Today is the feast of St. Jerome, the great Scripture scholar, who is best know for his translation of the Bible into Latin as well as his famous saying, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” Those of us who have been involved in Biblical studies often call for his intercession.

However, what is less well-known is that Jerome was probably one of the most abrasive saints in history. When he took up a cause, he used all his formidable talents – including his sharp wit and knack for sarcasm – to defend that cause. Sometimes he even used his talents both for and against a cause. Jerome originally was an energetic defender of Origen, but eventually ended up siding with the anti-Origenist movement; he attacked his opponents ferociously in both cases (some of whom were formally his allies).

His abrasiveness led him into battles with both St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom. He mercilessly mocked one of his closest friends, Rufinus, suggesting that he sounded like a pig when he talked and looked like a turtle when he walked.

So do I think the Church made a mistake when it canonized Jerome? Absolutely not. Too often people believe that saints are sinless men and women, but with the exception of Mary, that is simply not the case. Saints are those who devote their lives to serving Christ in spite of their sins. They do not let their sins drag them down into despair or a false sense of unworthiness; they are the ones who get back up after they have fallen. A saint doesn’t lose his personality when he decides to follow Christ, he instead strives to use it for Christ’s service, and not always perfectly.

If you are frustrated that you have a quick temper or are too impatient with others, say a pray to St. Jerome today – I’m sure he’ll understand and intercede for you.

St. Jerome, pray for us!

I guess I’m on a video kick today. This is a great video of comedian Steve Harvey “introducing” Jesus Christ:

A few great lines:

• “He hails out of a manger in Bethlehem by way of heaven.”
• “He holds the record for the world’s greatest fish fry.”

And my favorite:

• “His mother is still headlining in the Catholic Church today.”

Classic!

And now, a much more useful video:

H/t: Aimee at Historical Christian

A couple of completely useless, but fun, videos for your hump day:

H/t: Justine

H/t: Aggie Catholics

Yesterday my house lost power for seven hours. As someone who works on a computer from home, this had an obvious impact on my schedule. But I was amazed at how much of an impact this had on me – I kept thinking of non-work-related things to do, but I kept realizing I couldn’t do them without power. “I think I’ll pay the bills…oops, that is on the computer.” “I’ll fix that leak in the washer…oops, the washer is in a room in the basement with no windows, so I can’t see what I am doing.” Electricity runs through almost everything I do. If I’m not careful, I may soon end up looking like this.

My experience without power reminded me of a book I read a few years ago, Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology by Eric Brende. A graduate student studying technology’s impact on society, Brende decided to spend a year (with his new wife) living with a strict Amish community which didn’t use any electricity. He chronicles how these people live without what we would consider essentials, and in the end, he decides that in many ways, they are “better off”.

Most people think that the Amish simply reject all technology. This is not the case. The underlying rule for Amish communities is that they do not accept new technology blindly. Instead, as a community they evaluate each new technology and determine if it will have a positive or negative impact on their community. Each Amish community makes this decision on their own, and thus you will have a wide variety of acceptance of technologies between communities. The community Brende joined for a year took a very strict line: no electricity at all. This means no appliances, no telephones, and of course no television or internet. Brende discovers that the absence of many of these modern conveniences actually leads to a strengthening of community bonds. Without a telephone (or email or text messages or facebook, etc.), people were actually more connected to each other, not less. This is because they would spend time in each other’s physical company, instead of just having “drive-by” contact with the people they knew. Furthermore, without entertainment options like televisions to occupy their time, they spent more time doing things with other people for recreation. In other words, they put people above things. (Likewise, without a TV to tell them that they could only be happy as a sex-crazed New Yorker, they were completely content with their choices in life).

I do not necessarily agree with all the specific decisions that Amish communities make in regard to technology – although I strongly support their right to make those choices. But I came away from reading Better Off with the conviction that each family should consciously make their own decisions about what technology they will embrace in their particular situations. We are not all required to have televisions or cell phones or even computers to be happy. None of those things are needed for sainthood, the epitome of happiness. If any technology is hindering our ability to draw closer to God, our family or others, then it simply not worth it. We would be better off without it.

