In the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, St. Paul tells us of the endurance of Love.  He explains that while all else will pass away, Love never ends.  The chapter concludes with a mention of the three theological virtues saying Faith, Hope, Love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is Love (1Cor 13:13.)  The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible rightly points out that Love ”outshines other divine gifts precisely because it outlasts them.”  While this is true and most akin to what Paul is saying in the previous verses, we might add to the preeminence of Love among the virtues.

Of faith Christ taught “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you” (Matt 17:21.)  Faith indeed is strong and a properly formed faith is the foundation of the Christian life.  Faith, however is assailable.  The truth can be removed from our eyes through misunderstanding and purposeful misrepresentation.  We see this happening in our current political and cultural landscape with a skewing of the truth that we should Love the sinner into a view that we should Love and encourage the sin itself.  As laws are passed our faith, while not able to be completely removed, can be damaged to a point where we have many, especially the young, that are not exposed to the truth in a way to place faith in it.  A kernel of faith can always remain, but it may at times be just that.

Hope, too, can be seen as an integral part of the Christian life.  We must hope for what we do not see: namely a complete union with God at the end of our earthly lives.  But hope, like faith, can be damaged by the enemy.  The likelihood of our desire can be so minimized that we may begin to doubt the existence of it.  We can be so downtrodden that hope nearly vanishes.  Even great saints can experience this loss of faith and hope!  St. Therese of Lisieux once wrote

When I sing of the happiness of heaven and of the eternal possession of God, I feel no joy in this, for I sing simply what I want to believe. It is true that at times a very small ray of the sun comes to illumine my darkness, and then the trial ceases for an instant, but afterwards the memory of this ray, instead of causing me joy, makes my darkness even more dense. Never have I felt before this, dear Mother, how sweet and merciful the Lord really is, for He did not send me this trial until the moment I was capable of bearing it. A little earlier I believe it would have plunged me into a state of discouragement. Now it is taking away everything that could be a natural satisfaction in my desire for heaven.

It is Love, however, that is the strongest of the three.  By it’s endurance as Paul mentions but also by it’s very unassailable nature.  Christ teaches us Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Jn 15:13.)  Love, then, can be measured by our willingness to give, culminating in the very gift of our lives.  I call Love unassailable because no matter what the enemy tries to take, if we give it willingly for Christ and the conversion of the sinner, Love increases.  What causes all else to diminish is the very nature of Love.  And it is that nature of giving that is also the nature of God; for as Scripture tells us God is Love (1Jn 4:16.)

Often, when we give, we gave from a position of faith or hope.  We may give hoping something in return, or with the faith that we will receive in return.  God gives to us completely out of Love.  He asks that we return this Love to Him, but in reality there is nothing we can give to God to increase Him.  His nature is infinite and ours is infinitely below His.  When God gives to us it is a pure Love because nothing is expected in return and thus we can say By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us (1Jn 3:16.)  When we can give in this manner, purely out of Love and expecting nothing in return, we share in the very nature of God.  God made man, Jesus Christ, taught us this when speaking of His own life saying No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord (Jn 10:18.)  Although he was arrested and put to death with violence he says that he gives His life willingly out of Love for the Father and for us.  God does not have faith, for he knows all.  God does not have hope, for he posses all.  But GOD IS LOVE, and it is through Love that we become most like Him.

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1Cor 12:12-14)

St. Paul continues from here to explain that individual members of the body cannot declare themselves independent and in no need of the other members.  He also explains: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (1Cor 12:26.)  When Catholics honor the saints in Heaven with feast days, statues, etc. we are being consistent with Paul’s writings here in Corinthians.  We know that God honors them in Heaven, so we share in that honoring and rejoice here on earth.  When they receive honor, it is the entire Church that rejoices!  Indeed, by honoring the saints as members of the body, we also honor the head, that is Christ.  Paul even declares that the head cannot say to the feet I have no need of you.  Christ, being God, has no intrinsic inherent need of individual men and women.  But we know that God emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:7) and founded His Church, of which he is head.  He has united Himself in a way to the Church that makes us necessary to His mission.  While we, then, honor the head through the members, those Heavenly members intercede for us, continuing to work together as one body.

