Reflections on The Last Supper from Fulton Sheen

I just love the way that Venerable Fulton Sheen has with words. This is an excellent reflection of the Last Supper from his book, "Life of Christ." It's a relatively short chapter, of 7 book pages, so for the sake of soaking it all up, I would encourage you to read the whole thing. If you're pressed for time, feel free just to read the parts that I highlighted in bold.

I pray that this brings you into a deeper understanding and union with Christ at the Last Supper, that you may prepare your heart and soul for Good Friday. Many people attended Ash Wednesday services and wandered with Jesus through the desert of Lent. Let us now bring ourselves closer to Him in His final days. Many of his disciples were with Him throughout His ministry, but abandoned Him in His final days. Do not be like those disciples, I pray. Meditate on these events. Fast on Good Friday to empty yourself and make room for Him. I promise you, Easter Sunday will be the most fulfilling if you sacrifice and fast in the final days. There can be no celebration of the Resurrection without the celebration of the Death, and there can be no Easter without a Good Friday.


The Last Supper

Some things in life are too beautiful to be forgotten, but there can also be something in death that is too beautiful to be forgotten. Hence a Memorial Day, to recall the sacrifices of soldiers for the preservation of freedom of their country. Freedom is not an heirloom, but a life. Once received, it does not continue to exist without effort, like an old painting. As life must be nourished, defended, and preserved; so freedom must be repurchased in each generation. Soldiers, however, were not born to die; death on a battlefield was an interruption to their summons to live. But unlike all others, Our Blessed Lord came into this world to die. Even at His birth, His Mother was reminded that He came to die. Never before did any mother in the world see death wrap its skeleton arms so quickly about an Infant Birth.

When he was still only an Infant, the old man Simeon looked into the face of Him Who turned back eternity and was made young, and said that He was destined to be a "sign to be contradicted," or a signal that would call out the opposition of the deliberately imperfect. The mother, on hearing that word "contradicted," could almost see Simeon's arms fade and the arms of the Cross take their place to enfold Him in death. Before two years of His life had been lived, King Herod sent out horsemen pounding like thunderbolts, and with swords flashing like lightning, in an attempt to decapitate His Infant Head, not yet strong enough to bear the weight of a crown!

Since Our Divine Lord came to die, it was fitting that there be a Memorial of His death! Since He was God, as well as man, and since He never spoke of His death without speaking of His Resurrection, should He not Himself institute the precise Memorial of His own death and not leave it to the chance recollection of men? And that is exactly what He did the night of the Last Supper. Our Memorial Day was not instituted by soldiers who foresaw their death. But HIs Memorial was instituted, and this is important, not because He would die like a soldier and be buried, but because He would live again after the Resurrection. His Memorial would be the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets; it would be one in which there would be a Lamb sacrificed, not to commemorate political freedom, but spiritual freedom; above all, it would be a Memorial of a New Covenant.

A Covenant or Testament is an agreement or compact or alliance, and in Scripture it means one between God and man. At the Last Supper, Our Lord would speak of the New Testament or Covenant, which is best understood in relation to the Old. The Covenant that God made with Israel as a nation was done through Moses as the mediator. It was sealed with blood, because blood was considered as a sign of life; those who mixed their blood or plunged their hands into the same blood were thought to have a common spirit. In the Covenants between God and Israel, God promised blessings if Israel remained faithful. Among the principal phases of the Old Covenant were the one with Abraham with a guarantee of progeny, the one with David and the promise of kingship, and the one with Moses in which God showed His power and love to Israel by delivering them from bondage to Egypt and promising that Israel would be for Him a kingdom of priests. When the Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt, Moses received instructions for a new rite.

After the plagues, God struck the Egyptians further to prompt the release of His people by smiting the firstborn in each Egyptian house. The Israelites were to save themselves by offering a lamb, then dipping some hyssop in the blood, and marking their doorways with blood. The angel of God seeing the blood would pass by. The Lamb was therefore the Pesach or the Passover of the destroying angel, that is, a "pass" which secured safety. God then ordered its continuation year after year.

This institution of the slain Paschal Lamb mentioned in Exodus was followed by the implementation of the Covenant with Moses in which God made Israel a nation; it was the birth of the Israelites as the chosen people of God. The Covenant was concluded by various sacrifices. Moses erected an altar with twelve pillars. Taking the blood of the sacrifice, he poured one half of it on the altar, and the other half on the twelve tribes and the people with the words:

Here is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord makes with you. Exodus 24:8

By pouring out blood on the altar, which symbolized God or one party to the Covenant, and by sprinkling blood on the twelve tribes and people, which represented the other party, both were made partakers of the same blood and brought into a kind of sacramental union.

This Covenant or Testament with Israel was meant to be perfected through a more complete revelation on the part of God. The prophets later on said that the exile of the Israelites was a punishment because they had broken the Covenant; but as they were restored to the Old Covenant, so would there be a New Covenant or Testament which would include all nations. The Lord speaking through Jeremias told the people:

This is the Covenant I will grant the people of Israel, when that time comes. I will implant My law in their innermost thoughts, engrave it in their hearts. Jeremias 31:33

The Last Supper and the Crucifixion took place during the Passover, when the Eternal Son of the Father mediated a New Testament or Covenant, as the Old Testament or Covenant was mediated through Moses. As Moses ratified the Old Testament with the blood of animals, so Christ now ratified the New Testament with His own Blood, He Who is the true Pascal Lamb.

This is My Blood, of the New Testament. Matthew 26:28

The Hour of His exaltation having come, for within less than twenty-four hours He would surrender Himself, He gathered His twelve Apostles about Him. In one sublime act He interpreted the meaning of His death. He declared that He was marking the beginning of the New Testament or Covenant ratified by His sacrificial death. The whole Mosaic and pre-Messianic system of sacrifice was thus superseded and fulfilled. No created fire came down to devour the life that was offered to the Father, as it did in the Old Testament, for the fire would be the glory of His Resurrection and the flames of Pentecost.

