asked of her. Like other saints, she put in the effort to form a meaningful relationship with God because she understood the value of doing so.

Full-body relic of Bernadette Soubirous. The photograph was taken at the last exhumation (18 April 1925). The saint died 46 years before the photo was taken; the face and hands are covered with a wax coat.

Think about Mary in the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. On Catholic Exchange, Romano Guardini has this to say about Mary’s decision in the Annunciation:

The lesson of the angel’s message alone should suffice for every one of the faithful who reads it aright; it is not the announcement that the divine decree was to be consummated in her, but the question of whether she agreed that it be so. This instant was an abyss before which one’s head reels, because here stood Mary in her freedom facing the very first decision on which all of salvation depended. But what does it mean when the question “Will you help the Savior’s coming?” coincides with the other question, “Will you become a mother?”
Why We Linger on Mary in the Rosary (catholicexchange.com)

I don’t think Mary’s plans included becoming an unwed mother to God. And then after Jesus’ birth, her earthly life wasn’t any easier. It was a life of concern and sorrow that we meditate on when we pray the Seven Sorrows of Mary Rosary. But Mary was ultimately rewarded when she was crowned Queen of Heaven (Fifth Glorious Mystery). She knows the value of doing God’s Will better than any other human. As Queen of Heaven, she is willing to help all of us find that strength to make that effort as she did so that we all may live in the joy of Heaven.

Spirit Willing, Flesh is Weak

When God comes knocking at your door with His plan for you, are you going to reject Him because it is difficult? Has God ever not rewarded those who make the effort to follow Him? If we truly believe that God offers us something 1000x better than anything we could create on our own, why do we have such a hard time committing to Him?

Think about the apostles in the First Sorrowful Mystery. I think we can relate to them. Jesus asked them to stay awake and pray with him and instead they all fell asleep. These are the future leaders of the Catholic Church! And they knew Jesus was the Messiah and yet they still couldn’t muster the effort to pray with him or stand by him when he was arrested. They must have enjoyed being some of the chosen few to journey with Jesus when he was curing people and riling up Pharisees. But when things got tough, they couldn’t follow through. They wanted the honor of being apostles without making the sacrifices.

There’s Still Time

What about us? When God asks us for one hour a week to celebrate Mass, are we too tired or too busy? Do God’s requests interfere with a football, baseball, or soccer match? Are we like the apostles, wanting the benefits of being close to Jesus but lacking the will to do what he asks?

The good news is that there’s always time. The apostles may have shrunk away from Jesus’ calling in the Garden of Gethsemane but they made up for it after Jesus’ resurrection. They went to the far corners of the known world preaching Jesus’ Gospel and most of them gave their lives doing so. So maybe you haven’t mustered the strength to follow Jesus. The beauty of our faith is that Jesus always offers us a way to “get back into the game.” We can always receive Reconciliation, go to Mass, and pick up those rosary beads. Jesus will accept anyone willing to put in the effort whether they have 100 years left in his life or 1 minute.

Establish a Daily Prayer Routine

A new school year is starting. If you know school-age people, hopefully, they are heading back to classrooms. As we start a new term, the principal of my childrens’ school wrote a small article stressing the importance of routine. Students have a much smoother and better experience when they stick to routines regarding how they wake up and get ready for school, how they do their homework, and how they go to sleep. Routines are important if you want a smooth day. One routine that is vitally important is a prayer routine.

My Morning Prayer Routine

My prayer routine involves waking up early before everyone else in the house and praying the Rosary (what did you expect?). This gets my day started on the right foot by making my relationship with God my priority. It centers me and allows God to speak to me through Rosary meditation on what I should focus on during the day. That’s also why praying in a quiet environment is so important. I don’t want God to have to fight through the noise of everyday life, especially my own thoughts which tend to grow louder as the day moves forward.

At some point in the morning, typically with my coffee, I read my Bible. As I said before, I’m reading the Bible in a Year which is a 10-minute read of Old and New Testament readings. I find the Bible so much richer when I read it daily and the books in order. I start to understand the context and narratives of the various books and chapters; something that is lost if you only hear the readings during Sunday Mass.

After dropping my boys off at school, I like to drop by the church for some silent prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Again, it’s the stillness that’s important. Remember, Jesus is present in the tabernacle. Like the people in the Gospel who flocked to Jesus for teaching and healing, we should flock to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. After all, we believe that Jesus is every bit as present in the Eucharist as he was in the Gospels. I’ll then take a walk in the park listening to audiobooks and, if time allows, I’ll go to the daily Mass.

