"Who We Are Instead" pt.2

Living By God's Grace

Last week we began our series on "Who we are instead", by talking about how God has given us the grace to become His children, His princes and princesses. This week we're going to look at what exactly God's grace is, how we get it, and what it does for us.

The Bible says that when we are baptised, God fills us with His Spirit and makes us completely new creatures. "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This recreation into new creatures is accomplished when God fills us with His Holy Spirit, His very life! That is what Grace is—God's very life being given to us! Without this grace in our lives, nothing we could do would really mean anything. We could live better lives that Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul the Great did, but it wouldn't mean anything. Only by God's free gift of His Grace are our lives transformed.

This Grace comes to us through Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. Then, in the sacrament of Baptism, we unite ourselves with Jesus' sacrifice, by dying to our old life of sin, being cleansed and filled with the Holy Spirit, and rising again to the new life of Grace. This is how our lives as sons and daughters of God begins. This is how we originally become His princes and princesses!

CCC1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.

2 Peter 1:2-4—May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.

But God's Grace is not a one-time deal. Being a child of the King isn't the sort of thing you do just when you feel like it. It has to be a 24/7 reality in your lives. When you fight with your parents about their rules, they might give you the line, "As long as you're under my roof, you're gonna follow my rules!" God's not too much different...except He's everywhere, so we're always "under His roof" so to speak.

In the Old Testament, He gave Moses the Law, and the Israelites were supposed to keep it. Problem is, they couldn't. No one could. They could do their best, but they'd always fail. That's called sin—and it's still true of us today.

But with Jesus, He came and was able to keep the Law perfectly, because He was God. But because He was also one of us, a human being, He represented us to God. He paid the sacrifice that we could never be able to. Because of this, He gave us the opportunity to experience a new kind of Law, the Law of Grace.

On the outside, this Law seems not too much different from the Old Law. We still have to follow a bunch of rules, and by ourselves, these rules seem impossible to keep. But because of Jesus, we have a secret weapon! That's Grace!

Grace not only forgives us our sins when we do fail. Grace makes us entirely new creatures, and when we surrender to that Grace, we will actually fail less! This is because God fills us with His Holy Spirit, His own divine life! That's what Grace is! It's the actual, literal, powerful ability to live for God! It's not just a metaphor to say that we're new creatures! We may not look different. We may not always feel different. But we are!

CCC2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love.

Sometimes we can think of God's grace as "fire insurance" or a "get out of hell free" card. But Grace is so much more than merely getting to go to heaven when we die, or not having to go to hell. We limit our understanding of the infinite love of God when we treat it like an escape hatch from eternal torment! Grace is for us now! It makes us part of God's family now! It gives us power to live for Him now! It makes our lives fuller now!

Grace is completely a gift from God. Nothing we could do would be good enough to earn this precious gift—that's why it's called Grace! But at the same time, God's Grace actually makes us worthy of God's Grace! Think about that for a second!

CCC2009 Filial adoption, in making us partakers by grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God's gratuitous justice. This is our right by grace, the full right of love, making us "co-heirs" with Christ and worthy of obtaining "the promised inheritance of eternal life." [Council of Trent (1547): DS 1546.] The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness. [Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1548] "Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due. . . . Our merits are God's gifts." [St. Augustine, Sermo 298,4-5:PL 38,1367.]

Just like living the life of God isn't just a one-time or occasional thing, receiving God's Grace isn't just a one-time thing, either. That's why God has given us the Sacraments, which are physical things that bring us God's Grace.

What are they?

Baptism
Confirmation
Eucharist
Confession
Anointing of the Sick
Holy Orders
Matrimony

Some of these are 1 time dealies: Baptism and Confirmation, for example. Some of them seem like one-time dealies: Holy Orders and Matrimony—because the people only receive them once (well, with marriage, it's ideally only supposed to be once), but in reality, the sacrament isn't in the ceremony, but in the life that's lived as a result.

Finally, three of them are supposed to be received as often as necessary! Confession and anointing of the sick are ones that we should freely receive whenever we need them. The Eucharist, which is by far the most important sacrament after Baptism, should be taken all the time, as often as you can get it! That's because we're renewing that family membership that we get through Baptism, and at the same time, we're receiving Jesus into our lives, and His grace continues to transform us more and more!