Since His death was the reason of His coming, He now instituted for HIs Apostles and posterity a Memorial Action of HIs Redemption, which He promised when He said that He was the Bread of Life.

He took bread and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them saying, This is My Body, given for you. Luke 22:19

He did not say, "This represents or symbolizes My Body," but He said, "This is My Body"--a Body that would be broken in His passion.

Then taking wine into His Hands, He said:

Drink, all of you, of this; For this is My Blood of the New Testament, shed for many, to the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28

His coming death on the following afternoon was set before them in a symbolic or unbloody manner. On the Cross, He would die by the separation of His Blood from His Body. Hence He did not consecrate the bread and wine together, but separately, to show forth the manner of His death by the separation of Body and Blood. In this act, Our Lord was what He would be on the Cross the next day: both Priest and Victim. In the Old Testament and among pagans, the victim, such as a goat or a sheep, was apart from the priest who offered it. In this Eucharistic action and on the Cross, He, the Priest, offered Himself; therefore He was also the Victim. Thus would be fulfilled the words of the prophet Malachias:

No corner of the world, from sun's rise to sun's setting, where the renown of Me is not heard among the Gentiles, where sacrifice is not done, and pure offering made in My honor; so revered is My name, says the Lord of Hosts, there among the Gentiles. Malachias 1:11

Next came the Divine command to prolong the Memorial of HIs death:

Do this for a commemoration of Me. Luke 22:19

Repeat! Renew! Prolong through the centuries the sacrifice offered for the sins of the world!

Why did Our Blessed Lord use bread and wine as the elements of this Memorial? First of all, because no two substances in nature better symbolize unity than bread and wine. As bread is made from a multiplicity of grains of wheat, and wine is made from a multiplicity of grapes, so the many who believe are one in Christ. Second, no two substances in nature have to suffer more to become what they are than bread and wine. Wheat has to pass through the rigors of winter, be ground beneath the Calvary of a mill, and then subjected to purging fire before it can become bread. Grapes in their turn must be subjected to the Gethsemane of a wine press and have their life crushed from them to become wine. Thus do they symbolize the Passion and Sufferings of Christ, and the condition of Salvation, for Our Lord said unless we die to ourselves we cannot live in Him. A third reason is that there are no two substance s in nature which have more traditionally nourished man than bread and wine. In brining these elements to the altar, men are equivalently bringing themselves. When bread and wine are taken or consumed, they are changed into man's body and blood. But when He took bread and wine, He changed them into Himself.

But because Our Lord's Memorial was not instituted by His disciples but by Him, and because He could not be conquered by death, but would rise again in newness of life, He willed that as He now looked forward to His redemptive death on the Cross, so all the Christian ages, until the consummation of the world, should look back to the Cross. In order that they would not re-enact the Memorial out of whim or fancy, He gave the command to commemorate and announce His redemptive death until He came again! What He asked His Apostles to do was to set forth in the future this Memorial of His Passion, death and Resurrection. What He did looked forward to the Cross; what they did, and which has continued ever since in the Mass, was to look back to His redemptive death. Thus would they, as St. Paul said, "announce the death of the Lord until He came" to judge the world. He broke the bread to set forth the breaking of His own human Body and also to show that He was a Victim by His own free will. He broke it by voluntary surrender, before the executioners would break it by their voluntary cruelty.

When the Apostles and the Church later on would repeat that Memorial, the Christ, who was born of Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate, would be glorified in heaven. That Holy Thursday Our Lord had given to them not another sacrifice than His unique Redemptive Act on the Cross; but He gave a new manner of Presence. It would not be a new sacrifice, for there is only one; He gave a new presence of that unique sacrifice. In the Last Supper, Our Lord acted independently of His Apostles in presenting His sacrifice under the appearances of bread and wine. After His Resurrection and Ascension and in obedience to the Divine command, Christ would offer His sacrifice to His Heavenly Father through them or depending on them. Whenever that sacrifice of Christ is memorialized in the Church, there is an application to a new moment in time and a new presence in space of the unique sacrifice of Christ Who is now in glory. In obeying His mandate, His followers would be representing in an unbloody manner that which He presented to His Father in the bloody sacrifice of Calvary.

After changing the bread into His Body and the wine into His Blood:

He gave it to them. Mark 14:22

By that communion they were made one with Crist, to be offered with Him, in Him, and by Him. All love craves unity. As the highest peak of love in the human order is the unity of husband and wife in the flesh, so the highest unity in the Divine order is the unity of the soul and Christ in communion. When the Apostles, and the Church later on, would obey Our Lord's words to renew the Memorial and to eat and drink of Him, the Body and Blood would not be that of the Physical Christ then before them, but that of the glorified Christ in heaven Who continually makes intercession for sinners. The Salvation of the Cross, being sovereign and eternal, is thus applied and actualized in the course of time by the heavenly Christ.

When our Lord, after He changed the bread and wine to His Body and Blood, told His Apostles to eat and drink, He was doing for the soul of man what food and drink do for the body. Unless the plants sacrifice themselves to being plucked up from the roots, they cannot nourish or commune with man. The sacrifice of what is lowest must precede communion with what is higher. First His death was mystically represented; then communion followed. The lower is transformed into the higher; chemicals into plants; plants into animals; chemicals, plants, and animals into man; and man into Christ by communion. The followers of Buddha derive no strength from his life but only from his writings. The writings of Christianity are nota s important as the life of Christ, Who living in glory, now pours forth on His followers the benefits of His sacrifice.

