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We Need More Death
Mary Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, Georges de La Tour
You will die.
A friend of mine sells life insurance. He told me that every time someone new sits in his office, he asks them: What are your chances of dying? The poor soul will usually guess something like a 2% chance, or maybe even somewhere between 5% and 10% (the realists).
My friend then exclaims "No, it's 100%! It's 100% certain, you WILL die!"
It is a part of the human condition to be very concerned about death. Even those who deny they think about death (willful ignorance) found themselves concerned about death at some point and decided not to think about it ever again.
The meaning of life has been searched for by philosophers and moms, poets and scientists, plumbers and theologians, and every other person who ever lived for as long as people have been thinking.
What We Want and What Really Happens
Why is humanity so curious about the meaning of life? Because we have a deep sense of our finite existence. We sense that all good stories must end, all plays have closing curtains, every day has its night, your dog doesn’t live forever, and neither does your Grandmother. And sensing this, we ask what the meaning of this life might be.
But in the face of the reality of our impending death, we become uneasy. Death is often a taboo topic. Try it - at the next birthday party you attend say things like "All of us are going to die one day.” Maybe I'm wrong, maybe that's a great conversation starter.
Our society is too quick to cover up death and hide it. We put make up on dead people to hide death’s colors. Think about the phrases we use for death: He has passed on. He is no longer with us. He was taken from us.
We are uneasy with death because we naturally desire the opposite of what naturally happens to all of us - we greatly desire to live forever. We inject ourselves with Botox. We get face-lifts, nose-jobs and tummy-tucks. We douse lotions and potions on age spots, wrinkles, and sags. We start an inquisition against grey hairs - the lucky ones recant and are colored, the not so lucky are plucked out.
Why are people so afraid to tell you their age? Why is there an unspoken impoliteness in asking a woman over 25 how old she is? Is being 47 a dirty secret no one should talk about? Or maybe people don’t like being reminded of their time left on earth.
In the face of the great opposition between what naturally happens and what we naturally desire, there are two ways to live life: embracing death or ignoring it. One is hard and one is easy. I’ll let you figure out which way our modern society tends to live.
NEWS FLASH: You desire to live forever because you WILL live forever. You have a capacity and desire for immortality because your soul, but not your body, is everlasting.
Stop buying anti-aging, anti-oxidizing, anti-sagging, anti-cellulite dreams and doing yoga. Your soul is an everlasting creation.
If you have any doubts about your everlasting-ness (Nota Bene: there is a difference between eternal and everlasting) then do some good ol' Catholic research for yourself. The arguments for the immortality of the soul are beyond the scope of this article, but they can be found all over the web (start here). Let’s just suffice it to say we are going to live - granted not exactly in the same way -forever. Your soul is an immortal creation.
You Will Die - And Then You Will Live Forever
And you have two options concerning where you will spend the rest of forever – heaven or hell. But my point lies elsewhere. We need more death.
This past week I attended the funeral of a friend from college. I have been to a few funerals before, but this one had a big impact on me. Maybe it was the unexpectedness of his death that was most jarring. He was only in his early twenties.
During the Funeral Mass I couldn't stop thinking about the strangeness of death. As Christians, death is seen as a passage into the everlasting closeness with God who is love. It should be joyfully celebrated.
But death is also such a hard thing to endure, especially for us who are left behind. Even Jesus experienced this sorrow of death. He says during his agony in the garden: “My soul is sorrowful even to death.” (Mark 14:33-34) We can't know for sure what it will be like to die. There is a mystery to the passage of death that frightens us.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7740lGif65Y&w=640&h=360] (Kenneth Branagh could arguably be one of history's greatest actors. This movie is worth watching once a year, at least.)
It is tormenting as a Christian to be torn between the empty space of our loved ones and their hope of glory. Death is a drama of love and loathing. The drama between life and death is the mystery of existence, and for good reason.
Churches and cemeteries go together because life and death always occur at the same time. A life is born into this world, and dies in Christ in Baptism, entering into God's family. Later a person dies in this world, and is brought to life in the next, entering into God's beautiful closeness. Both always exist at the same time. You can hear it in the Christos anesti, the Byzantine Easter hymn proclaimed at the Easter Vigil:
Christ is risen from the dead, By death He conquered death, And to those in the graves He granted life!
