Christians Need to Love One Another

As a lifelong Catholic who loves the Church, defends her publicly, and tries my best to follow her teachings, I have observed a phenomenon over the years.

It has become very obvious to me that some of my brothers and sisters in the Church have a serious moral superiority complex in regards to other Christian faiths. And I believe that this attitude has played a major part in continuing a divide in Jesus' Church.

Let's remember that one simple fact to begin with: it's not our Church. It's not mine, or yours. It doesn't belong to Pope Francis, or any other human being. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. He is it's founder, and he is it's genuine leader still today.

Throughout centuries past, the sometimes immoral actions of Popes and other Church leaders directly led to many of the major schisms that have occurred which have separated believers from one another. Catholics need to recognize the truth in that burden before judging any Protestant, Episcopalian, or other Christian denomination.

The most important thing for any Christian is that they believe in the fact that Jesus Christ suffered and died for their sins, and that as followers of the Lord we have a responsibility to learn about his teachings and spread his Word, both to unbelievers and to those who have never heard it in the first place.

Christianity Clearly Under Attack in America

When you see the atrocities taking place in Syria today, as well as in other areas of the Middle East, involving the burning of Christian churches and the destruction of entire Christian communities, it really makes you thankful that you live here, in America.

America, where Christians are safe. Not only safe, but where Christian ideals are front and center, a difference maker, a vital, indispensable part of our founding principles. You know, America, the protector of religious freedom.

 The nation founded by leaders such as George Washington, who once told the Delaware Indian chiefs "You do well to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ." Such as Thomas Jefferson, who said "I am a real Christian - that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ." Such as Benjamin Franklin, who said "As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see."

The United States of America, a nation clearly founded by Christian men and women, and clearly built up over the centuries by many more of the same, such as Abraham Lincoln: "Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty."

Yet it is here, in that very America, where a large, increasingly hostile, increasingly antagonistic segment of society is actively moving on the attack against Christian morals and ethics. I believe that we are seeing the beginnings of an attempt to erase the practice of the Christian faith itself in America and around the globe. If it falls here in the United States, what other nation can hope to keep the faith standing?

You Are Worthy

One of my favorite things to do over the past few years has been serving my local Catholic parish church, Saint Christopher's, as a lector. I get to utilize the gift of public speaking that was given to me by God in presenting his Word to my community of believers. That is, quite frankly, a humbling honor.

In doing so, not only do I read something out loud, but I also am reading for myself. It is not only an exercise in dramatics or presentation meant to inspire my fellow parishioners and visitors to our church, but also a learning exercise, an educational and inspirational one, for me as an individual.

The topic of the readings at this week's Sunday Mass services were, as they frequently are, tied together in a theme that is very appropriate for both the time of year, but also one that presents a message of importance for every human being alive today.

The message is that God believes, no matter what your actions, your thoughts, or your current state of belief, disbelief, or practice, that you are worthy of his love.

In the first reading, taken from the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah tells the story of a vision in which he is presented with God sitting on his heavenly throne, and then of angels appearing to him.

Christ Will Come Again...When?

This weekend marks Palm Sunday, the beginning of one of the two holiest weeks in the Christian calendar.

On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus' entering the city of Jerusalem in Triumph to an explosion of good will, palm branch waving, and shouts of "Hosana" before undertaking the most important activities of his life.

These events included the overturning of the money-changers tables at the Temple and driving them out of that holy place, and resulted in some of his most famous teachings:

"Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive"

"Many are invited, but few are chosen"

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God"

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted"

He also was asked a question during these final days in Jerusalem regarding which was the greatest of the commandments, and famously replied:

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

He even foretold the coming of Christianity itself when he lectured the Jewish chief priests and the Pharisees that "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

The week which began in triumph and proceeded on through inspiration, challenge, and controversy would ultimately move to his betrayal, arrest, trial, persecution and would end with his death on the cross for all of our sins.

Christians also believe that Jesus Christ is destined to come again in what many refer to as the "End Days", the "End of Time", the "End of the Age", or in the "Apocalypse" period at the end of time. This belief doesn't come from a teaching of men, but from the promise of Christ himself in those same final days of his life.

But when will Jesus return?

Mormons Are Christians Too

I am a big fan of the HBO series "Big Love", but the fact of the matter is that it rarely shows what life is like for the average 'Mormon' family in America or around the world.

Led on by media depictions of fringe fundamentalists, 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' has gotten a bad name in some circles.

