In most years the great feast of the Resurrection of the Lord occurs in April; in some others, it occurs in March. Why the difference? Easter is a movable feast.
Due to the ancients traveling by the light of the moon from great distances to celebrate the great festival, the Council of Nicea, in 325, said that Easter should fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring to allow the pilgrims the maximum amount of moonlight for travel. So, with this decision, Easter could fall anytime between March 22 and April 25th and must be celebrated on a Sunday in accordance with the Scriptures having Christ rising from the dead the day after the Jewish Sabbath.
Can you just envision travelers of old, making their way by the light of the moon, anticipating their reunions with family and friends for a joyous celebration of Christ's redeeming gift?
This is Holy Week, for we in the Pillar household, it is starting with an early morning thunderstorm and a raining day. Possibly to remind us that from the stormy days of sinfulness come the anticipation of sunshine and joy in Christ's unconditional love and devotion toward His people.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Deception: Where is honesty and truth nowadays?
It seems that telling the truth is not the norm anymore. Whether it's friends, club members, advertisers on TV, radio, or your favorite printed media, or members of the government and the very president of the United States, lies, half truths, gray areas are growing at a rapid rate. Spouses lie to their spouses, parents lie to their children, friends lie to friends, businesses lie to customers, we can't even trust government officials to tell the truth. Have we forgotten what truth, trust, and respect is and how important it is for a healthy society? Let's break it down:
What is a lie?
A lie is a falsehood, false witness against another, a fact that is not true. Many times it comes in the form of gossip, mean-spirited talk aimed to hurt a heart or harm a reputation, in many cases, it is a statement to cover up a wrongful deed. A lie serves to gain unjust fuel or momentum for selfish motives, a premeditated plan to achieve a goal that is not rightfully earned or deserved. A lie also, could be a sympathetic action to prevent hurting a heart or protecting someone, these are called "little white lies".
How do Lies effect us?
It has been a hard fast rule that trust and respect comes from being truthful. A child as a baby depends completely on it's parents for everything, food, comfort, clothes, and above all love. As the child grows and develops he/she begins to ask questions about everything. The parents' answers carry heavy weight in the child's mind. If a child discovers that it's parents have lied, she/he will begin to question the parents and the process begins of losing trust and respect for the parents. These children grow up and go out into society with little hope in their fellow man. If they can not trust their own parents to tell the truth, why would they trust anyone else?
Marriage and family life
A young couple meets and falls in love. Both were raised in families that didn't tell the truth...or even just one of the couple's parents were not always truthful and they had very little respect for their parents. There trust in each other is already flawed due to the trust factor. If their parents lied to them, surely their spouse will lie to them as well. Fear of betrayal, cautiousness, and jealousy find their way into their minds, along with self-doubt and a lack of confidence develops. These fears can remain throughout the relationship and reflect onto the children.
Business and the workforce
An employee works in a company that consistently tells them that their products are the best and that they should never tell customers otherwise. The company uses cheap materials, production is at lightning speed, and the quality is therefore poor. But employees are required to sell so many of them a week. Or a retail store offers a sales AFTER they jack up the prices to be more expensive than before and calls it a bargain. Employees know this is a lie, they are deceiving the customers, but they can't do anything about it. These employees tend to lose respect for their company and joy goes out the window, too.
Government and society
As the Federal government continues on it's path of lies and deception under corrupt policies and politicians, the people lose faith in their officials. They turn off the TV news, they don't listen to speeches, they turn a deaf ear to what is going on in the world around them. People have learned not to believe what is being told to them from the government. Lies, stealing, arm-twisting, backroom deals, and closed door bribery have dulled the people's trust, respect towards their government.
Rebuilding Trust
This is the hardest thing Anyone can do. It takes months, years, sometimes a lifetime. Trust is a commodity that is so necessary for security, respect, and charity, that without it, there is no hope, joy, and love. Love can't come without respect, respect can't come without trust, without love, there is no joy.
Building a relationship takes time, lots of time for the true merits of trust to be shown, rebuilding a relationship is so much harder...though it can be done.
Truth and action
We have got to get back to the basics of truth and respect. It must be expected in ourselves first and foremost. I tell my family, that the truth is top priority and nothing less than the truth will be expected in this house. We have to start somewhere. My father always told me, if you want to change the world, start in your own backyard. That's where we all need to start. Make it a hard rule, no lies, period.
