Metropolitan Jonah, Archbishop of Washington of the Orthodox Church in America, recently gave a talk on importance of Christian asceticism in our modern consumerist society. It is a bit long, but I recommend that you print it out and read it in its entirety:

Among other things, living our life in Christ requires that we grasp the spiritual significance of two opposing forces with us:

1. The flesh vs. the body
2. The world vs. creation

In the current social context, and so for this evening’s conversation, let me please add another set of opposing movements in the human heart:

1. Consumerism vs. worship

Following traditional Orthodox (and orthodox) theology, the first of these terms—the flesh, the world and consumerism—refer to humanity in rebellion against God. Even when we refer to “the world” we are referring to how creation has become disordered by human sinfulness. Because of Adam’s sin and mine, my body, the creation and the works of my hands have all become estranged from God. Not only that, they have also become sources for my estrangement. As we have become estranged from God, oblivious to God, the body, created matter and the works of our hands, have become idols. They become the means of endless distraction from the reality of God, of communion with one another, and from both life and death.

Thus the tragic paradox of the fall, the great tragedy of human sinfulness is this: the gifts of God have become distorted. Rather than drawing us closer to Him and to each other, we misuse the good things of God to our own harm, spiritually, morally, psychologically, socially and physically.

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You can also download a PDF of the talk here.

Almost two years ago I wrote a post about the “good fruit” argument: that almost knee-jerk reaction that followers of a person or movement trot out whenever their hero is associated with illicit behavior – “look at all the good fruit he has produced! Didn’t Jesus say, ‘by your fruits you shall know them’? So he must be legitimate!” We saw this argument with Fr. Maciel, we still see it with Medjugorje, and now we see it with Fr. Corapi. Thus, I thought it fitting to just re-run that post here, with a few comments thrown in that address Corapi’s situation in red:

Often when there is debate within the Church about some controversial movement or vision or person, defenders will trot out the positive “fruits” as a definitive proof that the phenomenon is legitimate and from God. For example, those who believe that the Virgin Mary is appearing in Medjugorje will note all the good fruit – conversions, increased prayer, return to the sacraments – as proof positive that it is not a hoax or delusion or something man-made. In this article, the author advocates rejecting the legitimate authority Christ has instituted – the local bishop – based solely on the fact that “the fruits, as many have said, are undeniable.”

Likewise, defenders of the Legion of Christ, founded by the fraud Fr. Marcial Maciel, note all the good fruit that the Legion has produced – thousands of priests, support of Catholic orthodoxy – as proof that even if Maciel was a deceiver, the order he founded and which is largely based on his personality is still legitimate.

[In the case of Fr. Corapi, we have a priest abandon his priesthood simply on the fear that the investigation would be biased, yet many of his 'fans' act like this fear is reason enough to abandon sacred vows].

The Scriptural support for such defenders is of course Christ’s words in Matthew 7:15-20:

¹⁵“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s [or sheepdog's] clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

So what should we make of these arguments? Most people take one of two views:

1) Deny that there is any good fruit. I think this is a mistake in the case of both Medjugorje and the Legion. The evidence is simply overwhelming. I myself became Catholic partially through the influence of Medjugorje and I know many faithful Catholics who have deepened their faith through their associated with the Legion of Christ. It is unquestionable that these phenomenon have produced good fruit. [Likewise with Fr. Corapi's ministry].

2) Deny that there is any bad fruit. Again, in both the case of Medjugorje and the Legion, there are documented cases of “bad fruit.” A priest closely associated with the Medjugorje seers has been defrocked, many followers of the visions are openly advocating disobedience to legitimate authority, and there have been cases of theological errors in some of the messages from “Mary.” Likewise, the “bad fruit” from Fr. Maciel should be obvious, as news of his double life has been leaking out for months now. It is clear that these two phenomenon are not immaculate. [And in the case of Fr. Corapi, the "bad fruit" is the actions of Corapi himself over the past few months].

I think the problem is that people are using the wrong biblical passage to evaluate these events. We should not look to the “good fruit/bad fruit” passage, but instead listen to Christ’s words about the wheat and the weeds found in Matthew 13:24-30:

²⁴Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸” ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “

In this passage, Jesus makes it clear that things will not be clear-cut on this side of heaven. Both the wheat and the weeds will grow together and we must wait until the harvest – the return of Christ – to have them separated. Thus, God can work good out of even bad situations (and, likewise, the devil can work evil out of good situations). We cannot simply assume a phenomenon like Medjugorje or the Legion is completely evil because of the evil associated with it, nor can we assume it is 100% from God because good has come out of it. As Scripture says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28); in other words, God is not afraid to use ANY situation or person to work out His holy will – even if the situation or person is against God themselves. [In other words, even if Fr. Corapi happened to be a scoundrel, that does not mean that people could not have been converted to the Church through his preaching].

