Take Five, Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI – A Book Review

WOW!! This book made me really look into my faith basis and re-align my thoughts and actions!! Reading some of the words of the current Pope and Scripture that backs his words was very enlightening.

This book is well written, by Mike Aquilina and Father Kris D. Stubna, has a very strong message, and “supporting documentation” for that message. It is a very easy read, fits in your pocket so you can keep it with you to ponder upon through your daily activities, and it translates the Pope’s writings an speeches into English in a readable manner. This books is written “for the Catholics”, but I am confident that any Christian would gain from it as well.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Take Five – Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI.

Sharing Christ’s Priesthood – A book review

The first book I received from “The Catholic Company” was “Sharing Christ’s Priesthood – A Bible Study for Catholics”.

This book was well written, after a slow start in the first couple of pages, and is a book that I would recommend to all Christians, not just Catholics. Mr. Aquilina walks you through the Bible, showing the history of God’s priest from Adam to now. It explains, in some detail, about the history of priesthood, and then talks about the Catholic priest system.

It goes into great detail in reminding us that ALL Christians are Priest of Christ! Something we should all remember daily!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Sharing Christ’s Priesthood – A Bible Study for Catholics.

Catching up with myself…

A very good friend of mine in California complained that all I write about now is related to religion… This post will have some of that too, but basically I will honor her request and update what has been going on this past 12 months or so…

Last year I was accepted into the Brothers and Sisters of Reconciliation as a Friar. I would have started my Seminary studies this past August (2009). Roughly in October of last year the Archbishop of Miami decided that the Order had not been set up properly or supervised by a (Arch)Bishop correctly and that the Order was to be closed effective immediately and that any and all vows given were to be released effectively immediately. I applied to two Franciscan Orders, both of which decided that I was too old. (Most Religious Orders stop accepting a person after they turn from 25 to 35, depending on the Order.)

During this time of discernment with the Orders, a VERY good lady friend (at the time), Debbie and I continued to talk about the possibility of getting together. About the time the Orders were starting to get back to me, Debbie and I decided to get married. The great day of our Marriage was March 4th, while I was visiting from Florida. I returned to Ashland in April, and we got married in her Church on May 15th. I now live with her in Ashland, KY.

(Very pretty up here, pretty much year around so far! People are friendly, and all speak English!)

At the end of April or beginning of May (can’t remember!!??) I began working at Crisp Dairy Treat so that I could continue to pay Child Support and other bills. I work as a short order cook, ice cream maker, and food issuer. (Hand food to the customers, and take their money. )

I have re-opened my martial arts school, Circular Wind Ryu, Inc. here in Kentucky and am open for business. I have also gotten more active, yet again, with Watkins and am selling those GREAT products! (Check out the products at http://www.watkinsonline.com and when you “sign up” use my Associate ID of 335373!!) I am also available to fix computers, install software and train people on how to use their computers and software. TDBell Enterprises, Inc., now a sub-unit of Circular Wind Ryu, Inc. is open for business in IT Operations, Business Operations and Business Plan Development consulting on an hourly basis. (http://www.tdbellenterprises.com)

I am aggressively looking for a job with at least a bit better pay, and mainly for one that has medical benefits. (I know, deep request in today’s world…) I am looking for a job in IT Management, Business Management, or IT technical areas. If you know of any such openings in the Ashland, KY/Huntington, WV area, let me know!

I am still very involved in a Secular yet Religious life, and very much still in love with the Church (Roman Catholic, but Christian faith in general), and still active in the Church. (As if you couldn’t gather from my post here…)

In Christ!

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

The Bible that is used by Christians tells us that Jesus was born of Mary. I do not think anyone in the Christian faiths disagrees with this.

All of the main line Christian faiths appear to state that the Trinity, God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, are one.

