"Cross vs. Crucifix'

JMJ. I was lying awake in bed the other morning at "oh dark thirty" as we used to say in the service. That's been happening a lot lately but it was kinda fruitful this once. It came to me that in looking at an empty cross and comparing it to a Catholic crucifix we can see a fundamental philosophical difference between Protestants and Catholics.

Now, we all know that Jesus died to redeem our sins--that's a given--and that sacrificial death brought about the possibility of our eventual resurrection into heaven. The empty cross focuses on the reward, the resurrection into eternal life. Portraying Christ on His cross, though, focuses on the supreme sacrifice that led to that reward.

I've always said that the Catholic Church is far more biblical than the Protestants. Well, I and a whole bunch of fellow Catholics, anyway. We have only to read St. Paul who says, "We teach Christ and Him crucified" to see where the early Church put her emphasis. Further, St. Paul says that we must be crucified with Him. It certainly seems to me that we should be focusing on the redemptive sacrifice than the ultimate reward, wondrous as that may be. Besides, what more perfect prayer aid than to look at a crucifix and SEE what is the true price of our sins?

"The New Protestants"

JMJ. Hey, folks, there's a new denomination in town. They claim to be even more Catholic than the Episcopalians. In fact, they once WERE Catholics. With the emphasis on were. Like close siblings in New York, they feel that they are more enlightened than Our successor to the Apostles, Bishop Lennon. No, they do not have a female priest as the dissidents in New York do but that may only be a matter of time.

There are so many warnings in the Bible concerning the unwisdom of listening to false prophets but the most telling is Christ's admonition to "beware the traditions of men." Make no mistake about it--these are human ideas we're talking about in Cleveland. Matthew perhaps documents this most succinctly. Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona...I say you are 'Peter' and upon this rock I will build MY (emphasis mine) church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."

Martin Luther began the Protestant slide down the slippery slope of heresy 500 years ago when he took the words of Scripture, stirred in his anger, and dreamt up his own new religion. No sooner had he dons so than a bunch of others did so, too. After all, if one new religion is good, more must be better, eh? So now we have over 30,000 different denominations, each differing from the other and each sure that it is the only true path to heaven. Enter our former "Catholic" co-regionists. One more set of folks who decided that Jesus, the Son of God, needed their input into His scheme of salvation.

When will it ever end? Pray for them, for they lead others astray, too.

"You Can't Be One Without the Other"

JMJ. Ever since it became important to me, ie. soon after my conversion to Catholicism, I have wanted to be a disciple of Jesus'. I haven't been a very good one, I admit. Whatever small success I've achieved has been through the grace of God and certainly in spite of anything I've done. Still, that has been my aim--and a good one, an admrable goal to have.

But I was listening to a CD not long ago--which, I misremember. The speaker mentioned the concept of discipline and how necessary it is in order to follow Christ faithfully. Such as in fasting. You know--givng something up. I've never been great at that because I'm too focused on my material wants. Give up ice cream for a bed-time snack? Get real!

Now, being a disciple--I could shoot for that. I'm a great follower but a poor leader. I can follow with the best of them. But discipline? Discipline is the ability to control one's self. Discipline is self-mastery. What's odd is that they both come from the same root. It was one of those mini epiphanies I've had from time to time. If I ever want to follow Christ properly I need to master myself. That's gonna take some real work. But knowing the problem and it's solution is half the battle. Now for the hard part...

"New Speech"

JMJ. I hate the new speech of a generation almost completely out of contact with the Real. Specifically, the phrase "my bad." The kids use it to excuse themselves when they've made a mistake. But, like society in general, they in particular don't want to accept responsibility and do NOT want to say, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Please forgive me." Instead, it's "my bad." God help us.

"Lenten Thoughts"

JMJ. Ok, I'm going to repeat some things I've written of earlier. I'm 63 so my mind isn't what it once was and it's my blog so I can do as I please. So there.

The last couple of years I've taken to using only the Sorrowful Mysteries during Lent when I pray the Rosary. It just seems to be the right thing to do. After all, though Lent's outcome is Easter, the period itself is not what you would call joyful or luminous or glorious. It's sombre and that's the way I feel like praying it.

