"A Little Peck on the Cheek"

JMJ. I may have mentioned this before and if I have, please overlook my poor memory, but my friend Charlie has a concept he calls God's little peck on the cheek. I don't know if he thought it up all by himself but it refers to the fact that one's prayer life is not all sweetness and light. It is full of long periods of dryness when it seems that we're just praying to a deaf wall. We're not, of course, but it's oftentimes hard to keep this in mind. God DOES always hears prayers even if He doesn't always act on them or act on them the way we know He should.

What He DOES do is give us a little peck, just to let us know that He's there watching out for us and listening to us intently. I got one of these on the last First Friday at Tilma, my hang-out away from home. I was sitting talking to Jan Marie, the owner, when who should walk throught the door but my favourite pastor, Fr. B. And he had a bourse around his neck signifying that he bore the Blessed Sacrament. He owned that he was distributing Holy Communion to his parish's shut-ins for their First Friday devotion. (Now I ask you--how many priests are concerned with this devotion nowadays and of those, how many would personally deliver Communion? You see why he's my favourite priest.)

Anyway. I have often doubted my true acceptance and awareness of Christ's presence in the Blessed Sacrament. I mean I accept it and I profess it, but I'm not always sure if I've internalised it. Jan and I continued our conversation after greeting our Lord and Fr. B. and it was then I got my little peck on the cheek--I realised that the Person Jan and I were talking about was truly in our midst, listening to our conversation and hopefully approving what was said. It was an absolutely awesome feeling and a peck that I will always cherish. One more self-doubt expunged. Thanks, Lord.

"Misplaced Priorities"

JMJ. A lot of things set my teeth on edge; nowadays more so than ever for some reason. One of the things that's guaranteed to make me see red is the plethora of bumper stickers, ribbon loops, etc. that say "God Bless America" on them. Now I know that these folks are one, being patriotic, and two, acknowledging a belief in God. But they obviously aren't thinking straight. I ask you--why should He? Why should God bless America? What have we done lately, like in the last fifty years or so, to bless Him, to thank Him for His many blessings, to obey Him?

The answer, of course, is "nothing." Or at best, very little. We've cast Him out of our schools, He's no longer welcome around the dinner table, no longer welcome in polite conversation, or politics. We abort the little ones who were to come unto Him, we destroy fetuses in the name of science, we gas His chosen people in concentration camps, we assert that two men or two women constitute a "married couple," and that it's okay to remove the feeding tubes and iv's from our elderly or infirm whom we no longer value as human beings. And we expect Him to BLESS us?

Our political candidates this election year said it was all about the economy or all about jobs, or all about racial respect. It wasn't and it never was. It was all about the dignity and worth of the Culture of Life but it looks like the culture of death is going to come out on top again. God save America 'cause we sure can't do it ourselves!

"Another One For the Whore of Babylon"

JMJ. That's the favourite epithet for the fundamentalist: "the Catholic church is the Whore of Babylon!" Which neatly brings me to today's topic. If the Church is the Whore of Babylon, why in heaven's name has she produced so many saints? Good question, isn't it? I hadn't thunk of it until I listened to a CD made by (I think) Peter Kreeft. Even the biggest haters of the Church wouldn't think of disparaging St. Augustine or St. Francis or Bl. Mother Teresa.

Well, that's a problem for them to stew over. I've found another. Sunday's gospel reading spot-lit one I hadn't considered before...Zacchaeus. I was just amazed, sitting there in the pew listening to our Fr. Michael talk about the conversion of a notorious sinner. For Zacchaeus was a hugely wealthy tax collector. Now I am not hugely wealthy but I am a poor sinner and I was even worse prior to my conversion. But in both our cases, Zacchaeus' and mine, we could not resist the work of the Holy Ghost.

Zacchaeus was prompted to climb a tree, the better to see this Jesus he'd heard so much about. And I, I was inspired to walk into a little Catholic religious goods store in Berea called "Tilma." And our lives changed. All it took was a little opening, you see. Christ and the Blessed Mother took it from there. Zacchaeus climbed down from the sycamore tree a changed man. I went home clutching a copy of Archbishop Sheen's autobiography a changing man. That's the difference between Zacchaeus and me--becoming a saint is going to take me so much longer (if, by the Grace of God I ever make it at all.) Simon of Cyrene helped Christ carry His cross to Calvary, Zacchaeus gave half of his vast wealth to the poor and paid recompense fourfold for his sins. While I walk forward toward my sanctification looking back all the while at Egypt. All ye holy angels and saints, please pray for me.