This might sound quite confusing for the average Catholic – how are we supposed to evaluate these phenomenon which have both good and evil associated with them? Fortunately, we have the magisterium of the Church to guide us; it is their job – guided by the Holy Spirit – to weigh both the good and bad associated with these phenomenon and determine if it is something that is fundamentally good with some “bad apples” or if it is something that should be rejected by Catholics because the weeds are so strong that they ultimately choke out the wheat. In both the case of Medjugorje and the Legion, this is exactly what the magisterium is doing now, and we would do well to listen and follow their guidance. [Of course, in the case of Fr. Corapi, he has taken the matter out of the Church's hands by quitting the priesthood. But the fact that he has removed himself from that process and publicly denounced the bishop of Corpus Christi before that bishop even had a chance to actually conduct the investigation is a sure sign of at least partial rejection of Church authority].

[End post]

I will close with a final thought that I keep coming back to when considering Fr. Corapi’s recent actions:

A priest offering a single Mass, even a private one, is of infinite more value than all the talks and sermons that have been, or ever will be, given.

In honor of Trinity Sunday, I want to share with you one of the best – and definitely funniest – videos about St. Patrick. The scene where he compares the Trinity to a shamrock is particularly funny:

The latest issue of OSV Newsweekly includes an article I wrote in which I review five books which are intended to help Catholics participate more fully in the Mass:

What’s a surefire way to start a heated discussion among practicing Catholics? Make a comment about the Mass — about the music, the prayers, the homily … or just about any part of the Mass — and you’ll be sure to stir up strong opinions and vigorous debate.

Although such arguments can sometimes denigrate into uncharitable attacks, it is natural that Catholics feel passionate about the Mass; after all, according to the Second Vatican Council, it is the “source and summit” of our lives as Christians. It is both the source of the graces we receive and the summit of the Christian life. It is, quite literally, the most important thing that we can do in this world, and it prepares us for our life in the next world. The Mass is worth feeling passionate about.

These passions are sure to come to the fore again soon as the Church prepares for a new English translation of the Roman Missal, to go into effect Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent. The new translation is more faithful to the original Latin as well as to the biblical sources of the Mass. But, as with any change, it is sure to cause frustrations and even some ill feelings.

As Catholics, we should always take a step back and remind ourselves of the fundamental importance of the Mass, which transcends debates over translations, music and homiletics. Fortunately, a number of books have been published recently that intend to refocus our attention on the Mass and its place in the authentically Catholic life.

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A recurring theme of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI is the need for Catholics – all Catholics – to evangelize. In many ways, BXVI is almost sounding like a broken record with his repeated calls for the Church to evangelize the world (for you young people out there, a “record” is the way we used to listen to music thousands of years ago, and if it was broken, then it would repeat over and over). Most recently, the Holy Father stated,

The Church, each one of us, must bring the world the good news that Jesus is Lord, the One in Whom God’s closeness and love for each man and woman became flesh.

Yesterday on my radio show Catholic Matters we interviewed Fr. James Brent, O.P., and he discussed the stages of conversion, and part of our discussion focused on how we can help others move to conversion. In other words, how we can evangelize. Fr. Brent gave three main activities we can do to help our loved ones come to conversion:

1) Pray for others – and especially have Masses said for the conversion of others
Everything we do must be founded in prayer, and if we don’t pray, all our activities are worthless. But Fr. Brent especially emphasized the importance of having Masses said for our loved one’s conversion. Mass is the “secret weapon” we Catholics have, and when a Mass is said for the conversion of someone, it has a powerful impact in his life. So pray unceasingly for those outside the Church, and especially ask that Mass be offered for their conversion.

2) Tell others about your Faith, and speak the name of Jesus
I’ve mentioned before how many Catholics overemphasize the importance of deeds over words in the process of evangelization, and Fr. Brent also noted that we are all called to tell others – with words – about the saving power of Christ. Anyone can do this – you don’t need a Theology degree or be ordained to do so. There are two primary ways we can evangelize with words: (1) tell others about what Christ has done in our lives, i.e. give our personal testimony; and (2) speak the name of Jesus.