The Catholic Church, based on Mary being the Mother of Jesus, and God/Jesus/Holy Spirit being one entity, calls Mother Mary, the Mother of God. (Mainly in the Hail Mary/Rosary.) Is that a far stretch? I hear many Protestants complain that Mary is NOT the Mother of God. Do they believe that the Trinity of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is one entity as their faith professes (in most cases)? If so, how far of a stretch is it to say that Mary is the Mother of God? At least in His human form?

Mary, in an effort to bring the people of God BACK to God, has been reported to appear before many people over the years. In each of these apparitions, she has requested that people come back to the beliefs of the Church created by her Son, Jesus Christ. In each case her message was about Jesus and coming back to him. She would often have the person(s) she was talking to do something to help improve and grow the Church in the name of her Son. (At least those apparitions that have been approved by the Catholic Church.) Many of these apparitions and the messages associated with them brought healing to the recipients.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was of Immaculate Conception, meaning that she was born without sin, and that she lived a life without sin. This declaration was proclaimed in 1854, and in 1858, St. Bernadette, an uneducated little girl at the time, who had not heard those words before, received the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception” from an apparition of Mary who gave her various instructions to follow. These instructions again tried to point people to the Church and to help grow the Church.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was ever Virgin. That she had no children after Jesus. Records, such as Protoevangelium of James, that were created in early times (in the case of Protoevangelium of James, it is estimated to have been completed within 60 years of the death of Mary), indicate that Mary was dedicated by her Mother Anna to the Church of God, and that she lived and worked in the Church as a virgin until she was of age and then was to be married to Joseph as her protector, who was an older male with offspring of his own already (wife was deceased). The original Greek word of “Brethren” used in the Bible transcripts meant includes half brothers/sisters, cousins and other close relatives, as was the custom in that time. While the Bible states that Jesus’ brethren were out side, it could well include His half brothers/sisters through Joseph, His cousins, etc. It is curious to me that there is never, in any of the transcripts from that time, that I have read or heard of, telling of Mary ever being pregnant again, and of her having any other child. The early Protestant Reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, all believed in the Ever Virgin status of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It was their followers that sought to distance themselves even further from their Parent Church for various reasons that removed that doctrine from their faith.

In conclusion, many people of the Catholic faith, put a lot of faith and trust in Mother Mary, talk to her (pray) often and ask her for her intercession with Christ for a better life, or help in life. Who better to ask for intercessory pray that the Mother of Jesus?

Intercessory Prayer

For the past 20ish years, and even more so this past five or so years, I have heard people say that Catholics worship Mother Mary and the other Saints above God. While this may be true for some who claim to be Catholic, those that understand the Catholic faith and live by that faith in fact do not.

Most Christian people, be they Catholic, Methodist, Nazarene, etc., believe in Intercessory Prayer. That is, the process of asking someone else to pray on their behalf, or for something they feel needs prayer. For example, if someone in their family is having health issues, they may ask their Church, friends and family to pray for the improved health of that person. This is very common by most Christians. I have even heard of many Christians talk about “talking to their deceased Mother/Father/Brother/Grandfather/Grandmother” asking them for advice/etc.

Christians, by their faith, and remember, Catholics are the first Christians and are still Christians, believe that when you pass away from this world, their soul is brought up to heaven and they live on forever at the feet of God. Many Christians believe that those that have gone on to Heaven are able to watch us and hear us here on Earth…

Catholics select those Holy people that lived a very Christian life and whom they believe have been Sainted by God as a role model for their own life. In many cases they talk (pray) to that Saint asking for their intercessory prayers to God. (Who better to talk to God on your behalf than someone sitting at His feet?) The same goes to Mary, Jesus’ Mother, and our Mother, as per Jesus Himself. Being a mother, Catholics are pretty sure she has Jesus’ ear. We ask her to intercede on our behalf with her Son and ask her to help guide us towards those things that will make her Son happy with us.

Now, if a Catholic forgets to add to their prayers a prayer directly to God, they are remittances as to their faith and may need to learn more about their faith, but as a group, they are not placing the Saints or Mother Mary above God, just asking their help in communicating with God.