Today is the 70th anniversary of the publication of The Way, one of the best selling spiritual books of the 20th century. Written by St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, it is a compilation of 999 points of reflection which are intended to help in the spiritual life. You can read the entire book online (although I don’t recommend that – print it out or buy it in book format so that you can better reflect on the points).

In 1966, St. Josemaría explained the purpose of the book in an interview:

I wrote a good part of that book in 1934, summarizing my priestly experience for the benefit of all souls with whom I was in contact, whether they were in Opus Dei or not. I never suspected that thirty years later it would be spread so widely – millions of copies, in so many languages. It is not a book solely for members of Opus Dei. It is for everyone, either Christian or not. Among those who have translated it on their own initiative are Orthodox, Protestants, and non-Christians. The Way must be read with at least some supernatural spirit, some interior life and apostolic feeling. It is not a code for the man of action. The aim of the book is to help men become friends of God, to love him and serve all men. In other words, to be an instrument…as Saint Paul the Apostle wanted to be an instrument of Christ – a free and responsible instrument. Anyone who tries to see a temporal goal in the pages of The Way is mistaken. Do not forget it has been common for spiritual authors of every age to see souls as instruments of God.
- May 16, 1966 issue of Le Figaro

Why 999 points? St. Josemaría liked the “theology of mathematics” and he saw the number 9 – three to the third power – as representing the Holy Trinity. In The Furrow, another compilation of spiritual points, he adds point 1,000: “I write this number so that you and I can finish this book with a smile, and so that those blessed readers who out of simplicity or malice sought a cabalistic significance in the 999 points of The Way may rest easy.”

I remember first trying to read The Way a number of years ago and not “getting it.” However, a few years ago I picked it up again and this time it clicked. It has been very helpful to my own spiritual growth and I recommend it highly to anyone who wishes to advance in the spiritual life and thus become a better instrument of God.

St. Josemaría Escrivá, pray for us!

This Wednesday, September 30th, is the first annual “International Blasphemy Day” (caution: the link contains pictures of a blasphemous, albeit childish, nature). Atheists, skeptics and other religion-haters are supposed to utter offensive attacks on religious beliefs on Wednesday. I haven’t quite figured out the point, to be honest.

In many Muslim countries, the response to blasphemy is death. But what should be the Christian response to blasphemy? Get angry, fight back, be offended? As I look at the life of our Lord as well as the lives of the saints, I can think of one word: reparation. When the religious and political authorities 2,000 years ago did the most blasphemous thing possible – mock and beat and kill the Son of God – what was our Lord’s response? He turned their attacks into something to save them. He suffered for the sake of others’ salvation. The saints did the same thing. Time and time again they would offer up their own suffering, whether it was inflicted on them or freely chosen by them, for the sins of others.

One of the beautiful aspects of the Catholic Faith is that we understand that mankind will be saved as a Body. We are not just individual units which only have a direct relation to God without any connection to our fellow man. Instead we are connected to every other person on this earth, and we are called to do things to help in their salvation. One of the best ways to help others is to offer our sufferings for them. As St. Paul writes,

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. (Col. 1:24 – emphasis added)

We are called to make reparation for our own sins as well as the sins of others. I would suggest that this Wednesday we offer our sufferings – however big or little they are – for those who participate in International Blasphemy Day. Let’s make it instead “International Reparation Day,” and pray that those who blaspheme our Lord on Wednesday will one day join us in glorifying Him in heaven.

Thank you to all who prayed for Saturday’s door-to-door evangelization effort. I can’t emphasize enough how appreciative I am.

