In an interview for a teaching position at a Catholic high school, the principal wanted to gauge where I stood theologically. To find out, the principal asked, “You’re not one of those conservative Catholics, are you?”
Knowing full well that this principal was getting at, I carefully crafted my response. “I’m not exactly sure what you mean by ‘conservative Catholic.’ If you’re asking if I will be faithful to Church Teaching as a Catholic teacher, then my answer is absolutely.”
Just last week, an acquaintance asked me how I would respond to accusations that Fr. Barron’s Catholicism Series was “too conservative.” A few years wiser than I was in my conversation with the high school principal, I responded more resolutely. Being a Catholic Answers podcast junkie, I borrowed a response a routinely hear from host Patrick Coffin. I said, “I’m allergic to labels like that when we’re talking about Catholicism. It’s not necessary. Either something is faithful to Church Teaching or it isn’t. Fr. Barron’s Catholicism Series is faithful. Period. My hunch is if the series makes a Catholic uncomfortable, that Catholic is questioning something the series asserts that’s against their individual, unfaithful theology.”
The media likes to pit the “liberal Catholics” against the “conservative Catholics.” We saw these labels bandied about after the death of Blessed Pope John Paul II. The “expert” religion reporters offered that the college of cardinals might favor a “less conservative” pope after JPII. To their obvious dismay, “God’s rottweiler” aka Pope Benedict XVI, an “ultra conservative,” succeeded him. “So much for the Church coming out of the Dark Ages!” we heard.
Now, we hear how the “liberal Catholics” hope that the “conservative Catholics” will “get with the times” as the Supreme Court deliberates over Obamacare and the HHS Mandate.
Inserting the label “liberal” or “conservative” before “Catholic” seems to confuse people into believing that the same labels used in the political arena have any business in a theological discussion. The Church isn’t a democracy, and I say thank goodness it isn’t!
We Catholics take for granted the immense pressure on non-Catholic Christian leaders that our parish pastors never need to struggle with. Pastor Bob at 9th Street Open Arms Church has to be his own pope, so to speak. He decides the direction of the church’s theology and finds himself in a big pickle if he changes his mind down the road.
Imagine the agony for a pastor and his congregation when he makes the swim across the Tiber and converts to Catholicism. He has to humbly admit to his congregation that he, as the leader of their church, is walking toward what they see as the enemy. Pentecostal minister Alex Jones had such an experience when he and much of his congregation decided to join the Catholic Church.
“To them, I have apostasized into error. And that’s painful for me because we all want to be looked at as being right and correct, but now you have the stigma of being mentally unbalanced, changeable, being looked at as though you’ve just walked away from God.”
Jones said when his group was considering converting, prayer groups were formed to stop them. “People fasted and prayed that God would stop us from making this terrible mistake. When we did it, it was as though we had died.”
If Alex Jones had been a Catholic priest, he wouldn’t have had that pressure. Here’s the beauty of Catholicism: The Church doesn’t have the power to change Truth or Tradition. She simply cannot. Period. The Church might be full of unworthy humans with all kinds of embarrassing blunders throughout Her history. Nonetheless, Christ blessed His Church with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise that the “gates of hell shall not prevail” against Her. 2000 years later, we can still find the Catholic Church alive and well in the world today, and we can trace Her roots throughout history via Apostolic Succession. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, how do you explain the tremendous vitality, success, and history of a human institution?
Unlike Pastor Bob back at 9th Street Open Arms Church who decides the theology of his congregation, no matter what my parish priest says from the pulpit, he can’t change the Church’s stance on abortion, contraceptives, marriage, or any other hot button issue. Even if a Catholic priest is living in a state of mortal sin, it has no effect on his ability to administer the sacraments. So, no matter which Catholic Church I go to on this planet, if there’s a priest there who gives a proper Mass, I get to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
This conversation about “liberal Catholic” vs. “conservative Catholic” makes me think about a sign my fifth grade teacher had on her classroom bulletin board. It said, “What’s right is not always popular. What’s popular is not always right.” This simple, almost cliché saying, needs repeating. We’re bombarded with the statistics and accusations that 98% of Catholic women use contraceptives, so what’s the big deal anyway?! If it’s popular, it must be true, it must be good, and the rest of you crazy, conservative Catholics ought to get with the program.