If every household lived by the tenets of truth and respect, we wouldn't be in the position we are in right now. Well, here we are, but here we can go away from this position by starting in our own backyards by being truthful in all things. If you know you will have to lie about it later, don't do it. Walk away from temptation...no better yet, run away from temptation, it's not worth it.
I'm tired of the lies and deceit happening all around me, how about you?
What is a lie?
A lie is a falsehood, false witness against another, a fact that is not true. Many times it comes in the form of gossip, mean-spirited talk aimed to hurt a heart or harm a reputation, in many cases, it is a statement to cover up a wrongful deed. A lie serves to gain unjust fuel or momentum for selfish motives, a premeditated plan to achieve a goal that is not rightfully earned or deserved. A lie also, could be a sympathetic action to prevent hurting a heart or protecting someone, these are called "little white lies".
How do Lies effect us?
It has been a hard fast rule that trust and respect comes from being truthful. A child as a baby depends completely on it's parents for everything, food, comfort, clothes, and above all love. As the child grows and develops he/she begins to ask questions about everything. The parents' answers carry heavy weight in the child's mind. If a child discovers that it's parents have lied, she/he will begin to question the parents and the process begins of losing trust and respect for the parents. These children grow up and go out into society with little hope in their fellow man. If they can not trust their own parents to tell the truth, why would they trust anyone else?
Marriage and family life
A young couple meets and falls in love. Both were raised in families that didn't tell the truth...or even just one of the couple's parents were not always truthful and they had very little respect for their parents. There trust in each other is already flawed due to the trust factor. If their parents lied to them, surely their spouse will lie to them as well. Fear of betrayal, cautiousness, and jealousy find their way into their minds, along with self-doubt and a lack of confidence develops. These fears can remain throughout the relationship and reflect onto the children.
Business and the workforce
An employee works in a company that consistently tells them that their products are the best and that they should never tell customers otherwise. The company uses cheap materials, production is at lightning speed, and the quality is therefore poor. But employees are required to sell so many of them a week. Or a retail store offers a sales AFTER they jack up the prices to be more expensive than before and calls it a bargain. Employees know this is a lie, they are deceiving the customers, but they can't do anything about it. These employees tend to lose respect for their company and joy goes out the window, too.
Government and society
As the Federal government continues on it's path of lies and deception under corrupt policies and politicians, the people lose faith in their officials. They turn off the TV news, they don't listen to speeches, they turn a deaf ear to what is going on in the world around them. People have learned not to believe what is being told to them from the government. Lies, stealing, arm-twisting, backroom deals, and closed door bribery have dulled the people's trust, respect towards their government.
Rebuilding Trust
This is the hardest thing Anyone can do. It takes months, years, sometimes a lifetime. Trust is a commodity that is so necessary for security, respect, and charity, that without it, there is no hope, joy, and love. Love can't come without respect, respect can't come without trust, without love, there is no joy.
Building a relationship takes time, lots of time for the true merits of trust to be shown, rebuilding a relationship is so much harder...though it can be done.
Truth and action
We have got to get back to the basics of truth and respect. It must be expected in ourselves first and foremost. I tell my family, that the truth is top priority and nothing less than the truth will be expected in this house. We have to start somewhere. My father always told me, if you want to change the world, start in your own backyard. That's where we all need to start. Make it a hard rule, no lies, period.
If every household lived by the tenets of truth and respect, we wouldn't be in the position we are in right now. Well, here we are, but here we can go away from this position by starting in our own backyards by being truthful in all things. If you know you will have to lie about it later, don't do it. Walk away from temptation...no better yet, run away from temptation, it's not worth it.
I'm tired of the lies and deceit happening all around me, how about you?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Real Deal: can you say this gently?
This morning at Mass our pastor was directed by the Bishop of our diocese to give a catechesis talk on the Eucharist. Our pastor makes no bones about it, Catholics believe in what we call transubstantiation, the bread and wine becoming Christ's true body and blood, each and every time Mass is celebrated.
He went on to say that those who can receive the Eucharist are those who completely believe in the 'real presence', are baptized Christians, and in good standing with the Church.
