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.
I spent the afternoon talking with high school students about chastity. I told them about my experiences with dating, wedding preparation, and married life. After my relationship history, I gave reasons for why I recommend a commitment to chastity and gave them practical tips on how to put chastity into action. Afterward, I left time for questions. It took them a while to warm up, but the questions showed me their serious thought on the topic as well as their misunderstandings on a few things.
“If we’re in love, is it wrong for us to have sex?”
“Do you think it would have mattered if you had had sex with your husband before you got married? You ended up together anyway.”
“How did you remain committed to chastity when it was tough?”
“What’s the big deal if you and your boyfriend sleep next to each other? Who cares what anybody else thinks if you know you’re not having sex?”
“What if I already lost my virginity? What do I do now?”
“Why do we have to live chastity in marriage as Catholics? Why can’t we just have sex whenever we want and use condoms?”
“If someone was married, gets divorced and remarries, what’s wrong with them having sex with their second spouse?”
I was prepared to hear anything, so I fielded the questions without batting an eye. (Chastity.com was a tremendous resource. Thank you, Jason Evert!) I think my answers were helpful, several students personally thanked me for coming, and I left feeling like I might have impacted some of them to consider adopting chastity. Thank You, Holy Spirit!
Janie and Walt had come along with me, and they played with study hall students in the Campus Ministry room while I gave my presentation to three different classes. As I packed them up and buckled them into their carseats, something struck me: my babies aren’t always going to be babies, and they are going to have these same questions.
I already knew that, and Philip and I have talked several times about how we want to teach our children about their sexuality. Somehow, though, hearing the high school students’ questions, seeing the hurt of those who had lost their virginity, and hearing the misconceptions of the Church’s teaching on sexuality made the reality of my role as a parent educator more imminent.
Philip and I agree that it is our joint responsibility as parents to give our children a life-long sex education. We won’t just have “the talk.” We will have continuous, age-appropriate conversations about the gift of sexuality, what it is, and how we celebrate it. We want our children to learn that sex is a wonderful, beautiful thing, and that it is something they should anticipate with great joy if they are called to the vocation of marriage. I’m not so naive as to think that our kids will come to us every time they have a sex-related question or that they aren’t seeking out answers elsewhere. I do hope, though, that they will look to us as a loving, credible, and supportive source of information.
A student today asked, “What are you going to do if you find out that one of your kids loses their virginity before marriage?”
Apparently I didn’t have to think about it because I heard myself say, “Well, I think my husband and I would be disappointed. I think we would tell them that. But we’d quickly follow that up by saying that we love them, that we’re glad they’re still comfortable confiding in us, and that we want them to know that making a mistake doesn’t make them a bad person or a failure. God doesn’t hold grudges like we do. Fortunately, we have the gift of confession where we receive His forgiveness, and as an added bonus, we receive the graces to be built up with holy armor against whatever sins we’re struggling with. Although they can’t get their virginity back, it’s never too late to reclaim a lifestyle of chastity and save sex for marriage.”
Aside from the reminder that my role as parent sex educator is here, I realized that (1) we don’t know what’s in store for our children, and (2) that a lot of it is out of our hands. All we can do as parents is give them the information, pray that they will make the right choices, and love them through the consequences of those choices, both positive and negative.
When push comes to shove, if my kids make a mistake, I hope I’ll love like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son asked for his inheritance before his father was even dead and then “squandered his property in loose living.” We all know what that means!
I think I tear up every time I read the story and the son figures out what he did wrong and returns to his father.
Rembrandt’s “The Prodigal Son”
Luke 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
So, if my babies make a mistake, even a really big one like asking us for their inheritance before we’re dead and squandering it on loose living, I hope they’ll know that we’ll still run to them, hug them, and kiss them. They’ll always be our babies, after all.
(Note: Readers, when push inevitably comes to shove, I’m counting on you to tell me to eat my words.)
I spent the afternoon talking with high school students about chastity. I told them about my experiences with dating, wedding preparation, and married life. After my relationship history, I gave reasons for why I recommend a commitment to chastity and gave them practical tips on how to put chastity into action. Afterward, I left time for questions. It took them a while to warm up, but the questions showed me their serious thought on the topic as well as their misunderstandings on a few things.
“If we’re in love, is it wrong for us to have sex?”
“Do you think it would have mattered if you had had sex with your husband before you got married? You ended up together anyway.”
“How did you remain committed to chastity when it was tough?”
“What’s the big deal if you and your boyfriend sleep next to each other? Who cares what anybody else thinks if you know you’re not having sex?”
“What if I already lost my virginity? What do I do now?”
