Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

Have you brought Jesus flowers today?

Psalm 15 LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? Whoever…lends no money at interest…Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.

Imagine lending to someone who will use your money to raise his family from poverty. Imagine being able to make a difference like that in someone’s life. In due time, the loan is repaid and you can either take your money back or invest it in changing someone else’s life. Quite a different approach to charity if you ask me. Please, stop by their website and take a look. For as little as $25 you can help to change a life.

Sirach 4:31 Let not your hand be open to receive and clenched when it is time to give.

Kiva: Loans That Change Lives

I had a recent convert to the Catholic Church tell me today that she had been asked by a fellow Christian who disagreed with her conversion to the RCC “Do Catholics even BELIEVE in the Resurrection?”

Really? There are people who think that Catholics don’t believe in the Resurrection of Christ!? Well there’s at least one who thought that and someone must have told her that. Let me set the record straight. Yes, Catholics believe in the Resurrection of Jesus. I’m not just saying that. 

1. At every Mass we proclaim the “Mystery of our Faith” using one of four possibilities:

Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.

When we eat this bread, and drink this cup we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory.

Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the Savior of the world.

You will notice that of the four possibilities, three explicitly mention the resurrection.

2. Many, many Catholic churches are named after the resurrection.

3. It is explicitly taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Edited to Add: 4. BOTH the Creeds we recite as Catholics (Nicene and Apostle’s) explicitly state that we believe in the resurrection.  We recite the Nicene Creed at most Sunday Masses and the Apostle’s Creed as part of many Catholic devotional practices. (Thank you Christine and DUH! on me. LOL!)

5. Last but not least, Catholics celebrate Easter from the Easter Vigil Mass until Pentecost. That’s FIFTY days of celebrating Our Lord’s resurrection mandated by the liturgies of the Church.

And since we have scarcely begun to party in the Catholic Church…spiritually speaking of course…I’d like to share with you a series scriptural meditations just for the season.

Via Lucis (The link will take you to a PDF file that has a printable copy of the Stations of Light with prayers and meditations for those who would like a little more than I have here.)

First Station: Jesus Rises From the Dead (Some suggested scriptures: Acts 3:15; Matthew 28:5b-6a)

Second Station: Disciples Find the Empty Tomb (Luke 24:12; John 20:8; Matthew 28:1-6)

Third Station: Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20: 14b-18)

Fourth Station: Jesus Walks with the Disciples to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-27)

Fifth Station: Jesus Reveals Himself in the Breaking of the Bread (Luke 24:28-35)

Sixth Station: Jesus Appears to the Disciples (Luke 24: 38-40; John 20:19)

Seventh Station: Jesus Confers on the Disciples the Power to Forgive Sins (John 20:19b, 20b-23)

Eighth Station: Jesus Confirms Thomas in the Faith (John 20:24-29)

Ninth Station: Jesus Eats with His Disciples on the Shore of Tiberias (John 21:10-12)

Tenth Station: Jesus Confers Primacy on Peter (John 21:15-19)

Eleventh Station: Jesus Sends His Disciples Into the World (Matthew 29:19-20)

Twelfth Station: Jesus Ascends Into Heaven (Mark 16:19-20; Acts 1:9-11)

Thirteenth Station: Mary and the Disciples Await the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12-14)

Fourteenth Station: The Descent of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22; Acts 2:2-4)

HE IS RISEN!!

(and we’re not done celebrating yet!)

It all started when I had a discussion with some other Protestants the premise of which was “DID you celebrate Palm Sunday in your church?” not “How did you celebrate Palm Sunday?” One person said “Well you know our Pastor was having a series on [Apostolic Letter] and we didn’t want to interrupt that. I mean really how boring is it to preach about Palm Sunday EVERY year.” (I wonder how they can possibly stand to celebrate family birthdays and anniversaries every year?) There were also sentiments expressed like “All He did was ride in on a Donkey anyway…”

That some believe there is a limit to learn from the meditation on and study of the events of the Passion Week of Our Lord staggers me. It brings me to my knees (literally) in sorrow. This is what my sins cost Him and He could have said, “No” at ANY point along the way. He could have turned back, but He set his face like flint (Isaiah) and moved forward. And I have literally been chanting to myself, “You cannot blog about this. You cannot blog about this.”

But today I got pushed over the edge.

A friend who is converting to the Catholic Church mentioned to me that for Palm Sunday observances at a church that has been previously mentioned here on this blog and pastored by Steven F. they dispensed with passing out those oh-so-boring Palms and gave the kids glow sticks to wave. GLOW STICKS!? What would Sr. Mary Martha say? Glow sticks?

How many of those traditional symbols do we dispense with before we lose touch with what happened in the first place? And why is it, that I hear so often how it is that the Catholic Church “substitutes man-made traditions” (And sometimes from those going to a church that passes out glow sticks instead of palms!) for the Bible when Catholics were the ones who were required by the Liturgy to observe Palm Sunday AS Palm Sunday AND passed out the very item mentioned in the Bible?! 