You may see many Catholics wearing a medal of a Saint or of Mother Mary, and in most cases it is because that is who they wish to emulate in their actions in order to get closer to God.

???What to do…???

Well, in my post a couple days ago (here), I posted the 10 Commandments as given to us by God in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:2-17 [show]Exodus 20:2-17 [2]"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [3]"You shall have no other gods before(1) me. [4]"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5]You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, [6]but showing steadfast love to thousands(2) of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7]"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11]For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. [12]"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. [13]"You shall not murder.(3) [14]"You shall not commit adultery. [15]"You shall not steal. [16]"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [17]"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (ESV) Footnotes 1. [20:3] Or 'besides' 2. [20:6] Or 'to the thousandth generation' 3. [20:13] The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
), and made reference under the 3rd Commandment (Exodus 20:8-10 [show]Exodus 20:8-10 [8]"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9]Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10]but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. (ESV)
) about some issues I was having at work.

Today those issues blew up in my face (so to say). Our week at Crisp’s Dairy Treat (where I am cook, Ice Cream Man, Cleaner with the rest of the crew) goes from Thursday through Wednesday, and we get our schedules for the next week late on Wednesday. Today we got our schedule for tomorrow through next Wednesday. Each Monday, before 16:30 hours (4:30PM), we are required to post a note stating what time we need off. We do this weekly for the next weeks schedule.

At my interview, I informed the owners (Crisp be their last name) that I was a very devout Christian and that I tried to live by the Bible and Christian faith, which includes the aforementioned 3rd Commandment (as well as the rest), and that I also went to Church from 9 to 12 each Sunday (first to a Catholic Church, then to my wife’s Nazarene Church), but IF I had to, I could work in the evenings if really needed. Each Monday I turn in a note stating that I am requesting off Sunday for Religious beliefs and Religious reasons. So far, I had gotten them off.

Not this coming week. I work Sunday day… This does not have me happy and is against my belief system. I was told by Mr. Crisp that today’s society doesn’t allow for “not working on Sunday”. My response is, “that’s why there are problems in today’s society”. I was further told that he had wanted Sundays off for years after he converted to Christianity but that his company laughed at him and made him work on Sundays. This is a bad reason to make others work on Sunday if it is against their beliefs. (And what gets me is he is a Nazarene which is a Church that is trying to take their people back to Christ in a very pure way, and their by-laws very clear state, on page 41 of their manual dated 2005-2009, section 27.2.2 “Profaning of the Lord’s Day by participation in unnecessary secular activities, thereby indulging in practices that deny it’s sanctity.”) Mr. Crisp further went on to say that they stayed open because his son, who owns part of the business needed the money to pay off debt and Sunday was a busy day so they were going to stay open for that day.

Now, if I were Jewish or Muslim (and the day was Saturday) and I was told I had to work, there would be recourse. I feel that right now there is no recourse. Why is that?

I REALLY feel that I should not be made to work Sunday days. (Or evenings, but will give him that per our agreement at our initial interview.) I REALLY feel it is God’s wish that we not be working on the Sabbath, and I very much want to follow his ways.

What should I do about this issue? Sigh…

Jesus’ command to be one Church…

One thing I like about the Catholic Church is that you can go to any Church, anywhere in the world on the same day and hear the same readings from the Bible. If you go to Mass every day of the year, you will have been read the Bible pretty much completely through.

One of the things that has been foremost on my mind for about three years, is the number of Christian based religions that all say they are the true Christian Church, yet most of them are less than 500 years old. The oldest Christian Church is the Catholic, or Universal Church. This Church has stated that it wants to bring all the Christian Churches “back home”, yet does many things to stop that from happening, based on comments, actions, and in some cases doctrine. (Priest not being able to marry being one such doctrine that has many outsiders, and some insiders not happy.)

Today’s Gospel reading is John 10:11-18 [show]John 10:11-18 [11]I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12]He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13]He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14]I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15]just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16]And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. [17]For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. [18]No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." (ESV)
, which points even harder to merging the Christian Churches back into one Church, specifically: 16: “…and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Actually many of my readings of late keep pointing to the need for the Christian Churches to merge again and become one in Christ, with one Shepherd.