But should we not say that the saints have passed, and are no longer connected to the Body of Christ here on earth?  Do we not read in Scripture:  For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost.  Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and they have no more for ever any share in all that is done under the sun (Eccles 9:5-6.) 

We do, but we also read: For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39.)  Although the saints of Heaven have experienced an earthly death, they now share more fully in the life of God and are like him, for [they] see him as he is (1Jn 3:2.)  They are experiencing our goal, a more complete union with Christ!  It behooves us then to ask them, as members of the same mystical body, for assistance.  They have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith and are enjoying the crown of righteousness (cf 2Tim 4:8.)  And as perfected members of our same Body, they wish nothing more than to share that crown with you.

May all the angels and saints watch over us and protect us, constantly interceding for us with Christ!

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”  -Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324

With this teaching of the Church in mind, we can turn to the Eucharist as an effective tool of evangelization.  Christ tells us I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (Jn 12:32.)  He, as John tells us in the next verse, was speaking of His death at that time, but it continues to be true now that he has died and risen.  When the priest lifts up the bread and says This is my body which will be given up for you (Lk 22:19,) the bread ceases and it is Christ Himself that is lifted up before us, drawing us to Him.  We experience something infinitely above bread and a Love better than wine (Song 1:3), thus the priest proclaims Behold the Lamb of God; behold Him who takes away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29.) Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. (Apoc 19:9.)  Our response affirms our belief as we cry out Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed (Lk 7:6.)  This should greatly build our desire to follow Christ and, like He did with the apostles, he invites us to “Come and see” (Jn 1:39) who He is through the sacrifice of the Eucharist.  How can we not have the same response they did, bringing one another to Jesus saying “We have found the Messiah” (Jn 1:41.)

To effectively evangelize through the Eucharist we can imagine that we are building a table for presentation of the Lord’s Supper.  Our table has four legs that are vital to its integrity and  ability to fulfill it’s mission: Understanding, Fervor, Witness, and Invitation.  If we build upon these four legs, the Eucharist can take center stage in our evangelization as we reach out to the world, lifting up the Eucharistic Christ to draw all to Him.

• Understanding

If we are going to place the Eucharist front and center in our evangelization, we need to have a proper understanding of the Blessed Sacrament.  Our ability to explain the Eucharist to others is only going to be as good as our own understanding of it.

Learn what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist.
Learn which Scripture verses make reference to the Eucharist and back up our faith in the Eucharist as Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.
Study the links between the Eucharist and Old Testament/Jewish teachings.
Study common objections to the Eucharist by non-Catholic Christians.
Read writings of the Fathers of the Church related to the Eucharist.
Read what the saints and popes have written about the Eucharist.

To start, you could do a search here on FireofThyLove.com for the keyword “Eucharist.”   We have a couple articles on the subject and are always adding more!

• Fervor

If we want to share the Eucharist with others, we need to have a great love for the Eucharistic Christ.  Remember, Christ is trying to draw us to Him through His presence in the Eucharist.  His goal is a loving union with us, and we need to build that union if we want to share it with others.

Receive Communion frequently: At least every Sunday and more often if possible.
Keep your soul worthy of the gift of the Eucharist by avoiding sin and going to Confession regularly and frequently.
Pray to grow closer to Christ through the Eucharist.
Before receiving Communion, ask Mary to help you prepare your soul for the ideal reception of Christ.
Pray and meditate upon the mysteries of the Rosary, paying special attention to their relationship to the Eucharist.
Participate in Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  There is no better place for your prayer than in front of Christ Himself.

• Witness

I met a man at a Catholic Family Conference who wore a pin of a host in a monstrance everywhere he went.  He said that it gave him many opportunities to discuss the Eucharist in his daily life.  We want people to know of our love for the Eucharist to give us an opening to share that love.

Do you use social media such as Facebook or Twitter?  Why not post an update about your love of the Eucharist?
Keep Catholic pictures, especially Eucharistic images, in your car, home, and workplace.  If people ask, share the reason you have them.
When discussing your weekend at work or with friends, mention that you went to Mass and enjoyed it.
When passing a Catholic church, make a sign of reverence towards the Lord contained inside a tabernacle in the building.
Do not be afraid to pray in public settings: say the rosary on the bus or pray before your meals.
Look for opportunities to discuss your experience with the Eucharist.