“Why do we have to live chastity in marriage as Catholics? Why can’t we just have sex whenever we want and use condoms?”
“If someone was married, gets divorced and remarries, what’s wrong with them having sex with their second spouse?”
I was prepared to hear anything, so I fielded the questions without batting an eye. (Chastity.com was a tremendous resource. Thank you, Jason Evert!) I think my answers were helpful, several students personally thanked me for coming, and I left feeling like I might have impacted some of them to consider adopting chastity. Thank You, Holy Spirit!
Janie and Walt had come along with me, and they played with study hall students in the Campus Ministry room while I gave my presentation to three different classes. As I packed them up and buckled them into their carseats, something struck me: my babies aren’t always going to be babies, and they are going to have these same questions.
I already knew that, and Philip and I have talked several times about how we want to teach our children about their sexuality. Somehow, though, hearing the high school students’ questions, seeing the hurt of those who had lost their virginity, and hearing the misconceptions of the Church’s teaching on sexuality made the reality of my role as a parent educator more imminent.
Philip and I agree that it is our joint responsibility as parents to give our children a life-long sex education. We won’t just have “the talk.” We will have continuous, age-appropriate conversations about the gift of sexuality, what it is, and how we celebrate it. We want our children to learn that sex is a wonderful, beautiful thing, and that it is something they should anticipate with great joy if they are called to the vocation of marriage. I’m not so naive as to think that our kids will come to us every time they have a sex-related question or that they aren’t seeking out answers elsewhere. I do hope, though, that they will look to us as a loving, credible, and supportive source of information.
A student today asked, “What are you going to do if you find out that one of your kids loses their virginity before marriage?”
Apparently I didn’t have to think about it because I heard myself say, “Well, I think my husband and I would be disappointed. I think we would tell them that. But we’d quickly follow that up by saying that we love them, that we’re glad they’re still comfortable confiding in us, and that we want them to know that making a mistake doesn’t make them a bad person or a failure. God doesn’t hold grudges like we do. Fortunately, we have the gift of confession where we receive His forgiveness, and as an added bonus, we receive the graces to be built up with holy armor against whatever sins we’re struggling with. Although they can’t get their virginity back, it’s never too late to reclaim a lifestyle of chastity and save sex for marriage.”
Aside from the reminder that my role as parent sex educator is here, I realized that (1) we don’t know what’s in store for our children, and (2) that a lot of it is out of our hands. All we can do as parents is give them the information, pray that they will make the right choices, and love them through the consequences of those choices, both positive and negative.
When push comes to shove, if my kids make a mistake, I hope I’ll love like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son asked for his inheritance before his father was even dead and then “squandered his property in loose living.” We all know what that means!
I think I tear up every time I read the story and the son figures out what he did wrong and returns to his father.
Rembrandt’s “The Prodigal Son”
Luke 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
So, if my babies make a mistake, even a really big one like asking us for their inheritance before we’re dead and squandering it on loose living, I hope they’ll know that we’ll still run to them, hug them, and kiss them. They’ll always be our babies, after all.
(Note: Readers, when push inevitably comes to shove, I’m counting on you to tell me to eat my words.)
Going to Mass with 2 under 2 has been a challenge. Before we had Walt, we used to take turns taking Janie out of the church and into the narthex if she got ants in her pants. When we had Walt, we had to move to a man-to-man defense. I usually take care of Walt, and Philip usually takes care of Janie. Whenever the day comes that we are ready for Baby #3, we’ll have to move on to a zone defense. We really need to work on our defense strategy before then.
We struggle to keep Janie quiet and still for any extended period of time. Fortunately, Jane received a wonderful present from Philip’s parents for Christmas! (Thank you, Mimi and Papa!) This present has greatly improved our Mass-going experience. This awesome present is a Busy Bible.
According to the company website,
The basic idea of a Busy Bible is to provide a book of cloth pages, incorporating simple and quiet activities – things to touch, discover, pull, open, turn, arrange and fashion. While the child is playing with the book, he is also learning Biblical stories and principles.
The Busy Bible contains 12 pages of Bible stories beginning at creation and following through the Old and New Testaments, giving children a sense of wonder and discovery as they learn about great heroes of the Bible.
We keep our Busy Bible stored away during the week and only bring it out as a special treat when we’re going to Mass. Jane has several other faith-related kids’ books such as a Children’s Bible, a book of saints, prayers, etc. that we read during the week, but the Busy Bible only makes an appearance at Mass. The flaps, snaps, Velco, buttons, zippers, and felt figured keep Jane very busy and engaged.
