Quid est veritas? (Part I)

Quid est veritas? What is truth? As recorded by John in his gospel (18:38), Pilate asks Jesus this question.  I relate to Pilate because I too have and constantly ask this question. And perhaps, you too ask this question.

To respond to this question I found this excerpt:

What is truth? Pilate was not alone in dismissing this question as unanswerable and irrelevant for his purposes. Today too, in political argument and in discussion of the foundations of law, it is generally experienced as disturbing. Yet if man lives without truth, life passes him by; ultimately he surrenders the field to whoever is the stronger (Benedict, Jesus of Nazareth, Ch. 7 Section 3).

Do we surrender truth the the "strongest"?  How do we identify what is truth, especially in regards to morality?  Does objective moral truth exist?

More than once in my life, I have been labeled “black and white” and “narrow-minded.”  And I suppose in 21^st century America, this type of “mind” is a public minority.

I recently read an article called, “The Curse of Broadmindedness” by Fulton Sheen.  I was astonished to see how an article published in 1932 can be so relevant today.  Mr. Sheen says there is confusion over “intolerance” and “tolerance.” 

There is no other subject on which the average mind is so much confused as the subject of tolerance and intolerance. Tolerance is always supposed to be desirable because it is taken to be synonymous with broadmindedness. Intolerance is always supposed to be undesirable, because it is taken to be synonymous with narrow-mindedness. This is not true, for tolerance and intolerance apply to two totally different things. Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons. We must be tolerant to persons because they are human; we must be intolerant about principles because they are divine. We must be tolerant to the erring, because ignorance may have led them astray; but we must be intolerant to the error, because Truth is not our making, but God’s.

Persequendum est (this thing must be continued)

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

I live in slight pain due to a broken bone in my ankle suffered a few weeks ago. While I wish the pain would ease, the injury brings me to reflect on Jesus and the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-26) and a point a theologian once made.

The backdrop of the story is this: There's no longer any room in the home where Jesus is teaching, so four men bring a paralytic through the roof. This is a form of intercessory prayer, similar to when I ask a person here on earth or in heaven to pray, “intercede”, for me or when parents serve as intercessors by bringing their baby to be baptized. Jesus can look at the intercessors’ faith and respond.

Here Jesus does just that:

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Child your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus responds to the faith of the four men, who are acting as intercessors. The people ask, “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

People claimed Jesus cannot forgive sins, only the invisible God can. In modern times, people say a priest cannot forgive sins, only God can. Although Matthew 9:7 states, “...God who had given such authority to human beings” and John 20:23 shows Jesus passing on this authority to the apostles. Thus, men have been given authority by God to forgive sins.

Then Jesus asks a peculiar question:  Which is easier to say “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say “Rise and walk?”

He continues, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” and the He heals the man.

Jesus performs two miracles here: He forgives the paralytic’s sins. He physically heals the man. Why? The second miracle, a visible one, was performed so that people may believe in the first, an invisible one.

So as I lie here with a broken ankle bone, I ask which miracle is greater?

The forgiveness of sins or the physical healing?

One is invisible, the other visible. One relating to the eternal, the other relating to the temporal.

So which is greater?

Wincing at the pain in my ankle, I would like to have the visible temporal miracle occur right now, but with deeper introspection through the eyes of faith, I realize if given a choice, I’d like the invisible miracle.

The one relating to eternity. 

Some miracles are more than meets the eye.

The Forgotten Syllable

“Xmas.”
“Christmas.”
“Xmas.”
“Christmas.”
Which one is it?

In modern American culture, some people say “Christmas” while some say “Xmas.” The first syllable of “Christmas” garners much attention. And then there is the forgotten syllable—the second syllable “-mas.” What if anything does this word mean? In attempt to discover the true meaning of Christmas, I’ll dissect the word Christmas in hope of arriving at an answer.


The First Syllable

“Christ”: This is reasonably simple to explain in that “Christos” is a Greek word meaning “anointed one.” The word is attributed to Jesus of Nazareth who is believed to be the “anointed” Son of God. Jesus is the second person of the Most Holy Trinity God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

“X”: When I began contemplating the reasons for using “X” I narrowed it down to two ideas. First, using “X” is a way to eliminate “Christ” from “Christmas” and by doing so the word is separated from religion. Second, “X” is an angled cross symbolizing the crucifixion cross of Jesus.

