Daily Reflection: 13 November 2023

If someone feels excluded from the Church because it won’t embrace their sin, that is not a problem with the Church.

Jesus never came and said, “Go about and form the Faith to your likings. I don’t want you to ever feel bad about anything you do.”

Instead He said, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” Luke 17:1-3

Rebuke him? Jesus, are you sure? Because all around us are people telling us that we can’t ever, ever, ever judge anything as sin.

Yes, He’s sure, because He wants people brought into new life with Him and, that very simply means, sin isn’t good for us and no Church should tell us it’s fine or even accept it.

If a loved one rebukes your sin, even I dare say somewhat harshly, it’s not because they hate your guts.

We cannot expect people that care about us to accept sin in our lives. If they truly love us, it will pain them to see us sin and that love moves them to say, “Hey, what you’re doing, it’s not okay.”

They are trying to guard your soul.

Acceptance of sin is not loving, it just isn’t. It’s to watch a soul sink into darkness as you stand by cheering them along. If I love you, why would I want that for you?

It’s not fun being rebuked. We have to face ourselves and find out we aren’t perfect. We may *gasp* feel some guilt. It requires a bit of effort to not just give in to everything and all this makes us uncomfortable. We’d much rather just have everyone pat us on the head and tell us that Jesus is fine, just fine, with everything we want to do.

We must accept rebuking, Catholic Pilgrims, it is good for us. We cannot become who God meant us to be if we think we are perfect from the get-go.

We must also be willing to rebuke others out of love. Christ literally tells us to. And after rebuking, remind them of the mercy and love of Christ and that there is a way to be free of the guilt and shackles of sin.

Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.

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Daily Reflection: 25 Nov 2024

When I was about four-years old, my parents and I left Manhattan, Kansas to head to my grandparent’s house in southeast Kansas for Christmas, I think. It was either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Anyway, it had snowed and the roads were super slick and traffic was bad. Not far out of town, we were creeping along in a slow line when our car was rear-ended. It wasn’t a bad accident, but my dad stopped the car and got out to go exchange insurance information. When my dad got back in the car, he said, “The weather is too bad. We are going to go home and wait to see if it clears up.” I about died. Go home?!?! I had cousins waiting on me! Go home?! I figured this was the worst form of torture imaginable. I felt like I was going to miss out on everything. I hated waiting. We went home. My dad had us all take a nap—a nap! But, when we woke up a few hours later, the skies had cleared, the snow had melted, and the temperature had risen. My dad declared it was safe now. We got in the car and the holiday was saved. Advent is soon coming and the Church asks us to lean into this time of expectant waiting. The Church kinda feels like my dad on the snowy day many years ago. “Amy, it’s not time yet. We need to wait.” It’s impossible not to get swept up in the tide of all that goes on during this time of year. You’d literally have to go up into the mountains and shut off your phone during Advent to truly have a peaceful time of expectant waiting. But, the Church, in her wisdom, asks us to wait because the time isn’t quite right yet. This isn’t a post to fight about decorations or when it’s right or wrong to put them up. It’s not a post to say that, as Catholics, we should grumble around declaring that the Christmas Season doesn’t actually start until Christ’s birth. This is a post to say, carve out some time this Advent to prepare your heart and mind for the coming of our Infant Savior. It’s hard to do, I know, but there is much to be gained in the waiting, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Monday.

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Daily Reflection: 24 Nov 2024

Many years ago now, when I was teaching government to my oldest, our curriculum had us read St. Thomas Aquinas’ thoughts on different types of government. To my surprise, he said kingship was the best. “From this it is clearly shown that the idea of king implies that he be one man who is chief and that he be a shepherd, seeking the common good of the multitude and not his own.” Now, before I get started, St. Thomas has a lot to say on this and if you’ve never read his thoughts on government, pause and go read it before you attack me. It’s important you understand what he says. Carrying on…. As an American, when I first read this, I scoffed a bit. In fact, I got a bit defensive, because *our* form of government is, in my mind, the absolute best. We fought against a king, for goodness sake. But, as I thought about it (and I’m not advocating for a kingship here in America), I realized that St. Thomas had to be right. He doesn’t say that other forms of government are all the worst, just that kingship is the best, and, of course, because Christ is King. He’s not King of a government, but He is King of the universe, of everything. He is the King par excellence, because He rules with perfect justice and perfect mercy. He is attentive to the welfare of our souls and desires our ultimate goodness. Because Christ is King, no type of rule could be better. No matter how we look at it and no matter what government system we fall under, Christ remains our King. He reigns supreme in the life of a Christian, or a least He should. This is one of my favorite celebrations, Catholic Pilgrims, because I love celebrating the King of my life, always and forever. Have a blessed Sunday. *St. Dominic’s in San Francisco

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Daily Reflection: 21 Nov 2024

Today, the Church celebrates The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was thinking this morning about Mary and how she is the perfect feminine role model. As Alice Von Hildebrand put it, “She alone deserves to be the role model of women. She is the Queen of Angels. She is virgin, spouse, mother, and widow.” Who does our culture put up as role models for women? Well, they have to be famous, hot, and wealthy. Of all the ones I could think of, nearly all of them are focused solely on career. They are pro-ab0rtion. Marriage is typically put in the back burner, but they have plenty of partners. Mary, though, is different. She was and is humble. She gave of herself to others. She was and is beautiful because of the light of God that shone within her. She was poor. She accepted an unplanned pregnancy trusting that God would guide her through this unusual, yet miraculous situation. Two thousand years later, this humble, poor, obedient, virtuous woman is still the most beloved of all women. That is because you can’t trump a life lived for God with a life lived for self. The Divine Life that glows within Mary will never be snuffed out, but the temporary sparkle of a life lived for self will fade into nothingness as the years continue to roll on by. May we always look to Mary, most beautiful Mother of Our Lord, for the best example of “dazzling, radiant femininity.” Have a blessed day, Catholic Pilgrims. Mary, Our Mother, pray for us!

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