It’s pretty much a guarantee that when Stephen Colbert talks about religion you’ll end up with some hilarious (and often incisive) quotes. A few examples from the following video:

“Adam and Eve were Jewish…check under the fig leaf, my friend.”

“Jesus loves to run up the odds. You saw what he did the last time he was here; he let them think he had them on the ropes. Three days later…Boom! He comes back and they clean up at the table.”

Last night I had the fortune of meeting Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter/St. Cyprian church in downtown Washington, D.C., and über-blogger for the Archdiocese of Washington. He was holding a meeting at his parish to plan for a major door-to-door evangelization campaign his parish will be conducting this Fall. I was invited to share my own experiences of going door-to-door. In many ways, I was there to smash the many “myths” that have cropped up around going door-to-door. Here are a few:

1) You will be yelled at and attacked.
I have organized going door-to-door to over 2,000 homes in the past four years, and we only had a single instance of someone yelling at us. The vast majority of people are polite, even if they are not interested. But even if someone did yell at you, why should that stop you? Our Lord told us that we are blessed when people persecute us in his name, so being yelled at while sharing the Gospel is a wonderful blessing.

2) Catholics don’t go door-to-door; only Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses do that.
Quite often people who meet us when we are out evangelizing are shocked to hear we are Catholic. They expect us to be either Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. We have even heard people exclaim “I’ve never seen Catholics evangelize!” What a sad commentary. Our Lord told his followers to go to all the nations preaching the Gospel, so all Catholics are obligated to evangelize in some way – and door-to-door evangelization is a great way to follow Christ’s command. Door-to-door evangelization has gotten a bad name, and this is mostly due to the aggressive tactics of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who often browbeat those they meet in their attempt to make converts. But that does not have to be the only way to go door-to-door. In my experience, Catholics take a much more subdued approach. We go simply to share with others about our parish and the blessings we have received there. We have been given a great gift and we are letting others know about it.

3) I don’t need to go door-to-door; I evangelize without using words.
When people are looking for excuses not to go door-to-door, they often remark that the best evangelization is “without words” and that is how they evangelize so they don’t need to preach with words. I’ve addressed that canard here. It is very important to evangelize with our whole lives, including our actions, but it is a false dichotomy to say that we should only do one method. The assumption of the Christian life is that we evangelize with our actions; we also need to evangelize with words.

4) You have to be outgoing to go door-to-door.
Most people picture the typical door-to-door evangelizer as someone who is bursting with enthusiasm and extroverted to the extreme. I have actually found that the best door-to-door evangelizers are the exact opposite; those who are willing to listen are the most effective at sharing God’s love with others. My wife has a definite gift for door-to-door: very often people will pour out their problems on her as soon as she gets to a door, and she is able to tell them that they will be loved at our Catholic parish.

5) Door-to-door is not effective.
People often cite statistics showing that going door-to-door isn’t really effective and it doesn’t bring people into church. My first response would be to ask why the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are growing so fast then? Also, Jerry Falwell built his megachurch from a tiny congregation by going door-to-door back in the 1950′s. So it can be effective in growing numbers. But the real reason we go door-to-door isn’t to effectively grow our church, it is to be obedient. Christ commanded us to share the Gospel with others, and this is a prime way to do it. And effectiveness can be measured in many ways. I have countless stories of praying with people who are hurting and sharing God’s love with strangers through door-to-door efforts. Furthermore, those who go are energized in their faith and often become better disciples of Christ after going door-to-door. Ultimately, we don’t go door-to-door to get (converts), we go to give (God’s love).

I was very encouraged to see the work Msgr. Pope is doing and the enthusiasm of his parish for evangelization. I hope and pray that more Catholic parishes would recognize the great need to share the Good News with their neighbors who surround them.

I am very fortunate that my extended family and my wife’s extended family live very close together – we can visit almost all our relatives in one trip. Each time we visit, we make a number of trips on I-75 between Cincinnati (where my parents live) and Dayton (where my wife’s mother lives). A landmark on our trip is Solid Rock Church, an Evangelical church notable for its 6-story high statue of Jesus coming out of the ground to proclaim “touchdown!”:

Yes! Notre Dame scores!