God gives us these gifts of His Grace to enable us to live in Him and live for Him. Without these gifts, our spiritual life is stunted and we don't grow as well—just like when physically we don't eat right. At the same time, we need to receive the sacraments properly, with a correct disposition or attitude. And we need to put that grace to work. We need to actively serve God, making use of the gifts of Grace that He gives us. Otherwise we get spiritually "fat" and "bloated", and become unhealthy—just like if we didn't eat properly and never exercised!

Think of it this way: In the Middle East, there is a sea called the Dead Sea. It's called this because all the adjoining rivers flow into it, and none flow out. Therefore it has collected salt for centuries, without being able to filter any out. It could almost be more accurately described as "wet salt" rather than salty water! This area is dead. Nothing grows, because there is no fresh water.

Spiritually speaking, our lives can be "dead seas" if we never live out the life of Grace in us. If we never give the Grace we have received away, as God intended, then we are not giving His life! Look at the example of our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary. The angel Gabriel described her as "Full of Grace" (Luke 1:28). Since Grace is the life of God in our lives, the Church rightly declares that Mary was Immaculate, since Grace and Sin cannot mix. But if Mary was Full of God's Grace, that He continues to bestow on her, then she would either become a dead, bloated Christian (which is surely not the case for our Mother!) or the Grace that God bestowed on her would pour over into the lives to whom she bestowed it!

It should be the same with us, according to the measure of Grace that God has given to us! We need to respond in obedience, and live that life of Grace. We need to bestow it on others through service, evangelisation, and prayer!

When we're living in God's Grace, we are new creatures, and we have a new purpose! God created us as His Workmanship (Ephesians 2:8-10—For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.). The Greek word for "workmanship", poena means masterpiece, and it's where we get our English word, "Poem". We're God's poetry, and we're created to actually change the world we live in! That'll be our talk next week!

"Who We Are Instead" pt.1

Our Identity In Christ

The Bible says that when we are baptised, God fills us with His Spirit and makes us completely new creatures. "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

But a lot of the time we don't act like glorious new creatures. The Devil hates that God has done this for us, and so he tries to convince us that we haven't been changed. Too often we believe his lies, and when we do, we can act as though they are true, and we live defeated, depressed, insecure lives unsure of who we are and what our purpose is.

My favourite band, Jars of Clay, put out an album called "Who We Are Instead" (from which the name of this series comes). On the album they have a song called "Trouble Is", which basically describes the Christian who doesn't realise who God has made him or her into.

Trouble Is

My wings don't sail me to the sky
On my own these wings won't fly
Jesus told me so
Still I'm not so sure that I know

Can't find no rest for my soul
Can't find no rest on my own
Jesus told me so
Still I'm not so sure that I know

Chorus
Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead

I'll keep runnin' the other way
My heart ain't built to stay
My heart ain't built to stay
And the world just ain't that way

Chorus
Man, the trouble is
We don't know who we are instead

My heart ain't built to stay
My heart ain't built to stay
Jesus told me so

Satan knows the wonderful life of Grace that Jesus bought for us on the cross, and, as the Father of Lies, and the enemy of our souls, he wants to destroy that life in us. So he attacks it by telling us that it doesn't even exist. He tells us lies about our worth, our loveliness, and even our identity. When we begin to believe those lies, we begin to tell them to ourselves. Satan is so crafty, that he can make his ideas seem like our own! We need to defend ourselves against these lies--but to do that, we need to know what they are.

Satan's Lie
You are a sinner because you sometimes sin
God's Truth
You are a saint (one who is made righteous by God) who sometimes sins

Satan's Lie
You get your identity from what you have done
God's Truth
You get your identity from what God has done for you

Satan's Lie
You get your identity from what people say about you
God's Truth
You get your identity from what God says about you

Satan's Lie
Your behaviour tells you what to believe about yourself
God's Truth
Your belief about yourself determines your behaviour

God has given us a new identity in Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes [us] "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature," member of Christ and co-heir with Him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Here's what the Bible says about it:

We are children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus!

John 1:12-13--But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 3:1--See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Ephesians 1:5--He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

Romans 8:15, 28-30--For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"...We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

We are Christ's friends!

John 15:11-17--These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another.

We are justified--our sins are forgiven!

Romans 5:1-11--Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man--though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

Colossians 1:13-14--He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are Redeemed by Christ to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20--Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We are Saints!

Ephesians 1:1-6--Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

We share in Christ's divine glory!

Colossians 2:9-15--For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fulness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him.