And how will they burn the glow sticks for ashes for next year’s Ash Wednesday?

No that was not an announcement. But I am tired of Lent now and as I was wallowing…I mean meditating…on just how very tired I was of Lent this morning, it occurred to me how much Lent is like pregnancy.

First, God plays the same practical joke thing on my memory with regard to Lent as He does with regard to pregnancy. The first time you get pregnant you don’t know exactly what to expect, so you look forward to it with intense joy-of-bringing-forth-new-life sorts of feelings; then, comes the nausea (There’s a place in Dante’s tenth circle of hell for the person who named it “Morning Sickness”….it’s “Alive and Breathing Sickness” thankyouverymuch.), the bloating, and the heartburn just to name a few of the “joys” of bringing-forth-new-life. What expectant mom doesn’t thrill to the flutter of New Life only to re-think that position when the interloping wretch uses your bladder as a trampoline, kicks your liver, and then sticks its cute little butt right where your lungs used to live? Pregnancy is just God’s way of making sure you don’t mind labor. By the time labor rolls around, I am ready to rip my skin off to get that baby OUT of there. What about labor? You know it’s going to hurt. I mean after all it doesn’t take a physics major to look at the size of the baby, the size of the exit God installed, do the resulting math, and figure out….that’s gonna hurt! But when those first real pains roll over you and your eyes bulge out and your toenails crack, you realize that there was no way your imagination was up to the reality of it all. And worse…there’s only one. way. out. (Thank you Lord for anesthesiolgists…I did natural childbirth the first time around. These days, I have an anesthesiologist’s number on speed dial just in case.) And when it’s all over God knows that you’d never do it again if you were right-thinking so He plays this little practical joke. The first time you nuzzle your face into that sweet baby’s neck and breathe, you forget all the times that little rascal poked your kidneys with his elbow! Even now, I find myself thinking utterly ridiculous thoughts such as I couldn’t have been THAT nauseous could I? Surely it was all in my head like so many men have suggested? Surely the heartburn wasn’t THAT bad…..

Lent is like that. Forgetting just how tired I got of Lent last year, I get all geared up for a season of Lenten sacrifice. It is probably clear evidence of spiritual pride that I think THIS year, Lent will be easy. After all it’s only 40 days. What it is, is evidence of that memory tampering device similar to that one that allows women to willingly have more than one child. As Ash Wednesday approaches, I pray about what God would like to teach me. I think about what I should give up. What I should add. And I get REALLY excited about it all. I have to remind myself that I have done this enough times now to know what’s around the corner and that I do not need to be signing up early for those mid-Lenten doldrums. Just like pregnancy, I enter Lent with the best of joyful intentions but the joy of bringing forth new spiritual life isn’t enough to make me smile kindly on sacrifice any more than the joy of bringing forth a new child in the world is enough to make me overlook backflips on my bladder. The flesh is strong and the mid-Lenten doldrums are miserable! I am not nearly as strong as Our Lord, Satan came to him when He was exhausted at the END of 40 days. The temptations to crankiness, and snarkiness, and petulance, and to just flat quit come to me far earlier than the 40 day mark.

And I wonder, did Our Lord struggle with doldrums like these? Did He look down from the Cross and say, you know “This joy of bringing-forth-New-Life is just a TAD more painful and uncomfortable than I really bargained for?” Probably not. But still I wonder and it makes me look at Genesis 3:16 with new eyes. ‘To the woman he said: “I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children.”‘ The Lord never tells us all of His thinking behind that. Certainly it is viewed as a punishment by many (most?) but is it? Is it maybe God’s way of anticipating the great sorrow the descendants of Eve would have for their sins? God writes in our very flesh the cost of bringing forth new life. It’s uncomfortable. It’s nauseating. It keeps you up at night. And the little brats are often exceedingly ungrateful. And there is pain, deep gut-wrenching pain. And you hate it and you are tempted with the idea that NOBODY is worth that and then you breathe in that fresh-baby smell and you know it is. And that you’d willingly do it all over again. And again. He speaks to me in that knowledge. He says “Just as you willingly bear the pain for your children. Even so, will I do it for you. You willingly bear the pain for the joy that comes after. Just like Me.” Seen in that light it’s more of a gift than a punishment.

And so I persevere. Snark. Snark. Because I know the cost of bringing forth new life. It’s always uncomfortable. It’s always painful. There is new life waiting for us at the end of Lent. The Resurrection which marks the ultimate victory over death and the end of Lent where hopefully, I will be able to rejoice in the death of another tiny piece of that pesky flesh. A small skirmish in the grand scheme of things but it’s looking like a pretty big battle at the moment.

Psalm 15 LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? Whoever…lends no money at interest…Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.