The first time we drove by this monstrosity, one of my kids asked, “What is THAT?” In all honesty, I was at a loss for words. I really just wished that this Protestant church had kept to its iconoclast origins.

Well, it appears that God agreed with my negative opinion of this work of “art:”

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

Continue reading…

I think that's the Holy Spirit coming down...

Longtime readers of this blog know about my schizophrenic view of modern technology. On the one hand, I have been deeply involved in technology for over 15 years and I greatly appreciate its many benefits. I blog, I have a facebook page, and I see how technology helps to spread the Gospel in many ways. On the other hand, I recognize that these benefits do not come without a cost: increased access to pornography, a disconnect between people, and increased emphasis on consumption are just a few downsides to new technologies. As Catholics, we are to use technology for divine purposes, but we must be honest about the downsides as well.

One of the biggest potential downsides, and one I think often overlooked, is how use of the Internet changes the way we think. I have noticed in my own life that increased use of the Internet affects my thought processes, making them less focused and more “jittery.” It appears that my experience is not unique:

The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

During the winter of 2007, a UCLA professor of psychiatry named Gary Small recruited six volunteers—three experienced Web surfers and three novices—for a study on brain activity. He gave each a pair of goggles onto which Web pages could be projected. Then he slid his subjects, one by one, into the cylinder of a whole-brain magnetic resonance imager and told them to start searching the Internet. As they used a handheld keypad to Google various preselected topics—the nutritional benefits of chocolate, vacationing in the Galapagos Islands, buying a new car—the MRI scanned their brains for areas of high activation, indicated by increases in blood flow.

The two groups showed marked differences. Brain activity of the experienced surfers was far more extensive than that of the newbies, particularly in areas of the prefrontal cortex associated with problem-solving and decisionmaking. Small then had his subjects read normal blocks of text projected onto their goggles; in this case, scans revealed no significant difference in areas of brain activation between the two groups. The evidence suggested, then, that the distinctive neural pathways of experienced Web users had developed because of their Internet use.

Continue reading…

The gist of this article is that the Web is increasing our brain’s ability to search and collect data, but it is also decreasing its ability to focus and do deep thinking. This is troubling on many levels, but it also could have serious implications for the spiritual life.

A few months ago, I wrote a multi-part series on The Nine Levels of Prayer. The first four levels of prayer are “ascetical prayer,” in which man is the initiator of prayer, not God. These levels include vocal prayer, meditation, affective prayer, and acquired recollection. These levels eventually lead one to the higher levels of prayer, such as contemplation, where the Holy Spirit initiates the prayer and leads the soul closer to God. But to get there, one typically needs to go through ascetical prayer, which means one needs to use his brain for focused, deep thinking. But what happens if the brain, through constant use of the Internet, no longer can do this type of thinking? Will we be able to pray as we ought?

This has not just been theoretical in my own life. Fr. Benedict Groeschel wrote in the Foreword to my book Who is Jesus Christ?:

I suggest that no one read this book quickly, for although it is not lengthy, it contains a great deal of information as well as many opportunities for prayer and meditation.  I also suggest that the reader delve into one chapter at a time, preferably with a copy of the Bible on hand.  Eric Sammons has not written the kind of book you can pick up and put down, simply picking up where you left off at some later time.  He has written instead a careful and thoughtful study that requires the reader to approach it with the same care with which it was written.

Fr. Benedict says that my book is not one to pick up and put down while reading, but it was also not one that I could pick up and put down while writing. I wrote the book originally as personal meditations, and much of it was composed while on retreat at a monastery, and the rest was done at libraries with my cell phone and laptop left at home. Not that I didn’t try to write elsewhere, but whenever I tried to write while sitting at my desk, I was unable to get anywhere: I simply cannot write reflections of any value if I have easy access to email or the Internet – I am too likely to be distracted and lose my focus.

This is one reason why one of my rules for the Internet includes #6: Take at least one day off a week from the Internet. If we are constantly “connected” then we run the risk of being disconnected in the spiritual life. We have to give ourselves the opportunities for focused attention on the Lord through prayer, lectio divina, and other spiritual practices. Otherwise, the focus of our lives will end up being Google, not God.