The fact is that the vast majority of the followers of this particular strand of Christianity are regular folks, including many famous people. Donny and Marie Osmond, stars of their own 1970's variety show as teens and now again thanks to recent appearances on the popular "Dancing With the Stars" program are part of perhaps the most famous American Mormon family.

Others who have either been raised in or converted to the faith include the man recently selected as the best 2nd baseman of the 2000's, Jeff Kent, who may one day be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. They also include the recent popular "American Idol' runner-up David Archuleta. And child actor turned adult drama TV star Rick Schroeder converted to the church of which his wife has been a lifelong member.

Perhaps the most important and influential member of the church is former Massachusetts Governor and leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. That importance comes from the fact of his legitimacy as a presidential candidate for a major political party.

During the 2008 election cycle, Romney ran a year-long campaign during which he won the Michigan and Nevada primaries among the 11 state primaries and caucuses that he won before dropping out in February of '08.

Britt Hume's Advice to Tiger Woods

Everyone pretty much knows the story of Tiger Woods' recent fall from grace. It became public that the mega-star athlete and corporation head was a serial adulterer.

The married Woods is the father of two kids in diapers and cashed in greatly not only on his golfing acumen, but also on a squeaky-clean family man image.

Since the numerous affairs began to become public on Turkey Day following a late night domestic incident and auto accident at his home, Woods' sponsorship deals have disappeared and his golf career put on hold as his family disintegrated in public.

Into this mess last Sunday waded Fox News political analyst and veteran newsman Britt Hume. On the program 'Fox News Sunday', the network's key Sunday news offering on major events, the panel participants were commenting on the big stories in the coming year. In the category of sports, Hume decided to tackle the immediate future of Tiger Woods, opining that Woods would indeed recover his golfing career this year.

However, Hume did not stop there. He went on to add that though Woods, who is believed to be a follower of Buddhism in his religious leanings, would indeed regain his golfing status, he might have a more difficult time in battling and overcoming his personal moral demons. Here is the full, exact quote by Hume at it's relevant point:

"My message would be to Tiger..turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

The Two Millenium Miracle

What do you believe about Christmas? At this time of year, billions of people on the planet are celebrating the birth of a baby that happened over two milleniums ago in a small town in what we know today as the Middle East.

Have you ever stopped to ask a simple question, one that would appear to be logical? That question would be, why?

Let's take a trip back in time. We'll make it a reality trip, one that journeys into the real world of those days and a few more over the ensuing centuries. Starting in first century Bethlehem in Judea, we find it dry and hot. No one exchanged Christmas cards. There were no trees being decorated. No one wore a crucifix around their neck.

Depending on whatever you choose to believe, on one mostly quiet night a teenage girl gave birth in a room, or a cave, or a barn, or a stable. Her child was a son, and she and her older carpenter fiancee would eventually take this child home with them to Nazareth and raise him through boyhood and adolescence into early manhood.

Remaining Thankful in the Worst of Times

If we live long enough here on earth, every single one of us is going to experience difficult times. Some of those are going to overwhelm us, challenging us to the limits of our ability to recover feelings of joy, peace, and thankfulness.

This coming week here in America we will celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving Day, a day specifically set aside for us all to give thanks for those blessings that we have received in this life. Though it may indeed be difficult, it is important that we remain thankful in the worst of those difficult times.

As this wonderful holiday approaches, I have been reminded recently of a pair of heartening messages, the first taught by Jesus Christ and the second by the apostle Paul: "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world" and "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In the first of these statements, Jesus let's all of us know in no uncertain terms that we are indeed going to experience difficult times in this world. We are going to experience physical illness and injury. We are going to experience other people in our lives, at times the very closest and dearest to us, letting us down. We are going to experience death, both of our loved ones and ultimately our own.

But also in no uncertain terms, Jesus declares that He has overcome the world. We have all been promised that if we remain strong in our faith, that one day we too shall overcome the world and join Him in His kingdom in Heaven.

The Temple of You

We've all done it from time to time, taken a good, hard, long look in the mirror. That isn't meant to be rhetorical. I mean actually looked at our visage as it is reflected back to us, our physical appearance.

The reactions to that visage spread out across a wide spectrum from "yeah, baby, I got it goin' on" to a panicked scream. People who don't like what they see have sometimes taken extreme measures to change their bodies, but this does not always change the reflection.