But if we lack recognition of death, we lose our lives - we fall into sins and indulgences of pride. We slowly lose grip of our smallness and start to believe the “now” here on earth is forever. And then we begin trampling on any sense of the eternal consequences of our actions. Jesus said “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it.” (Matt 16:25)
Why we need more death
I don't mean we need more people to experience death. I mean we need a healthier dose of death in our lives. We need a natural dose of death, in the sense that we need enough exposure and consideration of death in order to become who we are naturally created to be. And we are created with a human nature designed not for this world, but for the next - designed to know and to love God forever. Just like a seed needs enough water to become a flower, we need enough consideration of death to become detached from this world and gain the next.
“The soldier is not respected because he is doomed to death, but because he is ready for death; and even ready for defeat.” G. K. Chesterton, The Superstition of Divorce
The Saints had a saying: "Memento Mori!" or "Remember your Death!". We need to remember our death more. We need this macroscopic perspective in our lives. Go to a graveyard for all souls day and pray for the souls of the departed. Or, attend the funeral of a stranger and do a corporal work of mercy - burying the dead. At the end of our grace before eating, my wife and I pray:
"May the souls of the faithfully departed, by the mercy of God, rest in peace. And may His perpetual light shine upon them."
I am not saying that we should glorify death. The appropriate Catholic response to death is sorrow and pain because God does not delight in death. But it is a sorrow and pain we must endure while grasped firmly to the resurrected hands of Christ, with the hope of eternal joy in heaven which is the joy of seeing Jesus Himself.
"God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living... It was through the devil's envy that death entered the world" (Wis 1:13; 2:24). Catechism of the Catholic Church, Par. 413
We need death because we need life. Knowing that I will die, I spend every waking moment with the purpose of this life in mind. There is no time to waste. I can waste no time in sin. I must love others and strive to love God with all of my today, my right now. There is no putting off until tomorrow becoming a saint. I need to be one now.
To live our lives without death is no life at all. It would tempt us to think our actions here on earth have no higher meaning or purpose. We cannot live our lives without death.
Meditation on Death
I was reminded of St. Francis de Sale's meditation on death from his "Introduction to the Devout Life". The Saints always have a very real grasp on the certainty of death and this gives them a perspective of reality that guides all their actions towards Christ and away from worldliness.
This meditation is given by St. Francis de Sales in a section of his book that is intended to detach us from the affections to mortal sin. It is one thing to never commit a mortal sin, it is quite another to not wish you could commit them. And St. Francis de Sales knew that a firm grasp of our mortality helps us detach ourselves not only from committing sin, but also from the temptation to commit sin.
Take a few minutes and pray through this meditation. If we live our lives without a clear grasp of the certainty of that moment when we shall "shuffle off these mortal coils", we can be tempted to become too attached to this world, of which we are merely temporary guests.
Meditation Of Death by St. Francis de Sales From the Introduction to the Devout Life
[My comments are in brackets.]
Preparation 1. Place yourself in the presence of God. 2. Ask him to give you his grace. 3. Imagine yourself to be lying ill upon your bed of death, without any hope of recovery.
Considerations 1. Consider the uncertainty of the day of your death. O my soul, thou must one day quit this body. When will it be? Will it be in the winter or in summer? In a town or in the country? Will it be without any warning, or with warning? Will it be the end result of disease or of some accident? Wilt thou have time to confess or not? Wilt thou be assisted by thy confessor and spiritual Father? Alas! we know nothing at all about any of these things. We only know that we shall die, and always sooner than we expect.
2. Consider that the world will then come to an end, as far as you are concerned, and that there will be no more of it for you; it will turn upside down before your eyes. Yes, for then pleasures, vanities, worldly joys, vain affections will appear as phantoms and shadows. Ah! wretch that I am, for the sake of what trifles and unrealities have I offended my God? You will see that you have forsaken God for the sake of nothing. On the contrary, devotion and good works will seem to you then so desirable and sweet: and why have I not followed this beautiful and pleasant path? then the sins which used to seem very little will appear as big as mountains, and your devotion very small.
3. Consider the long and languishing farewells which your soul will bid to this poor world: she will say farewell to riches, to vanities and vain company, to pleasures, to pastimes, to friends and neighbors, to kindred, to children, to husband, to wife, in brief to every creature; and last of all, to her body, which she will leave pale, emaciated, wasted, hideous and fetid.
