Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

Just before He was tortured and executed in order to make it possible for us to be reconciled to His Heavenly Father, Jesus prayed the following:

I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. John 17:20-23

I think that it is not an unfair assumption to make that when someone is facing death, there is a clarity of purpose in the actions and words of that person that may not be present at other times. And while we should never discount any recorded action or word of Our Lord as unimportant, I think the words and deeds that are recorded in those last hours deserve a clarity of focus on our part simply because of what was about to happen.

So what was on Our Lord’s mind as the time for his execution came upon Him? Listen to his words “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word….” (that’s us!)…that they may all be one….(here’s the standard for unity)…as you, Father, are in me and I in you…(Why?)…that the world may believe that you sent me…(and it’s SO important, that He says it AGAIN!)…And I have given them glory you gave me so that they may be one…(Again, we have a standard for unity) …as we are one…(And again we are told why.)….that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

The unity that Jesus is speaking of cannot be any kind of symbolic or invisible bond. It must be a visible thing if the world is to see and believe because of it. Beyond that, if others will believe because of that unity; then, some are not believing if it does not exist as Our Lord prayed for it.

So. How are we doing? (PDF link) Well as a homeschooling mother and a former teacher, I can tell you what kind of grade I’d give if I told someone I expected ONE answer and they brought me that many.

This brings me to my point. Did you realize that the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s little act of vandalism  on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany is just around the corner? October 31, 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation and enough is enough. In 500 years, we are no closer to the Unity that our Lord prayed for. In fact as the days go by there are only more denominations not fewer. In my hardly ever humble opinion, it’s time to fall flat on our faces in sorrow and beg Our Lord for an outpouring of mercy so great that all heresy will be swept away and his followers, those who are called by His Name, would join together in Unity so complete and so visible that the collective jaws of those who are not called by His Name would hit the ground and they would come running to His Church and beg to be let in.

Ten years is not that long. Will you join me in fervent, persevering prayer for an end to heresy and for visible Unity in Our Lord’s Church for the next 10 years? Will you consider a small Lenten-type sacrifice that will pinch and remind you to pray? Some small suffering to offer to Our Lord for healing in His Church? A daily offering of prayer of some sort? And let me be frank, I am perfectly willing to be ecumenical about this. It’s pretty obvious which side of the who’s-got-it-right debate I fall on, but I am perfectly willing to entertain the possibility that Luther was right. I want heresy, no matter where it lies, to end. Period. Protestant and Catholic and Orthodox, we should be able to unite in praying for the Unity of Our Lord’s people. And every last one of us, should we willing to accept the possibility (probability?) that we have some serious changing to do. Some of us may have some doctrinal paradigms that need correcting. But pride and lack of charity are probably bigger obstacles for all of us than those. Each of us (yes, me too) needs to hit our knees in prayer and mean it when we say “Show me where I am wrong Lord and grant me the Grace to bear the shame, repent, and serve You as you would have me to do.”

Thy Will Be Done.

And just in case you are running low on ideas I just happen to have a few:

1. Daily recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

2. Daily recitation of the Chaplet of Unity.

3. Get a copy of my scriptural rosary (or scripture meditations using a rosary….I tinker with the ‘mysteries’ If you think that JPII shouldn’t have added the Luminous Mysteries, these are NOT for you.) on Unity and use it regularly.

4. If praying againt heresy is your thing, may I suggest a copy of my scriptural rosary “War in the Heavenlies”? (see above warning about tinkering with the ‘mysteries’) both are available for the asking from redneckwomandesigns with an at yahoo dot com attached to it.

5. Spend an extra hour a week in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Pray the “Holy Hour of Reparation” while you are there.

6. Give something up that you like, that you can live without for 10 years. Your favorite type of candy bar? Books by a beloved secular author? TV on Mondays (or some other day of the week?) 

7. Encourage your friends to join in too.

If we start now, we may have cause for actually celebrating the 500th anniversary of this wound to the Body of Christ because it’s healed. At the very least if in 10 years there are 40,000+ denominations, it won’t be because we weren’t on our knees storming heaven for only ONE.

Pray:

Pronunciation:

ˈprā

Function:

verb

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French prier, praer, preier, from Latin precari, from prec-, prex request, prayer; akin to Old High German frāga question, frāgēn to ask, Sanskrit pṛcchati he asks

transitive verb 1 : entreat, implore —often used as a function word in introducing a question, request, or plea <pray be careful> 2 : to get or bring by praying intransitive verb 1 : to make a request in a humble manner 2 : to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving

I have have been discussing, or rather mostly watching a discussion of Catholics and Saints lately. And I would like very much to answer a few questions…or perhaps set the record straight.

And Catholics, you could help our non-Catholic brothers and sisters by simply saying, “I asked St. [Really Holy Person] to pray with me.”

“The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether. When the patient is an adult recently re-converted to the Enemy’s party, like you man, this is best done by encouraging him to remember, or to think he remembers, the parrot-like nature of his prayers in childhood. In reaction against that, he may be persuaded to aim at something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularised; and what this will actually mean to a beginner will be an effort to produce in himself a vaguely devotioinal mood in which real concentration of will and intelligence have no part.”

I agree with C.S. Lewis’s characterization of the enemy’s advice to a tempter. If one were to be looking to win souls for hell, this would certainly be on target. We must never be taken in by the fiction that prayer in order to be “heartfelt” must be “spontaneous, inward, informal and/or unregularised.” Certainly prayer can be spontaneous, informal, and unregularised but that should always be in addition to the ongoing, sustained, purposeful, prayer we are already engaged in. Prayer is purposeful communication with our Creator. There are going to be days when we don’t “feel” like it and it is on those days (or in those times) that the value of schedule and habit will carry us through.

Furthermore, I think that most of us could certainly stand to invest a little bit in our prayer life. “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Those are words of our Lord. Of course, He was speaking about working for imperishable things but I think perhaps it isn’t too much of a stretch to consider how we invest our perishable tangible assets a reflection of the Truth of our Lord’s words. Put some of your tangible assets toward prayer and see what happens. Invest in a prie dieu for your home or a meditation bench. Find a good prayer book. Read on a book on praying with icons. Buy an beautiful icon or other piece of religious art for a prayer corner. Sign up for Adoration at your local parish. Buy a rosary that inspires you to meditation and feels good in your hands. Sure you can pray the rosary without one, or one made of string….and depending on your circumstances that may be appropriately meaningful. You can assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a shack and that may be appropriately meaningful, but doesn’t the art and majesty of a cathedral assist you to raising your mind to God? There are so many areas where we set aside our best (or should at any rate) for God. Why shouldn’t we do the same in our prayer lives.

If you don’t read the good stuff, link to the good stuff, and say thank you to the writers of the good stuff….well, do you want the blogs about celebrities and what they wore to the latest party to spread across the internet unopposed? So go read. Link. And comment.

So….drumroll….introducing

It wasn’t until I began to worship Jesus as He commanded, as He intended, that I began to be able to discern between worship and respect.

I always knew I trusted his Holiness Benedict XVI’s judgment. I’m thinking he couldn’t have made a better choice.

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