• Invitation

Remember, our goal is to bring people into an encounter with Christ through the Eucharist.  When we have opportunities to extend an invitation into that blessed mystery, we need to take them!  Obviously our non-Catholic friends and family cannot receive the Eucharist, but we can help them to encounter it in a way that may spark their interest in the Sacrament.

If you know Catholics that are no longer practicing or have lapsed in their faith, invite them to return to the Church and the Sacraments.
If you are discussing faith with non-Catholics, invite them to attend a Mass with you.
If you know someone who enjoys reading, recommend good Eucharistic literature to them.
Invite practicing Catholics who do not attend adoration to join you.
Invite people to pray the Rosary or Liturgy of the Hours with you.
Let someone know about your favorite Catholic radio station.

Share your ideas on effective Eucharistic evangelization in the comments!

I’m wondering where this leaves CatholicVote.org, which had thrown full support behind the Santorum campaign for the Republican nomination.  Board member and blogger in chief of the organization, Thomas Peters, did not waste much time taking to twitter to post the following:

We’ll see if the rest of the organization jumps on board with this same notion.  I’m not privy to their structure and decision making process, but I imagine it will be hard for them to coalesce around the candidate their man was fighting so hard to beat.  Romney’s record is a sore spot among conservatives, notably on the important Catholic social issue of abortion.  While CatholicVote.org has displayed only muted criticism of Romney, perhaps to obey the Ronald Reagan/Gaylord Parkinson 11th commandment “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican,” the anti-Romney vibe isn’t too hard to detect.

In the last election cycle Peters was part of a group called “Catholics for Ron Paul” but it appears a similar endorsement is already out of the question as Peters is “serious about Nov.”  While he declares himself to be a Mitt Romney “supporter,” he echos a mainstream media tactic of referring to Ron Paul’s supporters as “fans” in attempt to diminish the “seriousness” of his message and influence.

I find it ironic that someone who spends so much time blogging about the importance of principles can’t see why someone might choose not to vote for Romney or Obama out of principle, especially when the two are identical on many of Ron Paul’s core issues.

1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2 As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens. 3 As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5 Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am sick with love. 6 O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me! 7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please. 8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9 My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. 10 My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; 11 for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is comely. 15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” 16 My beloved is mine and I am his, he pastures his flock among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle, or a young stag upon rugged mountains.

The Church opens the second chapter by declaring to be a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys.  While there is the more apparent meaning of the Church being a special creation set apart for the joy of the Lord, which the next verse confirms, there seems to be a second connotation with the reference to the rose of Sharon.  The “rose” most likely refers to a flower that grows in the Sharon Plain beginning just south of Mount Carmel.  We will see Carmel referenced again in chapter 7, mentioned there for its beauty, likened to a crown.  It is on Mount Carmel that the Lord, through Elijah, turned Israel’s heart back to Himself and they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God” (1Kg 18:39.)  Thus, as the Rose of Sharon sits in the shadow of Mount Carmel, the symbol of God’s faithfulness and Love of His people, the Church sits in the shadow of the Lord with great delight.  As the shadow of Mt. Carmel protects the flower from the harshness of the sun, the Lord’s shadow protects His Church and so she cries to Him, hide me in the shadow of thy wings (Ps 17:8.)

The Church goes on to compare the Lord to an apple tree among the trees of the wood.  The apple tree differentiates itself from the other trees through its fruit; thus when the Church cries out  refresh me with apples she asks the Lord to provide her with that which makes Him different than all others, with His own divinity.  In Christ, the Father has given us what we have asked to receive: a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty…a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness (Wis 7:25-26.)  As the apple comes forth from the tree to be consumed, Christ has come forth from the Father to be consumed by His Church for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup [of the Eucharist], you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1Cor 11:28.)  Thus, while there are many moments from deep in antiquity until today that believers might say He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love, it is most properly fulfilled within the celebration of the Eucharist.  

The Church cries out that she is sick with love and longs for an intimate embrace from the Lord.  In the Song, the Lord approaches us using the languages of physical and romantic Love because he too longs for an intimacy with us.  As the Song develops the themes of an intense Love that blossoms into a marriage, we learn of God’s desire to join with us until the point the two shall become one (Mt 19:5.)  The voice of my beloved! the Church exclaims with joy.  The Word of God, preached and written, brings great joy to the heart of the Church and has always caused the believers to pause and wait with bated breath.  Both the preached and written Word culminate in Christ, the Word of God from the beginning (Jn 1:1) who comes to us from the mouth of the Lord on high, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.

