Remembering St. Pius X... the saintly pope that my childhood school and church were named after...

My latest over at Patheos talks about "the Pope of the Eucharist"... St Pius X...

Here's a sample...

I was a little girl in a white dress, with white Mary Jane shoes, (and yes, white gloves!) making her First Holy Communion at St. Pius X Church in Plainview, New York. It was the late 60s and I was in the second grade. For seven years I walked the halls of that parochial school, past St. Pius’ silent statue with his triple-tiered tiara, as was papal customary of the time. Though I saw his visage almost every day, I never really knew his history, or that he was the early 20^th century pope who lowered the age norms for First Communicants, something benefitting me directly and so many modern generations who come to the Lord’s table at a young age.
 St Pius X taught: “Holy Communion is the safest and shortest way to Heaven.”
 Long before he became the first pope elevated in the 20^th century, with the name Pius X, or Pio X, as the Italians call him, a young Father Giuseppe Sarto exerted a lively and holy influence in his parish. His pastor wrote of his zeal during his first assignment.

They have sent me as curate a young priest, with orders to mould him to the             duties of pastor; in fact, however, the contrary is true. He is so zealous, so full of good sense, and other precious gifts that it is I who can learn much from him.   Some day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that—who knows? (Lives of Saints, published by John J. Crawley & Co.)

There's more, here.

Got Mary? Podcasts on the Assumption and articles too!

As we live the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I thought I'd offer a little recap and review of articles I've written and podcasts on Mary's Assumption for your consumption.

Among Women Podcasts:

AW 141: Assumptions, Adversity, and Grace with Woodeene Koenig-Bricker 

AW 106: A Pilgrimage to Mary's House, with Sarah Vabulas and readings from Christian Classics on the Assumption. 

AW 67: What I Love About Mary, Among Women Listeners share their Mary-love in this Special Edition.

From last year at Patheos: Dumping My Assumptions About Mary

And, finally, here's a reprise of an older article that once ran at Catholic Exchange... 

Mary in the Catechism: The Four Marian Dogmas 

The more I get to know her Mary as my Mother, the more I love her.  True love of someone is based on knowledge of him or her. With that in mind, this might be a good opportunity to refresh our knowledge of the person of Mary, as recorded doctrinally in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

All four of the Marian dogmas divinely reveal something of Mary’s personhood. Each truth helps us understand her role in salvation history.

The dogmas, in the order that they were declared as truth by the Church, are: Mary as the Mother of God, Mary as a Perpetual Virgin (“ever-virgin”), Mary’s Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into heaven.

Growing up Catholic, I never doubted the validity of these dogmas. That is to say, until I met well-meaning Christians who just couldn’t buy what the Church was selling about Mary.  In other words, I began to have my doubts about her too.

Sometimes those kinds of challenges are what we need to set us in the right direction. For me, I thought since the Church held most of these ideas for thousands of years, it might be worthy of some investigation. (And this was years before we had the Catechism in the form we have it today.)  I needed to get to the truth of what was taught about Mary, the real person behind the serene-looking statue.

Mary as Mother of God

One of the first attacks made on Mary by the naysayers I encountered was that, indeed, Mary was the mother of Jesus… but certainly not the Mother of God.  Little did I know that this was exactly the heresy the Church was trying to combat way back in the fifth century (431 AD) at the Council of Ephesus, when it declared Mary, the “Theotokos”, or “God-bearer”, hence, “Mother of God.” 

The Council of Ephesus, while correcting this heresy, was confirming what was already revealed in the New Testament writings, which reveal Mary as the Mother of God. Luke 1: 31, 35 give us Gabriel’s words to Mary at the Annunciation:

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus… therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [Emphasis mine.]

Other scripture passages reveal Mary as the mother of Jesus, who, we know to be the God-Man. (See Mt. 2:13, Jn. 2:1, Acts 1:14.) And St. Paul vividly describes Mary’s role in the Incarnation in Galatians 4:4:

“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman…” [Emphasis mine.]