Back in the 1990′s, some pro-abortion folks suggested that pro-lifers formed a “conspiracy” and thus they needed to use federal racketeering laws to try to stop us. At the time I was active full-time in pro-life work and I found the accusation of “conspiracy” quite funny, as most pro-lifers could never agree on strategy on just about anything. I would joke that if you had ten pro-lifers in the room, that meant you had ten different ideas of the “best” way to combat abortion. I wish there were a conspiracy!

Because of that experience, I try to be supportive of all pro-life activity, whether it be activism, prayer, counseling, or political action. Anything that brings us closer to a society that recognizes the humanity of the unborn child in law and daily life is a good thing. But I admit that I have a soft spot for praying at abortion clinics. To me, nothing is more important than praying the Rosary in front of a place that kills innocent children in the womb. It is like going into the heart of the Enemy’s camp and detonating our most powerful weapon. I can just imagine how the demons who encircle a clinic cringe when they see a Rosary being pulled out.

Summer is a great time to engage in this activity. With children out of school and the weather quite nice, a whole family can take time each week to pray a Rosary in front of an abortion clinic. My own wife takes our children to do this, and it only takes about 20 minutes, but I believe it does a world of good. Consider making this a practice in your own family (or by yourself) this summer.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Today is the last day of the Year of the Priest. If you haven’t been praying for priests all year, then be sure to do so today. If there is anything that the parable of the workers in the vineyard tells us, it is that the Lord doesn’t ignore stragglers!

I have been mightily blessed during my 17+ years as a Catholic with many wonderful priests in my life. I have been a part of three different parishes during that time, and all of them have had great priests assigned to them. My current pastor is awesome, as were his predecessors. I have also been privileged to know many great religious priests, such as Fr. Conrad Osterhaut, C.F.R., and Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P.

But there is one priest I’d like to single out on this final day of the Year of the Priest. His name is Fr. Scott Woods. Back in 2002, he was a newly ordained priest assigned to our parish. He was only 28 years old, and I was there for his first Mass at our parish, two weeks after his ordination. It was obvious he was a bundle of nerves, and his homily was poorly delivered (mostly read, actually). I remember thinking, “well, maybe he has other strengths.” I don’t mind saying this publicly, because in just a few short years he became one of the best preachers I have ever heard. Anyone who thinks Catholic priests can’t preach have never heard Fr. Scott preach – he brings it full throttle every time.

But it is not his preaching that I am most thankful for. He was assigned to my parish during a down time in my spiritual life. After my conversion in the early 1990′s, I was very fervent in living my Catholic faith – attending Mass regularly, praying often, and serving the Church in many ways. But then life hit me: I got married, had kids, and worked a stressful job. And so my spiritual life stagnated, and then faltered. I never stopped practicing the Faith, but there is no question I became something even worse: lukewarm. I was going through the motions and had little love behind those motions. I put up little resistance to persistent sins in my life and did little to exemplify holiness to my family.

Then Fr. Scott was assigned to our parish. A few months later, my wife suggested that we start going to him regularly for confession. It is an indicator of my spiritual slothfulness that my first thought was “I don’t really want our associate pastor knowing how lame I am.” But I relented and we began to schedule monthly confessions with Fr. Scott. These regular meetings became great moments of grace in my life, as Fr. Scott guided me masterfully. He didn’t allow me to despair of my sinfulness, yet pushed me to beg the Lord for the grace to overcome it. He knew when to be tough with me, and when to be merciful. In a very short time I was back on track in my spiritual life – not that I overcame all the sins in my life, but I was now fighting them instead of letting them win by default.

Fr. Scott was at our parish for four years, and I am thankful for every moment he was there. He is now assigned to a parish in Southern Maryland, and I’m sure he is helping many other souls in their spiritual battles. The great thing about the Church is that there are countless “Fr. Scott’s” out there helping souls fight evil and love the Lord. On this final day of the Year of the Priest, thank the Lord for all the great priests in the world and ask Him to continue to send them to us.

My oldest daughter is now 13, and as any parent of a teenager will understand, my thoughts have begun to contemplate college. Well, not college as much as college tuition. The cost of higher education has gone through the roof over the past few decades and it has far outstripped inflation. When I went to college in the early 1990′s, the total annual costs for both room and board for me was less than $5,000. Now that would barely cover your book fees at some places. Some are saying that college expense are in a “bubble” which may soon burst. Whatever the case may be, it is a serious issue for all parents.