So yeah, I know that was a lot of Bible! But it's important. The Bible has been called God's love letter to us, and from the above passages, we can see why! God loves us a whole lot! He's made us a part of His family, He's called us His friends, He's made us holy, and best of all, He lives inside each of us, making us sharers in His divine life of Grace and Love!

Seriously, let that sink in for a moment! Infinite, holy, almighty God cares enough about YOU to make you like HIM! That's unbelievable! God, the King of the Universe has made you His son or daughter!

Guys, that makes you princes!

Girls, that makes you princesses!

Think about that the next time you're feeling down. Post it on your mirror. Say it to yourself when you look at yourself in the mirror out loud! This is your identity! Own it!

God bless!

NEW POPE!

Wow, God answers prayer fast! Alleluia!

The new Holy Father is Joseph Ratzinger! He was the guy that Pope John Paul 2 made the Guardian of Doctrinal Orthodoxy.

He'll be known as Pope Benedict XVI.
God bless you, and our new Pope!

Conclave

Well, the Cardinals have begun voting for the new Pope today. So far, no result.

We need to pray that they reach a consensus, directed by the Holy Spirit. Personally, I think unanimity would be awesome!

Father God, please guide Your servants as they elect Your next representative. Let them quickly and decisively decide, guided by Your Holy Spirit. In the Name of Jesus Your Son, we pray. Amen.

Stand up and Testify!

Sunday, April 10, we had our first, official, open to everyone, Youth Group Meeting! So, okay, I'm still learning, and it wasn't necessarily firing on all cylinders. It'll get better! It's a growth thing! Sunday, April 10 was also my first anniversary as a Roman Catholic! Last year, Saturday April 10 was the date of the Easter Vigil, at which celebration I was received into full unity with the Catholic Faith! Good times! I didn't realise the connection when I decided to start the Youth Ministry regular meetings on the 10th. I didn't even realise it when I decided to give my testimony at the first meeting. It wasnt' until I sat down and thought about it that I realised that God has a wonderful sense of timing and humour! He is so good!

In case you're not down with the lingo, a "testimony" is the story of how a person came to faith in God, and recounts God's grace in his or her life. Often the most dramatic testimonies, the ones that get the most recognition or applause, are the ones that start off something like, "I used to be a long-haired, tattooed, guitar-playing druggy in a satanist rock band until Jesus came and turned my life around!" or some variation on a theme! And (despite my humourous exaggeration) it is amazing to witness the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit in someone--especially when it bears such obvious effects and results! For example, the Youth Pastor at the Pentecostal church I grew up in used to be a heavy drug dealer by the time he was 18, and God really did miraculously turn his life around!

The problem can sometimes be when we admire those testimonies so much that those of us who were brought up in the church and never really got in trouble start thinking, well, I really don't have a testimony! I've always been a Christian. Sometimes we think, I wish I had lived this crazy sin-life so I'd have something to talk about! But think about that. Imagine if the Virgin Mary thought she didn't have a testimony, because instead of being some drunken prostitute whose life was transformed by God, instead He saved her at the moment of conception so that she could be kept unstained from sin! We don't look down on her because her testimony isn't "dynamic" enough. Instead we venerate her as the epitome of what it means to be a pure, chaste, and obedient Christian!

So just because you weren't some murderous gangster before you met Jesus, don't think that your relationship with Him is somehow less important! Stand up and testify!

For myself, looking back I can clearly see God's hand in my life, even before I was born. 16 years before I was born, my parents got married, and wanted kids. They prayed about having kids. They even felt that God gave them the name of a son, Gregory. But for 15 years they had no children. I don't know why they couldn't. I never asked. They tried to adopt, but the line-ups are very long! Finally, after waiting 15 years to adopt, I came along, and I was given to them!

I was the child of an affair, a married man and an unmarried girl. By most standards today, I'd be considered an "unwanted child", and in 1980, abortion had been decriminalised for 11 years! Thank God my biological mother didn't choose the "easy" way out! Instead of aborting me, she gave me up for adoption, and I was named Gregory by my parents, Betty and Wayne Watson. Their example, waiting a decade and a half for a child, the length of the lineups at adoption agencies, tells me, and should tell everyone, that contrary to popular propaganda, there is no such thing as an "unwanted baby"!!!