Unfortunately, Jane still gets ants in her pants around the homily each week, and she refuses to sit still. She arches her back and insists on being let down. Philip usually has to leave with her at some point during the homily and return during the general intercessions.
Sitting in the front pew seems counter-intuitive and scary, but it helps. Jane is much more interested in what’s going on when she can see the priest, lectors, servers, etc. and she isn’t distracted by people in front of her. Her focus doesn’t last, though. Can I tell you how humbling it is to sit in the front pew, especially when your church pews are configured like a horseshoe and your child’s temper tantrum is on display for the entire congregation?
Each week, Jane seems more and more interested in participating in the Mass. Imitating us and everything she sees is her new favorite pastime. She’s starting to fold her hands, join in the responses, imitate the choir director, and loudly repeat what the priest says. We’re still working on our whispering skills and not talking in church. She loves being able to use her senses–seeing the action on the altar and around her, hearing the music and melody of the prayers and bells, reaching out to shake everyone’s hands during the Sign of Peace, smelling the incense. The “smells and bells” are supposed to draw us in, and it’s definitely working for one toddler I know!
What do all of you with young children do to encourage them to be relatively still and quiet during Mass?
Perhaps I should find a weekday Mass at a church with a crying room where we can practice sitting still without disturbing others…
This year, we started after-dinner singing in front of the Advent wreath and Nativity scene. I’ve found Jane going over to the buffet table where they’re resting to look at them throughout the day.
Here she is, looking at the Advent wreath and Nativity scene during one of our singing sessions.
She loves pointing out the different figures in the Nativity scene, blowing out the Advent wreath candles from afar–even when they’re not lit, and singing her own rendition of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It sounds a lot like “O Come, O Come, O coooooooooooooooooooome.”
Yesterday, I was folding laundry in the living room. Jane ran off with the laundry basket, and I heard her banging it in front of the buffet table. This could only mean one thing. She was on a mission to see Baby Jesus. I grabbed the camera to catch this:
Sure enough, I found her, standing on top of the overturned laundry basket, peering into the stable. Before she saw me, I watched her wave into the stable and say, “Hi, Jesus!” She picked up the Baby Jesus out of the manger, brought him to her chest in a hug, said, “Awwwwwwww, I love you, Jesus” and then gave him a big kiss with a “Muwah!”
Oh, man. Talk about an “I could just eat you up” moment! I couldn’t help but let out a “Awwwww” of my own.
When Janie realized she’d been spotted, she said, “Mama! Look! Jesus! Mawwy! Jo-sip! Cow! Flying!” She had to show me all of the players in the Nativity scene.
To convince her to leave the Nativity scene in peace (and not in pieces!), I told her that Jesus was tired and that he needed to go night-night. She stuck him back in the manger. “Night-night, Jesus! Shhhhh, Mama! Jesus sleeping!”
Finding out about the Catholic Faith has never been made easier or more fun thanks to the Catholicism Series by Fr. Robert Barron!
Fr. Robert Barron created a groundbreaking program for adults to explore what Catholics believe and why. The program “uses the art, architecture, literature, music and all the treasures of the Catholic tradition to illuminate the timeless teachings of the Church.”
Ten compelling episodes from the series on DVD. Filmed in 50 locations throughout 15 countries, the CATHOLICISM DVDs reveal these truths in a visually-breath taking and compelling way, with original, high-definition cinematography.
A companion study lesson written by Carl Olson for each DVD, complete with extensive commentary, questions for understanding and also questions for application to each participant’s own life.
CATHOLICISM: Journey to the Heart of the Faith, a companion book based on a more detailed rendering of the scripts from the DVD series
Leader’s Program Kit, including facilitator’s guide and study guide answer key
Promotional materials to announce the upcoming program in your location
Spanish and English subtitles included in each DVD set
Can be experienced in 12 or 22 sessions
Fortunately, several parishes are offering the series for their parishoners so that they need only pay for the study materials. My parish, for example, is offering the 12-week series for parishoners, and they’re providing childcare. Philip and I are looking forward to having a weekly date night where we can find out more about our faith at the same time!
If your parish isn’t offering the Catholicism series, maybe another parish will. Call your archdiocesan office, check their website, ask at your local Catholic bookstore. There are so many phenomenal formation opportunities–we need only seek them out.
If the series isn’t available near you, try checking the PBS and EWTN programming schedule. Both stations are airing portions of the program. You can also purchase the book or other material a la cart.
Don’t just take my word for it. Watch and read the endorsements of the program by other prominent Catholics such as Archbishop Timothy Dolan (Archbishop of New York City), George Weigel (Biographer of Blessed John Paul II), Tom Peterson (Founder and Creator of the Catholics Come Home®), and many more.