Even before Ephesus, Tradition formulated the words of the creed that declared: “[Jesus] was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.”

When the Council of Ephesus decreed Mary as the Mother of God, it reaffirmed the two natures of Christ found in one Person: that Jesus is both human and divine. (Later known as the “hypostatic union.”) Anything outside of that unity makes Jesus into two persons, one human and one divine, which is heresy.  So we see in this instance, how a Marian doctrine actually flows from and protects the truth about her Son!

You can read more about this in CCC 466 and 495, but it all summed up rather nicely in CCC 509:

Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.

You may recall this overarching guideline regarding “all things Mary” from CCC 487 and Part 1 of Mary in the Catechism:

What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

Mary, Ever-Virgin

The dogma about Mary’s perpetual virginity maintains that Mary was ever a virgin, before, during, and after the birth of Christ.  It is often here that Mary’s critics take exception, given our modern understanding of biology and human reproduction.

A virgin before birth.  The prophet Isaiah 7:14 foretold it:

“Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel.”

And the New Testament (Luke 1: 26-27) confirms it:

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God… to a virgin betrothed… and the virgin’s name was Mary.”

And then there is the dialogue between Mary and the angel at the annunciation that leads to the miraculous “overshadowing” of Mary by the power of God. (Luke 1:35.)

Tradition also reaffirms this in the Apostles’ Creed: “Born of the Virgin Mary.”

A virgin during the birth. CCC 499 reiterates, what the Second Vatican Council had previous taught:

The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it.

Put another way, the birth of Jesus was a miraculous birth, just as his conception miraculous.  The “integrity” of Mary’s sinless body was never violated by this birth. This idea was held from the time of the early Church Fathers. Later, the Council of Trent (16^th century) used this analogy to describe Christ’s birth: The newborn Christ came forth from the womb of Mary “as rays of the sun penetrate the substance of glass without breaking or injuring it in the least.”

It also follows that Mary’s childbirth would be exempt from pain, since she was a sinless creature (see “Immaculate Conception” below), and laboring in childbirth is a result of Original Sin (Gen. 3:16).

A virgin after the birth.  Many people take issue with the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity, given New Testament accounts that mention the supposed “siblings” of Jesus (Cf. Mk 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19). The Catechism replies in paragraph 500:

Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary" They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.

Then, there are the words of Jesus from the cross giving Mary into the care of John (John 19:26-27). If Jesus had siblings, especially brothers, would not Mary’s care be entrusted to them?  Instead, John takes Mary in.

I admit this one was a tough one for me to fully believe, at first. I could understand that Jesus was Mary’s only son, but I was not so sure about the lack of marital relations between Joseph and Mary. Wouldn’t a holy marriage be consummated? Not necessarily, so I learned.

I admit my sensibilities, formed in part by modern culture, had trouble understanding this idea of a holy marriage without the marital act. I needed more information. And I found it, in learning the importance of mutual understanding and consent in a marriage.  Our modern catechism teaches that marriage is first based on an exchange of consent, and then, only then, it may be consummated physically. (See CCC 1639-1640.) But the consent is the heart of the marriage bond, not the consummation.

While the Catechism does not go into detail on this exact point of Mary and Joseph’s marriage, I offer this helpful explanation from Dr. Mark Miravalle’s Introduction to Mary, reflecting on their marital union:

Finally, some would argue that if the marriage between Mary and Joseph was never consummated, then it would not have been a true marriage or would have been unnatural.  However, the essence of the marriage bond between husband and wife is their complete and unconditional gift of self and union of the heart, of which the physical union is a concrete sign.  If for a good and holy reason husband and wife should choose to refrain from relations, either for a time or permanently (under exceptional circumstances), this would not invalidate a marriage or affect its true bond, which is rooted not in the physical but in the spiritual union of the spouses.

There are numerous examples in Scripture where God asks married couples to renounce [or abstain from] relations.