Priests of the Old Testament, creating the "lattices" for the Priestly Blessing

The Lord is said to peer through windows and lattices, watching us even when we are unaware of his loving gaze.  He remains outside of the wall and calls us, as it were, out of ourselves asking us to arise and come away into His full life.  The Israelites considered the Song of Songs to be an extremely important book of Scripture prompting Rabbi Akiva, whom the Talmud refers to as Head of All Sages, to even go as far as saying “the whole world is not worth the day on which Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and Song of Songs is holy of holies.”  Because of this view, the reference to lattices made its way into the blessing the priests would give to the Jewish people.  In the book of Numbers, God tells Moses Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:  The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.  ”So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them (Num 6:23-27.”)  When the priests gave the blessing they would position their fingers with a specific spacing that would create the “lattice” through which the Lord would look upon His people and bless them.  They incorporated the gesture into the blessing to bring to mind the book that tells us of God’s Love for His people.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away- the Lord speaks.  Christ came to cement man’s relationship with God through His Church.  He calls us away with Him to live a new covenant, likened throughout the Song to a marriage.  Through His death and resurrection He fulfills the Father’s promise given in Hosea: And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.  I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD (Hos 2:19-20.)  It is through the same cross and resurrection that Christ can say I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (Jn 12:32.)  And it is through this drawing of all men that Christ fulfills the promise that follows the betrothal: I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say ‘Thou art my God’” (Hos 2:23.)  Those of us who are not of Hebrew descent He obtained with the blood of his own (Acts 20:28.)  Through this purchase, we too are able to enter into the glorious mysteries of Love and Faith contained within the beautiful Song we are studying.  We can join Israel in rejoicing in our Savior, joining with Him to say lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  Now, sharing in God’s life, we are in an eternal spring.

The Lord describes this spring to us with details of flowers, singing, doves, fruit, and fragrant blossoms.  Using this language he gives us the slightest glimpse into His overflowing Grace, Faith, and Love (1 Tim 1:14.)  Again he pleads with us Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.  He continues, asking to see the face of His Church and to hear His voice.  We often think of our desire for God, but He desires us even more than we do Him!  We answer His desire with hearts, minds, and voices lifted up to Him in praises to His name (Ps 68:4.)  We join with our prayers our entire lives, which we offer to God, loving Him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might (Dt 6:5.)  We are in the springtime of rejoicing, but our work is not yet complete.  The Lord entreats us to Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards.  These foxes may take many forms in our lives, and there are many things we may need to eliminate for a true union with God.  Primarily, we must do away with sin, knowing that when Christ calls it is with the commandment do not sin again (Jn 8:11.)  The foxes in our lives may also take the form of associations, material goods, activities, and many other occasions of sins that are temptations for us.  To enjoy the spring and ensure that our vineyard is not spoiled, we must too attack these “foxes” that they not overtake us, for as Christ taught,  if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away(Mt 5:30.)

The chapter ends with two verses that encapsulate the entirety of the Song.  First, My beloved is mine and I am his.  The Christian life is summed up within these few words.  It is the same Love that John spoke of saying, By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us (1Jn 3:16.)  Continuing, John tells us that we must lay down our own lives for others as well, to imitate the Love of Christ.  It is through this mirroring of God’s Love for mankind that we are His.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (Jas 1:27.)  By giving ourselves to others, we give ourselves to Him, who first gave Himself to us.  Second, the Church requests that the Lord remain as the gazelle watching with a protecting gaze through windows and lattices until the day breathes and the shadows flee; that is until we enter the true day, free of all shadows, our heavenly and eternal home.

The commentary on every chapter will eventually be here

Ecce Homo by Antonio Ciseri

You and I have a wonderful opportunity this year.  We have been given a gift from our Lord that can bring us closer to Him and into a deeper contemplation of His Love for us.  He will supply us with the graces necessary, and it is simply up to us to accept those graces and promise our best and consistent effort.  It would be a shame for us to waste this gift offered to us by the most loving hands.

