There is great angst about the course of our country and the
world, and the Church. We hear of
cardinals proposing changes to Church teaching to accommodate the world’s
wants. Change the Church so we can
change people is the logic. Christians
are being rejected by the world, yet the response is to become what the world
would want them to be. Who is converting
who? Many are accepting this logic, in
part, because they desire to change others, without fully knowing who they themselves
are. They want to spread a faith they
don’t fully understand ---- but it “feels” good. They are like warriors leaping into a battle
with no armor or weapons of defense.
I attended a talk by Fr. Mark Livingston the other day. The topic was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. (I had mentioned here how much I was moved by
an earlier talk of his on the Eucharist.)
Fr. Mark began his talk with the story of his conversion and his
reaction at being overwhelmed by the Spirit: “It’s all true!” he exclaimed
(exactly what I said when it happened to me).
More recently, Fr. Mark said, when asking God what He would have him do,
he heard: Teach. So, he began what will
be monthly talks on the teachings of Christ reflected in the Catholic
Church. This sounds so simple, yet it
rings of a very positive step to me.
There are so many “Sunday Christians,” people loosely educated in the
faith. These are not people who can go
out and spread the faith; they don’t understand it themselves. And their children, who also don’t understand
it, are rapidly falling away. The world
is more attractive to them; they don’t see the beauty of Christ, His purpose,
and what He taught was their purpose.
Many Christian churches have some “back to basics” programs, a good
thing. The Catholic Church has the Alpha
program. But there is a need for the
next step, not just a general knowledge of Christ and His teaching, but the
beginnings of a relationship with Him.
Fr. Mark freely talks about relationship as he explains what and why the
Church teaches, and he talks about our purpose in life, why we were so uniquely
created, here, now. I think Fr. Mark’s
talks fill a yawning gap for many “Sunday Christians,” who have a yearning for
a better life, a more meaningful life, but don’t know where to begin. I’m sure Fr. Mark’s call to teach is a call
from God, and he seems to be answering it very well.
We need a deeper formation program for Catholics, to instill
in them a knowledge and a love of God.
We cannot begin to change any others in this world until we change
ourselves. And now I’ll just write here
some quotes from other readings God has put before my eyes this week, emphasizing
the importance of this thought (and in case I didn’t get His first call --- He
knows me so well. : - ) )
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- - - - - - - -
The
Formation of Apostles
--- Divine Intimacy, #330
--- Divine Intimacy, #330
“If a soul dedicates itself to
prayer and sacrifice, it will help others.” (But) “one who is just setting out
in the spiritual life is not capable of attending to his own sanctification and
the sanctification of others simultaneously; he should first have time to
concentrate all his powers on his own spiritual formation. A beginner will not be capable of exercising
a very fruitful apostolate. Jesus
Himself spent thirty years in prayer and retirement, … to show us that before
we plunge into the work of the exterior apostolate, we much have reached a
certain spiritual maturity. He treated
the Apostles in a similar way: the three years they spent with Jesus were years
of true formation for them. Thus, true
Catholic tradition demands that, before apostles go out into the field of
battle, they must prepare themselves by the practice of an intense interior
life, which will make them qualified, fruitful instruments for the good of
souls. Enthusiasm and good will are not
enough. A vigorous interior life,
maturity of thought and judgment, and a - -spirit of sacrifice and union with
God are also necessary.”
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- - - - - - - -
From
a letter to Proba by St. Augustine, bishop:
“Power shines forth more
perfectly in weakness. These words are
written to prevent us from having too great an opinion of ourselves if our
prayer is granted, when we are impatient in asking for something that it would
be better not to receive; and to prevent us from being dejected and distrustful
of God’s mercy toward us if our prayer is not granted, when we ask for something
that would bring us greater affliction, or completely ruin us through the
corrupting influence of prosperity. In
these cases, we do not know what it is right to ask for in prayer.
Therefore, if something happens
that we did not pray for, we must have no doubt at all that what God wants is
more expedient than what we wanted ourselves.
Our great Mediator gave us an example of this. After he had said: Father, if it is
possible, let this cup be taken away from me, he immediately added, Yet
not what I will, but what you will, Father, so transforming the human will
that was his through his taking a human nature.
As a consequence, and rightly so, through the obedience of one man
the many are made righteous.
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- - - - - - - -
All of these events and readings
are talking about humility. So much is
wrong with the world and its leaders. We
want to change things for the better.
Or, we want to drop out. We want
to change things to what WE think is better --- but most of us have never fully
learned what the standard for “better” is.
Fr. Mark teaching his parish; Jesus teaching his apostles; Augustine teaching
a friend: Power shines forth more
perfectly in weakness. Stop trying
to change the world; start by changing ourselves. We can only sow seeds; God will do the hard
work. We need greater humility, trust,
and a desire to grow closer to Him, to know Him, to pray not expecting OUR
answers.
Before trying to change the world,
we need to change ourselves.