"How Long Can I Keep This Up?"

JMJ. I admit it. I'm not the most persevering person in the world. My dear wife, to whom I'd been married for a good 25 years at the time, I'm sure, shook her head at my conversion to the Catholic Church and wondered how long this enthusiasm would last. I can't fault her--I wondered, too. I remember thinking, "Lord please don't let this be just another passing fancy."



Well, it's lasted now for over eleven years. And it just keeps getting gooder and gooder. So--I've written about my perpetual Rosary and how it's helped to focus my devotion to the Blessed Mother while relieving me from having to remember which day I should say which mystery on. (I've never been anything if not frugal of my energy, mental or physical.) As part of this on-going theme I've tried something else and it's proving to be a real boon to my prayer life, too.



Before I forget, it's only fair that I give the credit for the idea to my friend, Charlie. And I'm sure he would not hesitate to say that it wasn't original to him but he's such an important part of my spiritual development that I'll always associate it with him. You see, his hot button is the Divine Mercy. He lives and breathes it. He leads its recitation at the hospice he volunteers at, he makes rosaries with beads spelling it, and can't help but pass on this enthusiasm to everyone he meets.

Charlie and I were talking one morning over breakfast at Perkins and he said, "You know, Jim, your mission is converting souls. Have you ever thought of saying the novena for the Divine Mercy from now on instead of just the nine days before the Feast [of the Divine Mercy]?" I allowed as how I hadn't so I decided finally to give it a try. I was gob-smacked when I got to the fourth day and read the introduction: "Today bring to Me the pagans and those who do not yet know Me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart."

Someone, sometime had been praying this for ME! Our Lord had foreseen ME! Wow. And as is sometimes said nowadays, I decided to pay it forward. I pray now that the whole world might be converted, not just this one wee part of it. What could be more natural than a perpetual novena to the Divine Mercy and a perpetual Rosary? Won't you join me?

"A New Rosary"

JMJ. Ok, this is just going to be a short screed and no, I'm not in favour of changing our Mother's most favouritest prayer. But I'll tell you one thing for sure. When I became a Catholic it took me a good while to remember the three mysteries and then remember which days they were said on. (Is that good sentence structure? Never mind.)

And then His late Holiness, John Paul II added the luminous mysteries. Talk about throwing a monkey wrench in the works! Back to the old drawing board. And which days do we say which mysteries on now? I know it's not really that big a deal and maybe I'm exaggerating a bit... And then I got the IDEA. Why not just start a rosary and make it never-ending? A perpetual rosary.

So I did it. I had just purchased an MP3 player for listening to music while walking the dog and doing other chores. Put a bunch of good albums on it, put it in the drawer, and haven't used it a lick since then. I started praying the Rosary most any time I had down-time. Driving the car, walking the dog, working in the yard, ad infinitum.

I pray all four mysteries in order and then the finishing prayers and start over. Doesn't matter what day it is, nothing to remember. Ok, it's not usually any more attentive than it ever was--I'm still working hard on that but I get a real bang out of saying to Her, "I beg to continue Thy perpetual Rosary, Blessed Mother." And then I happily pick up where I left off.

"The Barque of Peter"

JMJ. Just what makes a Catholic a Catholic? I'll give you a few moments to think about that question. It's not rhetorical, it's totally serious, and at the very basis of all that I will talk about in this entry. Before we get into Scripture, though, let's look at a little history. History is factual.
Christ formed one church two thousand years ago. Like Christ who was visible and tangible, so was that church visible and tangible. He called twelve men to whom He gave all authority on heaven and earth. They in turn ordained others to take their places. The teachings of that holy church are clearly Catholic. One has only to read the writings of the Early Church Fathers to see that those teachings are not remotely Protestant.


A thousand years later, the Orthodox (Eastern) church left the sure protection of the Roman Pontiff. Since that unhappy incident there has been a breaking-away of many nationalistic Orthodox Churches, each with its own governing patriarch. Didn't Jesus will that we be one? Hmmm. Five hundred years later the Roman (Western) church was in need of a house-cleaning. Instead, the Protestant reformers also revolted against the authority of Peter. As a result, we now have some 30,000 separate Protestant denominations--all teaching the truth and all speaking with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Hmmm. Neat trick, eh?