Our gift is a new season of Lent.  We have received a similar gift in years past, but we have the opportunity this year to make it the best Lent of our lives.  We can accept God’s graces and return His Love like never before.  We have the chance to look back at all of our previous Lents and take from them what worked and build upon them where we know we could do better.  We can have a Lent that leads to the best Holy Week and the most joyful celebration of Easter.

When thinking about this Lent and how we can use the season to grow closer to our Lord, let us keep a few questions in our mind.  How can I improve upon my commitment to God?  How can I better plan to use my penance to turn my mind to God?  Have I considered adding something to my prayer life (Mass, rosary, additional prayer time) in addition to giving something up?  Am I looking towards the penances of Lent begrudgingly or with a spirit of Love and openness?

Will you join me in making this the best Lent of our lives?  Will you promise to give the Lord your all?

In the wake of the news that respected breast cancer research organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure has cut ties with Planned Parenthood, Gloria Feldt, former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, and Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for Choice, met on KPFKs Background Briefing for a discussion with host Ian Masters.  While the conversation began on Komen’s decision, it quickly devolved into an attack on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic doctrine in general.  In typical fashion, Kissling jumped on the opportunity to move the conversation from the topic of Komen and tear into the bishops’ ongoing battle over the contraceptive mandate contained in recent healthcare reform laws, saying:

…the bishops want their conscience rights to be recognized when it comes to contraception but are totally unprepared to have the institutions that they control or that they are affiliated with recognize the conscience of individual women, Catholics and non-Catholics- and 98% of Catholic women are using a method, have used a method of contraception that the bishops disagree with- so, you know, they want to play the religious liberty card we should turn it right back to them…

Masters chimes in to completely miss the point and frame the question of religious liberty as a taxation issue rather than the violation of conscience threatening various Catholic institutions and healthcare providers.  Kissling adds that the Catholic bishops should refuse to take tax payer money before they discuss what is covered by the money.  What she fails to point out, however, is that turning down tax payer money would still not exempt them from the contraceptive mandate in question.

Feldt rightly points out that the larger issue at hand is a question of the “nature and purpose of human sexuality and different world views about that and that has to do with the nature and purpose of males and females in the world.”  By her own admission, the pro-choice movement is promoting an agenda and world view that is decidedly anti-Catholic.  Her statement magnifies the glaringly obvious contradiction in the very name of the organization “Catholics for Life” and sheds further light on the not-so-thinly veiled anti-Catholic bigotry that the group truly represents.  Frances Kissling confirms this bigotry when she labels “horrifying” the fact that a local Komen affiliate in Ohio had a press release affirming that the organizations they supported were in conformity with Catholic teaching.

Full audio of the interview can be found on Media Fire

As Catholics we should be supportive of those making pro-life decisions.  Please consider taking a moment to email news@komen.org and thank them for their decision to cut ties with Planned Parenthood; CatholicVote.org has suggested using the subject “Thank You for Defunding Planned Parenthood!” to create a unified message.  Also, encourage your senators to support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (S. 2043) introduced by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida which would block the contraceptive requirement for religious universities, hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions.

Saul attacks David by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri

Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.

These ten words of a simple song celebrating David’s achievement we read about yesterday, defeating Goliath, nearly cost David his life.  They also give us an insight into the into the concupiscence (an inclination to sin CCC 1264) of fallen man and the inter-connectedness of the Seven Capital Sins.

The evidence of envy is the most obvious, as Saul desires the praise that David is due for his great feat.  The root of that envy comes from Saul’s pride: the idea that he deserves the praise that David has earned.  He wants the acclaim for himself at the cost of David, going so far as to enkindle within himself a great anger.  This anger leads to the sin of wrath, as Saul would have David killed for no fault of his own.  It could be argued that Saul also committed the sin of sloth by not using his abilities and the resources at his disposal to perform his own great deeds in the name of the Lord.  Also possible is the motivation for these other sins lying with lust as well, as he is envious of the singing and dancing of the women of Israel. With five out of seven of the Capital Sins, Saul isn’t doing so bad if he’s going for some kind of record.