4. Consider with what haste your body will be removed and hidden in the earth, and how, when that is done, the world will scarcely give another thought to you, and will not remember you any more than you have remembered others: God rest his soul, they will say, and that is all. O death, how important thou art, how pitiless thou art!
Affections and Resolutions 1. Pray to God and cast yourself into his arms. Alas! Lord, take me under thy protection on that fearful day; let that hour be happy and favourable to me, and rather let all the other hours of my life be sad and sorrowful.
2. Despise the world. Since I know not the hour at which I must quit thee, O world, I will not fix my affections on thee at all. O my dear friends, my dear alliances, let me love you only with a holy friendship, which can last eternally; for why should I united myself to you in such a way that it is necessary to dissolve and break the bond of union?
3. I will prepare myself for that hour, and will take all the care that is necessary to make the passage happily; I will make sure of the state of my conscience to the best of my ability, and will put into order such and such shortcomings.
Conclusions Thank God for these resolutions which he has given you; offer them to his Majesty; implore him again to give you a happy death through the merits of that of his Son. Implore the aid of the Virgin and of the Saints.
Pater, Ave Maria [Our Father, Hail Mary]
Make a nosegay of myrrh. [Odd word, I agree, but this means to take time to cherish the sweetness of the meditation and resolutions God has given us.]
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"I call heaven and earth today to witness against you, I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live" Deuteronomy 30:19
Mary, Our Lady of a Happy Death, pray for us.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7DcySekLKY]
***I couldn't not include this as well from The Imitation of Christ: See, then, dearly beloved, the great danger from which you can free yourself and the great fear from which you can be saved, if only you will always be wary and mindful of death. Try to live now in such a manner that at the moment of death you may be glad rather than fearful. Learn to die to the world now, that then you may begin to live with Christ. Learn to spurn all things now, that then you may freely go to Him. Chastise your body in penance now, that then you may have the confidence born of certainty.
Ah, foolish man, why do you plan to live long when you are not sure of living even a day? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched away! How often have you heard of persons being killed by drownings, by fatal falls from high places, of persons dying at meals, at play, in fires, by the sword, in pestilence, or at the hands of robbers! Death is the end of everyone and the life of man quickly passes away like a shadow.
Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Do now, beloved, what you can, because you do not know when you will die, nor what your fate will be after death. Gather for yourself the riches of immortality while you have time. Think of nothing but your salvation. Care only for the things of God. Make friends for yourself now by honoring the saints of God, by imitating their actions, so that when you depart this life they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.
THE END.
Zombies vs. Jesus
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y2BrmcVf6c&w=640&h=360] I'm back from a glorious Texas vacation visiting my wife's family and a few friends from college. And just in time for Spirit Juice Studios to release Zombies vs. Jesus, a short film about... well... just watch it.
What do you think?
Memento Mori!
***Stay tuned for my longest post yet, "We Need More Death", to be posted today or tomorrow.
All Hipsters Eventually Become Catholic
If you've been living in a bomb shelter under your parent's house since 1990 and don't know what a hipster is, then go here and read up to get a rough idea. I think they're Catholics.
Hipster refers to a subculture of contemporary young adults. They like independent music and wearing unpopular clothing styles. Hipsters love things that aren't mainstream, and they love irony and paradox. They love having their own art, culture, and hipster jargon. They love reading the books no one recognizes and listening to the music you wouldn't know about.
Lots of people I know have opinions of hipsters. Some flat out hate them. They have been called names like "the embodiement of postmodernism" by critics. Some turn their noses up in contempt, but secretly (or not so secretly) dress like them. In fact, a hipster would turn up his nose if you called him a hipster.
The Word on Fire blog gives some good insight into how to evangelize this subset of our modern culture, but I don't think we have to be too worried:
Hipsters eventually become Catholic.
This is less of a fact and more of a prophecy. But haven't you felt the same way deep down?
Aren't you, as a Catholic, somewhat charmed and intrigued by hipsters?
Next Generation Hipster Manifesto
Isn't it true that living out the Catholic faith in modern society is the ultimate anti-mainstream life of non-conformity and going-against-the-flow? And the Catholic culture we've inherited provides a wealth of uncool topics to chose from.
Eventually all the dingy coffee shops will be places where you can spot a guy wearing skinny jeans, an impractical scarf, and donning a green tattoo of St. Basil on his arm.
The new hispter loves going to daily Mass at his parish, where the pews are filled with no one under the age of 50. He did it before it was cool.