Which brings me to St. Matthew, specifically Matthew 16: 13-19. The passage is longish so I'll trust you to read it later. Briefly, Jesus asks His disciples who the people think He is. The answers are four-- John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Think about how amazing this is. Four different interpretations of the sayings and actions of a Man whom they saw face to face for three years! And two thousand years later people pretend to tell us the truth of the Scriptures without an infallible authority.

But Christ left us one. He knew there would be error. The only one of the twelve to declare correctly was Simon. "Blessed are you, Simon bar Jona! For flesh and blood [your own guesses] has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you you are Peter, [Kepha] and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

This seems fairly innocuous but only until you consider that "Rock" is an appellation used in the Old Testament exclusively in reference to God! One human, and one human alone, is identified so closely with God. Later, Jesus is required to pay the Temple tax. He directs Simon to cast for a fish and to take the shekel he will find and pay the tax for both Jesus and himself. Even later, following His resurrection, He Who had described Himself as the Good Shepherd, commanded Peter to feed His sheep. The shepherd's crook had been passed.

No one else in either Testament had been so closely associated with God and the duties of a regent. To answer our initial question then--a Catholic is one who has given himself in total and trusting submission to the living Word of God and refuses to leave the sure protection of the Church's infallible teaching. One who denies the authority of the Vicar of Christ ultimately denies the Saviour Himself. It can't get any simpler than that. Amen.

"A Confession of Confusion"

JMJ. I confess to being confused. Maybe conflicted is a better word. Yes, conflicted. Bear with me as I try to sort things out because, in so doing, mayhap you, o Reader, will be spared my travail. I am terrified of world-wide Islam. Not just radical Islam, but Islam in general. Liberals try to make a distinction between the religion itself and its fanatic fringe.

I don't think it's possible to do that, though. And that stems from the unassailable fact that the Quran cannot be separated from the culture. Then, too, Islam suffers from the same problem that Protestant Christianity has--no centralised authority. Modern Christians seems to think that the Church Christ left us is a democracy when it is anything but. It is a monarchy with One King, Jesus, and one regent, the Holy Father.

So it is not with Islam. Every imam claims to interpret the Quran for himself and his "congregation" (for want of the correct term.) And every ayatollah issues fatwas proclaiming this or that and condemning this or that. But it cannot be denied that verses in the Quran proclaim that Islam is the true religion and all others, primarily Christianity and Judaism, have been superseded. therein lies the problem in inter-faith dialogue. A Muslim assumes first that everyone else is inferior. And therein lies part of my conflict. What is to prevent any Muslim from becoming "radical?"

This is the same phenomenon that we had in Viet Nam. the Vietnamese who worked on the base during the day might fight with the Viet Cong at night. The peaceful villager, through intimidation, might hide infiltrators. The pilgrims traveling to their homes during the Tet holy days might well be Viet Cong or North Vietnamese soldiers. An ally looks no different from an enemy. A wonderful Muslim man lent my wife and me the down-payment for our first home. Muslim friends were invited to our wedding. But Osam Bin-laden's right arm is a Saudi physician and the Muslim living next door to you could possibly be part of a terrorist sleeper-cell. There is just no way of knowing.

I am an American and my constitution, which I swore to up-hold, says that everyone has the right to freedom of the practice of his or her religion. A church, therefore, under our law, is no better than a synagogue or mosque. And that is the way it should be. And yet Christianity and Judaism do not qualify for that same equality in the Muslim world because of the mind-set already mentioned--they are inferior to Islam. That is why the building of a church or the outward practice of Christianity or the wearing of a cross or crucifix are all illegal in the Muslim world.

I have a problem with that. and I have a problem accepting a world religion that is so paranoid that it condemns to death one of its adherents who converts to another religion, that stones to death anyone who commits a serious religious offense, or which applauds honour killings. This is not my culture, it is a sick culture because it denies the God-given worth of each individual. It is the command of my Saviour that I love my neighbor as myself and with His help (and ONLY with His help) I may actually accomplish that someday. But I will resist Islam with my dying breath if need be. I guess that's the message that's important.

Love the Muslim but resist Islam!