On Hope in Death Part 1

I was not originally going to make this post. Why? Because, who in their right mind writes about death, especially when it is such a sensitive topic to everyone? But then again, why wouldn't a Catholic write about death? I've read countless other blogs that proclaim the message "carpe diem", seize the day, live for the moment... But what does that really mean? And so, thus begins my first trilogy--on death!

My question is this: Why have fear in death when you can have hope in death instead? This would be like opting for the treasure chest by itself instead of the treasure inside of it. You can truly live when you hope in death.


Society's view of death is a message of escape-- by living in the moment and never missing out on an "opportunity". There's this idea that there are constantly fleeting moments that you have to take advantage of by taking risks and embracing pleasure -- these magical moments that can be taken away from you. By death. But what do you actually lose when you die? When you're a Catholic the question becomes, 'What do I gain from death?'

The past few weeks I have been reading St. Paul, who writes about his hope in death:

"...We were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, we had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in God.  Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead..." (2 Co 1:8–9)

St. Paul writes that death is not a bad thing, it is God's instrument of hope, and even trust. We have to trust in God's mercy when we die, and the promise of a life in heaven after we die can give us unimaginable hope when we actually embrace God's promise. Likewise, when our loved  ones die we have to hope they are in God's kingdom -- that they are happier than we had ever seen them during their lives on earth. 

St. Paul continues:"...Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. 9 Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil..." (2 Co 5:8–10). 

We cannot fear death as Catholics. God calls us throughout our lives to walk with him, and death actually puts us literally, by His side. Death brings us to our long awaited home and to our loving Father. This is what the Catholic Church has taught since its beginning during the time of the early Church fathers, and many of the saints write on the subject as well:

"...For God has called man and still calls him so that with his entire being he might be joined to Him in an endless sharing of a divine life beyond all corruption..." (Gaudium Et Spes)

St. Ignatius of Antioch writes in his letters while the Church is being persecuted: "For though I am alive while I write to you, I am eager to die." St. Dominic writes about how he will be more useful to others in death, "Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life." Perhaps the reason for this is because often, we can do more in death than life. St. Teresa wrote,"I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth."
Some, actually now that I think about it-- many considering how long I have talked about this, have called me fatalistic. I am not saying, go forth and die ye now because then ye will finally be with God. I am saying do not  fear death. If you do fear death, then fear death because it puts an end to your ability to love those around you by being physically present in the world. Even so, let me say this, this world is spiritual and physical. Scott Hahn said in his book, "Signs of life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots" that our  salvation is very much so spiritual  and unseen. But the Catholic Church is the physical manifestation of that. I say this because I want all Catholic to believe that death is not the end for us. Eighty years out of  an eternity is still only eighty years. And although the spiritual reality of our salvation and those who have perished before us is hidden, it's still there. 

In conclusion, I don't have a problem with idea of living in the moment. I have a problem with this idea that we are constantly escaping a fleeting moment, and so we need to do as much as we can before we die with the hidden emphasis of to enrich our lives and those around us with positive memories. There is one question that we will ask ourselves on our death bed... It is not, did I live enough? Did I get to go wild in my youth? Did I get to see all the places I wanted to see? It is the same question God himself will ask us, "Did you love those around you the same way I have loved you?"  The question will be how much did you die to those around you. So I guess I would not have a beef with the motto,  "we should live for the moment" if there was a conjunction that said by dying and sacrificing for those around us. This is what we should be focusing on everyday, and everything else comes as a fruitful by product of living with that as your upmost priority. Love with all of your heart, give to the best of your ability as much as you can, die to yourself, because all other regrets will unquestionably be forgotten.  I will end with this quote by Saint Paul:


"But if Christ is preached as raised form the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is not resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, the empty too is our preaching; empty, to, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sings. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death,  for “he subjected everything under his feet...” (1 Corinthians 12-27)