As a Catholic parent, there are other factors as well. I don’t have any inclination to help pay for tuition at a state-college which is anti-Catholic in its teachings and campus life. Nor will I send my hard-earned money to a “Catholic” college which thinks the Catholic tradition started in 1968 with the rejection of Humanae Vitae. So I’d prefer to help pay for a college that is authentically Catholic. Yet those colleges are not cheap (I can’t afford to pay the whole tuition), and I don’t want to saddle my children with huge amounts of debt as they go out into the world.

So what is a middle-class Catholic parent to do? I don’t have any answers (I wish I did!), and I think every option has its positives and negatives.

Option 1: Send my child to an authentically Catholic college for four years and allow them to get into significant debt.
The advantage here is that the child gets four years of life in a great incubator for real life. They are away from the home learning how to live on their own, yet are also in an environment that supports living the Catholic Faith. However, if they are in serious debt when they graduate, they add significant stress to their lives which will affect their career, even vocational, choices and their marriages. This should not be taken lightly.

Option 2: Send my child to a community college for two years and then allow them to finish their degree at an authentically Catholic college.
This has the advantage of being significantly less expensive. I know of families who chose this route and their kids were able to completely pay for their first two years on their own through working, and then the parents were able to completely (or almost completely) pay for their final two years. Thus the children were not saddled with excessive debt going into life. But the disadvantage is that they miss much of the “college experience” of living at an authentically Catholic college, and this could have a great impact on how they live their lives as Catholics going forward.

Option 3: Skip college or only go to community college.
To most middle-class Americans, this seems like a terrible decision. But is it? The “value” of college has in many ways been overblown, and as Catholics, we should not be making our decisions based solely on how much mammon we can gather in our lives. There are many solid careers that one can have without a four-year degree, and for the entrepreneurial among us, college might just slow them down. But of course the child would lose many of the benefits of an authentically Catholic college, such as the deep bonds they form with their fellow students that can last a lifetime.

In my own case, I don’t know what we will do. There is a good chance, in fact, that we might do something different for each child, depending on their personality and life goals. But no matter what we choose, I’m going to always remind myself that the most important goal in life is getting into heaven, not Harvard.

Even the pope* of Alexandria:

Egyptian pope rejects ruling letting Copts remarry

The head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church rejected on Tuesday a court ruling that Coptic men could remarry, saying the decision was against the church’s principles and reflected interference in its affairs.

A court upheld a ruling last week that two Coptic men had the right to remarry even though divorced, a move seen as undermining the church’s efforts to maintain authority over Christians in Muslim-majority Egypt.

The court decision was prompted by a rare intervention by Coptic Pope Shenouda who had launched an appeal on behalf of the church to overturn a similar court ruling made in March 2008.

Shenouda and 90 other officials in Egypt’s Orthodox church had signed a document against the verdict, the pope said.

“This statement expresses our rejection of the ruling,” Shenouda told a news conference, showing reporters the document.

Analysts say the ruling challenges the church’s efforts to hold sway over its flock and guard Coptic values in Egypt, where conservative Islamic trends have gained ground.

Christians, mostly Orthodox Copts, make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 78 million people. Many Christians grumble about discrimination, although some Christians have risen to ministerial rank or are top business executives. “We should examine the issue, otherwise it would suggest Copts are exhausted and (can be put) under pressure in their religion,” the pope said, saying he was discussing further legal steps, even though the latest ruling followed a final appeal.

After the ruling last month, Pope Shenouda said the church would still not allow remarriage after divorce, except in cases of separation following adultery. Tuesday’s comments were his most outspoken rejection of the ruling.

“I am announcing that the church respects the law but it does not accept rules except from the bible,” the pope said…

*Traditionally, the head of the Coptic Church has always been called “pope,” a name which means “father.”

Ten years ago yesterday, in a parish about ten minutes from my house, a Catholic priest was murdered in his rectory. The victim of a botched robbery, Msgr. Thomas Wells was a beloved pastor and a dedicated priest. One of Msgr. Wells’ greatest gifts, however, was encouraging priestly vocations; in fact, so many men became priests because of his influence that they came to be known as the “Wells Guys.” I have personally met many of these young priests, and they are all dynamic, orthodox priests who love Christ, love the Church, and love Msgr. Wells.