That guy in the corner with the thick rimmed glasses and bowling shoes sipping a chai latte? He's wearing a St. Benedict crucifix while reading a leather bound copy of “Medieval Religion and Other Essays” with yellowed pages. He’s been on a Christopher Dawson kick these past months. (If you don't know about him, you aren't a Catholic hipster and you should really look into him.)
You can tell the likes of the Next Generation of Hipsters by their out of place lingo. They use words like "interretium" when referring to the internet, are known to dance and shout "Veni, veni, veni Locamowae cum me", and have stickers on their bikes that say "Sona si Latine loqueris".
Latin is a "dead" language you know. How much more not mainistream can you get?
They form book clubs and meet in the back of the local open-mic cafe to chuckle over G.K. Chesterton - you wouldn't understand.
They argue about how Tantum Ergo should be chanted, and have Gregorian Chant for all Seasons as a channel on Pandora.
They believe whole heatedly in subsidiarity, and they pick up their vegetables from a local farm CSA program wearing their paradoxical clothing.
They date seriously and are excited to live a life of chastity and monogamy. Being single and sleeping around is so safe and boring and mainstream anyways. It's a cowardly garden-variety life running from responsibility, never risking rejection or failure, and being too timid to attempt the challenge of choosing the one you will spend the rest of your life loving in total selflessness. And try raising other human persons for 18 years at a time once you are married.
The next generation of hipsters refuse the mediocrity of self-indulgence. The popular existence of floating from one drunken party to another memory-less night, that's easy. It takes no thought or self-reflection or individuality. What a familiar story. Getting consistently high is too simple - what a lame and bland existence.
Try to make a decision that lasts the rest of your life - get married. That's risky. Have a child and try to get him to heaven. What a lofty goal. Live through the ups and downs and feel the pains and joys of REAL life experienced to the full with the wide spectrum of human emotion and experience.
These Catholic Hipsters of the New Generation don't accept the widespread belief that suffering (and therefore life) is pointless. These hipsters have the radical notion that they are in a love affair with a God that is bigger than the universe, knows them better than they know themselves, and longs for them and their perfection like a deer pants for water. Now there is the premise of an outside-the-box life worth living.
Because Jersey Shore and the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of the average has so been done before a GAHJILION times.
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This is part of a series of posts called the Catholic Hipster Manifesto.
**Comment and add some of the activities and interests of the Ultimate Catholic Hispter. I know you've seen one. Of course you're not one.
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Engage Volunteers in Ministry with WHY
Getting people in your parish to support your ministry or to volunteer their time can be extremely taxing, stressful, and full of rejection. In this video, Simon Sinek gives an inside look at what makes leaders inspiring, and how the best are so effective at recruiting people to support their mission - why some leaders are able to inspire and others aren't.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4&feature=player_detailpage]
Why is Apple so popular, when plenty of other companies make products comparable or better than what Apple puts out?
Why did Martin Luther King become so popular, when there were plenty of other talented orators for the civil rights movement at the time?
Bottom Line for Your Ministry: Start with WHY, not how or what, because people don't buy what you do they buy WHY you do it.
EXAMPLE: What This Looks Like in Youth Ministry: Starting with What: We have youth group on Sundays, retreats, pizza parties, dodgeball, and lots of fun. We do praise and worship and camping trips. We need your help.
Starting with How: We try to build relationships with teens and love them where they are at. We try to witness with our lives and catechize in a fun way. We try to give the teens a life changing experience of God. We need your help.
Starting with Why: We believe that Eucharistic based ministry has the power to transform teens, transform parishes, and transform culture. (hat tip to Life Teen) We believe the culture teens are exposed to is a culture of death and mediocrity, and that Christ is the only thing worth giving their lives to. We believe Jesus entrusted us with the mission of presenting to teens the full truth of the Catholic faith, in all its rigor and vigor, and we believe that with the Holy Spirit God will work amazing miracles in the lives of these teens. We need your help.
Which one sounds more exciting to you? People don't buy what you do they buy WHY you do it. Skip telling people what your ministry does and how it does it, and be passionate about WHY you do ministry. Like Simon says (pun acknowledged), Dr. King didn't tell people what needed to be changed in America, he told people what he believed. He gave the "I have a dream speech", not the "I have a plan speech".
What are the best ways you have found to get people involved in your ministry? Share your insights below in the comment box.