[See Ex 19:15; 1 Sam 21:15; 1 Cor 7:5.]…

These scriptural examples show that when men and women are near what God has sanctified, it can be also appropriate for them to respond by giving themselves directly and undividedly to God. If in these cases it was fitting that men and women should remain abstinent, it can hardly be surprising that present before the great miracle of the Incarnation, Mary and Joseph chose to remain permanently virginal as well.

CCC 506 alludes to Mary’s faith and undivided heart here:

Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith unadulterated by any doubt, and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will. It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: [St. Augustine taught:] "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."

The Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was finally promulgated in 1854… but the seeds of it are found much earlier in a careful reading of scripture. When the Angel addresses Mary at the Annunciation, he does not address her by her name. Instead, he uses the title “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” This title might as well be her name, for it describes Mary’s true nature; her person is full of grace. Notice that she is addressed as “full of grace”, even before the Angel announces that she will be asked to be the Mother of God.

Know anyone that fits that description? Nope. She’s the only one. The rest of humanity is fallen.

Mary’s detractors what to know what makes her so special?  If she is human, she should be subject to all the pitfalls of humanity, and just as sinful are the rest of us, right?  Not quite. There’s more to Mary’s story, and it takes a very careful reading for Scripture to parse it out. Not to mention 2000 years of biblical interpretation and theological reflection.

What’s sooooo special about Mary is her Immaculate Conception. And it means this: Mary was redeemed by the merits of her Son Jesus at Calvary – who is God – at her conception, so she never received a fallen nature. The nature she received was like that of Eve’s before the Fall. And recall, that after the fall, the Immaculate Conception is implied, theologians say, in this verse from Genesis 3:15, that speaks of a woman to come:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

This is why we have references to Mary as the “new Eve.” And why St. Jerome (4^th century) taught this about Mary: "Death through Eve, life through Mary." CCC 508 states:

From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is the most excellent fruit of redemption: from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.

Mary, we might say, is the first person redeemed, by an application of the grace of Christ’s victory over sin and death on the Cross. And her sinless, loving heart, allowed her the perfect response to God’s call on her life: “Yes!”

Blessed Duns Scotus (d. 1308) called it “preservative redemption.” Preservative redemption addressed this question of Mary’s redemption taking place before her Son was even born.  Huh? The short of it is this:  God, the Creator of time, is also Lord over time, and can work outside of time.  And God can apply his graces throughout history (time) as He deems fit.  Therefore, God, in his divine plan of salvation, willed that Mary would be saved first, in her humanity, by the application of the graces won on the Cross for humanity by her Son, Jesus… providing a perfectly pure temple for the Holy Spirit to later “overshadow” and allow the Son of God to take on flesh in a sinless womb.

Whew! Got all that?

This is what the Catechism says in CCC 491 and 492:

Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

The splendor of an entirely unique holiness by which Mary is enriched from the first instant of her conception comes wholly from Christ: she is redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places and chose her in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love.

Mary’s Assumption

(If you are still reading this far, especially after trying to understand the depth of the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption is almost easy to understand!)

We start back to Genesis 3:15 (above) where the enmity between the woman and the serpent represents the past (Eve) and the future (Mary) who will share in the victory of her Son over the Devil.

As we know, the effects of Original Sin were sin and death. Jesus, by his Cross and Resurrection has set us free from both. And by his merits, we see this perfected in the person of Mary.  First, her Immaculate Conception shows how Jesus conquered sin, and by his grace, preserved her from Original Sin. Second, we see how Mary’s Assumption, is a particular grace awarded to Mary, so she, who is sinless, does not undergo bodily corruption at the end of her earthly life.

The Assumption of Mary is a natural consequence of the Immaculate Conception. And, it is a unique privilege that the Son affords his Mother.

CCC 966 teaches:

Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

Finally, Mary’s assumption serves as an eschatological sign (pointing to things to come in the afterlife)… she reminds us of the perfected Church we will become in heaven, as she is an icon of the Church both now and in the future. 

CCC 972 states:

The Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God.

Mariology (the study of Mary) is a discreet field of study within theology. There is so much more that could be said on all these dogma. Today’s lesson is but a taste.