To answer this question about the origin of “X” I thought it prudent to look up the word’s history. After flipping through the Oxford Dictionary to no success, I threw out the 20th century tool and went to the handy 21st century tool: Wikipedia.

According to the authors, “X” comes from an abbreviated form of the Greek word for Christ, “Χριστος.” Another common use of “Χριστος” is “XP” displayed as a “P” overlaying the “X” in a symbol known as a “labarum.” This too is a symbol for Christ.

Because “X” is an abbreviation for “Christ,” “Xmas” is an abbreviation for “Christmas.” The words are synonymous.


The Forgotten Syllable

Now I get to the unnoticed syllable: “-mas.” What is the meaning of this word?

I use another 21st century tool—the source called Newadvent.org. In regards to the origin of the word “Christmas” it says:

The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131.

Wikipedia says: The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass.”

“Mass” comes from the Latin “missa” from which the English word “mission” is derived. “Missa” has the effect “Go” or “It is sent.” Often times a Latin Rite Christian will call their worship service, “mass.”

At “mass” the worshiper comes into communion with Christ through the consecrated bread and wine. Then the worshipper is “sent” out into the world when the priest or the deacon says the dismissal “Go forth, the Mass is ended” or “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life” or “Go in peace.”

So the forgotten syllable "-mas" calls me to action, to “Go forth.” And thus I arrive at the meaning of “Christmas”: The Mass of Christ. The mission of Christ.

The Catechism explains: “The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of Love (Catechism par. 850).”

Love.

We hear St. John say, “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him (1 John 4:16).” And he says,“…let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God (1 John 4:7).

So this “Christmas” I am called to live the meaning of the full word. I am called to go forth in Christ and for Christ with the Spirit of love.

“Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled (Catechism par. 526).”

Let us all live the “-mas” this “Christmas.”

A Christmas Gift

Before I begin:
…A series of Christmas Eve church attacks and explosions left at least 38 people dead in two Nigerian cities, and at least six wounded in the Philippines.
The situation was especially tense in Jos in central Nigeria, long a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction. It was hit late Christmas Eve by seven explosions that killed 32 and injured 74, many as they were doing their Christmas shopping, police said.
In Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked three churches, leaving six people dead and one of the churches burnt down, an army spokesman said…
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101226/twl-christmas-world-4bdc673.html\

I am humbled by these news stories.
This Christmas I would like to keep those who are violently persecuted in my prayers, whether it be Christians, or people of any other religion, or people of no religion. May the Lord be with you all.
________________________________________________
I received a great gift from God this Christmas.
It wasn’t an ipad. It wasn’t an Xbox Kinect. And no, it wasn’t a Kindle.
What it was may make some joyful, may make some object, may be of no value to others, or may even incomprehensible.
But to me it was a gift.
It was a great gift, one that brings joy, yet it did not come without a journey-a journey of dialogue, of prayer and of fellowship.
The dialogue started something like this: “I follow the bible,” and continued…
“Oh yes. Do you know who decided which books to include in the bible?”
“The council of Nicea.”
“The council of Nicea taught us the Trinity doctrine. Actually the council of Rome, Carthage and Hippo starting in 382 AD decided which books to be in the New Testament. The Church gave us the bible as we know it today.”
From there stemmed dialogue about Jesus and the history of Christianity and whether Jesus’ historical church existed. We passed through many objections, or in most cases ‘misconceptions’ about this Church.
“In 26 years of my life, nobody has ever explained to me this church,” John said.
“I didn’t know much either, until a few years ago,” I responded.
Born into Protestantism, John had become an atheist at a point in his life, and then he had come to love Jesus in a way that changed his life. He evangelized college students in Santa Cruz, had served as a youth minister at a fellowship, and had performed concerts all over the country at Protestant fellowships.
As the months of dialogue went on, there were times when I thought John would not talk with me again (about religion). At other times, I thought it was a dead end (Ironically, Christians disagree on much).
But I kept praying that the Holy Spirit may open this man’s heart to the Church, if it be God's will.
And then we came across Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20. “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.”
John hadn’t seen this prayer before, or at least had never thought about it too much. But now seeing this prayer, he asked himself, “Do I follow Jesus’ prayer?”
This was a cross for John.
“It broke my heart to see so much division.” John had said about American Christianity. "If I love Jesus, I will follow His prayer."
John's cross was love.
And so the dialogue went on... and on... and on... until December 18. That is when I received the gift from God.
I held my right arm on his shoulder as we stood among a line of others. The priest said,” Send forth upon them thy sevenfold Spirit the Holy Paraclete." And then he anointed the forehead of each with chrism saying: "I sign thee with the sign of the cross and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Finally, he gave a whisper: "peace be with you".
And so it came to be, my friend John for the first time taking the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist and coming into communion with the universal Church.
He calls it, "his marriage."
Everything came down to love.
A friend asked John, "Can't you love Jesus without being a part of the Church?"
John replied, "Jesus says, 'If you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15). And he prays that we be united, for me to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53)and to reconcile through the church (Matt 18:17)..."