How do we make that happen?

Say it isn’t so!!?? AGAIN!!

I received an email from the Knights of Columbus Supreme Chapter of which I am a Knight that reads in it’s entirety here, my comments below:

Religious freedom under attack in Connecticut

(March 10, 2009) – A First Amendment storm is brewing in the Constitution State.

Without any consultation with its bishops, a bill under consideration in Connecticut’s Judiciary Committee threatens to forcefully reorganize the Catholic Church, taking authority away from pastors and bishops and placing governing decisions in the hands of boards of directors from which clergy would be excluded.

The Judiciary Committee, co-chaired by State Senator Andrew McDonald and Assemblyman Michael Lawlor, will hear evidence on Raised Bill No. 1098 on Wednesday. The bill would revise current governance provisions applicable to the Catholic Church in Connecticut. If passed, it would strip a bishop of control of his diocese.

“I think that (this bill) would be very problematic under the First Amendment,” Erwin Chemerinsky told Headline Bistro. Chemerinksy is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on First Amendment law and dean of the Law School at University of California Irvine.

Chemerinsky said the law is problematic “partly because it targets one religion and partly because it enmeshes the legislature in the workings of a particular religion.”

Catholic reaction to the bill has been swift as well.

In the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Diocese of Bridgeport, statements were read from every pulpit last Sunday by Archbishop Henry Mansell and Bishop William Lori respectively.

Calling the bill “irrational, unlawful and bigoted” and a blatant violation of the First Amendment, Bishop Lori’s statement hit back hard.

“This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day,” Lori said, pointing out that no other religious organization is targeted by the measure. “The State has no right to interfere in the internal affairs and structure of the Catholic Church.”

Mansell called on each parish in his diocese to send a delegation to the bill’s public hearing in Hartford on Wednesday.

The laity has been equally appalled.

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, founded and headquartered in New Haven, Conn., called the bill a throwback to the extreme anti-Catholicism that pervaded America’s early history.

“Whatever their reasons for introducing this bill, there is no doubt that these Connecticut politicians find themselves not only on the wrong side of the First Amendment, but on the wrong side of history, as well,” Anderson wrote in an op-ed in the Stamford Advocate Tuesday.

Background for the bill

The New Haven Register quoted Assemblyman and Judiciary Committee co-chair Mike Lawlor as saying he was approached by “very devout Catholic” constituents asking for greater transparency in terms of diocesan funds.

Misappropriation of parish funds is rare. But in 2007 a priest from the Diocese of Bridgeport pleaded guilty to defrauding his parish of over $1 million. That same year, a Greenwich priest resigned after an audit found $500,000 in unaccounted for spending.

The diocese responded by implementing safeguards and launching thorough investigations and financial audits.

“The pastors of our diocese are doing an exemplary job of sound stewardship and financial accountability, in full cooperation with their parishioners,” Bridgeport Bishop Lori said in his statement. “For the State Legislature – which has not reversed a $1 billion deficit in this fiscal year – to try to manage the Catholic Church makes no sense.”

Doctrinal differences also seem to have a role in the current controversy as well. Reports from newspapers and blogs link the bill’s origins to a lay group with a history of challenging the Church’s structure.

The New Haven Register credits Connecticut attorney Thomas Gallagher as spearheading the bill, and an article by an officer of the dissident Catholic group Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport stated that Gallagher had been in dialogue with legislators on this issue since 2007.

The article’s author, James O’Callaghan, encouraged the group’s members early on to “lend their support” to this effort of overhauling current regulations on religious corporations.

Among the stated purposes of Voice of the Faithful is to “shape structural change within the Catholic Church.”

In 2002, the same year the group was formed, Bishop Lori banned Voice of the Faithful from meeting on Church property in his diocese. While he has “consistently supported greater involvement of the laity in the activities of the Church,” the bishop said he could not condone a movement that rejected core Catholic teachings on issues such as sexual morality, celibacy “and a view of conscience contrary to the traditions of the Church.”

