One Great Act of Obedience

When we come together we are to share in the Eucharist.  Some had left this practice, even in the early church and Paul addresses it in 1 Corinthians 11.  We are to listen to the words of Christ and be obedient to His command that we "do this in memory of me" and eat the flesh and blood of the Lord at every assembly.  Paul understood that the ministry and traditions were to be handed down, unaltered.  To reenact the Last Supper in the mass is a great act of obedience to the Lord.  He did not ask us to do this, he commanded it.  It should be our delight like the psalmist in Psalm 40 who says, 9"To do your will is my delight; my God, your law is in my heart!" Paul is not unlike the psalmist in that he too 10"announced your deed to a great assembly; I did not restrain my lips; you, Lord, are my witness."  He admonished the early Christians by telling them that skipping this important command was doing more harm than good and was causing division amongst the church.  

Common prayer and practices unite us in Christ all across his world.  Private prayer is important too but when we come together, the mass joins us together in a great banquet with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ all across this great globe.  I'm not sure why the Eucharistic meal would be downplayed as unnecessary or as just a symbolic ritual.  The healing and grace that comes from that union with our Lord is something I hope to never miss.  There was a couple in church yesterday, later in their years, and the man was escorting his wife to receive communion.  As I watched this with great respect and admiration, he nudged her forward as if he were presenting her to the Lord.  It was so beautiful to see and you could clearly see that they understood what they were doing and the importance.  They were about to receive the great gift of our Lord.  With great humility we approach HIM, with all our brokenness, he becomes one with us.  I saw this and prayed that one day that might be Mike and I.  I prayed that he might never let me miss the Eucharistic meal, even as I near the end.  As we say those words from Luke's gospel, "For I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof", "But say the word and let my servant be healed." Luke 7:6,7, I bask in Christ's love and healing power.  For I am not worthy but He loves me all the same.  Amen

Surprised, but not Really

In a time when we need to be working together, a direct insult comes flying in my face on the tv screen.  An insult to the Catholic faith that I hold so dear.  In the final moments of my Joyce Meyer episode on GEB network last night, she aired a clip from a woman who was giving praise for Meyer and her ministry work and more importantly how moved she felt at the womens conferences put on by Meyer's ministry.  She went on to say that unlike the Catholic church she was raised in, she got to go on to the alter with all her brokenness and be healed.  As a woman in the Catholic church she also felt she couldn't lead people in faith because she wasn't ordained or a priest.  She then proceeded to say that at the women's conference, it wasn't about 'religion' but LOVE and FEELINGS.  

Okay, my beef is not that she feels connected and feels healing from these conferences.  It may be a very great and moving experience.  To have that many women together, making changes, allowing the Holy Spirit to move in their hearts is amazing.  God bless these women!  My beef is that she is purely representing what I see as a generation of people who have a deep misunderstanding of the Catholic church.  A misunderstanding that is just running rampant in our society today and supported by our media and promoted in the evangelical world.  

This woman seems to be speaking specifically and only about the offering of the Mass.  Yes, only a priest can preside over mass and Holy Communion.  That's how Jesus designed it.  Now, if a lay Catholic feels called to hold a woman's conference and have alter calls and inspire women with her gift of communication and call to action…she is very much encouraged to do so.  Please do!  Women play such a vital role in the life of the church.  To complain that you cannot offer mass, is just silly.  There are so many ways that you can offer your gifts to the community and most of them are the same as the priest.  

If you seek understanding in the faith you will find out that the reason Catholics don't ordain women is because when Jesus laid the groundwork of the church, he picked men, his apostles, as his leaders when he certainly could've picked women.  There were plenty of women disciples who were part of the early church.  They didn't hold the role of priests but their role was equally important and vital to the passing on of the faith.  We believe that God does things on purpose.  We may not understand but we are not inn the position to change what God has put in place.

As far as altar calls, we Catholics do an altar call.  If that's what you want, it's called receiving communion.  Every week, daily if you wish, you are invited to the altar, in all your brokenness to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior in the Eucharist.  You can't get much more personal than that.  Every time you receive this you are giving a giant "Yes" to Jesus himself and are uniting your weaknesses to him in the holy sacrifice.  

If you're looking for a spiritual high with all the ladies and seeking that only, as proof that you're forgiven and loved by God then you are seeking the Lord in a way that resembles the early part of a relationship, with all the butterflies and warm fuzzies.  In reality, that fades.  We know that.  Love and faith is about commitment, less about feelings and more about a firm foundation in the body of Christ.  

The meaning of religion is so distorted these days.  It's as if denomination and religion are interchangeable.  She knocked 'religion' as if having a belief system is bad.  Christ gave us his word in the bible.  His word is filled with direction and a philosophy that guides us home to Him.  To believe in this is to have religion.  Everything that we "second" rate christians do, or you may call us Catholics; everything we do can be found in the bible and the early fathers of the church could easily walk into Sunday mass and understand what's going on.  Jesus himself would get it.  We don't believe that we have a better way of doing things and so we haven't changed it in 2000 years because if this is what the apostles were moved by the Spirit to do, well then that's what we should do.  Jesus did say, "do this in memory of me".  What he was telling us to do had everything to do with sharing the gospel and receiving his flesh and blood.  He didn't say, "do this if you feel like it" or "go ahead, change it up if you want, whatever makes you feel good".  