Fr. Brent mentioned that when Catholics gather, we often talk about the Church, but rarely talk about Christ. The Church, however, is the means by which we are to draw closer to the Lord – Christ is the ultimate end to which we are reaching. And his name is powerful: throughout Church history, saints have recognized the incredible power which invoking the name of Jesus has. Do not be afraid to proclaim the name of Jesus in your everyday conversations – you’ll be surprised what happens.

3) Witness to the Gospel with your deeds
Just because many overemphasize the importance of deeds over words doesn’t mean deeds are not important. In fact, our words will have little impact if we don’t back them up with our lives. We must constantly strive for holiness and beg for the graces to become saints. By doing so, we witness to the great joy and peace that comes from following Christ, which will lead others to inquire as to how they too can obtain that joy and peace (which then leads to using words…)

Pope Benedict is practically begging the Church to evangelize, and by virtue of our baptism, we have both the obligation and the grace to follow this call.

News broke this weekend that Episcopal-turned-Catholic priest Al Kimel, who used to run the blog Pontifications, was to be received into the Orthodox Church on Pentecost Sunday. Fr. Kimel gained blogging fame a few years ago when he detailed his journey into the Catholic Church after 25 years as an Episcopal priest. Now he has left the Catholic Church to become Orthodox. In some ways this parallels the path of well-known blogger Rod Dreher, who converted to Catholicism in the 1990’s, then became Orthodox a few years ago.

Whenever someone converts to Catholicism after seriously practicing his previous faith, there is among Catholics a great rejoicing. We are happy that the convert has accepted the fullness of the Christian Faith and become mystically united with us in the Eucharist. We are confirmed in our own beliefs because usually these converts only come into the Church after much soul-searching, intellectual study and deep prayer.

However, how should we react when the same convert – who clearly knows and loves the Christian Faith – later leaves the Catholic Church? How do we handle the “double-convert”? This is a much more awkward time, and often one does not know how to react to it. Here are a few reactions one will encounter, each of which I would consider deficient:

1) Disparage the intellect or the emotional make-up of the double-convert.
This is the most common reaction in the blogosphere. People will call the double-convert’s reasons “worthless” or “intellectually bankrupt” or claim that the person is emotionally unstable. Unfortunately, this works both ways – if the person is emotionally unstable now, who is to say he wasn’t unstable when he converted to Catholicism? If his reasons are worthless for becoming Orthodox, why were they not so when he became Catholic? People convert for a wide variety of reasons, and no one can ever know ALL the factors that go into a conversion. The fact remains that some emotionally stable, intellectually capable people leave the Catholic Church. We may not like that fact, but it is dishonest to deny it.

2) Strongly imply (or explicitly state) that the double-convert is going to hell.
You’ll sometimes see Catholics in this situation quote a Church document that states that one who leaves the Catholic Church is doomed to damnation and leave it at that. Yes, it is true that one who knowingly and with full consent leaves the communion of the Catholic Church cannot be saved (Lumen Gentium 14). However, simply quoting  Lumen Gentium or Pope Boniface VIII does nothing to help bring reconciliation. We can (and should) acknowledge the seriousness of leaving the Church, but we cannot make a judgement on the soul of another person. We do not know their understanding of the Faith, nor the state of their heart when they decided to leave the Catholic Church – only God can judge them. Catholic moral teaching as always stated that one must give full consent of the will and have full understanding of one’s actions in order to commit mortal sin – and only God can know when this occurs. We are obliged to acknowledge the grave seriousness of leaving the Catholic Church, but must do so without declaring the certain damnation of those who do leave.

3) Act like leaving is no big deal.
On the opposite end of the spectrum of those who damn the double-convert to hell are those who minimize the importance of leaving the Catholic Church. “Well, he is following his heart”. Or, “I understand why he left and God will surely be with him in his new church”. The problem of minimizing someone leaving the visible bounds of the Catholic Church is that it leads to a false irenicism which considers the Catholic Church just one of many legitimate Christian denominations. But as Catholics we must acknowledge the uniqueness of the Catholic Church: even though the Orthodox Churches and many Protestants are united in some (deficient) way with the Catholic Church, it is only in the Catholic Church that Christ’s Church subsists. We do not want anyone to leave the Catholic Church for any reason, for we know the Catholic Church, although made up of sinful human beings, is the best and fullest way to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

So how should we react whenever someone leaves the Catholic Church? In these situations Catholics should be filled with humility. First, because we must acknowledge that the sins of Catholics – including our own – help drive people away from Catholicism. We must strive every day for holiness so that we are never even a remote cause of another person leaving the Catholic fold. Second, because we realize that it is only by the grace of God that we are Catholics ourselves. Whether we were baptized Catholic as an infant, or converted later in life, it is a gift of God that allows us to be Catholic – it is not in any way a merit of our own doing. And it is with this humility that we approach the double-convert: praying for his soul and encouraging him to join us in drawing closer every day to our Lord.

