Thanksgiving Reflections

I originally posted this on my Facebook page as a note on the day before Thanksgiving 2011, but you only see Notes if you go looking for them. No one knew it was there. I'm giving it a shot here, but I know FB is messing around with the RSS feeds, so who knows?
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I have the day off of work today. I’m cooking the family turkey early and bringing it over to my parent’s tomorrow. It’s in the oven, and my wife is out getting her hair done. I just finished saying the Rosary and am listing to Palestrina on Pandora radio (http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/share/154755900982355946).

So, suffice it to say, I have some time this afternoon to take stock of what is going on in my life since last Thanksgiving and to think on what I am truly thankful for.

During the past year, I got a new (to me) car, and new camera, a new bed (badly needed) and lots of other material things. But am I really thankful for everything that I have, or do I take them for granted? Should I be? Some were necessary and I thank God for them. But there are so many others that I did not need. I have wasted money on frivolous items that could have been better used elsewhere, and yet I have no money at the end of the month for giving to those who need it much worse than I. I am grateful that I do help where I can, but I know I could do so much more.

It is only just over four years now since I have rediscovered the Faith of our Fathers, the Holy Faith, the Catholic Church, begun by Christ himself. I have come so far in the last few years. There are so many people on the internet, EWTN TV and radio, Catholic Answers radio and the forums, Fr. Robert Barron, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, and of course, probably the best author of our day, Pope Benedict XVI.

I go to St. John Vianney in Wyoming. This is the parish where I was baptized as a baby. Fr. Mike Alber is literally a Godsend. He is kind, humble yet manly, cognizant of Church Law and proper Liturgy. We now have Fr. Luis Garcia, freshly ordained earlier this year. If you don’t think you need to go to confession, you will after you hear him. He can be hard to understand sometimes as his Columbian Spanish is thick. But God speaks through him and his message is clear. If you can get through one his homilies without laughing a bit (ay, yi, yi!,) you must be daydreaming.

I am thankful for so many members of the RCIA team at SJV. Barb Scott is one of the most godly women I have ever met in my life. And she knows her stuff! I always learn a lot from her at our training sessions and every member of the team, and ultimately, every person in the parish who is the recipient of some kind of Faith Formation there, learns a great deal because of her love for the Lord, and her dedication to furthering his Kingdom on earth and in Heaven. (Do I win a prize for such a long run-on sentence?)

I am thankful for the Catholic Information Center and the good instruction I have received from them, even if they can be a bit ‘liberal” for my liking.

And of course for my family.

I wish my wife, Mary, would join me in my faith journey and return to the Catholic Church of her childhood. She loves the Lord, but we are not on the same page on this. But we are still very much in love with each other and I wouldn’t trade her for anyone or anything. I would be so incomplete without her. I can be a hot-head at times and she keeps me even-keeled. Every day, I am always amazed at how much she reflects Christ in her actions, her conversation, her sensitivity to sin, her caring for people, her wisdom, and her insight. Even if I do or say something that hurts her, I know that when I see how much I have hurt her, I can see Christ’s face in hers convicting me of my sin and bringing me back to him and her, and his forgiveness covers all.

I am thankful that even though there have been some rocky financial times and employment issues, our kids and their wives are still together and love each other. Mike and Matt are still be the best of friends. They are both making choices that can scare a parent, but I trust that God is bringing them where they need to be and all will be well.

Very recently my big sister, Cathi, lost her husband to liver cancer. I am thankful that although he did not lead what many of us would call a “Christian” life, he was a baptized Catholic, and he did receive the Anointing of the Sick before his passing. I do hope that we will all be reunited again one day.

Which naturally brings me to God’s Mercy. What can I say? If God can have mercy on me, he can have mercy on anyone. There is no sin so powerful, or so heinous, that his Mercy cannot overcome it. Praise Him, our most excellent Redeemer!

My other sister Vicki, is recently employed after being laid-off from her former job. I am so thankful that she now has some money coming in. Although it is a physically demanding job, I hope she can find something different. I know that she would appreciate a prayer or two about her job situation, and for her husband and children who have also had a lot of trouble finding work.

I love my brother, Jeff, dearly. It’s hard to believe that as I was growing up, I found him so annoying. Six years his senior, led to a lot of teasing and I used to pick on him incessantly. That is until my dear Aunt Jitter, who lived with us in the last months of her too short life, asked me “Jim, why do you torture him so much?” Here was this sweet woman, literally on her deathbed, in terrible pain, correcting me for my behavior. After she passed, I was never able to pick on Jeff again. I still can picture her scolding me for that and I truly believe that God was speaking to me through her. There is a lot that Jeff and I have in common, and a lot that we don’t. I cannot go into details here, but I know that he would appreciate your prayers for him too. I can’t tell you the situation, but God knows, and He cares. He loves Jeff, and again his mercy and His grace abound for those who wish it.

