You are such a geek... » catholic

We are all one body…

Nick — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:35:07 +0000

One of the most enjoyable activities for me is to simply sit an airport. The cross section of society is laid in front of you to sample and review. After a few minutes of sampling the room, I find myself asking “Do I do that?”

God truly implants into our hearts the ability to see past the skin and on to the light within us all. That warm fuzzy feeling you get when you meet someone for the first time or the tremble in your hand as you meet a shaddy character. We have an uncanny ability to sense the nature of someone in the simpliest of forms without knowing them. It is through experinces and life that we become simply the human lithmus test of character.

So what does it say about me sitting here in this airport when I can see a little bit of me in all of them? My gut reaction when looking at the trophy wife sitting across from me is that she is naive and superficial but when I review it closer what I see is emptiness. Why is it that I can relate entirely with her emptiness and vanity in one small moment? Seeing the young geeky kid writing away on his moleskin appears at first glance to be sterotypical. His pale white skin shines against the all black he wears and I can’t help but think to myself that he must be deep in thought. I remember being the geeky kid armed with pen and pad writing away my memories and dreams. In the years since those days in the lunch hall I would love to imagine I have changed, possibly. My exterior has certainely changed but here I am typing away my memories and dreams.

Theologically we are all One Body of Christ. I know that within my soul there is a piece of them all. What we sometimes forget is that within that body there is a more than a person. In our inability to comprehend the true meaning of the Gospel we mask the words in humanity. Maybe seeing our traits and characters in others is the true display of that Body of Christ. It isn’t my ears or eyes that make up the body but rather my joy. Well, I hope it is my joy.

The geeky kid a few rows over is looking at me as he writes, gently hiding his eyes as I find him staring. I wonder if he is sitting there seeing part of himself in me. I wonder what part of him he sees.

Whoops!

Nick — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:42:56 +0000

So 17 hours AFTER she had no brain activity she woke backup. In our society one hour is good enough to pull the plug. There is such a campain against life. I wonder how many more we pulled the plug on?

Voting Catholic

Nick — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:11:06 +0000

My family and I had a discussion last night that really sparked my synaptic in the old head. The current ream of candidates just doesn’t allow for a Catholic to vote in accordance with our values. One one side of the aisle you have a pro-abortion, anti-marriage, pro-euthanasia group that values welfare. Hop and skip to the other side and there you have a pro-torture, pro-war, pro-spending (as of late) conglomerate. If we lay out the Catholic Values of peace and goodwill to man it is getting really hard to vote. I can only speak for myself, but it comes down to what is more important. Is it more important that the unborn live or that the millions of people caught-up in Nation Building do not die. Why am I forced in America to review the sanctity of life on a global perspective? How sad has politics become when rather than discussing such issues as these we get caught up with 400 dollar haircuts, crazy pastors, or dodging make believe bullets?

I disagree with holding your nose and voting. That is why this year I voted for Ron Paul. Did I agree with Paul on all counts? Nope, not even a little bit. What I wanted the current society to see is that there is a group of us out there who are not happy with things the way they are. My subset (Catholic Minded Votes) has no voice in the current political market. I am glad that the Church does not get involved with politics and does not endorse politicians but I wish someone would step forward with a Knights of Columbus pin on their lapel.

What are we to do? It seems that voting with your nose plugged simply allows politicians to continue with the current trends. Why would they change their ways if you as a voter continue to support the paradigm of lesser evils. It is my recommendation that we vote for a true politician that supports us. The argument that the democrats or republicans will win depending on your leanings doesn’t matter. Can you tell the difference between the two? What does it matter if Obama or McCain wins? Outcome is the same…

Confirmation

Nick — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:30:05 +0000

Catholics believe that Baptism is the washing away of original sin and not the acceptance of the Holy Spirit. This confuses a lot of Protestant Brothers and Sisters for two reasons:

We believe in Infant Baptism
Confirmation

Imagine my surprise from today’s Liturgy (Readings):

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

The bold is my emphasis, but I really wanted to focus in on that line. So a little background on Confirmation is that the Bishop (apostolic line, shepherd, etc) comes to the parish and lays hands on the confirmation candidates. It is very beautiful and stems from this very scripture from Acts 5:14-17. This is where a big part of confusion comes from when we baptize our infants. Baptism to a Catholic is simply washing away of the sin Adam and Eve left us. We are not expecting at that moment that the infant has accepted Christ, rather we are welcoming this child to the Body of Christ. At a Catholic Baptism the congregation raises a hand and promises to help raise this child in the fullness of the faith.