One of the men who came under his influence was his own nephew, who will be ordained to the priesthood this month:

It has been ten years since the murder of Father Tom Wells, a beloved priest from a huge Catholic family.

Wells, then pastor of Mother Seton Parish in Germantown, was found stabbed to death in the rectory, the result of a robbery-gone-bad.

‘I remember the first thing I thought was, it must’ve been a car accident,” said Dave Wells, Father Tom’s newphew. “I mean, who kills a priest?!”

Robert Lucas was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 42 years in prison.

Thousands turned out for Wells’ funeral, a testament to the many lives touched by one priest. It was a turning point for Dave, then a junior in high school.

“It really struck me at that point, the power of the priesthood, lived well,” Wells said. “It popped in my head, maybe I should think about this–maybe God’s calling me to follow in Tom’s footsteps, in a way, by being a priest.”

And on June 19, the now 27-year-old Dave Wells will be ordained a priest. His first vestment: a gift, in loving memory of his uncle, who was ordained in 1971.

“I think there’s candy in this one, let’s see!” Wells joked.

To his family, Dave’s just a regular guy.

“He didn’t wear a halo over his head,” said Judy Wells, the Dave’s mother. “I mean, I didn’t have a clue. He was just a normal kid who loved baseball.”

And this soon-to-be priest believes the uncle who inspired him–msgr wells–is still guiding him, from above:

“I can see him laughing right now, you know, just with joy,” Dave said. “I do think he’s interceding for me, that he’s kind of with me in a special way.”

One of the most important things to remember about the Christian Faith is that death is not the end of our lives – it is only the means to our final destination. And after death, our work here on earth may not be done, as can be seen by the intercession of the saints. It appears that Msgr. Wells has continued to be busy encouraging vocations since his untimely death ten years ago.

May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

About eight years ago, a good friend of mine knew a great Catholic family that was in the process of adopting a child with special-needs from abroad. They were a solid family who would have no problem financially raising this child. But there was a problem: they were about $2,000 short of the needed funds to complete the adoption. If they did not come up with that money, and fast, the adoption would fall through. This child might never be loved by a family and received into the Catholic Church. So he quickly found a way to raise the $2,000 and donated it to the family. That child has been thriving in his family ever since.

But that got my friend thinking: how often does such an adoption not take place? So he and I and our wives started talking and thus was born Little Flowers Foundation, which exists to assist Catholic families with that final amount they need to complete their adoptions. Since its inception, LFF has helped over 40 children be brought into Catholic homes, where they have been loved and have received the saving sacraments of the Church.

But to continue to do this Little Flowers needs money. We only fund-raise twice a year, and we just sent out our latest fund-raising letter, which you can read here. We have many grant applications we would love to fulfill, but we can only do so if we receive enough money through donations. If you are interested in helping bring children home both physically and spiritually, please donate now. Any amount is helpful and we especially appreciate recurring donations, which can be easily set up via this link. LFF is a 501c(3) organization, so all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Also know that LFF is all volunteer-run, so over 97% of all donations go directly to Catholic families.

Thank you for your support!

One of the great developments in theology in the 20th century, both in Catholic and Orthodox circles, was the rise of “eucharistic ecclesiology.” This is the recognition of the central place of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. Or, in the words of Henri de Lubac, “the Eucharist makes the Church.” Without the Eucharist, there would be no Church (and likewise, without the Church there would be no Eucharist). The Church is not just a gathering of like-minded people for a common cause, it is the mystical Body of Christ, and the Eucharist is the means in which this Body stays united.

But what happens when a Christian body proclaiming itself to be a “church” does not celebrate a valid Eucharist? Is it really a Church? Not according to the Catholic Church. In the language of the Church, it is an “ecclesial communion,” which basically means it is a group of Christians who are united in some fashion and its members – individually – are also connected to the Church in an imperfect way through their baptism. But the organization itself is not a church, per se, because it does not have the unifying element of the Eucharist, nor does the organization itself have a true connection to the Church. This is an important distinction that should not be glossed over, and it has far-ranging implications, especially in the area of ecumenism.