During the past year, my mother was hurt badly in a fall while she and my dad were visiting a friend in Boston. She has survived another hip replacement and is on the road to recovery. And this is after almost two years since we almost lost her because of her heart. Praise the Lord that I still have my Mommy!

And my Dad too. He was in a car accident about a year ago and broke a rib. He has definitely slowed down since then and it’s just hard seeing you parents getting old. In so many ways, I still depend on him for so much.

I am thankful for my job. I am the Senior ITS Coordinator at the main campus of Davenport University. Right after the first of the year, I will have been in this position for 13 years. I really love my job,. I have worked at other IT jobs before DU, but there is something about working in Academia that is different than just working in a typical commercial environment. Those who know me, know that I like to read and learn. Just being surrounded by those in an academic environment is personally stimulating. But most importantly, I like doing my part to support people who are trying to fulfill their dreams and goals, to begin a career that may lead them to an exciting life, or for older students trying to change their life.

I don’t teach—I don’t have that kind of patience! But I know that I do my part my supporting them, helping where I can, and by providing an environment where they can achieve their dreams.

But enough of the DU commercial.

There is so much more I could write, but it’s already so long that most people are probably not going to read it.

God’s blessings to you all.

The problem of atheism

"How could anyone really know that there is no God?

To know that there is no God is to claim to know all levels and reaches of the universe and reality. But of course, only a being who is omniscient knows this. Therefore, the only being in a position to know that there is no God, is God."

From a PowerPoint presentation of Peter Kreeft's, mentioned on the same Catholic Answers radio episode as my last post.

"What's true for you is not necessarily true for me"

On a recent Catholic answers radio program, a caller, Ann, asked if modern philosophers believe that there is no objective reality and how does that affect the ethics of what's going on in our society today.

Guest, Chris Kaczor answered,”A lot of people, just regular folks are what you might call “relativists”. They think there is no truth. They say things like, “that may be true for you but it's not true for me”. Now among professional philosophers… very few… today hold that position…The reason that philosophers have rejected that view is that that's an example of a self-defeating view. It just cannot possibly be correct. It has to be wrong. And the reason is this. Let me give you another example of a self-defeating idea.

If I say to you “I am not speaking English right now”--well I said that in English right? So it can't be right. So if someone were to say there is no truth, they are asserting that something is true. Namely, that there is no truth. But if it’s true that there is no truth then that statement has to be false. The philosophers have recognized that there is a self-contradiction, a self-defeating nature in these sorts of denials truth.

The good news is that contemporary philosophy has turned away from that kind of relativism. The bad news is that that kind of relativism is still very common in people who haven't really studied the issue very deeply.

You can listen to the whole show here. It is titled, "God and the Problem of Evil".

Religion v. relationship

Something that really chaps my saddlebags: When people start pitting "religion" vs. "relationship". An example can be found on this website. Mute your speakers. A song starts playing with no visible means of shutting it off!

Typically the argument goes like this:

"Christianity is not a religion. A 'religion' is man trying to reach God by his own effort. Christianity is a 'relationship' because it is God reaching out to man."

The problem with this is that that is NOT the definition of the word "religion." Evangelicals simply made it up in the 1970s so they could make a sermon point and it stuck. It's is nothing more than a meaningless, trite phrase.

According to Peter Kreeft in Catholic Christianity, "The word religion comes from religare in Latin and means 'relationship'—-relationship with God."

So while it is true that God reaches out to man, and that man would never reach out to God without Him first enabling Man through grace, the phrase just makes Christians sound unitelligent by creating definitions out of thin air.

A spiritual anniversary

Four years ago today, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, I received the Our Lord's Eucharist for the first time on almost 30 years. During the previous 27 years I had been a Plymouth Brethren (2 years) and a Regular Baptist (25 years), and a staunch anti-Catholic for most of that time.

Then the Lord called me home to the one Church that he himself instituted. All others are in violation of Jesus' prayer for the unity of all believers as set forth in John 17. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Only one.

You can read my reversion story at http://bit.ly/dZploP. And read my blog at The Cathoholic.

Four years and counting

Today is the four-year anniversary of my first confession to a Catholic priest in over 27 years. I am truly blessed. God be praised!

What Is The Catholic Church ?

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues;” because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God;” because they “say indulgence is a permission to commit sin;” because the Pope “is a Fascist;” because the Church “is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things, it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. ... the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness..."

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, as quoted at:
http://fiatvolvntastua.blogspot.com/2009/06/bishop-fulton-sheen-on-catholic-hatred.html