That is what our Catholic Faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are. Fr. John Hardon
In his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistica, Pope John Paul II shares with us,
Pope John Paul II saw the wonder of the Eucharist and Christ's redeeming gift in a very deep and pure fact of our existence. It is very difficult to believe in something that is not tangible, viewable, and responsive in the way we humans enjoy daily in every moment of our lives. As a sit here pondering my own beliefs on the Eucharist and what God has done for me in my life, I cannot but think that faith is what we have which opens ourselves to God and His work within us.
Come then, good Shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us, still keep us thine;
So we may see thy glories shine
in fields of immortality.
O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
~St. Thomas Aquinas
He went on to say that those who can receive the Eucharist are those who completely believe in the 'real presence', are baptized Christians, and in good standing with the Church.
And as they were eating, He took bread, and blessed, and broke it,and gave it to them, and said,'Take; this is my body.'(Mark 14:22)
And he took a cup, and when he had given thankshe gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them,'This is my blood of the covenant,which is poured out for many.(Mark 14:23-24)
That is what our Catholic Faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are. Fr. John Hardon
In his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistica, Pope John Paul II shares with us,
I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths,on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares... This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar
of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar
of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all
creation. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one
supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing. He, the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross entered the eternal sanctuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all creation redeemed. He does so through the priestly ministry of the Church, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Truly this is the mysterium fidei which is accomplished in the Eucharist: the world which came forth from the hands of God the Creator now returns to him redeemed by Christ.
Pope John Paul II saw the wonder of the Eucharist and Christ's redeeming gift in a very deep and pure fact of our existence. It is very difficult to believe in something that is not tangible, viewable, and responsive in the way we humans enjoy daily in every moment of our lives. As a sit here pondering my own beliefs on the Eucharist and what God has done for me in my life, I cannot but think that faith is what we have which opens ourselves to God and His work within us.
Come then, good Shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us, still keep us thine;
So we may see thy glories shine
in fields of immortality.
O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
~St. Thomas Aquinas
Sunday, March 14, 2010
A Morning Prayer
My parish was truly blessed with a very prayful week mission the other week. Fr. Charles Cross from Ireland, came and spent the week with us. Each morning and night, he taught a to pray a new prayer that, I think, touched most of us. He opened each mission day with this prayer.
As you gaze at Christ on the cross, pray this prayer in the morning.
As you gaze at Christ on the cross, pray this prayer in the morning.
I kiss the wounds in Your Sacred Hands
With Sorrow deep and true
May every touch of my hands today
Be a million acts of love for you.
I kiss the wounds of Your Sacred Head
With sorrow deep and true
May every thought in my mind today
Be a million acts of love for you
I kiss the wound in Your Sacred Shoulder
With sorrow deep and true
May every cross I bear today
Be a million acts of love for You
I kiss the wounds in Your feet
With sorrow deep and true
May every step I take today
Be a million acts of love for You
I kiss the wounds in Your Sacred Heart
With sorrow deep and true
May every beat of my heart today
Be a million acts of love for you
Of love for You dear Lord.
Amen
Thank you Fr. Cross!
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Catholic Company
Easter is coming, First Communion is upon us. The Catholic Company has the perfect gifts.
What Is Prayer?
Prayer is a source of security.
Of all the things we do on a daily basis, nothing brings us a certain kind of peace than prayer. No matter whether standing in line, driving down a highway, at the office, home, during a class, night or day, prayer is a pause, quietly from our regular activity. During bad times and good, we turn to prayer at our Father's knee. "Oh dear Father, help me say the right thing." We bow our head, or just close our eyes for a moment, we clench our hands together and talk to our Father, "Help me, guide me, keep us safe." We stop everything for a moment and step back from our daily routine, into another realm in communion with our Lord. "Dear Jesus, you know what is best, help me to accept your will." Prayer gives us hope. Prayer then would be a place of security no matter where we are or what we are doing. Prayer is acknowledging God's presence. Praying is seeking Him. Praying often is getting to know Him and His will. Praying unceasing is establishing a relationship with Him, which gives us security.
Prayer comes in many different styles, lengths, and flavors, we can design our prayers according to our own personal needs. With this in mind, we can also know that others are praying for us as we pray. No matter where we are, or what we are doing, we are being prayed for, too! Praying is simple, we can just be silent and ponder how wonderful creation is and our Creator! Constantly thinking and talking to our Lord and God is establishing a relationship with Him, which builds our inner peace Inner peace builds our hope and trust in God.