Well, that’s the problem. We seem to think majority rules every area of our lives. Here’s the thing: Even if only 1 woman on this planet wasn’t using contraceptives, it wouldn’t change the Church’s stance on the issue. There’s no safety in numbers when it comes to morality. There’s no changing Truth. So, there’s no need to call me or anyone else a “conservative Catholic.” Likewise, there’s no need to call someone a “liberal Catholic” or the perhaps even more irritating label of “p
rogressive Catholic.” We’re either faithful or unfaithful to Mother Church.
Let’s get one thing clear, though: I’m a sinner, and I do more than my fair share of screwing up–just ask my friends and family. Regardless of my own personal failings, it doesn’t change my ability to see the Church as teaching Truth. If we only look to one another to be our moral compasses, we’re literally in for a world of hurt. We’re going to fall short of the good that we’re made for from time to time. It creates great scandal to those who watch us fall. Yet, why in the world would we choose to abandon Christ and His Church because of the actions of another human? Would we leave Christ because of Judas? We’re earthen vessels, and hopefully we’re all doing the best we can to lead a life worthy of Christ’s sacrifice, but the choices we make cannot negate Truth. We choose Truth when we embrace and follow Mother Church. That doesn’t make us liberal or conservative; that makes us faithful disciples.
Today is the Presentation of our Lord, aka Candlemas (formerly the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin). Candlemas is celebrated every year on February 2. February 2 is 40 days after Christmas. (Again, that number 40! Dr. Taylor Marshall gives a great bullet point summary of the number 40 and its appearances in the Bible in this blog post.)
Back to today’s feast day: The Gospel of Luke recounts the presentation of Jesus in the Great Temple of Jerusalem. To fulfill mosaic law, Mary and Joseph bring the male baby Jesus to be presented at the temple and to offer a sacrifice 40 days after His birth. They encounter Simeon, an elderly man.
“…it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Holy Spirit he came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:26-32).
The prophetess Anna also meets the Holy Family, gives thanks to God, and tells everyone she meets about Him, the “redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
In celebration of Jesus, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles,” (Luke 2:32) Catholics bless and light candles on this day. All of the candles that a Catholic church will use in the upcoming year are blessed on February 2. Here is the prayer to be said by priests to bless the candles at Candlemas:
God our Father, Source of all light, today you revealed to Simeon Your light of revelation to the nations. Bless + these candles and make them holy. May we who carry them to praise your glory walk in the path of goodness and come to the light that shines forever Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil are great and all, but I never knew it was a rip-off of an older tradition.
Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:
If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come winter, have another flight; If Candlemas bring clouds and rain, Go winter, and come not again.
Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind “Groundhog’s Day,” which falls on Candlemas Day.
If candles aren’t your thing, adopt the European tradition of eating crepes or pancakes on Candlemas Day. Because they are yellow and round in shape like the sun, they are supposed to make us think of Christ, the “Light of Light.” That’s definitely a tradition I can get behind–especially if my grandma’s buttermilk pancake recipe is involved. I’d take a stack of pancakes any day over a stinky groundhog!
So, happy Candlemas Day to you! Get some candles blessed, light them, thank Jesus for being our “Light of Light,” and eat a stack of pancakes!
No matter our age, our vocation, our sex, we are all called to sainthood.
“We are at Jesus’ disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that’s all right, everything is all right. We must say, ‘I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.’ And this is our strength. This is the joy of the Lord.” – Blessed Mother Teresa
When we respond to our station in life joyfully, especially in difficult times, it gives glory to God. Imagine the great joy Mother Teresa gave God by embracing her vocation to the religious life, serving the poor and rejected, and treating all those that she met as though they were Christ in a “distressing disguise.”
I don’t know about you, but I, uh, well, struggle a bit with that most days.
When the babies wake up at 5:30, they don’t take a nap, refuse to eat, have 8 timeouts in the pasta aisle at Walmart, Monty (our dog) has his fifth accident of the day by the door, someone hits the mailbox, a speeding driver nearly hits us and flips us off, or Philip has to work all weekend, I don’t always feel like offering it up.