Reading passages of the Bible in this manner, looking for the roots of the sins committed, can help us to turn this focus on our own lives.  When we reflect upon our own sin at Mass, before Confession, or in our daily examen, we do well to look at the Seven Capital Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, and Pride) and see which of these is the source of the sins we are committing.  Which of the seven are my sins motivate the majority of my sins?  It would behoove us to understand the ancient Greek maxim: Know thyself.  If we know our sins and their root cause, we will be better able to avoid future sin in our own lives.  Along a similar line, in The Art of War, Sun Tzu recommends “Know your enemy.”  If we know our own failings and sins, we know the method of attack that THE Enemy will use against us and will be better prepared to understand and defend against his temptations.

So what of Saul?  What steps could he have taken before he sinned to suppress the temptations he had towards pride and envy?  First and foremost he, and all of us, would do well to cultivate silence.  Proverbs tells us a man of understanding remains silent (Prov 11:12) and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta taught us “God speaks in the silence of the heart.”  An exterior silence, with time set aside for prayer and reflection, is first necessary.  This will help us to gain an interior silence that allows us to listen to the movings of the Spirit within us and focus on God’s will rather than our own.  If we give ourselves a demeanor of silence, both exteriorly and interiorly, we will see the hold of the Capital Sins, starting with pride and envy, begin to erode.  We will gain a proper sense of self and the Love that is due to our God and our neighbor.  Silence for us will become the nourishment that sustains our healthy spiritual life.

Reflections on the Readings of the Day: Thursday, January 19th, 2012
1st Reading  1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7
Psalm  Ps 56:2-3, 9-10a, 10b-11, 12-13
Gospel Mk 3:7-12

Ray Manzarek, a man searching for Christ

The other day I was driving in the car browsing various talk radio stations and I came upon Pacifica Radio’s KPFK.  If you are from southern California you may be familiar with this group of stations which describes itself as “Progressive and Independent News, Talk, and Music.”  Some of the shows broadcast on stations outside the California group of 5 Pacifica stations, most notably Democracy Now!, which can be heard on 700 stations around the country.  In response to the Occupy Movement, KPFK has taken to calling themselves “Radio for the 99%” in an obvious attempt to co-opt that entire movement and place it under the mantle of Pacifica’s extreme political views.

The station is currently, and quite frequently I might add, having a fund drive.  The gift they are giving donors is an audio collection from the Pacifica Radio Archives, which they are touting as a collection of the art and creativity of the progressive movement over the decades.  Interesting to note, the gift is for two sets of the collection, one for the donor him/herself and one for a college or university of his/her choice.  They are pretty open, then, about their goal of indoctrinating young people into their thought process and views.  To entice potential donors, they were playing clips of audio from the gift archive.

The clip that I heard struck me as an excellent example of both the struggles and the ripe territory we are dealing with in the New Evangelization the Holy Father is calling us to participate in.  Sonali Kolhatkar, host of Uprising Radio, introduced the clip saying, “Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of the Doors, reading from his book in 1998.  He, like other artists, has been describing the movements that progressives have been involved in for decades.”  I have personally transcribed the clip here, so it may not be perfectly verbatim or with the punctuation he uses in his book (I’m assuming “the book” in question is Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors but Sonali never made that clear.)

They [fans of the Doors] always wanted us to take them higher, to a new realm, to a psychic state they never experienced before: a new land of intensity and passion.  The audience in that summer of 1966 was no different than the audience today.  The thing we demand from our artists is passion. We crave intensity of experience.  We are glutted with stimulation, with the circuit of sensory titulation.  We’re in a frenzy of consumption, in a frenzy of choices. We’re in a crackhead meth-freak zone of “Gimme!” We want it all! And we’ve got it all… They give us everything.  The entertainment conglomorates and the consumer goods industries have supplied our every need, but we feel unfulfilled, vaguely unsatisfied.  Something’s missing from our modern lives.  Something’s wrong something’s not quite write.  And that something is what the powers that be, the establishment as we called them in the 60s, don’t ever want you to have: passion and intensity.

We want a passionate life lived in a state of ecstasy; a life of intensity and deep emotion.  An existential life in which every moment counts, a real life.  But we’re not allowed to have that, because if we did, we’d be free.  If we were given the passion and intensity we so desparately craved we could open the doors of perception ourselves.  We could step out of the closed circle of our psychic bondage and be free men and free women on the planet; beholden to no one, responsible, however, for everything.  And that is exactly what the establishment doesn’t want you to have: freedom.