How to Become a Dragon Warrior

Last night I went to adoration and picked up a book  called, "Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart." It was then that I came to the realization that drinking a large vanilla iced coffee from Mcdonalds, before going to adoration, is a very bad idea. Being completely wired with Coffee, makes it very difficult to focus. And so, I had begun to ask God to help me to pray because I was... wired. At first all I could think about was the fact that I got locked into my prayer closet with my girlfriend and had to break the door down, and kinda chuckled and wondered if God really did lock me in a closet to teach me some sort of lesson.. or if that was just my bad luck. Oh--and just in case anyone wanted to know:

Sorry, back to the main point.The first section I read made a really awesome analogy of the soul as being a lake and if it had ripples in it, then it could not reflect the sky. Our soul reflects God when it is at peace. This video came into my mind when I pictured it. 

At times we become like Shifu and simply let that worry run its course. Master Oogway has a great word of advice for us, "Your mind is like this water my friend, when it is agitated it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle the answer becomes clear."   What we don't realize is that  worry, doubt, and anxiety  takes away the solution to our problems , just like how the ripples blinded Shifu from the Dragon scroll. If we put an end to worry in our life, we could finally see the p eace and grace that naturally comes to us if we place trust and confidence in God. 

God has always desired for the inner peace and building up of our souls.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15)"

But, there is something about fear, worry, or doubt that  produces a ripple in our souls that takes away our ability to hear God.  It diverts our attention away from God who is the only one that can bring peace to our hearts. In Old Testament physical manifestations were often signs of spiritual realities. 1 Kings19:11-13 is a perfect example of what takes place in our souls when we doubt:

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  (1 Kings 19:11-13)

These physical anomalies resemble the effects of the worry that plague us when we doubt God. In our minds our thoughts become what Elijah witnessed physically. They become mountains being torn apart and shattered, winds fiercely blowing, earthquakes, and fires ripping away at our peace that comes from trust in God. It is with trust in God that we can see most clearly, this is how we, "let go" of all other things and progressively find the solution to our problem. And so... that's right! It's Star Wars time!

I noticed in prayer that night, that my worry, doubt, or anxiety about the future was not what God wanted for me. (Side note: Yes, yes, an OBVIOUS conclusion for the audience, whatever, the enemy in a film is always more obvious to the audience then the protagonist) But in addition to this I realized that these vices blocked God from entering my life more fully.

Here is why, speaking very generally whenever someone is not at peace--- be it from worry, doubt, or anxiety--- it is because they feel something is lacking in their lives. The underlying assumption then is that once you get whatever it is that you are lacking, you will have inner peace. However, if we think this way about anything besides God, then we are seeking it as an end. In that sense, we desire to fulfill ourselves, the lack of peace that God Himself is meant to fulfill. Thus once we fill whatever arbitrary need we seek, we will once again feel disturbed and out of place because we did not fullfil our need with what we were supposed to fill it with, which is God. We try to fit a square into a circular hole, even though we laugh at kids for doing it all the time! (or I suppose that might just be me and my cruel sense of humor.) 

The devil will always try and distract us from hearing God's voice. He uses many "mountains, fires, winds, and earthquakes" to get our attention away from God. He uses only methods that slip under our radar... but if they aren't under our radar, they don't work as well. And so, I would like to share with you three things that have gotten under my radar, and have driven me further from God (hopefully for the last time): Worry, doubt, and anxiety. Hah not so under the radar now are you!? Ka-bam! Can you handle that? I know you are problably still wondering... But how do I become a dragon warrior...And so... Let me spell it out, with these vices no longer under the radar we finally become Dragon Warriors by focusing on the virtue of trust in God.

Obamacare vs. Constitution Episode I – “The Federal Menace”

Introduction:

Good news everyone, Obama's Healthcare act forcing Catholic institutions to provide Contraceptives in their insurance plans to employees has been revoked.

I would like to applaud the many successful arguments by Catholics that address the violation of the constitution by the mandate forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraceptives for their employees.. and w hile this is good progess, we still have aways to go! Catholic Laymen, who are not employeed by Catholic Institutions  as well as Catholic insurance agencies   will still have to pay for contraceptives ! 