**Caveat** It's all useless without prayer.
He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.'" Luke 10:2
"Behold the heart that has loved so much!"
"I know of no devotion better suited to lead a soul in a short time to the summit of perfection" St. Margaret Mary
"The Heart of Jesus is not only radiant with love for us, but it is a wounded heart, encircled by thorns, and pierced- this is a Heart that we tried to kill, a love that we tried to extinguish. But our attempts were frustrated by the willingness of Christ to love us even more." Fr. Steve Grunow
Happy Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus everyone!
For more info on the devotion to the Sacred Heart and enthronement in your home, visit: www.sacredheartapostolate.com
Counter Punch the Devil in the Face
(photo ElMarto)
In boxing you are either throwing a punch or dealing with a punch being thrown at you.
Most people would think winning in boxing means focusing only on throwing good, accurate, and strong punches. But a good defense is pivotal in boxing - and a counter-punch while on the defensive can end a match.
Check out Mike Tyson, who is known for his raw power and also his defense. A lot of his knock-out blows came as a counter to a punch thrown at him. He had amazing defense and was a counter-punch expert.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZzMPsm6c4&feature=related]
The counter is extremely effective for a few reasons:
1.) In taking a shot at you, your opponent is risking his guard in order to land a blow. When your opponent is throwing a jab with his left hand, his arm and hand are no longer defending his face and body. Countering can be a game changer when a boxer dodges an attack and then capitalizes while his opponent is partially off-guard. He turns a situation where he is on his heels into an advantage.
2.) Your opponent's momentum works to your advantage. When your opponent lunges forward to throw a right cross, you have an opportunity to counter-punch as he lunges forward. If you understand physics, this creates a scientific phenomenon known as "intensified oucheyness". Countering uses a drastic change in momentum to deliver an ouchey.
St. Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier before he had his huge conversion to Christ. He knew battle very well and even suffered a debilitating injury to his leg. In his writings on the spiritual life, he talks about how the soul can only ever be moving in one of two directions: towards God or away from God.
Notice St. Ignatius does not add a third position for the soul: temptation. Temptation is not a neutral situation. Temptation either works to move you closer to God or further from Him.
When the tempter throws an attack your way, you can either sit back and get knocked out or you can counter-punch him in the face. There is no third option.
St. John of the Cross talks about dealing with temptation, and mentions a way to counter the devil by an act of raising our attention and love to God.
From The Spiritual sayings of St. John of the Cross (Peers, vol. III, pp. 289-291)
"When we feel the first movement or attack of any vice, - as soon as we are conscious of it, we should meet it with an act or movement of anagogical love directed against this vice, and should raise our affection to union with God, for by this means the soul absents itself from its surroundings and is present with its God and becomes united with Him, and then the vice or the temptation and the enemy are defrauded of their intent, and have nowhere to strike; for the soul, being where it loves rather than where it lives, has met the temptation with divine aid, and the enemy has found nowhere to strike and nothing whereon to lay hold, for the soul is no longer where the temptation or enemy would have struck and wounded it..."
When you are facing temptation, you could focus on the opposite virtue that would combat the vice. For instance, when tempted to lust you could combat it by meditating on the virtue of charity. In this way we are blocking the attack with the virtue.
But a better way, says St. John of the Cross, is to slip out of the way of the strike all together, raise your attention and love up to the Father, and deliver a counter right to satan's smug chin using the temptation as an opportunity to grow closer to God. Just what the devil doesn't want. He tries to dish it out on you and BAM! you counter by reminding yourself of God's presence and lifting up your gaze and love to the Father.
St. John is saying that by not focusing on the temptation the devil is throwing at you, evading it, and countering by raising ourselves up to God, "the enemy has found nowhere to strike and nothing whereon to lay hold".
1.) In taking a shot at you, your opponent is risking his guard in order to land a blow. When the devil throws temptation your way, he is risking the opportunity for you to become aware of the temptation. When you become aware of temptation, you have the opportunity to react by moving towards God and away from the temptation.
2.) Your opponent's momentum works to your advantage. The stronger the temptation, the stronger the surge of the heart towards God needs to be. In this way, temptation gets thrown back in the face of satan like swinging a golf club at a land mine.
So the next time you experience temptation, don't stand there and take it - go for the knockout.
The First Steps Out the Door
Welcome to the results of a favorite past time of mine: productive procrastination.