There is no "Joe Catholic", it is the church Christ founded and handed on to his Apostles whom have passed it down to their successors through the centuries.  It wasn't a bunch of misguided religious zealots.  For 1500 years this is what Christianity was.  Until Luther came along and redid the bible according to his inspired ways and changed a few words to support his cause and now we've got some 38,000 protestant faiths, not counting all the non-denominationals, that think they've got the way to Christ.  If the Spirit is moving all these churches how come the spirit is confusing them so much with all kinds of different beliefs.

I am disappointed to have seen this on my uplifting late night program.  I know evangelicals don't like the Catholic church and I accept that.  I firmly believe that I'm not the only Catholic mom watching this at night.  Christians should be having a dialogue on faith in a hope for unity but promoting this division is not helping at all.

Firm in Faith

In light of a recent article I read, regarding the Dutch Roman Catholic Church, I decided to make a few comments in response.  The article was in regards to castration of boys who were homosexual back in the 1950's.  This is a horrific story of faith practice gone wrong.

Why stay Catholic in a time when there seems to be so many strikes against the Catholic Church?  As a Catholic, I understand the priest is not immune to sin.  In situations where this occurs we are to pray for them that they may see the error in their ways while also seeking justice.  Good thing we worship God and pray for His people, lay and ordained.  We pray with the followers for the community as a whole.  My favorite quote is "the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."

There are many scars on the body of Christ.  We do not deny that they exist but in our humanness, we often try to paint over the ugliness, putting on a facade, a happy face, hoping that the scar will not show and ultimately defame the good that comes from faith.  Unfortunately, the paint starts to crack and the old crud underneath is revealed and we are forced to face the ugliness again.

I choose to stand through the trials, I choose to stay the course.  There are trials and treachery in all of life.  We will encounter great betrayal from friends, family and yes, even our church.  The Lord knows that the ship he's steering will not always be a shiny prism of light as where there is great goodness, there can also be grave tragedy.  Just as the day turns to night.

So as a mathematician sees the truth in the equation, I see the truth in the Church and the teachings.  So as a crooked businessman may use his truth in numbers to swindle his clients out of money or to cover up a mistake of a collegue, so may a priest or other religious use true biblical teachings for personal gain or for reason to inflict harm on another person.  The action of a person does not disprove the truth at the root of it all.

We all have equal responsibility to take the truth and use it for good but some choose to breach their responsibility and for that they are wrong, no doubt. I feel terrible for the victims of this exercise that took place in the name of right teaching.  However, it doesn't make me want to renounce my faith in Christ's church, it makes me want to understand my faith more in that I may help lead others in the right direction and help guide those who may be misguided.

From Head to Heart

Every time I go to mass I am so inspired by the people receiving the Eucharist.  I am so inspired also when there is a person who walks up the aisle, unable to receive, but goes up anyway just for the blessing from the priest or eucharistic minister.  I always pray for the parishioners that their hearts may be moved by the Spirit and that they may feel that desire to form a relationship with our Lord.  

I seem to forget to include myself in that picture.  As much as I think I have a personal relationship with the Lord, it seems I just have a hard time feeling it.  I desire it, I seek it, I long for that closeness.  I am waiting for that 'aha' moment where I feel the Lord's presence.  When speaking with my evangelical friends, they rave so much about this personal relationship with Jesus.  Jesus is their friend.  

Jesus is my friend too.  I just haven't yet connected in my heart, the truth that I know in that we have such a personal encounter with Christ in the Eucharist that I should never doubt my closeness.  

So as I observed this again tonight at the mass for Ash Wednesday I decided to add myself to the prayers for the people and the desire to seek full relationship with the Lord.  I figured out recently that it is not enough for me to just pray for more convicted Catholics but I have to be included in the prayer too.  

We are the light in darkness.  We need to let that light shine.  It will not happen by knowing more than anyone else in matters of theology or the ability to win an argument.  It comes from letting down the walls of your heart.  Walls are built out of insecurities and those walls prevent us from becoming full of Christ and his love for us.  God doesn't want us to hide from our fears but rather confront them.  

Ask the questions.  Share your doubts and fears with Him.  He knows that we are brave and courageous if we cling to him for strength.  We need bravery and courage to be the light in this world.  As we begin another lenten season, I'm praying for the light in me to shine and that I will let it.  I'm praying for the courage and bravery to be the best me I can be in following the will that God has for me.  I'm praying that the inspiration I receive at mass will bring me to a place of action in that my convictions will get out of my head and into my heart and be light to those around me.