Catholics will still have to violate their consciences.  The m andate only exempts Religious Organizations, Employers, and Institutions. On the positive side, we know more about Obama.  And so... Here is an argument on the constitutionality of forcing the American public and Catholic Laymen to pay for contraceptives in general.

Politically speaking…

1.)Violation of the Due Process Clause:

"No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

• Violation: Since the new law would make a fee for the refusal to purchase insurance, which could be anywhere from $750-$3800 per a family, it would deprive people of "property" without, "due process." That's right Jar Jar, your attempts at destroying society has failed again.

2.)Violation of the Ninth amendment:
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

• Violation: The right of the people to refuse purchase of a product.

3.) Violation of the Tenth Ammendment:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

• Violation: The power to force people to pay for contraceptives is not expressively included in the constitution. Thus

— bureaucrat,  but is instead one that is up to a vote by you and me! Yay democracy!

In a case where the federal government tried to impose penalties for not purchasing products, The supreme court reported it as a violation of the tenth amendment:

“Justice   Sandra Day O'Connor  

wrote that the federal government can encourage the states to adopt certain regulations through the spending power (e.g. by attaching conditions to the receipt of federal funds, see (South Dakota v. Dole), or through the commerce power (by directly pre-empting state law). However, Congress cannot directly compel states to enforce federal regulations.”

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Forced_participation_or_commandeering

Financially Unsound Usage of Tax Dollars

There are many different companies that have to profit from this, insurance companies, Insurance agents who handle the policies, the people who designed the policies, the government. Otherwise, how is the policy supposed to survive? This means that the public is going to pay much MORE for services that we already have available at most pregnancy clinics.  Woooaaa, hold on a second there. We are now going to pay roughly 4 times as many parties for this service now? When has that ever been a good idea?

In my next blog I will dive into the effectiveness of contraceptives and consequences of not only everyone having access to contraceptives — which everyone already does have — but also, the effects of government enforcement on the increased prevalence of sex as a consequence in our country. In the meanwhile, here is a website of the Catholic Bishops analysing the affects of Obama's newly purposed plans to keep you occupied.

http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-026.cfm

The Dark Side

So today's topic is conflict resolution and Catholics or... The Dark Side! I want to discuss one method of conflict resolution that isn’t used enough, plain simple silence. Father Qui-Thac had a homily about its powerful effects a couple weeks ago, I just thought I would make a post on it because I was kinda forced into using it a few weeks ago. 


There are some people that are just more difficult to get along with in this world. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people too   but, there are people who are set in their ways. Seemingly unchangeable, annoying, punks, who are enchanted with -1 to forgiving, and would never show mercy. (See below)

These are people (or space aliens) that cannot be reasoned with-- the ones that no matter how much you do for them, they will eventually hate you forever based off some arbitrary reason. This arbitrary reason in their mind will be a violation of common sense. (I mean I am sure that everyone has done this sometime in their lifetime...This is not to say that Catholics don't do it too.) I think this eventually happens to people who don’t realize that in order to love someone, it is absolutely necessary for you to tolerate at least some parts of them that irritate you.

Some base this off of scriptures, saying we can judge others... But I have yet to have found scriptures that support that view. 

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister  will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5:5-7)

You will be subject to judgement because in your heart you have put them on the level of a thing, an object to be mad at... Its just like what the United States did when we went to war with Germany. Hamburgers were named after a city in Germany, but that was suspended and named, for a time, Salisbury steak. Why? Dehumanization of an enemy. Last time I checked this is not (in most scenarios anyways) a virtue.

Jesus never responded to any conflict with an eye for an eye, or justice, solution. When Peter struck the guard and cut off his ear, Jesus stopped him. Why? When Peter said that he would not let anything happen to Jesus what happened? Jesus actually got angry with Peter. He was stopping him from saving the world! When Judas betrayed Jesus, did he even rebuke Judas? No, he rebuked Peter. Imagine that you are standing by Jesus and you are watching as the guards strike at him… wouldn’t you attack them? Wouldn’t you do all you could to protect Jesus? Isn’t that justice?