The one note that kept ringing through His life was His death and glory. It was for that that He came primarily. Hence the night before HIs death, He gave to His Apostles something which on dying no one else could ever give, namely, Himself. Only Divine wisdom could have conceived such a Memorial! Humans, left to themselves, might have spoiled the drama of His Redemption. They might have done two things with His death which would have fallen so short of the Way of Divinity. They might have regarded  His redemptive death as a drama presented once in history like the assassination of Lincoln. In that case, it would have been only an incident, not a Redemption--the tragic end of a man, not the Salvation of humanity. Regrettably, this is the way so many look upon the Cross of Christ, forgetting His Resurrection and the pouring-out of the merits of His Cross in the Memorial Action He ordered and commanded. In such a case, His death would be only like a national Memorial Day and nothing more.

Or they might have regarded it as a drama which was played only once, but one which ought so often to be recalled only through meditating on its details. In this case, they would go back and read the accounts of the drama critics who lived at the time, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This would be only a literary recall of His death, as Plato records the death of Socrates, and would have made the death of Our Lord no different from the death of any man.

Our Lord never told anyone to write about His Redemption, but He did tell His Apostles to renew it, apply it, commemorate it, prolong it by obeying His orders given at the Last Supper. He wanted the great drama of Calvary to be played not once, but for every age of His own choosing. He wanted men not to be readers about His Redemption, but actors in it, offering up their body and blood with HIs in the re-enactment of Calvary, saying with Him, "This is my body and this is my blood"; dying to their lower natures to live to grace; saying that they cared not for the appearance or species of their lives such as their family relationships, jobs, duties, physical appearance, or talents, but that their intellects, their wills, their substance--all that they truly were--would be changed into Christ; that the Heavenly Father looking down on them would see them in His Son, see their sacrifices massed in His sacrifice, their mortifications incorporated with His death, so that eventually they might share in His glory.

Marriage

I realize that this blog is very lengthy, so for the sake of my intended audience, I clearly labeled the two different points of view. For those who are non-believers or who have no interest in religious arguments for traditional marriage, the "secular argument" section is for you. For those of you who call yourselves Christian, whether supportive of same-sex marriage or not, please read the "religious argument" section below. It goes further than just quoting from Genesis or providing odd statements like, "The Bible says Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve."

Also know that there are more arguments and points to be made that I did not include as an attempt to keep this from being 100 pages long. For whatever reason, I felt compelled to limit myself to the points I made below.

Finally, I respect you as a person and your opinions, and I would ask that you please show the same respect. If your thoughts are different than mine, I would urge you simply to consider these ideas:

"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them... The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."

When you call out a woman in a crowd or to her face by calling her a "murderer" because she had an abortion or supports abortion, does that change her mind? When you try to scare, shame, or bully someone into being "politically correct" and to see your side by calling them a bigot, intolerant, sick, homophobic, mean, hateful, or uneducated, does that change minds? People only seem to be tolerant of other people as long as they share the same opinion; and when someone else has a different opinion, suddenly they are intolerant or discriminatory. Don't be hypocritical by being intolerant of people that you think are intolerant.

The Religious Argument

 

Marriage is self-giving love to another person. “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church.” What did He do for the Church? Sacrificed Himself. He gave Himself completely. Through His Resurrection, He gave us Eternal Life. He is the Giver of Life. He gave life to His Church, His spouse. Marriage is self-giving and life-giving.

 

Family and marriage have always been under attack. They are sacred and Satan hates the sacred. He hates that which brings joy, brings sacrifice, brings love that is directed to good and not to evil. Now let’s use our common sense to make another point. Satan is a fallen angel—an angel. These are special entities in Heaven, but God gave His humans something that angels do not have. Something that we can do that angels can’t. We can procreate. Through God’s will, we can reproduce and bring more life into existence. This is a gift that even His faithful angels do not have! Satan is jealous and he has been working forever not only to destroy life, but prevent it. The best and most fruitful place to make new life is in a family—and look especially in recent history, the attack on marriage and family! Divorce, cohabitation, pre-marital sex, infidelity, selfishness, and the complete sterilization of the marriage act. Abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization—what a threat to families! Following our own will instead of God’s! Isn’t that Satan’s purpose? Satan continues to create a society where self-giving love and life are eliminated. Even heterosexual marriages have become selfish and sterile. Next are “marriages” that are sterile from the beginning. Total self-giving, reproduction, and the consummation of marriage are physically impossible with same-sex couples.

 

Furthermore, from a Christian perspective, a child who is not raised in a stable family environment, in a Domestic Church, will have a hard time grasping and accepting God. The mother-father marriage yields “fertile soil” that Jesus spoke of in order to understand God. To understand the love of an earthly father is to understand how our Father loves us. To understand the gentle nature of an earthly mother is to know how the Blessed Mother loves us. When you distort parenthood and make mothers and fathers interchangeable and obsolete, then you make God obsolete. You make His will obsolete. You make the Domestic Church obsolete: 1.Christ (husband), 2. Church (wife), and 3. us (children). Can you say that Jesus is obsolete? Can you say that the Church that He died for, that we even refer to as our Mother Church, which teaches us and guides us, can you say that she is obsolete? Can you say that we, God’s children, are obsolete?

 

Finally, to my gay Christian brothers and sisters, I oppose same-sex marriage because I love you. I can’t condone the sin of sexual abuse (sterile, self-gratification) outside of the true meaning of marriage any more than I would want you to condone my sins. I want you to love my soul and not my feelings, which is how I feel about you. We are brothers and sisters who have been called to hold each other accountable (“Am I my brother’s keeper?”) to help each other attain Heaven, instead of misguiding each other to thorny, dark roads.

 

Please, I urge you to read these two blogs from the perspective of a young, gay Christian. There is more to life than sex and there is a greater joy than a marriage can provide.

