Thursday, May 28, 2009
Martyr's of our church
How amazing is a sacrafice of one's life for their faith in the Risen Lord? I cannot believe the sacrafice and stand in awe and prayer for our catholic forefathers who laid the foundation for the church today, with their own blood. Let us pray a rosary today for our blessed and beloved Catholic Martyrs.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Why we shouldn't judge others
Sin can be subjective AND objective. When someone else sins, we know what they did, we do not know why they did it or their intent behind the sin. Did they know it was wrong before they did it? Have they justified it beforehand? Was it an implusive action? Whether someone is actually culpable of the sin shouldn't be in debate. Remember that culpability is a measure of the degree to which an agent, such as a person, can be held morally or legally responsible for their act. I mean, we cannot read minds folks. Just think of the possibilities..if we could only read women's minds...i try all the time but am always so wrong!! We have inferior capabilities in reading minds and hearts, it's a fact.
How can we ever really know why someone acts the way they act? We cannot since we do not know whether their conscience is developed, undeveloped, or numb because of ignorance. All of this can get very confusing, and is why God does not want us to get involved in it. God wants us to accept, forgive and love one another no matter how painful. Imagine how much pain we cause the Lord when we turn our backs and sin against ourselves and Him even when we know better. He forgives us, so we are called to do the same. We shouldn't be judging others because we never know the heart of that person. Remember that God will judge us if we judge others. It's a trade. In accepting, forgiving and loving others without seeing a return of that love, acceptance and forgiveness we move closer to holiness, closer to Jesus. If He can demostrate all of that while hanging on a cross, bleeding and dying, we can do it too.
Judging others is very easy to do, we all do it, and sometimes do it without even thinking. Some judgement is born out of anger, envy, and principle. Some judgment is born out of resentment. All of it leads to more sin and a longing of worldly possession and that is not good. There is an anger some feel justified in having and is very dangerous if not displayed correctly.
Righteous anger.
It is not a justifiable reason to judge another. Case and point Father Jenkins from Notre Dame. In having Obama address the graduates with a commencement address and receive a honorary degree, many feel he has betrayed the primacy of truth and disgraced Church teachings. It may very well look that way, but can we really judge another even with righteous cause? How do we know what is in Father Jenkins heart? We do not. Only our Lord knows this. He needs us to pray for Father and be a voice of truth. Not to tear him down and judge him for his actions. You can apply this endlessly. Its like "the devil gets a two for one special", in the great words of Fr. Mictch Pacwa. Someone has already been tempted and now others will fall to sin in judgement of that person or persons. Righteous anger is healthy to have, but needs to be diciplined. This carries me to my next concept. Catholics can sometimes be righteous to a fault. It drives people away from the Church.
I support EWTN, and I have no guilt in saying so. No, it is not a alternative magisterium, it is merely a supplement to her teachings. I have gained strides in my faith life from the EWTN programming and find it spiritually uplifting and supportive. I have yet to hear anyone that speaks locally or nationally on that station that harbors opposition against church teachings. They syndicate Vatican radio for crying out loud! Oh, but there has been books, multiple forums dedicated to the thrashing of Mother Angelica and EWTN. This is heartbreaking. While Mother and anyone who speaks on the station are human, and not perfect, and have their opinions, none of them are influenced by the evil one like some say. I lose respect for theologins that say things like this, since they do not know the heart of these people. The intent of the programming is very clear. To bring people closer to Christ and to support Catholic issues and the magisterium. How can we evangelize the full truth and invite people to full communion with the Church and it's sacraments when we are fighting amongst oursleves. Scrutinizing others is not the pathway to holiness and sainthood folks. This is silly and needs to stop. I'm not judging those who do it, but i pray for them that they might find a way to cease their judgement. That folks is the eventual and consistent answer. Prayer.
Prayer. It is mightier than anything and compliments everything we could say or do. Through prayer we repent for our judgment of others and can hear the Lord's will for us and when enacted can bring about much joy and love in all that we encounter and all we do. Remember in prayer, to give the Lord a chance to answer back. Don't rush or dominate the conversation. Be patient and listen, He has something to say too!