The goal of the Catholic Church in ecumenical talks is that each Christian is in communion with the bishop of Rome. In the case of the Orthodox churches – which are true churches because they have a valid Eucharist – this is pursued on a corporate level. The goal is to unite those Eastern churches – as churches – to the bishop of Rome. But in the case of Protestants, this is not the case. It is impossible to unite their corporate bodies to Rome as churches since they do not celebrate a valid Eucharist. Thus, the ideal is simply to allow these groups to join en masse to the Catholic Church, not as churches, but instead as a large group of individuals.

The case of the Anglicans might appear to be an exception, but it is sadly not. In Pope Benedict’s initiative to bring traditional Anglicans into the Church, he has allowed the set-up of personal ordinariates which would be the corporate structure for convert Anglicans to enter the Church. But it is important to note that their existing ecclesial structure would not be incorporated into the Church, but would instead simply cease to exist. If a large body of traditional Anglicans were to enter the Church, they would formally be entering as individuals, not as a body.

The most important part of what makes us a Church is not the fact that we have the same beliefs or a common goal in life. It is that we celebrate the Eucharist, which is the Body of Christ. Let us pray that all Christians will one day be able to celebrate this great mystery at one altar.

Those familiar with the churches of the East know that many Orthodox churches have an Eastern Catholic counterpart. This usually occurred because at some point in history a segment of that particular Orthodox Church decided to enter into communion with Rome and thus broke away from the larger Orthodox church of which they belonged. These Eastern Catholic churches are quite controversial among many Orthodox, who believe that they are “Trojan horse” churches attempting to lure Orthodox believers into the Catholic fold (in fact, their existence at one point caused the disruption of Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical talks).

But there is an Eastern Catholic church which has no Orthodox counterpart, because it never left communion with Rome: the Maronite Catholic Church. The history of the Lebanese Maronites is a fascinating one. They trace their church to St. Maron, a monk who lived in the 4th century. They vigorously supported the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon at a time when many in the East rejected it and formed their own communions, but due to a variety of reasons, the Maronites ended up going into seclusion in the mountains of Lebanon in the 8th century.

Then, in the 12th century, Latin Crusaders encountered them. Amazingly, they immediately declared that they were in communion with Rome and always had been! Since that time, they have been faithful Catholics, never wavering from their support of the Pope.

This past week while in Cyprus, the current Pope offered them his greetings and his blessing:

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am very pleased to make this visit to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Graces. I thank Archbishop Youssef Soueif for his kind words of welcome on behalf of the Maronite community in Cyprus, and I cordially greet all of you with the words of the Apostle: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:3)!

As I visit this building, in my heart I make a spiritual pilgrimage to every Maronite church of the island. Be assured that, moved by a father’s care, I am close to all the faithful of those ancient communities.

This Cathedral church in some way represents the very long and rich – and sometimes turbulent – history of the Maronite community in Cyprus. Maronites came to these shores at various times throughout the centuries and were often hard-pressed to remain faithful to their distinct Christian heritage. Nevertheless, in spite of their faith being tested like gold in a fire (cf. 1 Pet 1:7), they remained constant in the faith of their fathers, a faith which has now been passed on to you, the Maronite Cypriots of today. I urge you to treasure this great inheritance, this precious gift.

This Cathedral building also reminds us of an important spiritual truth. Saint Peter tells us that we Christians are the living stones which are being “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:4-5). Together with Christians throughout the world, we are part of that great temple which is the Mystical Body of Christ. Our spiritual worship, offered in many tongues, in many places and in a beautiful variety of liturgies, is an expression of the one voice of the People of God, united in praise and thanksgiving to him and in enduring communion with each other. This communion, which we hold so dear, impels us to carry the Good News of our new life in Christ to all mankind.

This is the charge I leave with you today: I pray that your Church, in union with all your pastors and with the Bishop of Rome, may grow in holiness, in fidelity to the Gospel and in love for the Lord and for one another.

Commending you and your families, and especially your beloved children to the intercession of Saint Maron, I willingly impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

The Maronites are a beautiful witness to the Church breathing with both lungs – may they continue to grow and prosper!

Update: I have been informed that the Italo-Albanian church has also never broken communion with Rome. They have a somewhat confusing history, so I was under the impression that they did have a period in which they were out of communion with Rome, but I was mistaken. My apologies!