Start talking with Jesus, starting relating to Him and become a peaceful people.
Here's a prayer written by St. Thomas More as he awaited execution in the Tower of London:
Of all the things we do on a daily basis, nothing brings us a certain kind of peace than prayer. No matter whether standing in line, driving down a highway, at the office, home, during a class, night or day, prayer is a pause, quietly from our regular activity. During bad times and good, we turn to prayer at our Father's knee. "Oh dear Father, help me say the right thing." We bow our head, or just close our eyes for a moment, we clench our hands together and talk to our Father, "Help me, guide me, keep us safe." We stop everything for a moment and step back from our daily routine, into another realm in communion with our Lord. "Dear Jesus, you know what is best, help me to accept your will." Prayer gives us hope. Prayer then would be a place of security no matter where we are or what we are doing. Prayer is acknowledging God's presence. Praying is seeking Him. Praying often is getting to know Him and His will. Praying unceasing is establishing a relationship with Him, which gives us security.
Prayer comes in many different styles, lengths, and flavors, we can design our prayers according to our own personal needs. With this in mind, we can also know that others are praying for us as we pray. No matter where we are, or what we are doing, we are being prayed for, too! Praying is simple, we can just be silent and ponder how wonderful creation is and our Creator! Constantly thinking and talking to our Lord and God is establishing a relationship with Him, which builds our inner peace Inner peace builds our hope and trust in God.
Start talking with Jesus, starting relating to Him and become a peaceful people.
Here's a prayer written by St. Thomas More as he awaited execution in the Tower of London:
Father in Heaven, you have given us a mind to know you, a will to serve you, and
a heart to love you. Be with us today in all that we might do so that your
light may shine out in our lives.
We pray that we may be today what
you created us to be, and may praise your name in all that we
do.
We pray for your church: may it be a true light to all nations;
may the spirit of your son Jesus guide the words and actions of all Christians
today.
We pray for all who are searching for the truth; bring them
your light and your love.
Give us, O Lord, a humble, peaceable,
patient, tender, and charitable mind and in all our thoughts, words, and deeds a
taste of the Holy Spirit. Give us, Lord, a lively faith, a firm hope, a
fervent charity, a love of you. Take from us all lukewarmness in
meditation, a dullness in prayer. Give us fervor and delight in thinking
of you and your grace, your tender compassion towards me. The things that
we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labor for. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A priest speaks what Mass should be!!!
This has been my own personal rant for years! Every Sunday as a regular usher, I see adults chewing gum like cows, children allowed to get up and walk about the Church freely, the "Exodus" begins right before communion as droves of people leave. The attire......well, I am reminded of the snapshot of the college girls with President Bush and the big media hubub about the one girl in flipflops......
Esther, from her blog shares this and I hope you all read it. Too bad the adults that regularly attend Mass chewing gum like cows aren't reading this. A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: Father Jay Flaherty Speaks Plainly to His Parishioners
Esther, from her blog shares this and I hope you all read it. Too bad the adults that regularly attend Mass chewing gum like cows aren't reading this. A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: Father Jay Flaherty Speaks Plainly to His Parishioners
Sunday, March 7, 2010
This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival
RAnn, from her blog, This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival has been gracious in hosting our Catholic carnivals. Please take a moment to check out what is new and exciting in the Catholic Blog world!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Lent: so far......
How is Lent going for you? Are you doing something special? Learning something new?
So far, I am keeping my computer time to a bare minimum, just work, no play. I pray every day, and every night. I thank God for my family, friends, home and hearth, but still my prayer life seems lacking something.
Have you ever felt this way? What did you do about it?
I'm listening.
So far, I am keeping my computer time to a bare minimum, just work, no play. I pray every day, and every night. I thank God for my family, friends, home and hearth, but still my prayer life seems lacking something.
Have you ever felt this way? What did you do about it?
I'm listening.
Bring Up the Gifts
During Mass there’s a little moment that can often go unnoticed, a ritual that if you are not careful you’ll miss. After the homily, during the time the collection baskets are being passed around, we bring up the gifts. Did you miss it? Did you notice who carried the bread and wine up to the priest?