Look at that routine. Before starting my workday, I have prayed the Rosary, read the Bible, and prayed at church. It’s such a great way to ground myself in my faith and gives me the strength to face whatever challenges come my way. Some of you may read this and think, “wow, that takes up so much time!” But it is time well spent even if I have to make changes to other routines to accommodate it. Morning prayer makes the day more meaningful and joyful because you allow God into your day.

I try to live according to this saying: “Work smarter, not harder.” The smart way to approach your day is to get as much help as you can. Who better to help you throughout the day than God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and the saints? They will never be in a bad mood or too busy to help you. But you have to approach them. The earlier the better. That’s why starting your day with prayer is so effective. It acts as a preventative measure so that you don’t get overwhelmed by life’s challenges.

The Rosary

Mediate on the Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary and consider Mary’s role as Queen of Heaven. She sits beside her son, Jesus, as our intercessor. She works on our behalf to bring us into God’s grace and find eternal joy in Heaven. She’s there, ready and willing. We just have to ask for her help. And we do that when we consistently pray for her intercession. If you’re having a hard time sticking to a prayer routine, then ask Mary to help you establish one.

Our Heavenly Queen is always a prayer away

Since I talked about the value of praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, mediate on the Fifth Luminous Mystery. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a cornerstone of the Catholic faith. It’s what makes Catholicism special and unique. It’s a gift that Jesus is with us today and not just someone who lived thousands of years ago. Since we have Jesus present with us, make a resolution to visit him by praying in a church, attending Adoration, and going to Mass more regularly.

Awesome Letter for the Archbishop of San Francisco

Lacking Understanding

I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan my whole life. You can consider me your classic Star Wars nerd; knowing all the trivia and details of the franchise. May 4th was Star Wars day (“May the Fourth be with You”, get it?). On that day, many people talked about Star Wars including one of the podcasts I listen to. They confessed they didn’t know much about the series and it showed. They asked many questions that any Star Wars fan knows like “how many movies make up the Skywalker saga? It’s nine by the way. As someone who knows Star Wars, it was a painful podcast to listen to.

I think many of us feel a similar pain when we hear on the news about our “Catholic” president or just about any mainstream news reporting about religion. It’s painful hearing the misinformation about the Church. The media just doesn’t understand the logic behind Catholic teaching. They act like universal truths can just be ignored or revised at will. They think the Church should just bend to whatever the woke cause de jour happens to be.

Listening to the news misreport about the Catholic Church is like listening to clueless people talk about Star Wars. It’s extremely frustrating the amount of misinformation they spread. It’s dangerous in many ways too. First, Catholics weak in their knowledge of the faith may be led astray if they believe that what the media or politicians say about the Church. Second, in this woke cancel culture, mobs can attack the faithful based on a false perception of Church teaching.

Pray that radical progressives stop at only destroying statues

A Clear Voice

That is why it’s so refreshing when someone comes along and lays out the teachings of the Catholic Church in a clear, unambiguous way. I’m talking about the archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone. In his letter on May 1, the archbishop wrote about the sanctity of human life, Communion, and politicians. He didn’t mince words when he says, “the killing must stop.” Here’s what he tells politicians:

To Catholics in public life who practice abortion or advocate for it: the killing must stop. Please, please, please: the killing must stop. God has entrusted you with a prestigious position in society. You have the power to affect societal practices and attitudes. Always remember that you will one day have to render an account to God for your stewardship of this trust. You are in a position to do something concrete and decisive to stop the killing. Please stop the killing. And please stop pretending that advocating for or practicing a grave moral evil—one that snuffs out an innocent human life, one that denies a fundamental human right—is somehow compatible with the Catholic faith. It is not. Please return home to the fullness of your Catholic faith. We await you with open arms to welcome you back.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

The letter is long but is worth reading. Any attempt I try to make to summarize it won’t do it justice. Trust me, I’ve tried writing some bullet points but it never comes together with the same impact as the letter. The letter has several layers that build on top of each other so it must be read in its entirety. I would be no better than the news pundits if I tried to cherry-pick certain lines.