Over the past few years, Francis Beckwith, the former President of the Evangelical Theological Society who reverted to the Catholic Faith, has popularized the notion of an “Evangelical Catholic.” This is someone who is faithfully Catholic but at the same time embraces many of the good things of Evangelical Protestantism, such as a zeal for evangelizing and a deep love of the Scriptures.

But what exactly does it mean to be an Evangelical Catholic? Fr. Phillip De Vous of the Diocese of Covington, KY has composed “Eight principles of Evangelical Catholicism,” (posted over at Rich Leonardi’s blog Ten Reasons) which are a great summary of Evangelical Catholicism:

Evangelical Catholicism

During the nearly twenty-seven years of his pontificate, John Paul the Great called the Church to the urgent mission of fulfilling the Great Commission in our time, a project he called the New Evangelization. This evangelical summons of John Paul continued the same call given to the Church by Pope Paul VI in the years of and after the Second Vatican Council, and now the same commitment to announcing the timeless truths of the Gospel with new ardor, new methods, and new conviction is being asked of us by Pope Benedict XVI.

By our Baptism we are called to receive the Gospel as a complete, coherent, comprehensive Way of Life and to submit our entire lives in the obedience of faith to the Lord Jesus. Everything about us must be measured and guided by the Gospel: our thoughts, words, actions, bodies, relationships, spending habits, political convictions, leisure activities, lifestyle choices, and business decisions. But this total surrender to Christ and His Gospel is not a restriction of our freedom; in fact, it is the beginning of authentic discipleship and the only path to evangelical liberty. As the Lord Jesus teaches, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31 -32).

Another way of expressing our commitment to the work of the New Evangelization is to say that we must become Evangelical Catholics. By our Baptism, we are called to be men and women of the Gospel who are Christian disciples by conviction rather than Church members by convention. Being Evangelical Catholics requires that we know the Gospel, believe the Gospel, live the Gospel, and share the Gospel with others. Becoming Evangelical Catholics is a lifelong adventure of letting go of cafeteria, casual, and cultural Catholicism by accepting the liberating truth of the Word of God and living by grace through faith in the Son of God.

All Catholics are called by their Baptism to be Evangelical Catholics, which means (in part) living according to these eight principles of Evangelical Catholicism:

1. The Lord Jesus Christ is the crucified and risen Savior of all mankind, and no human person can fully understand his life or find his dignity and destiny apart from a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. It is not enough to know who Jesus is; we must know Jesus.

2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is divine revelation, not human wisdom, and the Gospel is given to us in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition which together constitute a single divine deposit of faith transmitted authentically and authoritatively by the Bishops in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. We must surrender our private judgments in all matters of faith and morals to the sacred teaching authority of the Church’s Magisterium if we are to receive the whole Gospel.

3. The seven Sacraments of the New Covenant are divinely instituted instruments of grace given to the Church as the ordinary means of sanctification for believers. Receiving the Sacraments regularly and worthily is essential to the life of grace, and for this reason, faithful attendance at Sunday Mass every week (serious illness and necessary work aside) and regular Confession of sins are absolutely required for a life of authentic discipleship.

4. Through Word and Sacrament we are drawn by grace into a transforming union with the Lord Jesus, and having been justified by faith we are called to sanctification and equipped by the Holy Spirit for the good works of the new creation. We must, therefore, learn to live as faithful disciples and to reject whatever is contrary to the Gospel, which is the Good News of the Father’s mercy and love revealed in the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

5. The sacred liturgy, through which the seven Sacraments are celebrated and the Hours of praise are prayed, makes present to us the saving mysteries of the Lord Jesus. The liturgy must therefore be celebrated in such a way that the truth of the Gospel, the beauty of sacred music, the dignity of ritual form, the solemnity of divine worship, and the fellowship of the baptized assembled to pray are kept together in organic unity.

6. Receiving the Sacraments without receiving the Gospel leads to superstition rather than living faith, and the Church must therefore take great care to ensure that those who receive the Sacraments also receive the Gospel in its integrity and entirety. Consequently, before Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, and Marriage are administered, there must be in those who request these Sacraments clear evidence of knowledge of the Gospel and a serious intention to live the Christian life.