Getting Over Denominationalism

copyright Angela Harvotich

God was revealed to us most intimately through his son Jesus Christ.  He continues to be present with us here on earth through the awesome presence of the Holy Spirit and in the real presence of the Eucharist.  Lately, I've been thinking about all the various denominations in Christianity.  I am really beginning to wonder how anyone can think this makes sense.  Being indifferent in matters of faith just doesn't fit scripturally.  

What I cannot make peace with is the fact that many of these churches claim to be led by the Spirit.  How can the Spirit have so many different view points.  It's like a schizophrenic Christ.  This is crazy!  Christ is not a flip-flopper.  He does not change according to the group of believers.  God is Jesus is the Holy Spirit.  The word is given to us and reveals the truth of God and the great love and hope for his people.  He did not say his teachings were open to personal interpretation.  He said he would give his spirit to the church, His holy church and that church would be guided in truth. He said what he meant and meant what he said.  

I'm so glad that I don't rely solely on my own personal interpretation of the meaning of Christianity and the Word.  There's great humility in knowing I don't have all the answers and also great relief in knowing that I don't have to have all the answers.  I mean, Jesus could mean something different to me every other week, since life is ever changing and my outlook can be influenced by many exterior factors.  We can't confine Jesus to our definition and then change it when we see fit.  He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.  That's HUGE!  The Bible is not a piece of literary fiction that we can edit and interpret to fit our liking.  "I am who am".  What else can you say to that?  If we believe that the Bible is truly the inspired word of God, how can you believe that it means whatever we want it to mean?  

When we study literature and philosophy we don't analyze it to see what we think it means to us unless we are simply seeking entertainment.  If we want to know the truth behind the words we study to find out what the source was trying to say to us in the work.  It is a reflection of the author and who he/she is.  There is one true meaning in the word of God.  How we apply the truthful meaning to our lives can be different but the truth is there and it doesn't change with the times.  

This kind of division in our faith doesn't serve us or Christ well.  Division spells weakness.  It's time that we start learning more about each other and discover our common ground and use that as a foundation for coming together.  If we can find our similarities and learn the truths of the faith together that will create a united body of Christ.  Now this is a tall order and requires immense grace from the Father.  His plan is greater than ours and even with work on our part, unity will inevitably come on His time.  A great change requires hearts that are willing to grow and change.  Great on paper, not so simple in practice.  Only with a deep seeking of Christ and truth can we even begin to overcome this division.

Workers in the Vineyard

This morning I was brought to tears while reading about the life of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.  At an early age of nine, I was inspired by her  profound faith and willingness to live out God's will for her.  In doing so, she was taken on quite of journey of servitude.  She lived to teach others the faith and love of Christ.  She brought people to the faith through Catholic education and eventually started a religious community of teaching sisters.  She managed to accomplish all this while being a widowed mother of five!  This moment of quiet reading provided great affirmation of my vocation of wife, mother, and lay ministry.      

I think about the call to marriage and motherhood.  As I journey through my fourth pregnancy I often get caught up in the idea that I won't be able to do anything that makes a difference for a while, especially in the area of career success.  Often I overlook the meaningful and important duties of being a wife and mother.  Our duties as a homemaker are more important than we know.  Every time we tie a shoe, wash dishes, fold clothes, wipe a face, feed our family, we are caring for one of God's children.  What a high honor.  We are doing the Lord's work even when we feel like our brains are dead and boring.  At this point in my life I am learning to see this more and more.  It's sometimes hard to grasp the beauty of motherhood when there's barely time to comb my hair, at least not until everyone is in bed and by that point it seems more appealing to collapse and forget it until morning.  Who's going to see me anyway?  

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was a woman who was on fire for her faith.  She wanted people to receive the sanctifying grace of the Lord and to learn the way to eternal salvation.  I am an eternal learner and hope only to share the truth that I attain through my search for answers in a way that encourages thought on God and his plan for us.  I pray that others will seek truth in all things and desire truth in their faith, uncomfortable or not.  Faith isn't meant to be easy.  

This holy woman struggled through great loss of her husband at the early age of 30 and was widowed with five children to care for.  I am willing to bet that this was not the vision she had for her life but she let God take the reigns and she went along to see the greatness that would come out of this less than desirable place she now resided.  She was not an ordained religious but she had great hope for the lay faithful.  As Christians we have such an important role in the nurturing of souls for Christ's Kingdom.  What we do in our daily life for others is God's work in us.  

We need not be teachers in the professional sense but we can be teachers by our lives.  I am a firm believer of leading by example.  Our lives, lived well can be the greatest inspiration for another and we need not do more than simply live the laws of love.  We can all be saints.  The Gospel of love is meant to be shared and lived.  We are His disciples in the holy priesthood.  Be it the mother working in the rearing of her children, listening to a friend in need, feeding the poor, or attending Sunday service.  No role is insignificant if done with great love.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton/

Copyright Angela Harvotich

Dear Jesus, may I not fail today in the things that I do.

But if I fail may I learn something from my failure.

Cause my failures to make me stronger and more determined to live for You.

You are my Lord. Amen ♥