In college I was not the type to drop studying for a 10 hour video game binge. But I would get sidetracked from my homework for hours at a time to read a spiritual classic, learn about roughness, attempt to make graham crackers, or teach myself graphic design.
This list of recreation might sound dreary but to me (and many in my generation), learning first became one of my favorite avenues for the vice of procrastination - and then a passion.
The term paper can wait - I have got to read Dawson! Quiz tomorrow? I wonder how St. Patrick would do youth ministry...? Project due? Benjamin Zander would make a great Catholic... Final coming up, better finish Henri de Lubac. Spanish? (Okay, so I liked Spanish.) Me gusta!
Over the years this has evolved from vice to hobby to discipline.
I constantly keep a notebook on me to catch my thoughts, questions, and ideas. I often think of how unproductive it is to keep these matters private. Maybe they are the most foolish of ideas and thoughts, but if they could at least be a small benefit to one other then it would be worth sharing.
For the past year I have been sitting on this blog debating and praying about whether to make it public. I have come to the conclusion to suspend judgement and dive headlong into the wild of blogging and judge this tree by its fruits. (Luke 6:44) I think the saying should go: "If its worth doing, its worth doing badly the first time."
A lofty goal would be to hope that something I write would bring you closer to Christ; and I very seriously do. But if you would be entertained in the least I would count it as a gain.
This blog is a step out of the comforts of my house. Thanks for indulging me.
"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." --Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
+JMJ
Profession of Faith & Oath of Fidelity
I. PROFESSION OF FAITH
I, Edmund Mitchell, with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the Symbol of faith: namely:
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgement or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.
I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.
Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.
II. OATH OF FIDELITY ON ASSUMING AN OFFICE TO BE EXERCISED IN THE NAME OF THE CHURCH
(Formula to be used by the Christian faithful mentioned in Canon 833, nn. 5-8)
I, Edmund Mitchell, in assuming the office of Catholic Blogger, promise that in my words and in my actions I shall always preserve communion with the Catholic Church.
With great care and fidelity I shall carry out the duties incumbent on me toward the Church, both universal and particular, in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service.
In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.
I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
With Christian obedience I shall follow what the Bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the Church, establish.
I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan Bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the Church, may be carried out in communion with the Church.
So help me God, and God's Holy Gospels on which I place my hand.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam Edmund Mitchell June 03, 2012 The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Profession and Oath Taken from : Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
NOTE: Canon 833, Nos. 5-8 obliges the following to make the profession of faith: vicars general, episcopal vicars and judicial vicars; "at the beginning of their term of office, pastors, the rector of a seminary and the professors of theology and philosophy in seminaries; those to be promoted to the diaconate"; "the rectors of an ecclesiastical or Catholic university at the beginning of the rector's term of office"; and, "at the beginning of their term of office, teachers in any universities whatsoever who teach disciplines which deal with faith or morals"; and "superiors in clerical religious institutes and societies of apostolic life in accord with the norm of the constitutions."
I am not any of these, however I do deeply love and respect my Church and voluntarily bind myself to this profession and oath.
Moneyball, Ministry, and Success in the Spiritual Life
I am guilty of being a fan of Brad Pit. It's true. I genuinely think he is a great actor.
Fr. Robert Barron mines some spiritual gold out of a recent favorite movie of mine, Moneyball.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ih21RkUwp1Q]
Fr. Barron mines some spiritual gold out of a movie I really enjoyed.
Summary:
The most important thing in a leader is clarity of vision. (Proverbs 29:18) Second is willingness to do what it takes to achieve that end. President Lincoln's one goal was to preserve the union. In every decision he was focused on that goal. "What do you want?" Jesus asks in John 1:37 of the disciples following Him. "Clarity in the spiritual life is indispensable in success in the spiritual life." What do you want? To become a saint, eternal life, salvation, heavenly reward, etc. What is required to achieve this end? We can get off track by being distracted and pulled in too many directions, or by giving up when criticized. We must see clearly what we want, and then have the courage and the willpower to stay on it. How many dioceses or Bishops could answer the question "What do you want [for your Diocese]?" decisively and unambiguously? What is your primary goal for your own personal spiritual life?
In Ministry:
What do you want for your ministry, in one sentence?
Or, what has God revealed as the goal for youth ministry in your specific situation and parish?
If parents/parish staff/pastoral counsel asked you why your ministry exists (what is it you want?), would you be able to answer quickly, succinctly, and in a way that inspires? In one sentence?