7. Being a follower of Christ requires moving from being a Church member by convention to a Christian disciple by conviction. This transformation demands that we consciously accept the Gospel as the measure of our entire lives, rather than attempting to measure the Gospel by our experience. Personal knowledge of and devotion to Sacred Scripture is necessary for this transformation to occur through the obedience of faith, and there is no substitute for personal knowledge of the Bible. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

8. All the baptized are sent in the Great Commission to be witnesses of Christ to others and must be equipped by the Church to teach the Gospel in word and deed. An essential dimension of true discipleship is the willingness to invite others to follow the Lord Jesus and the readiness to explain His Gospel.

In short, Catholics should personally know and love Jesus, encounter him in the Sacraments and the Scriptures, serve him faithfully in the Church, and tell others about his great love for us!

There is a great interview over at Zenit with a man who grew up in the Soviet Union as a communist, ended up becoming Catholic, and now is a priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church:

Raised in the communist Soviet Union, Yurko Kolasa knew nothing of the Catholic faith until he was well into his teens. Once the Greek-Catholic Church went from an underground following to being an openly practiced and respected religion in Ukraine, this future priest’s whole world opened up.

Today, Father Kolasa is the prefect of the training program for priests, seminarians and religious, at the International Theological Institute in Vienna. He is also a married priest of the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and a father of four.

He also tells of the marriage preparation program he developed, how it has positively impacted the marriage success rate in Ukraine and is quickly becoming the proto-type for marriage preparation programs throughout various dioceses in Eastern Europe.

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May God continue to bless Fr. Kolasa in all he does!

I have always been fascinated by the topic of the development of Christian doctrine. Not long ago, I wrote a post about the New Testament foundations for this concept. But typically when one speaks of the “development of doctrine,” he is referring to its development throughout church history after the end of public revelation. But what about before the death of the last apostle? Is there development of doctrine within the New Testament? Michael Liccione over at Sacramentum Vitae addresses this question:

To some theologians–mostly modern biblical theologians–the answer is obviously yes. See, e.g., the late Raymond E. Brown’s Biblical Exegesis and Church Doctrine, a fairly middle-of-the-road view of the matter by a pre-eminent Catholic scholar. To others, the answer is equally obviously no. In their view, the New Testament records divine revelation, so that even if revelation itself was progressive during the time recorded in the NT, the very category of development of doctrine is simply inapplicable to the Bible. Rather than rehash that impasse, though, I’d suggest this: assuming that the Bible records, in written form, the unfolding of the definitive events of divine revelation to humanity, the pattern of that unfolding tells us a lot about how we, as church and as individuals, come to understand it more fully over time. And the means by which the Church comes to state her understanding achieved over time just is development of doctrine.

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Personally, I have always been more skeptical of claims of development within the NT than I am of claims outside it. I have a number of reasons for this:

1) The time frame. Within the NT, we have a time frame at most of about 60-70 years. Usually when one speaks of the development of doctrine, he is discussing centuries, not decades. As Pope Benedict has pointed out, it is a false assumption to say that what comes later always must be more developed than what comes before, especially regarding such short time frames. Was St. Clement of Rome more developed than St. Paul? Was St. Ignatius of Antioch more developed than St. John the Apostle? Within a century you often have lights who shine much brighter than their contemporaries, and of whom it takes a long time to digest and understand fully.

2) Document dating. As much as biblical scholars state confidently the dating of the NT documents, the truth is that we really don’t know exactly when they were written. We can make educated guesses, but we can’t know with absolute assurance the order in which they were written. So how can we know how they developed? In fact, most scholars assume doctrinal development to establish dates, which means we have a circular argument: “Document A came after document B because it is more developed, and we know that development occurred because document A came after document B.” Not exactly a strong foundation for this theory.

3) Inspiration. Unique among all Christian documents, the writings of the New Testament are inspired by the Holy Spirit. This does not automatically preclude the concept of development within the texts, but it should give one pause. All of Salvation History does show a slow revealing of God’s revelation, but in the case of the New Testament, we are talking about a special, condensed time of public revelation in which the Word revealed himself to the apostles and the apostles then preached that Word to the world.

With all the above being said, I’m not totally against any idea of doctrinal development within the New Testament. But I would hesitate to put too much importance on any theory that was completely dependent upon NT development.