Kevin Lowry is a convert to the Catholic Church and the COO of the Coming Home Network. Kevin has a book coming out next year from Our Sunday Visitor on the topic of becoming a saint through work, and he has just started a blog:

Grateful Convert Blog

Kevin is a great guy with some good insights and everyone should check out his blog – it will be worthwhile!

The cause for canonization for the priest who established Opus Dei in the United States has been opened:

Fr. Joseph Muzquiz

The Archdiocese of Boston has opened the cause for canonization of Father Joseph Muzquiz, a priest of Opus Dei who established the personal prelature in the United States and worked for many years in the greater Boston area.

Some 150 people, many of whom are local members of Opus Dei, gathered June 2 at the archdiocese’s pastoral center for the formal opening of Father Muzquiz’s cause, reports The Pilot newspaper of the archdiocese.

“All Christians are called to be saints and we are deeply grateful that the Archdiocese of Boston is undertaking this effort to see whether Father Joseph Muzquiz indeed truly lived a holy life,” said Opus Dei spokesman Brian Finnerty.

Father Muzquiz was born in Spain in 1912. He joined the Nationalist army during the Spanish Civil War after his city was taken over by Nationalist forces. In 1941, he was admitted to Opus Dei.

Father Muzquiz was one of the first three men ordained as priests for Opus Dei and helped start Opus Dei not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Japan and Venezuela. During the 1960s and 1970s he worked in Europe and pressed for the canonization of the order’s founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer.

He returned to the United States in 1981, and remained in the country until his death in 1983.

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If you are interested in the life of Fr. Muzquiz, I would highly recommend his biography Putting Down Roots by John Coverdale. It is an amazing story of faith and perseverance!

In today’s first reading, St. Paul makes this bold declaration:

But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God. (Acts 20:25-27 – emphasis added).

What a liberating feeling Paul must have had: knowing that his life was soon to be at an end, he was confident that he had proclaimed the “entire plan of God” to those entrusted to him. He had no regrets, for he knew that the job given to him had been fulfilled.

Recently, the blogosphere was abuzz about the five biggest regrets of the dying. They were poignant, and were cause for reflection. However, I think as followers of Christ our potential regrets will be a bit different from the rest of the world:

Regret #1: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Christian Regret #1: I wish I would have asked for the courage to live a life true to God’s calling, not the life others – or I – expected of me.

Regret #2: I wish I didn’t work so hard.
Christian Regret #2: I wish I worked harder to further God’s kingdom – in my life, in my family’s life, and in the life of all those around me.

Regret #3: I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Christian Regret #3: I wish I would have asked for the courage to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to others.

Regret #4: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Christian Regret #4: I wish I would have helped my friends draw closer to God.

Regret #5: I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Christian Regret #5: I wish that I had found more joy in living as a child of God.

When we are nearing death, are we going to be as regret-free as St. Paul? We are all called to be saints – will we be able to look back on our life and say that we did all we could to fulfill this calling? We are all entrusted with the task of sharing our faith with those we come into contact with – can we look back and say  that we have always done so?

It is never too late to start. St. Paul could live regret-free even though he was once the great persecutor of the Church, because he knew that he could proclaim with all sincerity, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). No matter how poorly we have lived our faith up until now, we can begin again and live regret-free from now on. We just need to ask for the grace to do so and work to participate in that grace to the best of our ability.

St. Luke’s (formerly Episcopal, soon to be Catholic) parish!

Praise God and may many more follow your lead!

Today has been officially declared “Catholic Blogger Complaint Thursday.” As we all know, today used to be known as Ascension Thursday, but that has been moved to Sunday to allow Catholic bloggers a day to complain about the state of the Church. So we can now distinguish today from every other day, which are considered unofficial Catholic Blogger Complaint Days.

Excuse me, Lord, there is some debate down here about when you should ascend. Could you hold on while we determine if today or Sunday is best for us?