My parents were very devout Pentecostal Christians, and they taught me about God from as far back as I can remember. I've always believed in Jesus. When I was five, there was this preacher guy who preached at my church one Sunday night about the need of inviting Jesus into your heart for salvation, that He died on the cross to forgive our sins, and that we need to accept Him. At the end, he did the "Pentecostal thing" and had an "altar call" which is where the preacher asks the congregation to respond to the sermon by either raising your hand, standing, or coming up to the front. Pastor Rhude had everyone bow their heads and close their eyes, and said that if anyone wanted him to pray for them to be saved, to raise their hands. As a 5-year-old kid, I completely disregarded "every head bowed and every eye closed" and was looking around as Pastor Rhude kept saying "Yes, I see that hand," and people put their hands down. But I had listened to the sermon, and wanted to be saved, so I put my hand up, and he said, "Little boy, I see that hand!" Well, didn't that just thrill me, so I turned to my mom (who was very devoutly following "every head bowed and every eye closed") and started tapping her and saying "Mommy, mommy! 'Little boy', that was me, Mommy!"

From then on I was a perfect little angel, and never caused anyone any trouble. The end. NOT! I did go to Kindergarten the next day and tell everyone! And I tried to live different. I think. It was a long time ago. I was always a pretty good kid, though. I never beat people up (though I got beat up a lot). I never rebelled or anything like that.

Then I got to high school, and like Aladdin said, "It's a whole new world!"--but not so much in a good way! There were new and crazy challenges in high school! People actually opposed and mocked Christianity there! They told me we came from monkeys! I knew that my Kindergarten faith had a lot of growing up to do! I joined the youth group at my church (which had the coolest kids anywhere!) and got involved in the drama team. Great times. I learned about the Holy Spirit, and how in the Book of Acts, He came and poured Himself out on the Apostles, and they got these miraculous powers like healing people and prophesying and speaking in tongues (for those who don't know, this stuff is pretty much what Pentecostalism bases itself on).

I wanted that kind of presence of God in my life. So at a retreat in '94 or '95 I went up for the altar call to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I got it! Speaking in tongues and the whole bit! Crazy! Most important, though, the Holy Spirit gave me a new power to stand up for my faith! I went back to high school and told people about Jesus! I still do--just not at my high school. Now I get to go to other ones! I love my job!

When I was 15, I went to a Christian camp and the preacher talked about Jacob in the book of Genesis. One of the stories is about how Jacob (whose name means deceiver) wrestles with The Angel of God, who blesses him by renaming him Israel (which means contends with God or Prince of God, depending on who you ask. Either way, better than "deceiver"!). The preacher said that God has a new name for all of us. A change in who we are, to make us more like Him. And we should all ask Him to change our name. He was being somewhat figurative, but I hated the name "Gregory" so I literally wanted God to change my name.

So the following week, I was reading the Bible during my daily time of devotions, or time to meet with God. At this time in my life, I was working my way through the Bible cover-to-cover. I was in Ezekiel (so more than halfway through) and that particular day I was reading Chapter 3. In verse 17, God says to Ezekiel, "Son of Man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel..." When I read this, God stopped me, and said, "That's you." I was like, "Huh?" (This is how we talk). He said, "I want you to be a watchman for Me." I'm like, "You're kidding, right?" (I wanted to be a cartoonist for Disney or something, not a missionary or pastor or whathaveyou!) God's like, "Nope. You know how you keep asking Me to change your name? Well, I already did. Your birth mother named you Michael, but I named you Gregory when you were adopted." Of course, I was using this bookmark I'd had since I was a wee lad to keep my place while I read through the Bible. It had my name on it, so I looked at it. It said my name, and then the meaning of my name: Watchman.

I wasn't sure what all that meant at the time, but I knew that God would tell me what I needed to know when I needed to know. But knowing my identity really formed who I was. I had a purpose. There's a line from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" where Giles, Buffy's watcher, asks her, "How many 16 year olds out there know what their purpose is?" Buffy starts to be sarcastic, but finally admits, "Ok, how about none." Well, I knew! And we all can know. God says that He has an awesome plan for each and every one of us! I'm extremely glad He told me early on, so I didn't have to waste time floundering without Him. Seek Him, and He'll guide you, too!

When I was 18, I dated a girl who wasn't Pentecostal, and she helped me see some things in their doctrine that I didn't believe were taught in Scripture. Pentecostals are great people and true Christians, don't get me wrong. But as a finer point of their doctrine they teach that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit must be evidenced by speaking in tongues. I didn't agree with that. Which is fine, not everyone agrees 100% with it. But I was supposed to be going into the ministry. That was what that whole "watchman" thing was all about! How could I be ordained a Pentecostal if I disagreed with a fundamental point of their doctrine?

