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It’s hard to tell from this picture, but I’m standing on top of a high hill. I went for my evening run and because I’m still not quite ready to run up it, I walked up it…very fast. 😅 I got to the top and then I sat and prayed for all of you, my fellow pilgrims. The other day, I read something from St. Francis Cabrini that said: “You lost your cross? Then you are the most unhappy person in the world because the one who has no cross is not a follower of Jesus Christ; so I wish you a very long and very large cross full of thorns, which you will carry as a precious jewel with a smile on your lips.” The Saints are incredible people. For most of my life, I understood that Christ redeemed us on the Cross. It has taken me, though, a long time to understand Jesus’ command to “pick up your cross and follow Him.” We did not feel the pain Christ went through on the Cross and so the only way to truly appreciate His suffering for us is to carry our own crosses well. We do that with grace. It is our crosses that sanctify us—not comfort, not pleasures, not the easy way. If we have seemingly lost our cross because we seek to avoid them or refuse to carry them, we will be unhappy people. Why? Because we were made to be holy and if we aren’t striving for that, we will never be fully alive. It is hard, though, to carry crosses alone and so I prayed for you all up here on my desert-y hill. I prayed for your strength and your courage to brave them. Continue to live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingI think our Gospel reading from Luke is a clear indicator that the idea of "once saved, always saved" doesn't work. If at the moment of being "saved," that was all that was needed, then there is no point in teaching us about fighting against temptation. One could argue that you still need to be a good person. But, why? If your salvation is assured, what does it matter? In fact, some have argued throughout the centuries that if you are "saved," you might as well give into temptation and do whatever you want, because "Jesus paid the price for everything on the Cross already." In Jesus' time in the desert, we see that temptations must be fought against, otherwise, why would Christ show us how to fight against them? Satan is actively trying to get Jesus severed from the Father. It's fruitless with Christ, but we need to see the danger there for us. Every time we give into a temptation, a bit of grace leaves our soul. With venial sins, we are taking small turns away from God; with mortal sins, we fully turn our back on Him. And each time we do that--give into sin--we are gesturing with our consent to either follow ourselves, follow Satan, or follow the world. What we cannot say is that we are consenting to follow God. St. Benedict XVI wrote, A Christian "must every day renew their decision to be Christian, that is, to give God the first place in the face of the temptations that a secularized culture constantly suggests." We are initially saved by grace through faith--that free gift. However, it would be wildly dangerous to think that we can't ever lose that. We can. Sin severs us from God. Grace is the Divine Life within us. Sin removes that. To be sunk in sin, specifically mortal sin, means we have lost the Divine Life within us. Confession restores it. Here in this earthly life, our faith in God is not a one and done event. It is, instead, the continually decision to stay close to Christ and allow the graces given by the Holy Spirit to sanctify us more and more. Have a blessed First Sunday of Lent, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingA mantra that Christians like to say is: In the world, but not of it. I was thinking about this slogan during prayer yesterday and I asked myself, “But, how are we doing with that?” Back in the days of my late teens and 20s, I called myself a Christian. I probably would have given lip-service to this slogan. And yet, I looked exactly like the secular culture wanted me to. I didn’t go to church. I didn’t read my Bible. I didn’t pray. I lived with my boyfriend. I wasn’t chaste. I had the mouth of a sailor. I watched and listened to whatever I wanted. In fact, there is not one single thing about my life that looked any different than a nice atheist’s life. Technically, there are still more Christians in the world than non-Christians and, yet, our world has fallen into moral decay. So, I’m not so sure we can claim that we are doing well with the whole “in the world, not of it” life-creed. If we want to call ourselves Christians and be taken seriously, we will have to lose our lives for the sake of Christ. That means we will have to live differently. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot plunge into the culture living no differently, believing no differently, than those who have entrenched themselves in all the ways of the world and still claim the identity of Christian. The identity of “Christian” must and necessarily includes dying to self and taking up our crosses to follow Christ, Catholic Pilgrims. Lent is a perfect time to honestly assess your life and cut away those areas that have led you to “gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit” yourself. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
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