The effort went well. We had a smaller-than-usual crowd (due to numerous factors) so we were only able to visit about 200 homes. But it was worthwhile. We had a number of stories of positive encounters, and a few instances of real interest. Personally, I met a young father whose family moved to the area about a year ago; they are Catholic but have not been to Mass since they moved here. I understand the intimidation factor involved in going to a new parish, so I made every effort to know that we would love to have him at our parish and that we had a lot of young families there. Hopefully he will overcome his hesitation and start coming – say a prayer for him.

We will never know how our actions on Saturday impacted the people we met, but I feel that we gave the Holy Spirit instruments that He could use as He wills.

Make an effort today to share the Gospel with someone, either in words or in your actions; you could make an eternal difference!

St. Paul, pray for us!

Tomorrow I will be organizing a door-to-door campaign for my parish. It will be our 6th such event, and to date we have visited over 2,000 homes in the local neighborhood. (I posted about our last door-do-door effort here). Our message is simple: if you don’t currently belong to a church, or if you are a fallen-away Catholic, we would love for you to come to our parish. We specifically invite people to our RCIA classes, and let them know that coming to a class is no-obligation.

Please pray that our efforts are fruitful and that we might share the love of Christ with those we meet.

Some possible titles for the video below:

• Origin of “Folk Masses” discovered
• Elvis – the secret founder of the St. Louis Jesuits
• 1970′s Liturgical Training Video unearthed
• Member of Society of St. Pius X watches video, head explodes
• Traditionalists ask: “Will Elvis please leave the building?”
• The Spirit of Vatican II’s first victim
• Baptist church embraces traditional liturgy halfheartedly

H/t: Msgr. Pope

Why is it that when I read this, it makes me think of this?

…because you are too busy staring at the boob tube:

Source.

Reader Glenn comments on my post about the options for people in the Legion if it is disbanded:

This is a bit more complicated. Especially number 4.

When we joined we wanted to be faithful to Christ and the Church. When it all ended, however it happened to end, for some of us the connections were just too tight. All of our heart and soul, and I mean of it, went into this dedication. And the methods of the Legion of Christ reinforced the connection. Vocation to the priesthood was intertwined to such an extent that I know of ex members who left the Legion and did not think twice about leaving the priesthood immediately, since the two were one and the same for them. There is no distinction in the Legion: it was all God’s Will, your vocation, punishable by damnation and sure failure in life if you were not faithful, i.e. were not generous enough.

Besides, what was there that I had not given to Christ IN the Legion? I could not wake up one morning and suddenly find another set of connections. I had POURED my heart and soul into this.

And now those still in would call me unfaithful to my vocation. Well, I was unfaithful to the lie in the end, so I think I am better off. But during it all, I gave it my all.

I think it is high time that everyone understand out there that this is not so easy a question. I am not saying that everyone who leaves the LC leaves that Church. That would not be true. But some do, and the reasons are very solid ones.

Also, in my case, I blame the Church for not protecting me. For allowing this to go on, and allowing me to be manipulated. I know it was just certain people in the Church, certain bishops, cardinals, Vatican officials, and maybe more than one pope, but what does that leave me with? I can only love the Church that I see, and what I have seen has left me sickened. Now-a-days, I see the Church much more in some civil-dressed nun living on her own in the projects helping Christ who she finds in the poor.

You are right: it is more complicated than my post. I was giving the four general options for Legion members, but of course each option encompasses a wide variety of people with diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences. My own experience with former members of the charismatic community I mentioned show that each person responds to such a situation in a unique fashion. But in general, their choices can be narrowed to the four options I gave.

I do not want in any way to diminish the harm caused by the Legion to you and countless others due to the scandalous behavior of its founder (and quite possibly by others in the leadership of the Legion). I try hard not to judge others, but I have to think that our Lord’s statement about millstones will apply to Fr. Maciel and possibly other Legion leaders. The culture that was built up within the Legion quite clearly was spiritually damaging to many souls, and I’m sure the devil has been quite happy with the havoc he has wrecked there.