God Bless
Dennis
How can we ever really know why someone acts the way they act? We cannot since we do not know whether their conscience is developed, undeveloped, or numb because of ignorance. All of this can get very confusing, and is why God does not want us to get involved in it. God wants us to accept, forgive and love one another no matter how painful. Imagine how much pain we cause the Lord when we turn our backs and sin against ourselves and Him even when we know better. He forgives us, so we are called to do the same. We shouldn't be judging others because we never know the heart of that person. Remember that God will judge us if we judge others. It's a trade. In accepting, forgiving and loving others without seeing a return of that love, acceptance and forgiveness we move closer to holiness, closer to Jesus. If He can demostrate all of that while hanging on a cross, bleeding and dying, we can do it too.
Judging others is very easy to do, we all do it, and sometimes do it without even thinking. Some judgement is born out of anger, envy, and principle. Some judgment is born out of resentment. All of it leads to more sin and a longing of worldly possession and that is not good. There is an anger some feel justified in having and is very dangerous if not displayed correctly.
Righteous anger.
It is not a justifiable reason to judge another. Case and point Father Jenkins from Notre Dame. In having Obama address the graduates with a commencement address and receive a honorary degree, many feel he has betrayed the primacy of truth and disgraced Church teachings. It may very well look that way, but can we really judge another even with righteous cause? How do we know what is in Father Jenkins heart? We do not. Only our Lord knows this. He needs us to pray for Father and be a voice of truth. Not to tear him down and judge him for his actions. You can apply this endlessly. Its like "the devil gets a two for one special", in the great words of Fr. Mictch Pacwa. Someone has already been tempted and now others will fall to sin in judgement of that person or persons. Righteous anger is healthy to have, but needs to be diciplined. This carries me to my next concept. Catholics can sometimes be righteous to a fault. It drives people away from the Church.
I support EWTN, and I have no guilt in saying so. No, it is not a alternative magisterium, it is merely a supplement to her teachings. I have gained strides in my faith life from the EWTN programming and find it spiritually uplifting and supportive. I have yet to hear anyone that speaks locally or nationally on that station that harbors opposition against church teachings. They syndicate Vatican radio for crying out loud! Oh, but there has been books, multiple forums dedicated to the thrashing of Mother Angelica and EWTN. This is heartbreaking. While Mother and anyone who speaks on the station are human, and not perfect, and have their opinions, none of them are influenced by the evil one like some say. I lose respect for theologins that say things like this, since they do not know the heart of these people. The intent of the programming is very clear. To bring people closer to Christ and to support Catholic issues and the magisterium. How can we evangelize the full truth and invite people to full communion with the Church and it's sacraments when we are fighting amongst oursleves. Scrutinizing others is not the pathway to holiness and sainthood folks. This is silly and needs to stop. I'm not judging those who do it, but i pray for them that they might find a way to cease their judgement. That folks is the eventual and consistent answer. Prayer.
Prayer. It is mightier than anything and compliments everything we could say or do. Through prayer we repent for our judgment of others and can hear the Lord's will for us and when enacted can bring about much joy and love in all that we encounter and all we do. Remember in prayer, to give the Lord a chance to answer back. Don't rush or dominate the conversation. Be patient and listen, He has something to say too!
God Bless
Dennis
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Why are we all fighting? Can't we forgive?
I just have to ask that question more than I'd like to.. It seems that we are always fighting, taking sides, hedging grudges, never forgiving each other, whether it be political, global economics, sports and amongst ourselves over relationships we have. It just seems like we cannot get along at all and cannot break down our pride walls to forgive one another.