As scripture directs, a child will grow up being taught the faith. When they are old enough to be “born of water and Spirit,” they can receive their marching orders. It is at the time a young adult is confirmed that they are saying (or confirming) that they truly believe the teachings of Christ and the Church. Nifty eh?

I hope this clears up something, had to share after reading it.

The Scientist and the Eye Ball

Nick — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:29:48 +0000

I am reading through Theology of the Body again after many of times. I now use it more as reference material than actual reading, but tonight I started Chris West’s review. This is a review rather than the 129 lectures John Paul the Great gave.

The tidbit that jumped out at me tonight was about Genesis. The discussion of if it was a scientific recount of creation or not is irrelevant:

Consider the difference for a woman when her optometrist looks in her eyes and when her husband looks in her eyes. The scientist is looking at her cornea and records the scientific facts. The love is looking into her soul and proclaims something more poetic and inspired. Does the scientist disprove the lover? No. These are simply two perspectives on the same reality. The author of Genesis wasn’t a scientist, but a lover inspired by God to proclaim the spiritual mysteries at the origin of the world.

Did you brain just explode? Mine did just typing it :)

Wonderful Pope Pius XI

Nick — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:52:09 +0000

“If the man is the head, the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place of love.” AWESOME! Brings great hope to us analytical thinkers that have trouble finding our hearts at times, let alone using them…

The Three Non-Negotiables

Nick — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:11:19 +0000

As a Catholic Man I am called to vote based on the faith and not of the world. The Pope while addressing the European People’s Party laid out 3 points. What I love abut the Church is that at no point does the Church endorse a candidate for any election. Sometimes a Parish Priest will jump into the fray but the Church as a whole, never. That is how the Church weathered 2000 years of politicians, civiliazations, and society changes. Here are the 3 non-negotiable:

Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death.
Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family – as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage – and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role.
The protection of the right of parents to educate their children.

Lest we forget…

Nick — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:08:36 +0000

Sometimes I think we loose sight of what God made all this for. I find it funny when people envision God sitting on high making things for himself to look at. We aren’t his lego set positioned nicely in the living room Cairo cabinet.

With that in mind, today’s Gospel really firms that up. Jesus reminds everyone that the Man isn’t for the Sabbath, the Sabbath is for Man. Not only does this apply to our viewpoints of God, but also reminds me of worship. I have been to and lead Mass schedules that were Man for the Sabbath.

Before I get sound sacreligious, the Mass is always Litrugically correct. Sometimes though we get caught up on the appearance or sound of Mass. Today’s reading reminds us that there is one over riding requirement, Christ and Man. When we sit in Mass this coming Sunday, lest us not forget that it is okay when the candle goes out or the lector misses a sentence. Don’t get caught up on the appearance of Mass but rather that the Mass is for us.

Today’s Gospel

Absolution

Nick — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:43:54 +0000

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. R/. Amen.

Water

Nick — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:10:16 +0000

I ran my hand through the water on the banks of the pond that day. As I sat under the golden crisp light beaming down on me, I knew the time was not for decision making but rather reaction. Just as my hand ran through the water and out my fingers as it pulled from the wake, so too are you my Love. No matter how many hours I sit on the banks of the soggy pond, the water will forever slip. I find myself wondering if there is any hope for my fingers to hold on to what is so obviously wishing to flow away…will the water turn into the dirt I could once grip onto?

I am not sure at what point the consistency of this matter changed. I try my best on the edge of the water that afternoon to grasp onto the exact moment I lost the ability to pull the water up. I spent some of this day pushing my fingers together to form a cup, attempting my best to pull little bits up at a time. Noticing that this action only slightly succeeded, I knelt down with my knees dipped into the water and cupped both my hands together. I scooped all the water my 2 hands could hold and brought it to my dry lips.

The water was bitter in taste but I was thirsting for it. In rapid succession I brought more and more water to my arid tongue and drank. I drank as a man lost in the desert coming to the well would. Unlike the drifting soul across the sands of time, my thirst would not be quenched. Although I thought the water was mine to have I realized that no matter the attempts, my thirst prevailed. What I realized was that it wasn’t my lacking ability to grab onto the water, but rather the waters inability to quench my thirst. What has changed?

Just weeks ago this water was my Eucharist, my sacrament of life. I was the groom of Cana drenched in the delight of my fine wine being served as guests readied to leave. What has made this water into the filthy substance it is? Where is my mother to beg of its conversion? Where is my salvation to bring me the true blood my soul requires? Come to me….

The day at the pond proved to be a feeble attempt for my rescue of you. It was my last good attempt to take my own little bit of water back to the house. What I found out that day was that the pond would forever hold the liquid of life, I would never again have the chance to drink of it. You will forever be the gleam of that brisk orange light out the back window of my house. There in memory but never in taste.