 

"An Open Letter to the Church from a Lesbian"

"To those of you who would change the church to accept the gay community and its lifestyle: you give us no hope at all...You are willing to compromise the word of God to be politically correct. We are not deceived. If we accept your willingness to compromise, then we must also compromise. We must therefore accept your lying, your adultery, your lust, your idolatry, your addictions, YOUR sins...We do not ask for your acceptance of our sins any more than we accept yours. We simply ask for the same support, love, guidance, and most of all hope that is given to the rest of your congregation. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not what we shall be, but thank God, we are not what we were. Let us work together to see that we all arrive safely home...." Read the rest here

"Gay, Catholic, and Doing Fine"

"Is it hard to be gay and Catholic? Yes, because like everybody, I sometimes want things that are not good for me. The Church doesn’t let me have those things, not because she’s mean, but because she’s a good mother....So, yes, it’s hard to be gay and Catholic — it’s hard to be anything and Catholic — because I don’t always get to do what I want. Show me a religion where you always get to do what you want and I’ll show you a pretty shabby, lazy religion. Something not worth living or dying for, or even getting up in the morning for." Read the rest here

The Secular Argument

Does everyone have the right to get married? Is it truly a “right” that when denied for certain reasons, is unjust discrimination? Are all of our “rights” the same, even when nature, genetics, or logic disqualify us to things we may want? Do we all have the "right" to get what we want, when we want it, and how we want it? For example, do we all have the right to play in the NFL, even if we may be a female or we have no athletic abilities? Do we all have the right to receive Native American scholarships for college, even if we are not Native American? When we are excluded from such things, is it true discrimination, or is it just reality? And must we be so all-inclusive for the sake of being “politically correct” that nature, rules, history, and guidelines mean nothing? When we seek to be so politically correct that, for instance, anyone can receive a Native American scholarship, doesn’t that degrade the original meaning and intent of the scholarship? Isn’t the scholarship now meaningless if I can receive it, even with no Native American blood in my body?

 

What is marriage? If we can't even agree about what marriage is, then how can we have a meaningful debate about "marriage equality?" In all this time, I haven’t heard any real answers from same-sex marriage supporters. Although, one answer that I did hear was, “Whatever they want it to be!” (Sad.) I have also heard of marriage defined as “a legal institution with legal rights and legal responsibilities.” So, the postal service is a marriage? A business is a marriage? That definition doesn't hold up. Finally, I have also heard of it simply described as “a bond between two people.” So, I have a bond with my parents. Does that make us married? I have a bond with many people. Does that make us all married? The government is not in the business of signing off on romantic or emotional feelings of two people. When will it become more than two people? And when will it become a "legal bond" between close family members? Who is to assume that it will remain solely between people? When you can’t face the true definition of marriage, then marriage truly does become “anything you want it to be!”

 

Redefining marriage redefines parenthood. Marriage creates the stable and self-giving bond of two adults for the rearing of children. Marriage is about the children. But when I say that marriage is about the children, it is for them and them only, and not for the adults to have some sort of "experience" or using children to fill some sort of void in their life. That is the selfish raising of children. Saying that two men or two women can marry and raise children is not right. As a sperm from a man and an egg from a woman are needed to make a child, it follows that every child has a mother and a father, and biologically they need both.  Just like the strange argument for abortion comes from people who have already been born, so too do I see so many people support gay marriage who grew up with a mother and a father. Could you look to either of your parents and tell them you didn’t need them? That you didn’t learn anything from them? That you learned nothing specifically masculine or feminine from your father or mother? That nothing in your life would be lacking if you had only two of your mom or two of your dad?

 

In a world that is so hell-bent on “gender equality,” perhaps we have lost sight that what makes men and women different is beautiful and necessary! Men and women generally think differently, love differently, act differently, and teach differently, but in the end, together, they are balanced. A true marriage is one where the husband and wife look at each other and say, “You complete me.” Each knows that the other makes up for what lacks or what is flawed. This makes for the right environment to raise children. Marriage is for the children, not the adults.

 

Are there a lot of parentless children out there? Yes, unfortunately. But we know that because the parents gave life to the children instead of resorting to abortion, that they want good for their children. They want their children to be raised in a normal and happy life that they can’t provide themselves. They want each child to be with a mother and a father. And an orphan child will also tell you that they dream of having a “mommy and a daddy”--that is their right and it trumps anyone's right to be selfish. Unfortunately, even many heterosexuals don't get this, but still, two wrongs don’t make a right. 

 

Why are children the afterthought? Does it not dawn on folks that the government’s primary interest in the “romantic relationship between a husband and wife” is because of children? Because of the prolongation of a nation? Because of the benefit of society? Because of the economic benefit from ever-replacing the workforce? The government does have a vested interest in a marriage because of its procreative and economic benefit, because a family is an essential cell of society, best-suited for raising children that will be good, contributing citizens. When you purposely change the cells, then you change society. The government is not interested in acknowledging purely romantic relationships between any persons because in the eyes of the government, for example, a boyfriend-girlfriend romantic relationship in junior high does not benefit society. The romantic relationship of a cheating husband and his mistress do not benefit society. The romantic relationship of man-boy love does not benefit society. Our capitalist government is interested, primarily, in one thing: money. Economic benefit. We are already running into the problem in America where people are not having enough children (you heard me, overpopulation theorists). Think about it. When families have limited themselves to zero or just one or two children, there is not enough replacement in the workforce, and not enough man-power and taxpayer money to support the aging population. (No wonder so many support euthanasia.. you’ve killed off or prevented so many of the young that there’s no one to take care of the old, so just get rid of them too..). Children are the primary concern in a marriage.

 

As I stated at the beginning, there are many more points that I did not address, but this blog covers a few of those points. In particular, and I will quote it here for those who always cry "hypocrisy!" over sterile same-sex relationships and infertile heterosexual couples:

Some say that infertile couples are an exception to the rule just as same-sex couples are. False. Infertile couples prove the point of natural marriage. An infertile couple is naturally oriented toward procreation and something is medically wrong. The reason a same-sex couple cannot procreate is because nature is working correctly.