The fact that the letter shouldn’t be cherry-picked for information is what is missing in modern discourse. Complex discussions about the dignity of human life, evil, mortal sin, and the Eucharist take time to express. The Church is guided by thousands of years of teachings from brilliant minds and inspired hearts. The problem is that no one in politics or the media wants to make an effort to understand Church teaching. Understanding takes time. Whipping up a bunch of woke activists takes a Twitter post.

The Rosary “Meds”

When I pray the Fourth Glorious Mystery, I think about how Mary was assumed into Heaven to help guide us to her Son, Jesus Christ. Part of coming to know and love Jesus is knowing and understanding his Church’s teachings. Yes, that can be hard on all sorts of levels. Sorry, but the Catechism or the Bible can’t be expressed in 140 characters and emojis. But making an effort to understand our faith is what we are called to do. We can’t love or hate something without making an effort to learn and understand it. Mary wants us to love her son and hence, wants to help us understand him and his Church.

I urge you to read or listen to the archbishop’s letter. Listening to it takes no more time than most podcasts. If you’re only hearing about politicians’ worthiness to receive Communion from the media, you’re not hearing the entire story.

What the Rosary Teaches us about Preparation

In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus told the parable about the wedding guests and how one was thrown out because he wasn’t wearing appropriate attire.

But when the king came in to meet the guests,
he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
The king said to him, ‘My friend, how is it
that you came in here without a wedding garment?’
But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet,
and cast him into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’

For a long time, this part of the parable troubled me. I always felt bad for the guest who showed up only to be tossed out for not wearing the appropriate attire. Here was a king, desperate to have people attend his wedding banquet after the invited guests turned him down. And so someone, maybe out of a sense of pity, agreed to come only to be humiliated and thrown out. Hadn’t the king ever heard the saying, “beggars can’t be choosers?” What did he expect by going out and inviting random people to his banquet?

Like Jesus’ other parables, this one isn’t supposed to be taken literally. It’s not a lesson on the etiquette of first-century wedding attire. Similar to the parable of the workers in the field, Jesus is using a simile about God and Heaven. Like any comparison, it’s not going to line up exactly. It’s the overall message and lesson being taught that is important, not the details used for illustration.

The point Jesus made in this parable was that God invites everyone to His Heavenly Kingdom. But that doesn’t mean we can act however we want and He has to accept us. Let’s look at this parable from a different point of view. Maybe the person without the garment wasn’t someone who could not afford one and maybe he wasn’t driven by pity to attend the banquet. Maybe he figured that because the king was asking everyone, he wouldn’t care how people came. Maybe, it was out of laziness that this person came to the banquet not attempting to make himself presentable. Basically, he was being what we would call a freeloader — someone looking to score a free meal.

I think that is the point of the parable — God won’t accept freeloaders in Heaven. While He desires all of us to be with Him in Heaven, we have to truly want to be there too. And if we want something, we have to work towards it. We can’t be lazy, selfish, or self-entitled. God made the rules quite clear through the 10 Commandments and Jesus’ teachings. Much like how people are expected to know the proper attire for a wedding banquet, we are expected to know and follow God’s laws for entering Heaven.

Preparation in the Rosary

Think about the Third Luminous Mystery, Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven and His Call to Conversion. We can think of conversion as us putting on the proper banquet attire and following proper etiquette. Our conversion is us taking off our worldly desires and sinful behavior so that we can appropriately sit at God’s banquet table in Heaven. We should be so excited about that prospect that we prepare ourselves here in this earthly life.

Praying the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries is about preparation. I forget who said it, but there’s a piece of wisdom that says, “if you don’t prepare for all possible circumstances, you haven’t prepared at all.” Well, death and judgment isn’t just a possible circumstance, it’s a certainty. Maybe the person in the parable without the wedding garment had one, but it was dirty. Or maybe he lost it. Whatever the case, he wasn’t prepared when the king invited him to the banquet. Ask yourself, are you prepared to attend God’s heavenly feast? Or are you still clinging to your worldly garments?

I like to pray for those who are close to death and judgment when I pray the Second Glorious Mystery. Jesus ascended into Heaven to make a place for each of us. He is the king making room at the banquet. However, many are not prepared. I pray for those in danger of being thrown out of the heavenly feast because they came before God not adequately “dressed.” Or some may need to wait a long time in Purgatory before being allowed to sit at God’s table. Pray for everyone close to death, especially those who don’t know it because maybe God will call on them suddenly and without warning. Pray that those who need it most receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and that we all make an effort towards conversion. Let’s all have our Heavenly wedding attire close at hand.