But I pray that you will come to love Mary in a deeper way, as you see just how intimately her life is bound to the life and grace of her Son, Jesus. Mary has no power in and of herself, save what comes to through Jesus.  By way of a final analogy… if Jesus is the sun, Mary is the moon… always reflecting Him!

©2009 Patricia W. Gohn

Among Women # 139: Conversation, Conversion & the Comics

Join me for this week's Among Women 139 where I talk about the power of conversations that can lead to conversion, as in the life of St. Joan Delanoue, a French businesswoman-turned-founder-of a religious order. 


Joining me in conversation today is wife, mother, catechist, and creator of a comic strip online, also known as a web-strip, Ellen Austin, who shares her faith, and also has a remarkable knack for seeing life through the eyes of children through her heroine of "Gracieland". 


Plus get all the details about the Catholic New Media Conference, Aug 29 - 31 in Dallas.


Listen or download this episode, AW 139, here.

This makes me think... about marriage and life-long love...

Is it possible that entering into a once-and-for all, no-possibility-of-changing our minds, I-will-love-you-forever-and-you'll-do-the-same, promise to a person of the opposite sex can be an opportunity to see God face to face? Is it possible that eschewing temporary experiences of sex in favor of a lifelong promise to be faithful and loving to the other is fraught with meaning and a doorstep to eternity?

Let's be very clear about what's on the table: nothing less than an act of faith. Here's God's proposal: "if you choose to enter into a lifelong relationship with a person of the opposite sex, and choose to love that person in every moment of every day for the rest of your life, you'll come to know who I am and how I love the people I've created. It will demand all of you; it will demand sacrifice and conversion and transformation. It will demand forfeiting all your selfish desires but discovering beautiful shared desires. It will be a vocational call, summoning from you the difficult process of discerning when and how you will invite children into your world, care for aging parents, contribute to a community, reach out to others in need, build a future. Through it all, I will be with you to guide you, and you will find joy.

--Timothy Muldoon, "The McDonaldization of Sex 5: Sacred Sex", part of a series.

On Bended Knee - My latest column at A Word in Season, at Patheos

My latest piece at Patheos talks about what is borne is from fallow fields and quiet seasons. Here's an excerpt... "On Bended Knee."

O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

(Psalm 95: 6)

To kneel before God is a blessed thing. We are the only creatures who roam the earth with a free will… and the only ones with the freedom to give homage by kneeling to the One Who is worthy of it.

Of course, I’ve struck kneeling postures for many reasons besides prayer. As a wife and mother, I’ve often knelt beside the sickbed of a loved one… or to pick some thing off the floor… or to clean…

But there is nothing quite as peaceful as kneeling to adore the One Who made your heart, to sink slowly onto a bended knee before The Presence.

I’ve written before about the transforming power of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. For each person the experience is different and I can barely describe the sacred intimacies that come from those moments of yielding before the Lord… the One who made us and loves us with an unending bounty and unfathomable kindness.

To be sure, I’ve learned some things better on my knees than in other stances. Posture preaches. Gestures have interpretations.

Kneeling makes me smaller. It takes effort. Kneeling is a yielding out of love. I cannot jump up from that posture, at least at my age I cannot. I have to stay put at least for a little while.

When I kneel something physical unlocks; the upper and lower back muscles relax. My quads stretch. The heart rate lowers.

When I kneel, my focus sharpens. I am closer to the ground, or maybe, I just feel more grounded. I become aware of the heart in the left center of my chest.

Kneeling is reserved. I use it most when I am with God alone, and when I am with the Church. For me, kneeling signals prayer. It slows me down. It opens up a mental space, a zone where I concentrate only on what it in front of me, and what is within. In a curious paradox, despite the vulnerability of kneeling, I feel more open than closed when I kneel.

Kneeling is a posture of surrender. 


Read the rest.

My Latest over at Patheos on Evangelization

Check out my latest column on Patheos at A Word in Season, where the word is evangelization, and where I'm talking about what the heart of the new evangelization must be in us.

Here's a snip...