So I went to an interdenominational Bible College to explore the alternatives. While I was there I learned a little bit at a time about Catholicism. Some of what I learned was favourable. Some was not. Some was outright biased against. But it whet my appetite! Around the same time, I met a Catholic girl and we started dating. We made a trade-off, that I would go to Mass in the morning and she would go to my Pentecostal church for the night service. This went on for about 3 years, while I, through Bible College and beyond, learned all I could about the Roman Catholic Church.

Finally, I reached the inescapable conclusion that they had the fullness of Christian truth! (So that's what 1 Timothy's talking about when St. Paul says, "The church of the living God [is] the pillar and foundation of the truth"!) But I was still a little disturbed by the Mary emphasis. I couldn't quite figure it all out. And even though they seemed to be right about everything else, so did the Pentecostals when I was there. If I left them even though I disagreed with only one doctrine (at the time. Now it's several), how could I embrace the Catholic faith while disagreeing still with one whole body of doctrine?

So I kept stalling, until I read the book that I talk about two posts previous, Hail Holy Queen by Dr. Scott Hahn. That book opened up Scripture to me in a new way, and opened up my eyes to really understand my Spiritual Mother, and her role in the faith! So it was that on April 10, 2004, I was received into full communion with the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. Now, exactly 1 year later, I've started a youth ministry in a Catholic Church! It's amazing to see God's plan and timing!

There are many things that attracted my to the Catholic Church. The fact that it stretches back to the time of the apostles themselves, in an unbroken succession (you can literally trace doctrines and beliefs back to the earliest Christians and show where they came from and how they developed!). The fact that the Catholic Church embraces art and pictures as aids to worship. As an artist, that was really cool, since many Protestants can tend to look down on pictures and statues as a form of idolatry. The unity of the Church was also a big draw, especially when I contrasted that to the 1000's of different Protestant denominations, constantly splitting from each other. The Catholic Church's unity (and Protestant disunity) springs from the authoritative teaching body under the Pope (or the rejection of the same). Without that infallible teaching body, protected and prevented from teaching error in issues of faith and morals by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul could never have called the Church the pillar and foundation of the Truth (1 Tim 3:15 again)!

But the main thing that attracted me and keeps me in the Catholic Church is the worship of the Mass, where, in the Eucharist, we receive Jesus Himself! As Scott Hahn teaches in another book, The Lamb's Supper, in the Mass we actually participate in the worship of Heaven! It is Heaven on Earth because Jesus is truly Present in the Eucharist! Now it is my life's joy and purpose to show others the beauty of the Catholic Church (whether they're Catholic or not themselves) and especially the joy of meeting Jesus as He comes to hang out with us every Sunday (and indeed, every day if you can go) in the Mass!

God bless!
(And if you want to know more details, remember, that's what the comments are for!)

On my Blog and Making Comments!

Okay, in my last post I mentioned that I was going to post about upcoming stuff in the YG, as well as stuff about the blog itself. By the end I realised that I'd bored everyone enough that maybe I should leave the actual blog stuff for its own post. That way any visitors who aren't involved in the YG would still see it.

The reason for this is that I know that once in a while, or more often, friends, acquaintances, and total strangers stop by to read stuff. That's awesome! Many of these people are not themselves Catholic, and so you may not agree with everything that I've posted here. If that is the case, and you want to learn more, please, feel free to post questions in the comment section. That's what it's for! This site, as well as the YG in general, isn't designed so much for defending the faith, as for explaining it to those who already believe and have a basic grasp of Catholicism. I want to encourage that basic level faith to grow. I want to encourage your level of faith, no matter what level you're at, to grow!

But this site is not primarily apologetic in nature (apologetic in the sense of "This is why we're Catholic and why we believe what we believe", not "I'm sorry we're Catholic", just in case there was any confusion as to the term "Apologetics" which means defense). But I love apologetics and debating (maybe too much) and if you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to voice them. In the comments section I will take the time to interact with your concerns, arguments, and opinions, and try to defend Catholic teaching with regard to them. A good example of this so far is the dialogue I've had with my buddy Jake on our Blessed Mother, Mary. Again, this is what the comments are for. That's not to say that if you agree with everything I say you shouldn't comment! I can always use some encouragement! :D Let me know you're reading, if you're reading! It gets lonely over here.