This is a very meaningful and solemn part of the Mass, actually. It is not just bringing up hosts and wine as a formality, the bread and wine represent of you! These are the gifts, talents, pain and sufferings of each and every believer sitting in the pews. In Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, “Sacramentum Caritatis,” he discusses the parts of the liturgy, this is what he says about the presentation of the gifts:
The wheat and the grapes, gifts given to us by God, through our human efforts have been made into bread and wine. They represent each and every one of us as we gather together to come into unity with Christ’s incarnation and passion. This ritual helps us understand the power of our own personal gift of our selves to God our father in appreciation to Jesus’ redemptive love for us.
It is also the representation of the incarnation of Jesus. The bread, through this ritual, represents the body of Christ and the people in the body of Christ both in Heaven and on Earth.
Lord Jesus, that bread and wine represents my life, and I am putting my life on the altar to be joined with your body and blood, and I ask you to take my life and make it holy with the power of your sacrifice of your flesh and blood. Help me to accept your gift of forgiveness and healing of the pain of sin… Deacon Tim, Two Edge Talk
Part of the Eucharistic Prayer II prays:
Entering into communion with God through Christ’s sacrifice and redemptive gift of the Mass is something that we should be aware of, pay attention to, and cherish each and every day. We have something to share, give, and offer to our Father, our lives, our talents, our very selves in atonement for our sins and transgressions. We are a broken people and at Mass we are a forgiven people.
Next time at Mass, volunteer to bring up the gifts, knowing that you are carrying the entire community in your hands, their pains, sorrow, faults, love, thanksgiving, and their love for the angels to take up to God. When the head usher asks you to bring up the gifts, don’t say no, say, “Thank you, it’ll my honor to carry the gifts today.”
This is a very meaningful and solemn part of the Mass, actually. It is not just bringing up hosts and wine as a formality, the bread and wine represent of you! These are the gifts, talents, pain and sufferings of each and every believer sitting in the pews. In Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter, “Sacramentum Caritatis,” he discusses the parts of the liturgy, this is what he says about the presentation of the gifts:
“The presentation of the gifts
47. The Synod Fathers also drew
attention to the presentation of the gifts. This is not to be viewed simply as a
kind of "interval" between the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the
Eucharist. To do so would tend to weaken, at the least, the sense of a single
rite made up of two interrelated parts. This humble and simple gesture is
actually very significant: in the bread and wine that we bring to the altar, all
creation is taken up by Christ the Redeemer to be transformed and ,presented to
the Father. (144) In this way we also bring to the altar all the pain and
suffering of the world, in the certainty that everything has value in God's
eyes. The authentic meaning of this gesture can be clearly expressed without the
need for undue emphasis or complexity. It enables us to appreciate how God
invites man to participate in bringing to fulfillment his handiwork, and in sodoing, gives human labor its authentic meaning, since, through the celebration
of the Eucharist, it is united to the redemptive sacrifice of
Christ. “
~Sacramentum Caritatis, 3/2007
The wheat and the grapes, gifts given to us by God, through our human efforts have been made into bread and wine. They represent each and every one of us as we gather together to come into unity with Christ’s incarnation and passion. This ritual helps us understand the power of our own personal gift of our selves to God our father in appreciation to Jesus’ redemptive love for us.
It is also the representation of the incarnation of Jesus. The bread, through this ritual, represents the body of Christ and the people in the body of Christ both in Heaven and on Earth.
Lord Jesus, that bread and wine represents my life, and I am putting my life on the altar to be joined with your body and blood, and I ask you to take my life and make it holy with the power of your sacrifice of your flesh and blood. Help me to accept your gift of forgiveness and healing of the pain of sin… Deacon Tim, Two Edge Talk
Part of the Eucharistic Prayer II prays:
“Almighty God, We pray that your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in
heaven. Then, as we receive from this altar the sacred body and blood of
your son, let us be filled with every grace and blessing, through Christ our
Lord, Amen.”
Entering into communion with God through Christ’s sacrifice and redemptive gift of the Mass is something that we should be aware of, pay attention to, and cherish each and every day. We have something to share, give, and offer to our Father, our lives, our talents, our very selves in atonement for our sins and transgressions. We are a broken people and at Mass we are a forgiven people.
Next time at Mass, volunteer to bring up the gifts, knowing that you are carrying the entire community in your hands, their pains, sorrow, faults, love, thanksgiving, and their love for the angels to take up to God. When the head usher asks you to bring up the gifts, don’t say no, say, “Thank you, it’ll my honor to carry the gifts today.”
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