Instead, I am really good at throwing myself a grand ol’ pity party. Population: 1 scary mama! Look out, world! I’m having a pity party, and you’re only invited if you tell me, “Wow! That does suck!”
Once I realize for the millionth time that doing that only makes me (and the people around me) feel worse, I end up turning skyward. When I pray for it, I’m able to will myself to stop the pity party and “offer it up.”
As a stay-at-home mom, it’s so easy and tempting to listen to the devil on the bad days. He usually tells me something along the lines of, “What you do doesn’t matter. You’re wasting your life here. All you accomplished today was changing some diapers, some cooking, and changing a few loads of laundry. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-day! You didn’t even shower before 5! What kind of a life is that?!”
On the days when I haven’t spent time in prayer, I’m more likely to listen to that voice. What’s worse is that sometimes I even start to believe that voice. Sooner or later, I inevitably end up brought to my knees in frustration. I’m convinced it’s God’s way of saying, “Remember Me? You need Me. I’m always here, just waiting for you. Stop trying to shoulder it all on your own. Come to Me. I’ll give you rest.”
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30
So, here’s the good news: it turns out holier and wiser people than me (understatement of the century!) are human and experience their share of those days. Fortunately for me, some of them have written about their struggles, and their words are so encouraging.
I came across a beautiful prayer written by Mother Angelica called “A Prayer at Day’s End.” I think about this prayer on those days.
A Prayer at Day’s End by Mother Angelica
Good night, Lord. Thank You for Your Grace and Strength today. I didn’t do all the things I wanted to. I wasn’t like Jesus all the times I could have been and I didn’t think of You as much as my soul needed to. All in all, it wasn’t the day I planned when I saw the light this morning. I have acquired more self-knowledge and I do realize I need to put forth more effort. I am the recipient of Your Merciful Love for once again You put up with my many frailties. It seems the only thing I have left tonight is my desire to know You better and love You more. I end the day a little more humbled by the realization of my weakness but exulting in Your Holiness and Goodness. I shall find my joy in You and not in myself. If I have grown in seeking You alone then it has been a good day indeed. Good night, dear Lord; let Your Angels protect me and intercede for me while I sleep. Let Your Son’s Mother make ready many graces for tomorrow, that I may love You more and be more like Jesus. Amen.
Image from divinewordradio.com
If a woman as holy as Mother Angelica has those days, I’m surely guaranteed them.
Now, I’m not saying the bad things go away when my prayer life is strong. Sometimes the opposite is true. I’m saying a strong prayer life makes it easier to “offer it up” and roll with the punches when the bad things come. When my prayer life is strong, the bad things become opportunities to unite my sufferings to Christ on the cross–even the little inconveniences. When my prayer life isn’t happening, the prayers turn into, “Lord, WHY ME?!” When my prayer life is strong, I’m able to will myself to say quick prayers like, “Lord, I offer up Jane’s temper tantrum in the grocery store to You. Thank You for this very public exercise in humility.” Yup, I’ve learned to pray even when I’m making this face–especially when I’m making this face!
Jane likes to run over and hug my leg throughout the day. Just like Jane needs those little moments to know that she’s loved, I need to have the same little “check-ins” with God. My
prayers, especially the little ones throughout the day, may not be as beautiful or eloquent as Mother Angelica’s, but I think God loves them just the same. I’m just His little girl, checking in to make sure that I’m still loved and that I’m not as wretched as the devil tries to tell me I am.
After my little check-in with God, He gives me a grace-filled pat on the head, and sends me along to “be a good girl” – to try my darnedest to become a saint.
I am so excited to share information about some solid, Catholic programs for youth!
Let’s quickly get the bad news out of the way. Not all after-school programs are created equal. I would take that a step further and say that not all after-school programs have business taking place in our Catholic schools and parishes.
Unfortunately, after reading about the Girl Scouts of America and their connection with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), I’d put the Girl Scouts in the category of not belonging in the Catholic school setting. To find out why, read about the organization’s ties to Planned Parenthood and WAGGGS here, here, here, and here. Be sure to read the “Happy, Healthy, Hot” sexual education flier distributed by WAGGGS.
Instead of dwelling on all of that, let’s talk about two great programs geared for Catholic youth!