I also cannot dispute that the Church Universal bears some of the responsibility here. The Legion enjoyed the favor of all levels of the hierarchy for years, and one of the duties of the hierarchy is to protect the sheep in the fold so that such things do not happen. So I think it quite normal – and even justified – that someone who was victimized by the Legion also direct some of their anger at the Church at large.

And yet, for some reason Christ has set up a human institution to be the instrument of our salvation. Yes, it has a divine founding and a certain divine protection, but the Church is also thoroughly human. As such it is as infected by original sin as any of its members are. But this is what our Lord decided would be the thing on which we hitch our eternal salvation on. I think most of us at one time or another wish that our Lord had chosen differently and that he kept the Church more pure and more perfect. But the truth is that the Church is a hospital and even the doctors have the disease. Yet we have a Divine Physician who can heal us in our pain and suffering and the primary medicine he uses is the Sacraments which he has only entrusted to the doctors of the hospital.

If you were in a hospital with a fatal disease and the doctor came in and told you that only he had a medicine that would cure you, would you hesitate to take it if you knew he had the disease as well? No, you would jump at the chance for healing, even if the doctor himself were sick. And all the doctors are sick because this medicine takes time to heal the disease – one is not cured instantaneously – and sometimes even the doctors reject the medicine. But this does not make the medicine ineffectual.

It is only in the Church that we can receive the medicine that will ultimately cure us. Its “doctors” may be terribly flawed and even notoriously sinful men, but the Lord will still use them to dispense his medicine to the sick. When people left Jesus after his declaration of the Real Presence of the Eucharist (John 6:66), our Lord turned to the apostles and asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter responded with what I think are the most beautiful words in Scripture (John 6:68-69),

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus is the only way to heal our pain and suffering, and he has instituted a Church here on earth to dispense his healing medicine. Please do not leave the hospital but join the rest of us sinners in receiving the medicine of immortality, the Eucharist.

Frequently the question is asked, “what can I do to end legalized abortion?” My answer is always, “anything.” Too often in the pro-life movement we have a tendency to think that what we are doing is the best and only way to end legalized abortion, and what other pro-lifers are doing isn’t as effective as our work. Yet this is a temptation from the devil. If you are sidewalk-counseling, running for office, working at a crisis pregnancy center, writing to your congressman, or any other host of things, you are doing the right thing. Legalized abortion is so deeply ingrained in our society that it will take a multi-faceted approach to bring it down.

That being said, I do think there is one activity that is superior to all others, but fortunately, it can easily be done in conjunction with other activities. That activity is prayer and fasting. Those who have fighting legalized abortion for any length of time will tell you that it is primarily a spiritual battle. Our enemy is not pro-abortion politicians or even abortionists. They are victims of our true enemy, which is the Father of Lies, Satan. And Satan cannot be defeated simply by activism alone; he is defeated through the power of Christ. Thus our activism must have a spiritual basis, for legalized abortion is clearly the kind of evil that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting (cf. Mark 9:29).

That is why I am excited about the International Week of Prayer and Fasting, to be held October 2-12, which has as one of its objectives to end abortion. Here are some details:

Organizers of the 17th annual Week of Prayer and Fasting comprise a coalition of Catholic and Christian organizations. They said the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Rosary are “supernatural heavenly weapons to prevent disasters, wars and degeneration.”

The goals of this week of prayer are the conversion of nations, peace and an end to abortion. Its theme is “God’s Plan for Life and Love.” Organizers are asking people to attend the week’s events in Washington, D.C. if possible and also to fast, go to confession, attend daily Mass and offer prayers such as Holy Hours, Rosaries and Divine Mercy Chaplets.

The great thing about such an event is literally everyone can participate. So next week take some time for extra prayer and be sure to involve fasting in your spiritual practices. The mothers and children in danger of being victimized by abortion will thank you for it one day.

Every once in a while I wonder if my decision not to have a TV is preventing me from experiencing quality shows that uplift the spirit and stimulate the mind.

Then I see this:

and after a few convulsions into a barf bag I go back to my blissfully TV-free existence.