Imagine lending to someone who will use your money to raise his family from poverty. Imagine being able to make a difference like that in someone’s life. In due time, the loan is repaid and you can either take your money back or invest it in changing someone else’s life. Quite a different approach to charity if you ask me. Please, stop by their website and take a look. For as little as $25 you can help to change a life.

Kiva: Loans that Change Lives

Sirach 4:31 Let not your hand be open to receive and clenched when it is time to give.

I have friend who likes Sr. Martha. I do too. After all what’s not to like about someone who make a discussion of sin as funny as a Near Occasion of Fudge? But I must say that I have a small disagreement with her stance on Lenten sacrifice (Plans for Lent and Reverse Lent) and while I am linking to her posts specifically, I’ve heard other similar sentiments and I disagree with them too.  In a recent email to a Yahoo group for those on the journey to
Rome (join us at the Catholic Spitfire Grill  we’re a lot of fun) someone posted about the homily her pastor had given regarding the shallowness of just giving up sweets for Lent. He said that it was ok for children but that the grown-ups had better do something “better.” Almost immediately two of our members emailed the loop with sentiments along the line of  “Well I guess I screwed THAT up!” Now I know the stories of these two women and right now they are walking, talking, living, breathing, poster children for genuine pick-up-your-cross-and-follow-me Christian living.  They have spent the last year in deep prayer, and intense study as they have followed Our Lord’s leading to Rome. This move has involved genuine and real sacrifice. They have lost friends. They have split their families. One of the women has more than one vitriolicly anti-Catholic clergy member in it.  There have been visits to their homes (and email campaigns and phone campaigns) to inform them that they are going to Hell for becoming Catholic. They are attending a new church now and still struggling to learn what’s going on. They still feel lost with the kneeling, and the standing, and what to do when it’s time for Holy Communion and they have to stay behind and feel like the neon sign just went on over their heads saying “Former Protestant Heretic” In a real and substantive way, these women are already in the desert.

 Now if it makes me a “huggy New Ager, ‘let’s feel good about ourselves, please does someone have a guitar? Mass is about to start’”-type Catholic to say to these women, “You are already sacrificing enough right now and perhaps a token Lenten sacrifice is just perfect for you.” then, sweetie pass me the guitar because I feel a chorus of “Kum-Ba-Yah” coming on.

What about giving up sin for Lent? I can certainly see Sr. Martha’s point that giving up sin for Lent only to start back up again after Lent is hardly appropriate. I can tell you what my response to my loving husband would be if he were to announce, “Honey, I’m giving up adultery for Lent.” Of course, I’d have to go to Confession not only for the response but also for simply telling you about it. I’d probably have to do prison time as well.  But let’s back up and look at it again with a little more of God’s Grace shall we? What if you had some sort of sin that had a serious grip on your life? Gluttony? Anger? Judgmentalism? Sloth? Impurity? Know anybody with problems like that? (Me either. All of my friends are perfect.) But hypothetically speaking, what if you had some kind of sin that Our Lord had shown you really needed to be dealt with? Let’s pick gluttony because so few Americans have a problem with that one.  [snort.] What if your Lenten sacrifice….giving up sweets for example….was part of a larger effort to break the stronghold that gluttony had in your life? What if you said, “I’m giving up sweets.” but really meant “I’m working on the grip that gluttony has on my life.”? What if you gave up sweets and meditated on scriptures having to do with the sin of gluttony (memorized them even?) and made time to seek out regular sacramental confession to focus on gluttony in your life? Wouldn’t breaking the stronghold of that sin with the help of Our Lord, the prayers of Our Lady, the Sacraments of the Church AND the boost of some self-sacrifice be a truly joyful way to enter into the Easter season? Sounds like new life to me!

So what do I think about Lenten sacrifices?….I know you are dying to know. I think that just as we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with an Examination of Conscience guided by the Holy Spirit, I also think we should approach the season of Lent with a similarly divinely guided self-examination.  Lent should always be a challenge but if we honestly seek Our Lord’s guidance (both in prayer and if we are lucky with a formal spiritual director) then perhaps we can dispense with having to listen to others tell us what is and is not an appropriate Lenten sacrifice.  I think that the goal of breaking a stronghold of sin in our lives is every bit as good a reason to formulate a plan of self-sacrifice as is building up some worthy spiritual virtue.  I also think we should not indulge in the sin of spiritual pride by undertaking an overly rigorous observance of Lent (ie undertaking a sacrifice that is considered pleasing by (or to please)  someone who is NOT familiar with our personal spiritual place)  if Our Lord has indicated that He has other plans….particularly if He already has us in the desert for another reason.
 While I think it is important to encourage our brothers and sisters in faith to stretch their spiritual muscles, I think it is equally important to consider how our enthusiasm might cause pain to those who are already stretching exactly where and how they need to be.

Pass the guitar….I’m going to sing Kum-Ba-Yah.

And in honor of not telling people what to do for Lent, let me share this resource and tell you that you really NEED to check it out: Readings From the Early Church Fathers For Lent