The heart of the new evangelization is not the Year of Faith, or the forthcoming Synod, or the next great pope, or the next great book, or parish program, or even all new Catholic media on the internet or the broadcast bands or in film.

No. The heart of the new evangelization is an actual beating heart.

It is the heart of Jesus that burns with love for us.

And it is our hearts that yearn to be one with his.

The heart of the new evangelization is about a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ, and our encounter—our living encounter—with him.

Everything starts there, and everything must flow back there.

Read it all.

May is Mary's Month... M.O.M.S. the word!

Patheos has my thoughts on Momma Mary.

Tithing on Social Media? Well, as a strategy for the new evangelization, it might get you involved...

My latest offering at Patheos discusses the new evangelization, the generosity of God, and our response to it. How did I come to this idea of tithing on our usage of social media? Simple. It's a a matter of stewardship... and putting our resources at the service of the new evangelization.

Here's a snippet...

There’s an old joke that talks about the angels questioning Jesus about the worldwide evangelization  plan after his return to heaven following the Ascension: 

Angel: So, Jesus, you’ve just returned to heaven as the victorious Lord of Glory, King of Heaven and Earth, what’s your plan for spreading the news of salvation to the whole world? 

Jesus: Well, you see those folks down there on earth -- Peter, James, John, and the rest of my disciples? 

Angel: Yes… 

Jesus: I told them to tell everyone. 

Angel: That’s the plan? 

Jesus: That’s it. 

As it was then, so it is now. The plan for evangelization still resides with us, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

And all of us who are baptized into the Church, have been baptized into the Church’s mission, which is our mission too. The call to be evangelizers is at once corporate and personal.  Some are called to bring the news of salvation to foreign lands. Most are called to bring it to our next-door neighbor -- or, to our next Facebook status.

Read it all. 

Don't forget, you can subscribe to my column via an RSS feed and have it delivered to your reader or to your email. Subscribe here. (Every subscription helps!)

 

The Jesus Moment... my latest at Patheos...

I want to wish you all a very happy Holy Week! Tonight starts the vigil that leads us into the Triduum.  Over at Patheos, I offer my latest column. Here's the front end...

I collect refrigerator magnets that capture some of my favorite moments. You’ll find many familiar faces under clear plastic frames, loved ones from far and near. The rest of the door is littered with keepsakes from favorite travel destinations. One magnet, quoting Italian author and poet, Cesare Pavese, explains them all: “We do not remember days. We remember moments.” 

The power of memory is at once a terrible and tremendous gift. I have learned that the more I recall, with gratitude and thanksgiving, the things that bring me freedom and joy, the more I am drawn to remember them when terrible things strike. Such memories bind and hold me together, anchors against strong tides. Leaning into difficult moments, I sift the value of their import, against what I hold true. 

I recently came out of the confessional after a tender, grace-filled moment with Jesus in the sacrament of Reconciliation, having released a deep emotional wound. Minutes later in the pew, after my prayers of release and relief, I sought to linger in the peaceful presence of God. 

I opened my bible to the fifth chapter of John. The words on the sacred page seemed as if they were written just for me. The text described Jesus’ instantaneous healing of a paralyzed man whose affliction disabled him for 38 years.  This, after I had just experienced something lifted from my heart that had crippled me for about the same length of time. Those verses were a second gift from Jesus, a bonus to the graces of the sacrament, given to me, no doubt, so I wouldn’t miss the point. The formerly paralyzed man didn’t keep his news to himself. And so, here I am, in imitation. 

Jesus could not have been any more real to me than if he walked into the chapel and sat down next to me. I will hold onto that for some time to come and cherish it as I, too, learn how to walk with stronger legs after Jesus. 

That moment in the chapel was just the most recent in a series of Jesus moments in my life. I could never have constructed it, or imagined it on my own. It was totally orchestrated by him. Like a lover’s spontaneous kiss that renders you speechless, it begs only to be received. 

There's more, here.