The sanctity of life is a very serious subject, not only to the Catholic Church but to many people worldwide that share differing opinions about the subject. I feel like society today is always looking for a mulligan in life, the easy path. A do over. This pains me. Yes, I am talking Abortion and all of its ramifications. You do not have to be a Catholic to oppose this travesty, but it seems like the love affair with Obama (while other than his stance on Pro-Choice he seems to be a great man) is sheilding everyone from the campaigning that is occuring (Dont get me started on Catholics like Pelusi and Biden) to give people a choice in the matter. Everyone is looking for a do over. Yes, i understand certain circumstances are horrific nature such as pregrancy through rape and force is nothing to joke about, nor do i know or pretend to know what that could possibly be like for a woman to have to go through something such as that. There are people and places you can go to. So many.
It seems to me that alot of society is wanting a do over and thinking about advancing themselves in any way they can, whether it is something simple like lying to get a raise, saying negative things about another , judging others by what they look like or what they wear or what they drive or where they live, how much money they make, cutting someone off on the highway or street or simply carrying a pompous attitude towards others in order to keep them notched down. Here is the catch:
We have a do over in flesh form. His name is Jesus.
Our God forgives and forgets when we come to him in repentence. He knows our hearts. No one else does, only He does. He has this power and obtaining everlasting life for us when He dies on that cross. He knew all of this would happen, this is why it was so ugly and painful. Aren't we so ugly and painful to watch at times. However, we can be so beautiful and caring too. This is called Hope. A hope that we can change and see what really is important.
Our Souls.
Not how many cars we have, how big the house is and how much money we can make or hide from others, our souls brothers and sisters. That is only currency that carries merit in this bankrupt world we live in. Remember Jesus said while he was nailed to a cross, to the people who spat on Him, ridiculed Him, crucified him, gave up on Him, "Forgiver them Father, they know not what they do" He said this dripping with blood, dying, in front of all the people who opposed Him and continued to mock Him. What a loaded sentence that was. Why are we always fighting with each other? If Jesus is able to forgive us for something that horrible while dying on a cross, can't we just get along and forgive each other as well?
We want a do over? His name is Jesus.
The sanctity of life is a very serious subject, not only to the Catholic Church but to many people worldwide that share differing opinions about the subject. I feel like society today is always looking for a mulligan in life, the easy path. A do over. This pains me. Yes, I am talking Abortion and all of its ramifications. You do not have to be a Catholic to oppose this travesty, but it seems like the love affair with Obama (while other than his stance on Pro-Choice he seems to be a great man) is sheilding everyone from the campaigning that is occuring (Dont get me started on Catholics like Pelusi and Biden) to give people a choice in the matter. Everyone is looking for a do over. Yes, i understand certain circumstances are horrific nature such as pregrancy through rape and force is nothing to joke about, nor do i know or pretend to know what that could possibly be like for a woman to have to go through something such as that. There are people and places you can go to. So many.
It seems to me that alot of society is wanting a do over and thinking about advancing themselves in any way they can, whether it is something simple like lying to get a raise, saying negative things about another , judging others by what they look like or what they wear or what they drive or where they live, how much money they make, cutting someone off on the highway or street or simply carrying a pompous attitude towards others in order to keep them notched down. Here is the catch:
We have a do over in flesh form. His name is Jesus.
Our God forgives and forgets when we come to him in repentence. He knows our hearts. No one else does, only He does. He has this power and obtaining everlasting life for us when He dies on that cross. He knew all of this would happen, this is why it was so ugly and painful. Aren't we so ugly and painful to watch at times. However, we can be so beautiful and caring too. This is called Hope. A hope that we can change and see what really is important.
Our Souls.
Not how many cars we have, how big the house is and how much money we can make or hide from others, our souls brothers and sisters. That is only currency that carries merit in this bankrupt world we live in. Remember Jesus said while he was nailed to a cross, to the people who spat on Him, ridiculed Him, crucified him, gave up on Him, "Forgiver them Father, they know not what they do" He said this dripping with blood, dying, in front of all the people who opposed Him and continued to mock Him. What a loaded sentence that was. Why are we always fighting with each other? If Jesus is able to forgive us for something that horrible while dying on a cross, can't we just get along and forgive each other as well?
We want a do over? His name is Jesus.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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