The subject of this thread is primarily based on a couple of recent debates I've had with a fellow named David. I've never actually met him (he's from the States), but he posted at The Daily Disciple about the "difference" between "being religious" and having a relationship with Jesus. I understand the point he was attempting to make. It's a popular point among Protestants (especially the Pentecostal brand that I came out of when I converted to Catholicism). I'm not entirely sure what denominational stripe David is. That's not really important. But at Daily Disciple I posted an argument.

Then I looked up his blog (because he left the addy) and saw that his most recent post was on the same subject. So I posted to his comments about how I disagree. I personally believe that while it is possible to be "religious" without really knowing Jesus, it is impossible to really know Jesus without being religious, in that our religion (Christianity) is how we live out our relationship with Jesus. If the Church is the body of Christ, then we cannot separate the head from the body, adhering to one and not the other. This debate went on for a while until he called it off.

Then he posted about salvation and made a point about saying "the sinner's prayer" will invite Jesus into your heart and you will be saved. So I asked where that concept is found in the Bible, and we got into a debate about what exactly saves us, faith alone, baptism, following the Law, yada yada yada. It really was a fruitless debate and I was being rather wrong and uncharitable in pursuing it. I find it really hard to back down from a good debate. Finally, David again said enough. He said that if I had any further comments, to make them on my own blog. That is good and sensible. David, if you read this, I apologise for my behaviour. It was indeed uncharitable.

The reason that this comes up, though, is that David told me that he had come here, and disagreed with a lot of what I had written, but that he hadn't posted out of respect for my readership.

David, and anyone else reading this, please don't take that approach here! I welcome the debate (though, and I need to follow this too, let's keep it friendly). My "flock" is more than welcome to participate in the discussions that follow. Seeing opposing sides to your viewpoint is a wonderful way to grow and to develop critical thinking skills that often aren't ably taught in the school system. So seriously, voice concerns, objections, and arguments. Think through the issues. Here is a safe forum for that!

I enjoyed our discussions over at Dave's blog, but he's right. That's not the place for them. So I submit that this is, to a degree. The main page is for teaching. The comment sections are for going deeper, disagreeing, or debating the teaching. Maybe we'll never reach an agreement or a conclusion, but hopefully we'll better understand the other's perspective and grow from the process!

God bless!

(For those interested, and if David doesn't mind, his blog is at www.getoutoftheboat.blogspot.com. He does have a lot of good things to say. Our debates were in the topics "It's Personal" and "More on Forgiveness". Read up if you want, but don't continue the arguments, since he's requested they be finished.)

Random Things and Information

Hello one and all. I'm just posting randomly to try and organise some thoughts regarding the Youth Ministry and this blogsite.

This past weekend was hugely busy and I'm wrecked from it! Friday night my buddy Eric (who co-produces www.dailydisciple.blogspot.com -- check it out for some insightful Christian advice by a couple 15 year olds who are wise beyond their years!), a man from my church, Henry Karabela (Cool guy, very devout and friendly) and I drove down to see Dr. Scott Hahn talk on marriage and family and such. Good topic. I didn't go for the subject though, but because I really wanted to meet Scott Hahn, who is my favourite author and Catholic apologist and teacher. It was one of his (many) books that brought me to my faith in the Catholic Church. I'll go into that more in detail in my next post (which will be my testimony, because as I've said, the point of this blog is to post my talks from YG meetings, and Sunday, our first meeting, I gave my testimony).

But this book in question by Scott Hahn was Hail Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God. It's about how the Church's teachings on Mary are based on Scripture and what they really teach and how those teachings give glory to Jesus. Dr. Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister before his own conversion to Catholicism back in '86, is a master at biblical theology, interpretation and teaching, and his books, especially Hail Holy Queen, really opened up the Bible to me in a way I'd never even thought of (and I thought that's what getting a Diploma in Biblical Studies would have accomplished)! There is so much depth and meaning in the Love Letter that God wrote for us! Anyway, after Scott Hahn's talk, I got to meet him, briefly, and get him to sign my copy of Hail Holy Queen, and shake his hand, and profusely thank him for his part in my own conversion! It was awesome!

After the meeting, we drove back to Oakville (the talk was in Toronto) and I dropped Henry off at his home (Matt and Madeleine, if you read this and think it's really weird that I call your dad Henry, sorry. It's weird to me, too, but he won't let me call him Mr. Karabela lol). Then my buddy Eric and I went on to Burlington to a Pizza Pizza/Tim Hortons where my old Pentecostal Youth Group hangs out after their Friday Night Youth Services. One of them is interested in Catholicism, and a little while ago I got him a Catholic Bible (one with all the books). He wanted to discuss Catholicism, which I'm always up for--except that night, since Eric and I had to be up extremely early the next morning for the Lift Jesus Higher Rally in Toronto. However, this guy, Lazarus (that's really his name! Cool, eh?) is a talker--so much so that it makes it really hard to teach him anything about the faith, 'cause he hardly stops to listen long enough! LOL!