God love you.

 

What kind of spouse do you want?

I once was in a conversation with a group of young women who were talking about their "ideal man." They acknowledged the fact that finding a guy at a bar was pretty tacky, and probably would result in a guy who didn't meet their standards. They said that it was better to meet someone in a place like a coffee shop or church. But what came next shocked and upset me. They agreed that it would be great to meet a guy at a church, but not one who was "too hardcore" about being Catholic. "You know, like the kind who walk with 'prayer hands' up to Communion and kneel to receive it."

This conversation has stuck with me now for a few years.

Is it so bad to find a spouse who is truly God-fearing?
One who actually has a personal and strong relationship with Jesus?
One who believes to his core that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ?
One who lets faith lead their life, instead of letting life lead their faith?
What is a marriage, if not a Sacrament and covenant centered on God?
Is it just an acknowledgement of a romantic relationship?
One that is only physical, probably emotional, but not at all spiritual?

Do you know that the purpose, especially of a Christian marriage, is to help your spouse (and children) get to Heaven?



Both photos from the Made in His Image Facebook page

I love these two photos because they speak to the essence of what a marriage is (aside from procreation), and what the goal is in the courtship time before marriage:  bringing one another closer to God. A relationship centered on God can never fail, for "what God as joined together, no human being must separate." (Mark 10:9)

Now, my husband and I certainly were not "hardcore Catholics" when we met. Aside from going to Mass, we never even prayed together while we were dating and engaged. But after a while, you truly start to realize the hole in your relationship when together you do not bring God to that hole. You try and fill that whole with loud, busy things, always looking for a new thrill, but of course one that is better than before. We were even married for one whole year before we ever prayed together and brought our faith--which was lukewarm and still "our own"--to each other, to share it and grow it. But once you, as a couple, turn your faces to God even just a little, He runs to you. The Holy Spirit rushes to you to help make it easier, to guide you, and make it "less awkward." Our relationship has grown exponentially ever since then, and I deeply wish we had done this sooner. I wish we had started dating in this way.

One of the most memorable days in our marriage was a seemingly normal day, when I told him, "I love you more than anything!"--a typical spouse phrase. But what set this apart from all the other times I said it before was that he looked at me and said, "Except...?" and I said, "God," with a smile. That's when I knew we were on the right path.

That's when I understood my purpose as a wife.

I want my husband to love God more than he loves me.

 

It's a grace to come to this realization. It's something to pray for, and a goal to achieve.

 

So what kind of spouse do you want? Do you want someone who will not challenge your heart? Who will keep your faith at a stand-still or worse, instead of raising you up to be better, stronger, with more joy, and more grace? Do you want a marriage that is only physical and emotional? Always looking for something bigger and better to come next to keep life "exciting" and ever trying to fill the hole that is meant for God? Or do you want someone who cares about you, body and soul? One know knows that we are destined for Eternal Life, and that what we do here on earth will determine our fate. One who knows that the only way to true happiness is not through his or her own self, but through God. One who will lead your children to God, and to an authentic relationship with Him--because children will imitate their parents, and children will not magically build that relationship if they are not taught how to do so. It is the parents, in the Domestic Church that is the family, (mom, dad, and children), where Christ is known. Where the soul is known. Where the map is laid out for Heaven.

 

I pray deeply that you may know the love of God through your spouse or future spouse. I pray deeply that you become what you desire, and I pray that you desire a holy spouse, and that you desire to be a holy spouse. You deserve it, and so does your spouse.

 

Made in His Image

 

Wax and Mud

We are all born as wax, and throughout our lives, our inner-most being remains wax. But through life, through our thoughts, through our actions, through our sins, we build mud around that wax. When we stop praying, when we stop feeling, when we stop hoping, we build mud around that wax.

 

“The same sun shines upon mud that shines upon wax. It hardens the mud but softens the wax. The difference is not in the sun, but in that upon which it shines.”

-Venerable Fulton Sheen

 

I remember as a young child, being the wax. I remember the awe and wonder of life around me. I remember my child-like faith, innocently talking to my Creator, never lost for hope of Everlasting Life. I was wax, I was softened by His Light, and I relished in it.

 

Then as I got older… middle school, junior high, high school… I started building mud around my wax. My prayer life suffered. The world was no longer a magical place that was full of life and hope. My defiant teenage ways led me to sin. The more I sinned, the more mud I built, the harder I became. My relationship with Him was no longer the same. There were holes in the mud, and from time-to-time, I would feel the warmth of the melting of my wax, but the mud grew.

 

I felt choked by the mud. I could barely see through the window of my soul because it was so dirty and hard. I couldn’t see clearly. The world was dark and frightening. Despair was easy. Love (agape) was hard to find. Christ was distant.

 

But perhaps through the prayers of others, through the prayers of the saints and angels, perhaps through the somewhat frequent reception of His most precious Body and Blood, those precious holes remained in my thick mud. Through grace, His Light shined through these small holes, and He made me love it. I couldn’t deny the warmth and the bliss. Slowly, I wanted more. Slowly, the Light shined brighter through the mud, and I wanted to know Him as I never have before. I wanted to be wax again. I could not get rid of the mud on my own, despite my attempts; I could only get rid of it through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I told the priest, though I was truly speaking to Jesus, about all of the mud. I told him how that pile of mud got there, and how I threw that chunk of mud on top, and so on and so on. And with each confession, Jesus removed that mud. With His grace conferred through the Sacrament, I became wax again. I remember the moment that I felt like wax, and the joy brought me to tears.

 

 

Now I bask in His Light. The sun (Son) shines on me brightly, and I melt under His Love. My wax is thick, so I regularly remove the mud and keep His Light on me so that it penetrates deeper and deeper with time. I feel it, and I know it to be true. It’s as if I’m looking through a new pair of glasses and I’m seeing the world anew. I see the beauty, the love, the hope, the purpose. I see God’s work in creation and I see Christ’s Spirit in others. The deeper His Light penetrates my wax, the more I can see this, and the easier it becomes. I see, understand, the purpose and beauty in suffering; and this, too, becomes clearer and more manageable with time.