In love I see unity. And through this unity, the world may believe in Jesus Christ (John 17:20). This brings joy to my soul.

Love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14).

The Christmas gift was love.

May the Lord of love be with all of you and your families this Christmas season.

The Evil One and the Woman

“I witnessed the angels fall” he said calmly.
“You weren’t even in existence when the angels fell,” John says.
“True that.” The man seems to snap out of what he is claiming. And then says, “I am a fallen angel.”
John turns and looks at me and his lips move with the words ,“This guy has a demon.”
“I witnessed an exorcism by a cult. They came into me,” he says.
Something resembling Ichabod Crane, my legs begin to shake.
“In the name of Jesus, what’s your name?” I ask.
“Beezelbul,” he responds promptly, looking at me in the eyes.
About a week ago, I had been given a book called, “An Exorcist Tells His Story” by Fr. Gabriele Amorth. Fr. Gabriele says that when you encounter a demon mentioned in the bible, you are dealing with a heavyweight. He also says his that his favorite prayer during an exorcism is Philippians 2:10-11:
“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
While the people are bowing, reciting in prayer, he says even the demon-possessed stops and bows at the hearing of this prayer.
As the man continues with his distracting dialogue about Scripture, religion and his life going in and out of what seems to be at times him speaking and at others times, the fallen angel speaking, I begin to read Philippians 2:10-11. His mouth stops and listens. Then when I am finished he continues speaking. I read it again. Again his mouth stops and listens.
Fr. Gabriele says it is difficult to assess demonic-possession for sure, and that only during his initial exorcism can he conclude if there is demonic possession. Quite possibly the man was speaking only on his own, but my body and its shaking legs thought otherwise.
When I get home that night, in the darkness of my room, I cannot but think of Revelation 12:17:
“Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.”
This goes with Genesis 3:15, when God speaks to the serpent:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head and you will strike his heel.”
God put enmity between the evil one and the woman. The evil one was not able to get to the woman who had given birth to the male child, but the evil one wages war against the followers of her son, Jesus Christ. And because the evil one was not able to overcome the woman, he goes after her offspring.
I remind us today that this is the week that it was reported that the woman appeared in the sky of Fatima, Portugal in 1917 (October 13). A reported 70,000 journeyed great distances on muddy trails to witness the promised miracle of Cova da Iria. The woman asked us to have faith in her son, to amend our lives and ask pardon for our sins. And then God provided what has been called, “The Miracle of the Dancing Sun.”
I was ignorant to the details of this story until about a year ago and upon further examination, I learned that the Church has approved these apparitions. In them an angel speaks to three children and then later the woman appears and speaks to them. What the angel and what the woman says to the children has changed my prayer life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima
This is the week of Our Lady of Fatima. The woman who the dragon was not able to overcome, and now the dragon wages war with her offspring.

Jesus’ Final Prayer: Ut Unum Sinct

A friend recently passed on a quote to me: “The most segregated day in America is Sunday.”

I was left pondering Jesus’ final prayer as recorded by John.
“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 the 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).

Our different “Christian faiths” directly oppose Jesus’ final prayer of being ONE.

St. Paul reminds people to fulfill Jesus’ prayer when he says:
“… so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we attain to the UNITY of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to MATURE manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming…” (Ephesians 4:12-14).

Let us attain the unity of faith and mature manhood for Our Lord.

“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph. 1:22).
“Rather living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, bring about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

And what is the importance of us being one?

Jesus says, “that the world may believe the [the Father] sent me.”

An effective evangelizer to Jesus is simply unity of faith.

One faith.
One body building itself up in love.

Let us answer the Lord’s prayer.

May the Almighty and loving God bless you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Every Act

"Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love." (1 Cor. 16:13-14)