Entrusting Cuba to Caridad... a guest post by Maria Morera Johnson

Photo by Maria Johnson

I've written about this subject before.... the lovely story of Our Lady of Charity "coming" to the people of Cuba over 400 years. Ah, but it is so much more than an story of sweet devotion to Mary, though it is very much that... today it has socio-political and religious ramifications for the tiny island of Cuba.

If you've ever thought that the story of salvation history ended with the coming of Christ 2000 years ago, think again. The history of salvation continues in the very lives we lead. The will of God continues to unfold in the world today, and Mary, the Mother of God is often playing a decisive role. In the last century and a half we've seen it happening in Lourdes, Fatima, Akita, Kibeho, and elsewhere. Many have believed that Mary has played a role in assisting the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, in the wake of Pope John Paul's consecration of Russia, and the entire world to Mary. Now, I can only guess what Our Lady's intercession may bring to Cuba in the future.

For now, Cuba's patroness, Our Lady of Charity, has brought two papal visits to this tiny nation within 15 years... and there are more and more public displays of faith taking place in the face of government oppression.

This week, my good friend, Maria Morera Johnson, who has taught me so much about this devotion to Our Lady of Charity, and about Cuban history, takes a turn as my guest at my column at Patheos. It is a pleasure to let her share her love of her Catholic faith, her love of Mary, and her heritage in her observations regarding Pope Benedict's visit to Cuba this week.

Here's a little excerpt....

Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba, the country of my birth and the country my parents and I fled in 1966, both delights and pulls on the heartstrings of many Cubans and Cuban-Americans like myself, watching his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre from afar, yearning to be present with the Holy Father in this Jubilee Year. 

So much of my identity lies bundled within the mantle of Cuba’s patroness, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, that I too easily forget who she is. 

To my child’s heart she is a constant companion, my ever-present friend whose image in the homes of family and friends, doctors’ offices, and storefronts in the Cuban neighborhoods of Atlanta and Miami where I grew up identified a little piece of home. The sight of her, especially in an unexpected place, is cause for joy -- as an adult I learned Cause of Our Joy as one of Mary’s many titles -- back then I just knew her as “la virgencita”, a sweet diminutive denoting the closeness of my relationship to her. 

Wherever she was, there was Baby Jesus nestled in her left arm. As a child, I never paid any mind to the object in her right hand, a cross. This juxtaposition of the Incarnation and Crucifixion, the dichotomy of joy and human suffering, speaks volumes to me today. 

Cuba’s history is also a dichotomy, a history resplendent with the natural beauty of an island paradise and a people filled with goodwill that contrasts with periods of oppression and abuse. In all of this, the Blessed Mother has remained present, watching over her children. 

Read it all, please.

Entering into Scripture as we approach Holy Week... my latest at Patheos

The name of my weekly column at Patheos is A Word in Season... so, this week, I'm hoping to give you exactly that!

I have a few suggestions for finishing out Lent and entering Holy Week. Some of these practicing regarding Scripture reading and making forays into the Catechism might be helpful if you are feeling a little sluggish in your devotional life, or perhaps, like you've heard it all before...


Check out "The Drama of Scripture: Enter more deeply"

The Crucible of Conscience... my latest column at Patheos

The news is filled with conscience discussions where religious freedom and conscience clauses are concerned. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council give us one of the most profound definitions of conscience, and from that we discern the reason we must defend its preciousness. My latest column at Patheos addresses the subject. Here's an excerpt:

The conscience is hidden deep, yet it defines us; it is our interior sanctuary where we meet God. The interior defines everything we are exteriorly. 

We find out how deeply we know this God when we are in the crucible: when our conscience, seared by the heat of painful circumstances, is tried for all we are worth. 

There comes a point when you must reach into the deepest part of you and make a decision for or against… or you have to survey the landscape and say this is as far as I go and no further. 

These are the moments when you admit that life isn’t just a random freefall or that everything is unrelated or of no consequence. But rather, it is more about connections and integrity and things holding together in an abundant web of life and time in eternity. 