 

I will no longer listen to the voice of the hardened world, telling me not to be so “naïve” and to get back to “reality.” That is the way of the world, of the mud-covered, of the hardened. That is not the way of child-like faith. There is wonder and beauty in everything. There is no need to fear when God is in control and when you place your trust in Him. There is only pure love, pure joy, and pure hope when you uncover your wax and embrace the Light.

 

 

The sound of my lover! here he comes

springing across the mountains,

leaping across the hills.

 

My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.

See! He is standing behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

peering through the lattices.

 

My lover speaks and says to me,

“Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come!

 

For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

 

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.

 

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come!

 

My dove in the clefts of the rock,

in the secret recesses of the cliff,

Let me see your face,

let me hear your voice,

For your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.”

 

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes

that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!

 

My lover belongs to me and I to him;

he feeds among the lilies.

 

Until the day grows cool and the shadows flee,

roam, my lover,

Like a gazelle or a young stag

upon the rugged mountains.

 

Song of Songs 2:8-17

Rape in the Bible?

On March 18, the first Mass reading happened to be one of my favorite Biblical stories. This passage from the Book of Daniel speaks volumes to the nature of sin, lust, sex, innocence, justice, human nature, and more. Please take time to read this Biblical story; it is quite remarkable. When you are done, I would also encourage you to read this blog titled, The Anatomy of a Sin as set forth in a lesser known Biblical passage. Monsignor Pope really breaks down the lessons from this story in steps that we take so often to fall into sin, because sin really is a process that becomes habit-forming once you have practiced taming some of your inhibitions. Ideally, if you can recognize these steps, perhaps you might find yourself in one of them and find it (it=God’s grace) in you to turn around and turn back to Him.

 

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim, who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah; her pious parents had trained their daughter according to the law of Moses. Joakim was very rich; he had a garden near his house, and the Jews had recourse to him often because he was the most respected of them all. 

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon: from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.” These men, to whom all brought their cases, frequented the house of Joakim. When the people left at noon, Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk. When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk, they began to lust for her. They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments.

One day, while they were waiting for the right moment, she entered the garden as usual, with two maids only. She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm. Nobody else was there except the two elders, who had hidden themselves and were watching her. “Bring me oil and soap,” she said to the maids, “and shut the garden doors while I bathe.” 

As soon as the maids had left, the two old men got up and hurried to her. “Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us; give in to our desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”

“I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned. “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power. Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her, as one of them ran to open the garden doors. When the people in the house heard the cries from the garden, they rushed in by the side gate to see what had happened to her. At the accusations by the old men, the servants felt very much ashamed, for never had any such thing been said about Susanna. 

When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day, the two wicked elders also came, fully determined to put Susanna to death. Before all the people they ordered: “Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, the wife of Joakim.” When she was sent for, she came with her parents, children and all her relatives. All her relatives and the onlookers were weeping.

In the midst of the people the two elders rose up and laid their hands on her head. Through tears she looked up to heaven, for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly. The elders made this accusation: “As we were walking in the garden alone, this woman entered with two girls and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls. A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her. When we, in a corner of the garden, saw this crime, we ran toward them. We saw them lying together, but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we; he opened the doors and ran off. Then we seized her and asked who the young man was, but she refused to tell us. We testify to this.” The assembly believed them, since they were elders and judges of the people, and they condemned her to death. 

But Susanna cried aloud: “O eternal God, you know what is hidden and are aware of all things before they come to be: you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none of the things with which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer. As she was being led to execution, God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried aloud: “I will have no part in the death of this woman.” All the people turned and asked him, “What is this you are saying?” He stood in their midst and continued, “Are you such fools, O children of Israel!
To condemn a woman of Israel without examination and without clear evidence? Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste. To Daniel the elders said, “Come, sit with us and inform us, since God has given you the prestige of old age.” But he replied, “Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.” 

After they were separated one from the other, he called one of them and said: “How you have grown evil with age! Now have your past sins come to term: passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent, and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says, ‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’ Now, then, if you were a witness, tell me under what tree you saw them together.” “Under a mastic tree,” he answered. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head, for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him and split you in two.” Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought. Daniel said to him, “Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience. This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel, and in their fear they yielded to you; but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness. Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.” “Under an oak,” he said. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head, for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two so as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud, blessing God who saves those who hope in him. They rose up against the two elders, for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury. According to the law of Moses, they inflicted on them the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor: they put them to death. Thus was innocent blood spared that day. Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

 

Heartbroken

I read a news story today about a newborn baby that was found dead in an Indianapolis creek. It was horrendous, and this story ripped my heart apart.

 

I’m heartbroken for the baby, who didn’t know love in his short life. Whose life was taken by the “choice” of someone else. Who was never given a voice to say, “I want to live!” and who didn’t have someone else to speak up for him. Who died a death worse than a pet… a death in cold, dirty water, either drowned, starved, or frozen as winter keeps its hold this March.

 

I’m heartbroken for the mother. How callused, numb, and dead inside did she have to be to kill her own child? To feel a new life inside of her as she nourished him for 9 months. To hear his cry as he greeted the world. To hear him cry one last time as she laid him down in that cold, dirty creek… and then walked away. Ignoring the baby’s only words for, “Mommy, I’m cold and I’m scared!” This mother has to always live with the fact that she made the “choice” to let her baby boy die. She has to live with the fact that she is not simply childless, but that she is the mother of a dead child. Her “choice” will just send her farther and farther into darkness.