I hope you will prayerfully consider bringing these two programs to your parish:
Here’s a little history on the publishing company that started the Little Flowers Girls’ Club and the Blue Knights Club for Boys:
In home-schooling, mom – Joan Stromberg – found an abundance of Christian material to integrate into unit studies, yet a notable lack of Catholic material. Using her degree in journalism and history, she decided to bring Mother Cabrini to life in a way that would appeal to children ages 7-12 while teaching them solid American History at the same time. The Glory of America series was then born, through which the values, traditions, and heritage of our Catholic American past can be passed on to our children.
Since then the company continued to grow in its service of the Faith by publishing the club guides and material for the Little Flowers Girls’ Club and the Blue Knights Club for Boys, developed repsectively by Rachel Watkins and Major Dan McGuire. These two product lines are amazing tools for training our children in wholesome Catholic human formation and cultivating in them a life of virtues and authentic Catholic morals.
AWESOME! An authentically Catholic after-school program that any parish could adopt and be proud of!
I’m obviously ecstatic about both the boys’ and girls’ clubs, but I’m especially encouraged to see a girls’ club that celebrates femininity in a fun, age-appropriate after-school program.
Here’s a little on the Little Flowers Girls’ Club:
Little Flowers Girls’ Club® is a Catholic program for girls ages 5 and up based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of eleven, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance’s Catholic Girls’ Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women.
Each club is run at the local level…there is no national organization, registration or database of groups. If you are looking for a group in your area, please contact your local Catholic parish or Catholic homeschooling support group. If you don’t find one in your area, why not start one? It is easy and you can cater the program to fit your needs.
Nine virtues are included in each of three different wreaths or years of study. A fourth year, studying the gifts of the Spirit is also available. The format of the Clubs is flexible, with groups meeting monthly, bi-monthly or weekly. Badges for the virtues are earned by studying the saint associated with the virtue, memorizing relevant scripture verses and studying the Catechism. The program is flexible enough to use with a variety of age groups. Little Flowers Girls’ Club® has also been successfully implemented in the family. Sashes, aprons, bandanas, t-shirts and other items are extras that add to the experience, but are not necessary to running a successful Club.
The Leader’s Guide for each wreath offers suggestions for running meetings, planning crafts and activities, talks on virtues and other relevant information. The Member’s Guide includes the activities, saints’ biographies, pictures of the saints, and prayers for each girl. Each of the girls in the Club should purchase their own Member’s Guide.
If that’s not exciting enough for you, know that the program has the stamp of approval in Baltimore. “The first two Wreaths of the Little Flowers Girls’ Club program have already received the Imprimatur from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The rest of the programs and years are now under review from that same archdiocese. The authors, all Catholic moms and dads, bow to the authority of the Magisterium in teaching faith and morals and try to live their lives accordingly.”
How adorable are the sash and flower virtue badges for t
he girls?!
Photo from the Little Flowers Girls’ Club site
Virtue patches
Check out the Blue Knights gear. I don’t know a little boy who wouldn’t want to wear this sweet cape and armor!
Pictures from the Blue Knights Club for Boys site
Year 1 Patch set
Are you interested in bringing these programs to your parish? The websites offer you all of the information you need to get a troop started.
I’m learning all that I can so that I can be a troop leader for a Little Flowers Girls Club troop when Janie turns 5! In the meantime, the website offers information for parents of boys and girls to promote “the growth of virtue in the lives of our children through the teaching of the Faith, authentic human formation, and the values of our history and Catholic heritage.” Love it!
I wrote a few weeks ago about our struggles to get through Mass with two children under two. Since then, a friend who is a mother of four shared a story.
An older man came up to her one day after Mass and commended her for bringing her young children. He told her that they belong there. Unless they are truly being disruptive, they belong in there and need to learn that they belong in the church. The noise is always loudest in your pew, and you’re always going to notice it more than everyone else.
Of course I teared up when I heard the story. What’s not to love about an older man telling a young mom that she’s doing a good job and that her children belong in the church during Mass? She said that the experience forever changed her perspective, and it changed mine.