These are the places where we ascend or descend to…  where the boundaries of truth, beauty, and goodness leave off… and falsehood, ugliness, and evil begin. Our conscience helps us find and run our fingers along the outer edges of precarious ledges. Otherwise we might slip and fall, hurtling into danger. Or worse.

 There's more here. 

Lessons of confidence and courage from the saints in the face of death

In the aftermath of Ash Wednesday, when we consider our dustiness, and that to the dust that our mortal bodies will return, I'd like to suggest two articles that take those themes into consider, in light of the Gospel and in light of the heroic virtues found in the lives of the saints.

The first is Dying With the Confidence of a Saint... and here's a snippet:

Our society doesn’t like to think much about death. Yet, there is much to be gained, as a Christian, by reflecting on our death, and about our final destiny. This idea of uniting our death with the death of Jesus is the key to facing our own death with hope and, even, joy and peace. 

The saints show us the way. 

St. Therese of Lisieux, who died of disease as a young woman in her twenties, said this:  “I am not dying. I am entering eternal life.” 

Note the boldness of her statement: she is not dying!  She is merely passing through death on the way to the next phase of life! Was St. Therese being merely sentimental or foolish? No!  She saw the truth of this reality, and saw the opportunity to remind her loved ones of that fact. Recall that the Church underscores such truth by making Therese a Doctor of the Church. Her statement is found in the Catechism (Cf. CCC 1011.) 

St. Therese, and other saints like her, had a rich and vivid faith in the promise of everlasting life that we must strive to imitate. Death is only a threshold; it is not an end. 

St. Teresa of Avila is another great example. She, too, is matter of fact: “I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die.” (Cf. CCC 1011.)  

If you read St. Paul’s epistles, you will again encounter this lively faith in Christ that gives positive meaning to Christian death: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil 1:21.)”

You can read the rest here.

The second is taken from my archives, and it honors the saint that is honored in today's liturgy, Polycarp: An Unusual Name, A Remarkable Story...  here's an excerpt:

At the stake Polycarp seizes the opportunity to pray aloud before all the spectators. His 86 year-old heart swells as he calls upon the true God.

"O Lord God Almighty… I bless You because You have granted me this day and hour, that I might receive a portion amongst the number of martyrs in the cup of Your Christ unto resurrection of eternal life...

May I be received… in Your presence this day, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as You did prepare and reveal it beforehand, and have accomplished it, You that art the faithful and true God. (Martyrdom 14: 1-2.)

God answers Polycarp’s prayer in a most unusual way.

When he had offered up the Amen and finished his prayer, the firemen lighted the fire. And, a mighty flame flashing forth, we to whom it was given to see, saw a marvel, yea and we were preserved that we might relate to the rest what happened.

The fire, making the appearance of a vault, like the sail of a vessel filled by the wind, made a wall round about the body of the martyr; and it was there in the midst, not like flesh burning, but like a loaf in the oven or like gold and silver refined in a furnace. For we perceived such a fragrant smell, as if it were the wafted odor of frankincense or some other precious spice.

So at length the lawless men, seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, ordered an executioner to go up to him and stab him with a dagger. And when he had done this, there came forth [a dove and] a quantity of blood, so that it extinguished the fire; and all the multitude marveled that there should be so great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect.  (Martyrdom, 15:1 – 16:1.)

Imagine experiencing the satisfying aroma of bread baking in the oven when you should be observing a hideous death… imagine one man’s life being consumed by the Eucharistic majesty even as he prepares to breathe his last. 

Everything about Polycarp’s life declared: “I am a Christian.”

For years, scholars have written of the parallels between the suffering of Jesus’ passion and the final hours of Polycarp’s life… the prayer for the disciples, the final meal, the arrest, the interrogation, and the many people calling for his death. It is all of a piece in the will of God.

Tertullian, writing in the years following Polycarp’s death, declared, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians.” 

The death of martyrs did not put an end to Christianity as some opponents had hoped. It only served to fuel the faith of Christians for generations to come, whose sustenance and hope remains in the Eucharist to this day.

You can read more, here.

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