 

I’m heartbroken for abortion supporters, who are unaware that this is what they support. Why is this mother any different than the ones who kill their babes in the womb? What if this mother’s excuse was to have mercy on a child that she could not afford, and to prevent this child from possible suffering and poverty? Or maybe this baby was disabled in some way, and so to keep him from challenges and struggles, she killed him instead. Is this excusable because her intent was good, that she “mercifully” killed her own? Is her intent still valid even though she killed her baby after he was born rather than before? Does it even matter that this baby is dead because his mother did not want him? If it is not wanted, then it doesn’t deserve to live—isn’t that the justification for abortion?

 

What difference does it make to kill a baby—for any reason—in the womb rather than outside of it?

 

Abortion supporters turn a blind eye to the baby (even though they claim to care about the child’s potential life) and consider themselves to be the saviors of the mother. If they really loved the mother, then they would not want her to go through such a traumatizing and life-ending ordeal (literally for the baby, figuratively for the mom). They would love the mother enough to support her and her child, rather than just make her the mother of a dead child. They would not wish the nightmares and pain and guilt upon her. They would not wish the typical, subconscious response of behaviors like alcoholism, drugs, or just generally losing hope and joy for life. They would not wish to put her very life in danger, as abortions can be extremely dangerous and have severely injured and killed many women. They would not wish to risk her future fertility or health, as having abortions have been linked to infertility and breast cancer later in life. They would not wish that the mother would distance herself emotionally from her current or future children, feeling guilty for taking the life of one of her own and not ever feeling worthy of being loved by the children that she spared from her “choice.” This is misguided love for the mother, thinking that she can just get rid of an unplanned problem and continue on with a happy, normal life.

 

I’m heartbroken for blindness and hardness of heart. I’m heartbroken for those who I know personally—and I know they are good and beautiful souls—but they unknowingly support all of this. “Mercy killing.” That is not mercy… do you know what true mercy is? “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do…”

 

I cannot judge and I cannot forgive. All I can do is what I have been commanded to do: love. I love all the little babies, born and unborn. I love the mothers, the ones who joyfully announce the life within them and the ones who are scared to death, not knowing what to do about the life within them. I love them so deeply, even if I never meet or know any of them. I love my brothers and sisters who support abortion. I love them to death and pray for them. I pray hard, with my knees to the ground and tears in my eyes. These, too, are God’s children. Some of them are even Christians, but who do not acknowledge “the Lord, the giver of life.” These, too, are my loved ones who are blind. Blindness to Truth breaks my heart more than anything.

 

Words do little for the blind and hard of heart. But that doesn’t mean I still can’t try, especially for those that are outside of my current community. But wherever I go, I will pray. Wherever I am, I will show love. Through God’s grace, I find more and more courage to be there, in the community, in front of the abortion clinics, if only just to show someone that I care. That I’m not judging, and that I love them. Whoever “them” is: the mother, the baby, the baby’s siblings, the father, the grandparent, the aunt or uncle, the abortionist, the clinic employee, the abortion supporter, etc. More people are affected by abortion than just the baby and the mom. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes. As our [blind, very pro-abortion] President said to the Sandy Hook community: 

“And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.  It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize, no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself.  That this job of keeping our children safe, and teaching them well, is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation.  And in that way, we come to realize that we bear a responsibility for every child because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours; that we’re all parents; that they’re all our children.”

 

 

I’m heartbroken, but I’m not without faith, hope, or love, which only grow stronger with time.

 

 

“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

I'm in love!

Yes it has only been one day since I laid eyes on him and vicariously met him, but I am smitten. My spirit joins with millions of others who are rejoicing today, thanking God for our new pope, Pope Francis, and thanking the Holy Spirit for guiding the cardinals to choose him.

 

From Catholic Memes.
How can you not love this man?!

Why am I so in love? “Let me count the ways…” Where do I begin? Let’s start with my first impressions from his greeting on the balcony. His body language, to me, spoke many words. He seems somewhat shy, introverted, perhaps a little socially awkward, deeply humble, and one who doesn’t want to be the center of attention. I, myself, identify with many of these traits (although, Christ-like humility is a life-long learning process..). In being able to identify myself with him, I cannot imagine how truly uncomfortable and terrifying it would be to overlook a crowd of over 150,000 people who are all there to see you and only you. Not only that, but hundreds (thousands?) of video cameras were there to transmit your greeting all over the world. You know your face was going to be on the front of every major newspaper, TV and radio broadcast, and social media page around the globe. I can’t imagine the kind of courage it takes to face such a challenge, but these words ring louder to me than ever before: “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.” In his greeting, I saw the perfect embodiment of this Bible verse. Speaking of Christ and Pope Francis’ body language--his shirking humility also screamed to me, “Please don’t glorify me. Glorify Jesus! Don’t look to me. Please look to Jesus!” As John the Baptist put it simply, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

 

Second, I was deeply moved by his simple greeting, and the common theme through his entire greeting: prayer. He first asked us all to pray with him for Pope Emeritus Benedict with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Then he asked us to always pray for each other, and for brotherhood throughout the whole world. Before he blessed his adoring crowd, he asked them to first bless him. As he bowed, he asked for all to pray silently for him, and you could certainly hear a pin drop as an enormous crowd suddenly and simultaneously bowed their heads as silent voices lifted up to Heaven, and undoubtedly, graces fell back down to earth. Then he gave us all his blessing and bid us farewell. Prayer, prayer, prayer. This man is certainly tuned in to communication with Heaven.