First Amendment scholars take exception

In addition to Chemerinksy, many other Constitutional law experts have expressed shock at the proposed law.

In a letter to Connecticut’s Judiciary Committee, Philip Lacovara, who has taught law at Columbia and Georgetown and is now senior counsel at the law firm of Mayer Brown, wrote that even his first year law students would have “little difficulty seeing why the bill goes well beyond the powers that the Constitution allows the States to exercise in dealing with organized churches.”

Kevin Hasson, president of the interfaith Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, likewise issued a stinging statement against the bill, which he called “truly a monstrosity.”

“It would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment even if it applied to all churches,” he said. “But the fact that it applies to only one church – the Catholic Church – makes it unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment besides.”

Legislators have also expressed shock at the bill.

Republican State Senator Michael McLachlan was outspoken in his blog.

“I pray fervently that we can dispense with this brutal attack on the Roman Catholic Church very quickly,” he wrote. “Catholics don’t deserve this attack and the proponents of this bill will hopefully hear this message loud and clear.”

Trusteeism

The Church has been the target of such laws before – albeit over 150 years ago.

The concept of lay “trusteeism” was a persistent problem for the Church in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as some American Catholics – influenced by Protestant congregationalism and aided by groups like the “Know-Nothings” – tried to take control of Church structure.

The Know-Nothing party specifically tried to lessen the influence of the Church using “trusteeism.” They actually succeeded at times – passing the Putnam Bill in New York, for example, in 1855. Overtly anti-Catholic in its purpose, that bill – similar in content to the bill being considered in Connecticut – remained on the books until the need for Union Army recruits from the Catholic population forced New York legislators to think better of it in 1863.

At its worst, trusteeism caused riots and sent some parishes into schism, as trustees asserted their authority over a parish’s temporal matters – often with implications for spiritual matters as well.
Experts warn the religious consequences would be profound today as well.

“Make no mistake, the effect of such a law – if enforced – would be the balkanization of the Catholic Church. Our one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church would no longer be apostolic, with bishops losing the say in the administration of their dioceses,” Anderson wrote in his op-ed.

“Rather than ‘one’ and ‘catholic’ our Church could become many and inconsistent as trustees forced their version of theology on a parish under the very real threat of confiscation if their ideology were resisted,” he added.

Msgr. Francis Weber holds a PhD in Church History and serves as archivist for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

He told Headline Bistro that the trusteeism being proposed in Connecticut is “even worse than the normal kind” because it totally excludes priests and bishops from even voting. Historically, Weber said, “the Church has had all kinds of trouble” with the trustee system.

In terms of the current law under consideration, Weber was clear: “This is a takeover,” he said.

Both Bishop Lori and Archbishop Mansell noted in their statements that the bill is “contrary to the Apostolic nature” of the Church by disconnecting parishes from their priests and bishop. Bishops provide the unifying charter of an apostolic church, and assure doctrinal consistency.

Unlike some Protestant denominations where congregations influence doctrine, “Ours is a doctrinal Church,” Weber said. “We don’t have doctrine up for grabs.”

It is my understanding that the Government, of any level, be it Town, City, State, or Federal does not have any control or say in Church actions and management!? How can something like this make it through today’s system, and how can the Church listen to it if it does happen? If the people of a Church, any Church or denomination don’t like what happens in that Church, move on and find one that meets your needs. Don’t go about trying to change the one you are in.

The Catholic Church has it’s share of problems. Because it is as big as it is, and has the wealth that it has in Real Estate, art, money and other items, it gets talked about a lot more than other denominations and groups, but those other groups have the same problems. And proportionally just as big.

There is no way that the State Government should be allowed to even attempt to take this to the next level and attempt to make this happen.

I can’t believe where the US is taking itself these days! I still love this country, and will not leave it, nor do I have the desire to, but I’m not happy with were I see it going!