She said if we’re going to say that we’re pro-life, the babies belong with us in church, not relegated to some crying room. She said that unless the child is distracting others, the child stays in the pew. Once they are disruptive, they are promptly removed from the church and have to endure a time-out in the narthex. Once they calm down, they are allowed back in.
We were doing it all wrong. Jane was “playing us.” Nobody wants to admit that their toddler is outsmarting them, but my friend was right. Jane knew that she got to run around in the narthex if she got squirmy in our arms and whined in church. I think I knew this on some level, and I told my friend that. I was just falling into the easy trap of getting lazy with discipline when it involves my own embarrassment. So, if Jane was going to embarrass me with a temper tantrum in church, it was much easier to end it by letting her run around the narthex. I sure as heck didn’t want to endure the screaming, snotty scene during consecration under the scrutiny of everyone in the congregation. Taking the easy way out was teaching Jane that she could manipulate us to get what she wanted, and it only made the problem worse.
Kids are smart. We’re dumb. They think. “OH! So, let me get this straight. I freak out in public. Mom and Dad panic. I get what I want. I gotta keep doing this.” Just look at these toddler girls. They know how to work it, and so did Jane at church.
Well, we’re onto you, Jane! It’s a new regime at Mass for the Boucher family. We’ve been allowing Jane to play with her “Busy Bible” and other religious books and walk between us in the pew. We bring a sippy cup full of water if she needs it, too. Aside from the water, we have a no food rule in church. Philip no longer allows Jane to struggle in his arms without a consequence. When she starts to throw a tantrum, Philip quickly removes her from church and she has a time-out on a rug in the narthex. It’s no longer a fun playing ground. The narthex is the new punishment center.
After two weeks of this, Jane is learning that she gets to see and do more inside of the church. Outside, she has to sit in one spot and have a time-out. Inside, she gets to watch the priest, sing, pray, shake peoples’ hands, move around the pew (sit, stand, kneel), read her Busy Bible, and retrieve Walt’s binkie. Inside of church is way more fun than the narthex now!
We continue to sit in the front pew whenever possible, so the less than perfect moments are still very humbling. Jane is making great strides, and we just might be able to get through an entire Mass without one of us leaving with her once.
Lesson learned: Listen to good advice from friends, especially when it’s the tough love variety. The hard advice is hard because it means we’re doing something wrong. Who wants to admit that they’re doing something wrong? That’s hard, and it takes practice. That’s what Christian charity’s all about, after all–fraternal correction in a spirit of love. Thank goodness for good friends who tell us when we’re doing it all wrong! The sooner we admit that they’re right, the sooner we can get on with making things better.
The viral video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” has over 15,000,000 hits on YouTube as I’m typing this blog post. Jefferson Bethke, 22, posted this video to YouTube, and a few of his ideas include:
“Jesus came to abolish religion”
“Voting Republican really wasn’t His mission”
Religion “builds huge churches” but “fails to feed to the poor”
It’s not a place of love or acceptance for single mothers that have divorced
“Jesus hated religion”
Jesus “was called a glutton, and a drunkard” so most churches won’t let him in
“Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrum”
Religion is a “man made invention”
“one is the cure (Jesus), but the other’s the infection (religion)”
“Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free”
So many things to respond to here! Hopefully seeing the words written out instead of in rapped version make Bethke’s message clear: Jesus hates religion. Here’s the video if you want to see it for yourself.
Fortunately, a lot of people, people who are much smarter and more eloquent than me, have come up with some fabulous responses to this video. I’d like to share two of my favorites.
The first is a video response from phatmass.com. Fr. Claude (Dusty) Burns aka “Pontifex” says that “the purpose of the video is to do a response from a Catholic perspective, in a spirit of love, but also with a spirit of passion to defend our Mother the Church. The things that are said are not meant to offend, but we do have to be direct about what we believe and what we stand for.”
Go directly to the video and scroll down to read the words to the lyrics.
My other favorite video response is by Fr. Robert Barron, creator of the Catholicism series.
As usual, Fr. Barron’s message is very rich in content. Do yourself a favor and watch the last two minutes of Fr. Barron’s response for a solid Catholic response to “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.”
Next time “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” pops up in your Facebook newsfeed, I hope you’ll consider posting one of these videos in response.