So as it happens, some of our other Protestant Pentecostal friends sit down, and before I know it, I'm fending off attacks on the Catholic faith from 3 different fronts. One person wanted to know why we confess to priests, why the priests can't get married, and anything else I might want to add about the priesthood. Another was on and on about the sacraments, baptism in particular, and about faith vs works salvation (which is a complete misrep of Catholic teaching, btw), while in a third strain, the concept of authority and the Bible Alone was being argued. My head was spinning. Eric, bless his heart, was doing a pretty good job backing me up (even though he's not a Catholic yet) and so was Laz, who kept trying to somehow relate every Catholic doctrine back to St. Michael the Archangel (who is Laz's hero). Good times. Speaking of the time, Eric and I didn't fight our way out of there until the wee hours of the morning (2:30!) and finally arrived back at my home around 3:00 AM! We figured that if we had to be up at 5:30 to get to Oakville by 6:45, we might as well stay up all night, because we'd just be more tired after such a little amount of sleep. That lasted until 4:30, when we caved in and slept for an hour and a half, waking up at 6! We got to St. Michael's on time to catch their bus down to the Rally, and had a super good day of exhaustion!

The Lift Jesus Higher Rally was super cool. We had a blast with 1500 or so teens from all over coming together to do just what the rally says, Lift Jesus Higher! The worship was fantastic, by the Mustard Seeds, the NET team was great in their presentations of drama and testimony, and the talks were amazing and inspiring. One of the speakers, Alex Jones, used to be a Pentecostal minister, but he converted, as well as his wife, and 54 members of his congregation! During his talk he talked about living for Jesus, and then he said he felt led to have people respond if they felt a call to the priesthood or religious life. Right then and there he had an altar call and called those people up for prayer. Eric, who was with me, went up for prayer--and he's not even a Catholic yet! God is amazing!

The best part, though, were the celebrations of the sacraments. They had an opportunity for Confession, which I took up, and the priest I had as a Confessor was excellent, and helped a lot. Then we has Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and if you've never done that before, I seriously encourage you to check it out when you can! Spending an hour in the Real Presence of Jesus is like nothing I've ever experienced before (and when it comes to spiritual goodness, I've experienced a lot--not to be boastful)! Finally, we ended with a celebration of Mass, and were blessed to receive what we had just spent time worshipping--Jesus Christ Himself! Man, I love the Mass!

So afterward I drove Eric home, and lent him Hail Holy Queen. Then I went home and slept! And I slept through mass Sunday morning (which spiritually is okay, because the Mass at the LJH rally was the Sunday Obligation Mass, but for me as the youth minister, isn't so cool, because some people wanted to make sure the YG meeting was still on and my absense sent out the wrong message. Reeeaaaaallllyyyyy sorry about that one!).

Then we had the first YG meeting. I think it went well, but it certainly could have been better! Soon we'll be having times of praise and worship, as well as other fun (so it won't always just be me talking!).

Speaking of that, just to let you know what's coming up talk-wise, I have a schedule of talks made up to provide some direction for the YG. Starting this Sunday, I'm beginning a series on our identity as Catholic Christians titled "Who We Are Instead", which comes from the track, "Trouble Is", from my favourite band (Jars of Clay)'s second to latest album called (amazingly) "Who We Are Instead". The chorus makes the point that often we don't live our lives as Christians to the fullest potential because, "Man, the trouble is / We don't know who we are instead."

April 17th: "Who We Are Instead" pt. 1 We'll be looking at our identity and our self-image as Children of God. When we really understand who we are, it affects everything we do!

April 24th: "Who We Are Instead" pt. 2 We'll talk about God's Grace, and how that alone gives us the power to be who we are instead.

May 1st: "Who We Are Instead" pt. 3 We'll discuss how living for Christ will make a difference in the world!

May 8th: It's my birthday, so I'm taking the day off! No, that's not why! It's Mother's Day, and as a Youth Minister, I believe that Family comes first. Next to God, our families are most important (as evidenced in the 10 Commandments. Once God lays out the first 3 commandments, with regard to our behaviour toward Him, He starts the next part off by saying "Honour your Mother and Father". So spend Mother's Day with your moms!