Next, I’m in love with his bold choice of a papal name: Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi. A simple, poor, humble servant, but one who was fearlessly on fire with love for the Gospel. There is so much symbolism and potential for the future that we can speculate from what we know about St. Francis. We know that when St. Francis was praying one day, he heard God say, “Francis, rebuild my Church.” While I prefer the optimistic side of life, because God is Hope and my hope is in Him, I can’t deny the fact that there are flaws in His Church. Afterall, it is an organization run by flawed, sinful humans. But we have a Church that needs fixings, from the Curia to the invasion of secularism, and everything in-between. Maybe Pope Francis heard this call. There is also a quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, where he said, “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” Even researching just a little bit of Jorge Bergoglio’s life, you would assume that this is essentially his life motto. He is a true, humble servant of Christ, who truly believes that he is not more important than anyone else. You can’t really say enough about him. Finally, in relation to St. Francis of Assisi, who is typically depicted with a bird, the Sistine seagull may or may not have been a coincidence (or “God-incidence)… Who knows.

 

Finally, I am in love with the effect he has on people. Just like a warm, sunny, early spring day can bring out the best spirits in people, so too does Pope Francis seem to bring about a softened heart in others. I typically dread reading Catholic news on secular media websites because they usually have said something wrong. I dread even more when I scroll to the bottom and read the comments from anonymous people with inflated “keyboard courage.” I have read some of the most hateful, evil, and vile things about the Catholic Church from these comment boxes. So today, I held my breath as I looked through these comments, but I was completely taken aback by what I saw. Comment after comment seemed to say something like, “I’m not a Catholic, but I really like this guy and I wish him the best.”--WHAT?! Are these even the same people?! My heart swelled as I read through many, similar comments of just simple, kind words for our new Holy Father from people on “the outside.” Pope Francis, in his Christ-like humility, pure love, and his proof that he can “walk the walk” instead of just “talk the talk” seems to be a breath of fresh air in this world that is hostile to Christianity, and especially Catholicism. It seems as though the Holy Spirit has truly chosen a Supreme Pontiff, or literally, a Supreme Bridge-Builder. My hopes are so high. The more I learn about him, the more excited I get. I pledge my full obedience to him.
“Francis, rebuild my Church.”

 

I’m in love.



To learn more about him, check out some of the standing facts about Pope Francis, as well as blogs and news bits that trickle in daily from New Advent.

HABEMUS PAPAM!

WHAT a day! What an emotional roller coaster of a day! I am SO blessed and joyful to be Catholic!

Today's second round of votes in Rome time actually came over my lunch break. I had a live, streaming video of the chimney at the Sistine Chapel on the corner of my computer screen--you know, just in case. It was only the second day of the Conclave so I did not expect to see the white smoke today. I was, however, oddly entertained by the world's [now] most famous bird.

But then shortly after, as I was in the middle of work and lunch, I saw it. I saw the white smoke! I think my jaw slapped the floor and I was in some sort of time-is-standing-still disbelief. But it kept coming out white and my soul leaped with joy!! "HABEMUS PAPAM!" We have a pope!!

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth;

break into song; sing praise.

Sing praise to the LORD with the lyre,

with the lyre and melodious song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

shout with joy to the King, the LORD.

Psalm 98:4-6

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior

Luke 1:46-47

 

The bells tolled with exuberant joy! The growing crowd of well over 100,000 people was alive and I could feel their energy! All eyes turned from the billowing white smoke to the balcony where the new pope would be presented to us. We waited about an hour in anxious anticipation to see our next Holy Father, the next Peter, our next shepherd.

 

Pope Francis! Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina! A Latin American pope and the first ever from the western world! The first Francis pope! The first Jesuit pope! This is just too unreal.

He seemed to be off the radar from most sources I have been reading for the last month; so honestly, this was the first that I was hearing about him. And as he stepped onto that balcony and looked at the enormous, adoring crowd, he actually looked a bit like a deer in headlights. For a moment, his facial expression read, "What have I just gotten myself into?" I imagined him in the Room of Tears, dressing for his appearance, just in total shock. Yesterday he was just an Archbishop in Buenos Aires, ready to get back home. Today, he is the Vicar of Christ. The successor to St. Peter. The visible head of the Church, which is the bride of Christ. He is now the leader of an entire country, Vatican City. He is the shepherd to over 1.2 billion Catholics. He is an extremely humble man and now the whole world is looking to him. Deer in headlights look?--You betcha.

 

 

I have been extremely struck by the heavy media coverage of the papal resignation and Conclave. Why all of a sudden, does the liberal, secular media want to talk only about the Catholic Church? Sure, too many of their articles and news bits had that secular slant, continuing to negatively shape opinions on our beautiful Church and spreading lies. Perhaps it is the work of Satan, always looking to attack that which threatens him the most. What could possibly threaten him more than Christ's One, True Church? The one that Jesus Himself founded, and continually offers Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and promised to protect to the end of time? Of course the Evil One will do all he can to take Her down... but in a way, and which is usually the case, I think his plan backfired. All eyes, all around the entire world, were on the Vatican today. All ears were turned to the Catholic Church. Even if most people live their lives as if God didn't exist, and either ignore or forget about Him every single day, today they couldn't avoid it. The news was everywhere, and God's Hands were all over this. Many of them probably hardened their hearts and will go about their business tomorrow--but maybe some listened. Maybe some heard. Maybe some were captivated by the Church's ancient traditions, or by the pure joy from the crowd, or by this institution that seemed to be "not of this world." Maybe some started to realize why the Catholic Church has stood strong for 2,000 years, or that the visible, physical world is completely related to the invisible, spiritual world. (The visible sign of white smoke represented the Holy Spirit's guidance and the cardinals' cooperation with Him.)

The Catholic Church will never get its due recognition from the rest of the world--and that is okay, because Jesus told us that that would happen. There certainly will always be people who will never understand the beauty of our faith which knows no boundaries. But none of this ever discourages me. Nothing is more important to me in my life than my Catholic faith. Some days I feel like I could just burst with childlike joy just because I am Catholic. The Holy Spirit has lit my soul on fire and I am falling deeply in love with Him! The Church is getting stronger and signs of life are everywhere. 

And of course, she will continue to grow and strengthen evermore, with our new Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis! God bless the pope!