In the Catholic blogosphere, no one seems to like the fact that the celebration of the Ascension has been moved from its traditional date 40 days after Easter (when, you know, it actually happened) to the following Sunday. And to be honest, I don’t like it either. I realize that the intentions behind the move are quite sincere and well-meaning: people were afraid that celebrating the Ascension on a business work day would cause too many people to miss Mass on this important day, and so moving it to Sunday would allow more Catholics to actually celebrate it. But I think this was short-sighted and in the end actually causes more people to miss celebrating the Ascension because they are not going to Mass on either Thursday or Sunday. What do I mean by that?

Making a day like Ascension Thursday a holy day of obligation sets apart Catholics from the rest of the culture. While I do believe that Catholics are to be immersed in society in many ways, we also need to have a strong Catholic identity so that we don’t drown in the prevalent culture. There has always been a thin line balancing our need to be part of the culture yet separate from it. The early Christian Diognetus wrote,

Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign

Yet he followed this description with the following:

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.

In other words, Catholics are to naturally blend into society, but, simply by virtue of following Christ, they will form a Catholic identity which will cause them to sometimes not “fit in” to the greater culture.

And having a specific Catholic identity is a powerful evangelization tool. When a Catholic must rework their schedule on Ascension Thursday to make it to Mass, he sends a message both to those around him and to himself: there is more to this world than work and priming the economical engine. And we see a perfect example of the power of Catholic identity each year on Ash Wednesday: although it is not a holy day of obligation, more Catholics attend Mass that day than some other actual obliged days. I remember my first Ash Wednesday after I began my professional career. I went to Mass early in the morning, so I had my ashes on my forehead for the whole day. Most of the morning, non-Catholics would do double-takes but did not say anything. Catholics in the office, however, would see me and say, “I forgot it was Ash Wednesday! I need to go to Mass at lunchtime!” They were reminded of their Catholic identity and decided to make an effort to stay connected to the Church. Simply going to Mass on a day other than Sunday drew others to do the same.

I think a similar thing would happen on Ascension Thursday. When you tell your co-workers that you have to go to Mass at lunchtime, it sends a signal of your life’s priorities. This opens you up for conversations and inquiries about your Faith, which can lead others to it.

I have an exciting announcement to make: I have taken a job as the Director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Venice, Florida! My family will be moving down to Florida in early August to begin the job.

As regular readers of my blog will know, over 17 years ago I began the Master’s in Theology program at Franciscan University of Steubenville. My original plan was to find full-time work in the Church or an apostolate. Of course, life intervened and I had to put my studies on hold. So for the past 15 years I have worked in software development and raised my family. However, I never lost my desire to serve the Church full-time. For the past few years I have been doing much “part-time” apostolate: writing books and articles, hosting this blog, running the evangelization efforts at my parish, etc. I also have been finishing my Master’s degree, which I just received a few weeks ago. So I thought now was a good time to make the move to full-time apostolate.

Why this particular position? Simply put, I was very impressed with the bishop of Venice, Bishop Frank Dewane. He has a deep love for the Church and a passion for spreading the Catholic Faith. In talking to him, I realized that here was a successor to the apostles who has an apostolic zeal. And I hear the weather there isn’t too shabby.

I still plan on writing books and articles even after moving into this position. Most likely, I will also continue blogging, but probably for the Venice Diocese instead of here. But I’ll keep everyone up-to-date as things progress.

Also, if any of my readers live in the Venice/Sarasota area, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at eric@ericsammons.com.

Please pray for me and my family as we make this big move!

Recently, the Holy Father urged all Christians to embrace our call as evangelizers of the modern world. Evangelization today primarily involves combating the indifference of the world to the Gospel. The message of the Church, according to the Pope, “needs to be renewed today in order to convince modern persons, who are often distracted and insensitive.”

I think that description – “distracted and insensitive” – is very apt for modern man. Too many people are modern-day Esaus, who exchange their birthright as children of God for the mess of porridge that is modern entertainment, news and technology. And I think, as Catholics, we need to look and see if we too fall into that same distraction and insensitivity. A few questions we can ask ourselves:

- Do we go from place to place with our faces buried in our cell phones or other gadgets?
I have always been surprised by how often I’m able to engage people in public settings – airports, subway stations, etc. – but of course that would not be possible if I don’t even look at them! Today we receive a constant stream of information, but in doing so we can become distracted from the more important things of life.