I've also started doing something else this year during my Rosary. Following the "amen" of each "Hail Mary" I add "mea culpa, Domine." If He could undergo such a frightful Passion on my account it seems only fitting that I continually acknowledge my sinfulness which caused that Passion.

Finally, there is one bright spot amongst the grey. Although it was MY sin that caused Him to sweat blood in the garden, and it was I who wielded the scourge that bloodied His back, and they were MY hands that wove the plait of thorns which pierced His brow, and it was MY hand which pounded the nails which gave us the first crucifix, it was I who helped Him carry His cross through St. simon of Cyrene. Thank you, Lord, for this small penance.

"God's Mysterious Ways"

JMJ. One would have had to have had his head buried in the sand for the last few weeks not to have noticed the horrible devastation in Japan as the result of a Richter 9 earthquake and its subsequent tsunami. Even the hardest of heart would have been hard-pressed not to have been moved by the suffering of the Japanese people.

Well, I'm not particularly hard-hearted so I was very troubled at this devastation and misery. On a very peronal level, too, since--as I've mentioned before--we once had a Japanese exchange student living with us for a year when my sisters were in high school. You can imagine that I was quite worried about her and her family's safety so I e-mailed that evening and was vastly relieved when she quickly replied that she, the family, and her home were safe but that they had lost many of their possessions.

The material can be replaced but imagine my surprise when I received a note from a woman unknown to me saying that she had gone to school with Toko (and my sisters, of course) so many years ago and that they had not been in contact for quite some time. Had I heard anything from her and could I put her in touch with Toko? Now how, I wondered had this woman thought to write me? I read further and it happens that upon hearing of the earthquake she googled Toko's name and my previous blog page came up!

Of course I replied that I had, indeed, just heard from Toko and that she was well. I offered to forward a message to her if she wished. She did, she wrote, and I forwarded it. Toko was so thankful to have heard from another of her old friends. She might have been surprised at this coincidence but I wasn't--after all, I believe in the communion of the saints. God's got us all safe in His arms and He's got a plan for all of us. Amen.

"The New Centurions"

JMJ. It should come as no surprise that I'm reading another book which was recommended to me by my dear friend, Jan. It's called unPlanned, by Abby Johnson. I'm only halfway through it but I knew right off the bat that I'd have to pass on this review to others. It's dynamite--the story of a young woman who came out from the shadows of a career with Planned Parenthood in the abortion industry into the bright light of the pro-life movement.

To say the least, this is at the same time both a harrowing and joyous account of one woman's road to Damascus. My own road was no less sinful but not nearly as dramatic. I began working in the operating room as a registered nurse in 1974. Our hospital at the time did abortions on a regular basis. I was one of the few nurses who would help. Not only was I not pro-life, I'm not sure if I was even Christian. Through the grace of God (I can admit that now) my shadows were not nearly as intense and not as long-lived as Abby Johnson's.

One of the most controversial topics in the abortion debate at the time was what constituted life. Was a fetus in possession of a soul and thus worthy of protection or not? The pro-abortion folks said no and of course the pro-life folks said yes. I said, "I don't really know." But my nurse's training said that if in doubt, err on the side the angels. That is, if one isn't sure if something is contaminated, assume that it is and start over. If one doesn't know if a piece of equipment is working properly, assume that it is not and find a good one.

Since I didn't know if a fetus was fully human and possessed of a soul I had to assume that it was and therefore act for his or her protection. I quit assisting with abortions. I wasn't knocked off my horse like St. Paul was. I kind of slipped off, not with a blinding flash but more a dull "thunk." I'm not yet to the point in the book where Abby Johnson leaves Planned Parenthood but I know that she did and that she joined a group called the Society of Centurions. As it states in their credo: "The Centurion who stood at the foot of the cross of Christ suddenly became horrified at the crucifixion he was ordered to carry out. When Christ died, this Centurion dropped his sword and fell to his knees exclaiming, 'Surely, this was an innocent man!'"

I, too, am a centurion. I have confessed and been forgiven but I can never forget the lives I have helped to take. All I can pray is, "Dear children look with mercy on this poor sinner." Amen.