May 15th: "Who We Are Instead" pt. 4 Jesus told us in John 10:10 that He came so that we might have life, and life to the fullest! Yet so many people look at Christianity and think that it's boring and you can't have any fun! I'm here to tell you otherwise!

May 22nd: "Who We Are Instead" pt. 5 We are called to be Saints! How do we get there? This ends the series!

May 29th: This is the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, so, appropriately, we'll be discussing the Eucharist! If I can swing it, we'll practice what I just preached above, and see if we can Adore the Blessed Sacrament!

Don't forget, May 21st is Christian Day in Wonderland, with 5 stellar bands rockin' out the grounds, plus full access to the park! Please talk to me ASAP about wanting to go so that I can order tics and everything.

God bless!

Requiescat in Pace, John Paul the Great

I got this e-letter from Crisis Magazine (A Catholic Mag in the States) that was about the Pope, and had some thought-provoking points I thought I'd reproduce here. It seemed fitting for the day of his funeral. God bless.

His Final Homily

CRISIS Magazine e-Letter

April 7, 2005

**********************************************

Dear Friend,

In the end, it was a peaceful death. Surrounded by those who knew and loved him, within earshot of the cheering thousands who came to be near his broken body, John Paul the Great passed into eternal life.

With his prolonged suffering and dying, he offered a final homily -- one that even the mainstream media could not ignore. It said this: Every human life has inherent dignity; every human life is precious; and even death should be embraced and experienced without shame.

How different that is from what our own culture tells us. We kill our young, starve our disabled, and hide away our elderly so we're not confronted with a forward glimpse of our own mortality.

Is it any wonder the secular world never really understood the man? And so we're told he was the great political warrior who overthrew communism. That's true, as far as it goes. But the pope's political activity was simply the manifestation of a profound faith lived in the world; he was not himself a politician.

And this, for many, seems a contradiction. Indeed, much of John Paul II's life appears inconsistent to the secular West. He was a celibate priest who wrote much on the glories of marriage; he advocated religious freedom while "stifling debate" in his own Church; he was "progressive" on social issues and "conservative" on moral matters; a brilliant philosopher/writer/poet who tried to shut down theological speculation, etc.

In hearing and reading these claims repeatedly the past week, I've come to conclude that John Paul II is a kind of mirror for the rest of us. The way we see him tells us far more about ourselves than it does about him. For this great and holy pope was remarkable not for his ability to balance opposing forces in his personality, but for his thoroughgoing consistency. He believed -- as the Catholic Church has always taught -- that all human life has dignity, and that that dignity must be reflected in our relations with God, ourselves, and each other.

His writings, his theological positions, his political activism -- all of it emerged from this fundamental belief. That so many of us find contradiction in the man shows us how far we have fallen.

May John Paul the Great pray for us all.

Best to you,

Brian [Saint-Paul, Editor, Crisis Magazine]

Good bye, Pope John Paul 2

I figure I should say something about the only Pope I've ever known--and from all accounts, one of the best!

So, farewell, JP2! Your legacy is one that will endure for ages! Your challenges will not soon be forgotten (though I'm sure many will try to!). May you be ushered speedily into the Presence of the Lord whom you served so dutifully all your life!

I have to admit, being new to this whole Catholic thing, as well as being just a youngun' (Pope John Paul 2 was Pope longer than I've been alive!) and having never lived through the change in Papacy, it's a frightening prospect. What if the new guy doesn't uphold the faith, and cows on issues like abortion or other life issues, or in other ways doesn't fill the shoes left behind?

Worse, what if he's one of those "evil" popes from the history books?

But through all the fear, I have hope. Hope that it is God Himself who directs the Church, and who will choose for us a suitable representative, just as He has done for the past many popes. And even if this new pope, whoever he turns out to be, isn't all that we might hope, I still have faith that the Church will shine through it all. The truths of the Catholic Church endure, unchanging, since the beginning. Jesus Himself has promised never to leave His Church, but that He will be with us always, "even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20), and "On this Rock I will establish My Church, and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

So even in this time of transition, we know that God is directing events. And even though we've lost a great man (Billy Graham called him a great evangelist, and the most important religious figure of the past 100 years!), we know that God has something greater in the works, and will continue to lead and guide His Church until He returns!

May we all aspire to the courage and intensity of faith that was John Paul II.

"Be Not Afraid!"