For them, we could gain wisdom, wisdom.  We’d gain wisdom and we wouldn’t put up with the crap that corporate America is feeding us.  We wouldn’t buy their junk: their junk products, their junk entertainment.  It would be the end of civilization as we now know it.  We would demand passion and intensity and art and a saving of the planet that would be the end of civilization as we now know it.  But does that really mean anything?  Is this the best civilization that it can possibly be?  Uh-uh.  It’s not today and it certainly wasn’t in 1966-67.  We wouldn’t accept the meth-head bonehead frenzy we now live in.  We would demand peace and love and beauty and truth.

We could create the new garden of Eden.  We could become the new Adam and Eve.  And we could begin the world again.  That’s what the powers that be must stop.  That’s why they stop the counter culture.  It’s a battle of lifestyles; it’s the lovers (us) it’s the lovers versus the salesmen of junk.  It’s the poets (us) versus the manufacturers of crap.  It’s the dancers versus the bringers of war.  It’s the song makers, the earth-tender’s, the new gardeners of Eden vs the military industrial complex.  And beware, my friends, beware, they are relentless.

 The movements we can see in our societies, from the Occupy Movement to more subtle cultural shifts, come from a place that we Catholics, as a missionary people, must understand and actively engage, always prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you (1Pt 3:15.)  That is not the end of verse 15. Peter exhorts us to make our defense, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.  Many in the modern world have misconceptions about the Church that have led to an aversion to what they perceive as the Gospel message and it is our missionary duty to find common ground, clear up the misconceptions, and bring that same Gospel message, the person of Christ, to the world.  Of His Church Jesus said: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Mt 5:14-16.)  The truth that we have is a great gift, but it also comes with the great responsibility to share that same gift with others: Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required (Lk 12:48.)

So where can we begin and what does KPFK and Ray Manzarek have to do with all of this?

I think an interesting first point would be KPFK’s emphasis on the decades of progressive movements.  They put forth that their ideas of justice and freedom are something new, going back only decades.  As members of a Church that spans millennia, we can point out to them that these ideas have existed within the Church since the beginning, and go back much further even in our history to the Old Testament.  We can proclaim that the Psalmist’s desire of the time when steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other (Ps 85:10) has come to us in the Incarnation of Christ. We can trace a line through history showing the origins of our modern sense of these concepts comes to us from the Catholic Church and education system.  If the longevity of decades is prized, how much more so ought the longevity and perseverance of our Church which has faced persecution all over the world?

Ray Manzarek calls for a rejection of the emptiness in worldly goods and behaviors, seeking wisdom and freedom; we share common ground as Paul teaches us, Do not be conformed to this world  but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Rom12:2.)  We, as Christians, have that most integral piece that Manzarek’s call is missing: the person of Jesus Christ.  While Manzarek calls for a renewal of mind, he stops where Paul continues, the answer to that renewal, Jesus, so Paul can conclude that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect whereas Manzarek is lost in his own ideals.  He demands a new Adam and Eve: We have them, in our savior and His mother, so that we can proclaim, The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1Cor 15:45.)  He demands a new Eden: We have it in the Kingdom of Heaven proclaimed by Christ.  He demands a wisdom that leads to freedom: We have this in Christ.  We have the Wisdom of God, the Word that became Flesh (Jn 1:14) with the message: I am the way, and the truth, and the life and the truth will make you free. (Jn 14:6; 8:32.)  We have the Wisdom he craves that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle (Wis 7:22-23.)

To read Manzarek’s words is to read about the desire the world has for Christ.  Our duty as Christians, followers of that Christ, is to make Him known to those who seek Him, but do not know whom it is they seek.  Speaking on Christ crucified Mother Theresa once said “Jesus is God, therefore His love, His Thirst, is infinite. He the creator of the universe,asked for the love of His creatures.He thirst for our love… These words: ‘I Thirst’ –Do they echo in our souls?”  Her question, we have seen, is answered “YES!”  As Christians, we can bring the echo together with the source to create a most beautiful sound: a new song, His praise from the end of the earth (Is 42:10.)