           

In order to answer why Jesus did this we only have to look at the scriptures, 
“ for God so loved the world, he gave his only son.”  (John 3:16)
He loved the world and so he made a sacrifice. Why was the sacrifice necessary? Because of Sin. What is sin? Sin is evil. This is the legendary question, why does evil exist? God does not want to destroy evil but save it:
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them,   “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(Mark 2:15-17)
When you add yeast to bread, the yeast makes the entire loaf rise. Or for food that might taste bland you would add salt to increase the flavor of the entire meal. Evil exists because God loves the world so much that he doesn’t want to destroy it, but instead convert it. So, how should we go about conflict resolution?

There is something about watching a clear cut battle between good vs evil that sparks that "Aha!" moment within us where we can see good. We see a tyrant besides a humble, life giving servant, then we can then see which is right and which is wrong. But then there comes the question, how do we approach conflict when it comes our way? Many of us today see another performing a, “evil” deed and then, approach it with what some describe as righteous anger.

"Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:19–20, ESV)

If someone else hurts you, you shouldn’t try to hurt them back.  You should try to restore their soul, or have we learned at all from Jesus’ example on the cross? I am pretty sure, last time i checked anyways, that killing someone on a cross is something that should be punished by death… but… ironically the opposite happened. Assuming that others should receive justice for their sins and you should receive forgiveness for yours is a double standard. We need to love the person, accept them for who they are, and love them despite the fact that there are some issues we might have with them.

I just tried this hardcore, for the first time, because of my girlfriend. I am usually abit of a, "if you’re doing something wrong I should immediately point it out to the other person," type person. Abit judgemental I suppose. And, you know, it made me realize something. What would saying any words possibly do? Has anyone every persuaded another person with just words? No. Even Jesus taught by example, not just words. We need to provide an example to the secular, moral relativistic society today and show them how to fight fire! Which is not with fire-- I mean that doesn't even make sense-- but with water. =)

A Catholic Perspective on Love

Today I have decided to write A Catholic Perpective on Love. You see, Lizzie was having a bad day so I texted her to cheer her up. I told her to feel lucky that we have each other: not only because we have each other’s remarkable presences to enjoy, but also because we have physical proof of God always acting in our lives. For me, that proof is her. For her, that proof is (I hope at least, and if not then I have horribly misread my girlfriend) me. Then I thought for a second… hey… wait… isn’t that—Yep. That’s right—that could be part of the reason that Marriage is a sacrament. Now I’m not saying that we’re married... Not yet anyways... But just bare with me for a second while I sort out this analogy. (p.s. I’m really good with analogies. But actually not really. So that’s why you have to bare with me.)

Firstly we should define what a Sacrament is. Many people wonder why Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest when they can confess to God Himself. Or why do Catholics need to go to church in order to receive Christ in the form of the Eucharist. A very good general response, without diving too deeply into any one of the seven sacraments is this: The reason is not that God requires us to do it in this way for some random arbitrary reason, but because we ourselves require some kind of physical sign of God grace due to our humanity. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Boy, I really wish I had less proof that God existed! That would really help my belief in Him.” Truth is, we are all a bunch of doubting Thomases. We look at the Bible and say, “Hah! I can’t believe Thomas needed proof that Jesus was Jesus. I mean, it was totally obvious. What a horrible Apostle… Can’t even recognize his Savior Jesus Christ after three consecutive years of constant companionship!” But then we don’t believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ (even some Catholic doubt this fundamental truth). The truth is, we need a physical sign that God has forgiven us. We need a physical sign that God is with us, and we need a physical sign that the Holy Spirit will be with us always. This is what a sacrament accomplishes.