- Do we spend time each day in quiet meditation and prayer?
I know first-hand how quickly modern technology can ensnare you. The gadget that is purchased to make life easier becomes the chain around your neck. We must not allow the allure of technology to keep us from spending quiet time with the Lord – and with other people.

- Are we insensitive to the troubles of others?
We live in a self-centered world, and every message of modern culture cries out, “I gotta look out after me!” But the essence of Trinitarian love is self-gift, in which we pour ourselves out to others. Do we care about the plight of others, even those we don’t know well? My wife has been going to the same hair stylist for a few years, and over that time she has engaged him in many conversations. Recently his son tragically died, and my wife had a Mass offered for the son and sent her stylist a card. He was very touched by the gesture. Would this had happened if my wife had simply ignored her stylist?

Before we can effectively spread the Gospel to others, we must live it in our own lives. Take some time today to ask yourself how you can become less distracted by the things of this world and more focused on the things of God.

Today we live in a biblically illiterate culture. Vast numbers of people think that all Jesus taught about was “tolerance” and they couldn’t tell you if Moses or David lived first. Yet at the same time our culture still highly respects the Bible. We recognize it as a holy book, and believe that it contains the answers to many of life’s most difficult questions. In many ways this is a schizophrenic attitude: if we respect the book, why don’t we read and study it more? Or, alternatively, if we can’t bother to take the time to read and study the Bible, why treat it with respect?

The most serious danger of these contradictory attitudes is the power of Biblical “experts.” Anyone who has a semblance of knowledge of the Bible is exalted as an expert and people flock to them to find out what the Bible “really says.” In today’s world, there are two extremes of these “experts”: skeptical scholars and Biblical fundamentalists.

Skeptical scholars are those who hold everything in the Bible in suspicion. Everything from who wrote the various books of the Bible to when they were written to what they contain is attacked and the assumption is that the traditional answers to these questions are most likely wrong. Skeptical scholars flaunt their knowledge of the Bible to lure unsuspecting students and readers of their books to question everything the Bible says, until finally their followers dismiss even the most basic details of the Biblical accounts.

An example of this type of scholar is Bart Ehrman, who I profiled recently on this blog. Ehrman claims that the Bible is full of errors, lies, and forgeries. Nothing in its pages can be trusted. And as a skeptical scholar, Ehrman gets plenty of air time from a fawning press. The media knows that many people are Biblically illiterate yet respect the Bible, so skeptical scholars like Ehrman are great at generating ratings.

The other extreme of Biblical “experts” are the Biblical fundamentalists. These are the Protestant Christians who can quote chapter and verse at the drop of a hat, yet have interpretations which often seriously contradict Catholic teaching. Biblical fundamentalists can amass a large following of people who are Biblically illiterate yet respect the Bible. These followers know the Bible is important, and fundamentalists give them answers that appear clear and simple.

We’ve seen an example of this type of Bible “expert” in the news recently with the failed predictions of Harold Camping, who famously thought the Rapture would happen on May 21st, 2011. Camping attracted many who realized how important the Bible is, yet didn’t know how to properly interpret it.

It is in this environment today that the Church must navigate between the Scylla of skeptical scholarship and the Charybdis of Biblical fundamentalism. On the one hand, the Church recognizes the importance of true scholarship. Pope Benedict has been leading the way for years in criticizing the skeptical presuppositions of many Biblical scholars – accepting many of the historical critical methods employed but rejecting the anthropomorphic and anti-supernatural assumptions that many scholars bring to their studies. On the other hand, the Church also recognizes and accepts the deep reverence Biblical fundamentalists have for the written Word of God, and the importance of it for leading people closer to our Lord. Yet the Church rejects the literalistic methods most fundamentalists employ.

The biggest fallacy both sets of “experts” fall into is separating the Scriptures from the context of the Church. The Bible is a book of the Church, written by the Church for the Church. When we remove it from that context, we are prone to flights of fancy, whether it be rejecting all stories of the supernatural as “myths” or forcing the text to fit our preconceived theological theories. Either way, we become our own magisterium, authoritatively determining what the Scriptures say, instead of letting Christ’s Church – which has the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit – interpret it within the living tradition of the Church.

This past Tuesday I spoke at a Theology on Tap on the topic: “Scripture and the Liturgy: How our participation in the Liturgy deepens our knowledge of the Bible”. Below is a 4-part video of my talk (the beginning of the first video is missing a few moments where I mention earning my Master’s 17 years after starting the program):