As Christians we know that Christ’s life, death, and resurrection resulted in a New Covenant that brings the Old to it’s fulfillment and offers eternal life to all that believe in the new.  Jesus Himself said, Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them (Mt 5:17.)  And as Paul teaches us:  Christ  has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better (Heb 8:6.)  Everything that we have now, by the grace of our great God, surpasses what was contained within the Old Covenant in ways that were unimaginable to our ancestors in faith.

With this fact in mind, I turn to both the Old and New Testaments to explore the idea of the presence of God and challenge certain Christians outside the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches with the question: Why would we have less?

At the end of the book of Exodus, after Moses has completed the Ark as requested by the Lord, we read:

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.  Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward;  but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the day that it was taken up.  For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel (Ex 40:34-38.)

God Himself joined His people in the tabernacle that He asked them to create.  So sure were they of that presence that whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let thy enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.”  And when it rested, he said, “Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel” (Nm 10:35-36.)

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches teach that the presence of God that was experienced by the ancient Israelites is with us today and more excellent in its accessibility to us.  In the Eucharist, we have the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, in our church buildings 24 hours a day and available for daily reception.   If the Israelites of the past had the presence of God in the Ark, again I must ask: Why would we have less?

The argument might be made that we have the presence of God in our hearts or in the midst of of our communal worship; for as Christ Himself says, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Mt 18:20) and Paul teaches, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (1Cor 6:19.)  Amen, I say, but we, like the Israelites, have the presence of God in yet another way beyond those.  The Jews knew of an ever-pervading presence of God and thus we read: Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Ps 139:7.)  They had an understanding of God being with the faithful, thus Jeremiah could say, the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me (Jer 20:11.)  The presence within the Ark, however, is notably different.  If Jeremiah and I can both say the LORD is with me, how am I to say God’s presence in the covenant I am living under is better than his?  As a Catholic, I can answer it is because of the Eucharist, and my ability to receive within me that notably different presence which exists within the Blessed Sacrament.

Turning from the Old Testament to the New, we can see Jesus making the promise that His new covenant with His followers will surpass that of the old, including the Temple of the Old Covenant.  In Matthew’s Gospel account we read:

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.”  He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?  I tell you, something greater than the temple is here (Mt 12:1-6.)

Priests of the Temple with the Bread of the Presence

The Bread of the Presence was an offering of unleavened bread that was to remain in the Temple before the Ark of the Covenant at all times, and when consumed could normally only be done so by priests, as it was holy.  (cf. Ex 25:30 & Lev 24:7-9.)  Jesus mentions a story from 1Samuel in which David and his men eat the Bread of the Presence, but only after the priest makes sure they are ritually clean.  He makes a comparison between the laws of the Sabbath and the laws of the Temple and shows the Temple laws to be greater as the priests bake the Bread of the Presence and do other Temple work on the Sabbath yet remain guiltless.  He Himself, He declares with all the authority of Heaven, is even greater than the Temple.  The Bread of the Presence, like the entire Old Covenant, prefigures what is to come in the New Testament.  If the Israelites had a holy unleavened bread, what are we to think about the unleavened bread Jesus introduces into the Christian Church at the Last Supper saying, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me (1Cor 11:24?) If the Israelites had that holy unleavened bread, why would we have less?  Would we not have even more?

In the Gospel of John we have a well known story of Jesus meeting a Samaritan women at a well.  They have the following exchange:

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”  Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him (Jn 4:20-23.)

When the women brings up the differences in worship location, Jesus asserts the superiority of the Temple saying salvation is from the Jews.  He goes on to say that what He is establishing will surpass the Temple and that the worship of His followers will no longer be tied to a single place.  Just as in the passage from Matthew, it is Christ Himself that surpasses the Temple.  Our worship could only be considered superior to that of the Temple if we had the substantial presence of God as the Temple once did and if we had a superior sacrifice.  The Lord tells the Psalmist I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;your burnt offerings are continually before me (Ps 50:8.)  The purpose of the Temple was for sacrifice to God, thus our worship areas must have a superior sacrifice that is continually before the Father.  In the Eucharist we do have that superior sacrifice.  We have the same sacrifice of Calvary, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of His Son, made really present.  We can partake in our Bread of the Presence because as Christians we have been built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood (1Pt 2:5.) 

The question began, Why would we have less? But we end with: How beautiful is it that we have so much more?

Our High Priest and the new Bread of His True Presence!