A sacrament is merely a physical sign of a spiritual reality, namely that God loves us and is with us. Marriage then falls quiet nicely into the definition of a sacrament then because we see in so many ways that God is acting in our lives. God shows us what love is by giving us another part of ourselves to love. There is something quiet profound about the (mostly) un-conditional love from another human being that we try to emulate when we are in a relationship. This unconditional love that we give to our partner is meant to be given to the entire world. Perhaps this is what it is so necessary that some fall in love, perhaps this is why God Himself placed you in each others’ lives. God said, “Yeah those two would totally work together!” God actually said this through Holy Scripture:

“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (

Mark 10:9)          

Ok lets repeat that, God himself not only approves of the person you are going to marry, but He finds it so necessary for the two of you to be together, that he himself placed the two of you in each others’ lives. Think of children who ask their dad’s permission for marriage, or children when they ask if they can go to the movies with their friends for the first time. What is the first thing they do? That’s right, a jump and a fist pump!

Just like all sacraments, Marriage is supposed to reflect God and ultimately leads towards our unity with Him which includes necessary unity with others. What does that mean for the married? What God has given, namely love, is meant to be given away. I said it earlier and I will say it again: the unconditional love that we give to our partner is meant to be an example of how to treat the entire world.
I remember talking with a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless merely to protect her humility—about the countless couples getting married within our friendship circle. I do mean countless, like how many times Jar Jar Binks appeared in Star Wars despite the fact that he was a universally despised character—yeah, that countless. We were talking about how to tell if relationships are going to work and we decided that you could tell by how much they unite those around them. One reason for the great mystery of marriage is this awesome verse, which you wouldn’t at first think is about marriage at all, but totally is!:

“Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I.” (Matthew 18:20)

Marriage does not only unite you with your spouse, but it is also intended to unite those around you because Christ is working through you both. God knows the most direct path to your salvation involves caring for another and making a new life through said union. Isn’t that awesome??!

Some may find it satisfactory to say that anything in our life is given to us by God, but at times these and other statements become cliché and we feel as though they do not apply to us. When those times come, it becomes more and more necessary for us to follow Bing Crosby’s advice and count our blessings instead of sheep.

And so-- Ready your sheep!  St Ignatius said that anything God gives us is meant to lead us closer to Him. Any married person was given his/her other half as a gift or grace, they were meant in a special way to lead them closer to God. (

This is a strange thought… does that mean the person you marry is himself or herself a grace? But those are thoughts for another day.)  Marriage necessarily brings you closer to God in many ways, like, through knowing that God is acting through your lives simply from the fact you found each other.  I am emphasizing this concept in this way because no one really focuses on it, but there are many other ways that you can tell that God has a working hand in HOLY MARRIAGES: the children which you are given by God, the way that your trust increases as you turn to Him and trust in Him to lead you and your family, the way you will necessarily have to forgive your partner an infinite amount of times just like Jesus forgives us an infinite amount of times, the way the two of you watch each others’ backs for sin through vigilant prayer and reliance on God.

There is a reason why most people, when talking about their partner they say, “They make me want to become a better person” or something along those lines. The origin of this feeling does not come from the innate virtue radiating around the imperfect partner (thank goodness), but from the fact that Christ is present in that relationship. Jesus says to us in our broken nature,

"Behold, I make all things new!" (Revalation 21:5)." 

Jesus gives us a simple way to follow him, if used appropriately the sacrament of marriage provides one of the most powerful means to getting closer to God and humanity. 

" And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. " (Isaiah 35:8)

Granted the last quote is mainly about the Catholic Church and the giving of the Holy Spirit-- I believe it can be applied to the Sacrament of marriage. Even if you are completely unaware of God's love, you can still participate in the type of love that God had planned for all of humanity since the beginning through the Sacrament of Marriage... And in many ways see God and ultimately grow closer to Him. Ahhh its soo awesomme!! We need to make a feast day!! A feast to all of the married who have seen God work in their lives so that they never ever, ever, forget God's active hand in their lives!..

…Nevermind, they already have that. It’s called an anniversary.Whatever I totally thought up the concept of an anniversary before anyone else.