Some of these include turning to an eating disorder such as anorexia and bulimia, even plastic surgeries that are not for some medical necessity. Some decide they just want to forget or push away the image. They turn to the bottle or to drugs. Some need constant reinforcement of their worth, and in doing so turn to numerous sexual partners in an effort to constantly stroke their egos.

This isn't going to turn into one of those 'hell fire and brimstone' speeches against the evils of the flesh. God knows that I have fallen victim many a time in my own life. Taking control of some of these reactions to the reflection has taken me most of the 47 years that I have looked in the mirror.

But maybe it would have all clicked in a bit sooner, and maybe I would have control of my weight and its related concerns, if I had the experience that I had a few days ago at an earlier point.

In the past few days I have been re-exposed to an old, famous quotation, and had it more clearly expressed and explained, and I hope that this renewal finally changes my approach to this problem.

We have all likely heard the old saying "Your body is your temple", but how many of us have really ever thought much about the meaning behind that saying? The saying comes directly from the Bible.

Cast Off Whatever Drags You Down

I have seen it lamented in numerous publications and on broadcast television that there is a general negativity out there among today's youth. And when they talk about 'today's youth' in this fashion, they haven't been referring only to the old stand-by of 'teen angst.' It is a phenomenon that seems to be embedding itself in the entire under-30 generation. Where does such wide-spread negativity come from? I am going to blame two places. First, the old bugaboo of increasingly destructive and negative media. There is no doubt that over the past couple of decades, beginning with the explosion of interpretive music videos on MTV in the 1980's and expanding through ever more dark and violent motion pictures and television shows since that time, those 'today's youth' have been inundated with negative sounds and images unlike any generation before them. It has grown to the point where some visuals or words that would have been completely taboo when I was growing up just as recently as the 1960's and 1970's have now become mainstream. There is a continuing regression in the influential pop media areas of song and motion picture as far as morals. But it is a total copout to blame this all on media, for the second place that we can lay the blame for the ennui of 'today's youth' is right at our own parental doorsteps. We allowed ourselves to get sucked into this lifestyle, these lower forms of expression. As the 'Pandora's Box' of sexual, artistic, lyrical, visual and other expression was cracked open over the past few decades, we were seduced by newly liberating 'freedom' of expression. Little did we know that we were not becoming more free, but were becoming more enslaved. Sin creeps into lives in an insidious manner. It doesn't usually explode on us. Sin slips up behind us, envelops us slowly, sinks in deeply, and drags us down slowly. For the most part my generation did not turn off the television, did not turn off the music videos and radio songs, did not stay away from the motion pictures and television shows. In fact, we embraced them, and our kids watched our behavior, as they always do, and not only modeled it but went beyond it as society 'opened up' even further. I firmly believe that this overwhelming exposure to negative and sometimes profane media is at the root of the problems of 'today's youth', but that there is little or nothing that we can do now to shut it down. You truly cannot close that box once it has been opened. But we can do a couple of things. For one, we can expose ourselves to this media in a more discerning manner. There are positive lessons that can be taken from any story, song, or program and we need to understand that and search for them. If we find no redeeming value in something, then we simply must respond by publicly denouncing whatever the medium might be. We can also begin to publicly and outwardly stand up for the positive values and traditions of our Church. The lessons taught by Jesus Christ and his true followers down through the ages are things that we all should be exposing ourselves to more, and should be exposing our families to more. Turning to Christ is always the best and most effective thing that anyone can do in times of trouble, and the same is true for today's youth. Finally we can realize that there is a great deal of positive, affirming, enlightening media available out there in song, on television, and in theatres. We just need to be more discerning in seeking it out and exposing ourselves to these outlets and resources. All good music does not need to be profane. All interesting films do not need to be violent. All entertaining television does not need to be sexually exploitative. We need to make better choices in our lives a little at a time. For those with young children, you need to take control of what you allow them to be exposed to, and ensure that they are exposed to frequent positive messages, especially the Word. For those with older kids, it may have reached the point where your influence is not enough on its own. In that case, we have to hope that they are intelligent enough to figure the 'right' and the 'good' out for themselves as they get older. To today's youth my message would be to search your life, to search your habits, to search your influences closely. Whatever you come to realize is dragging you down, cast it off, remove it from your life. And if you take the next step of replacing it with more exposure to Jesus Christ and the Word, you will be amazed at the positive transformation in your spirit.

The Greatest Question Ever Asked

About a half century ago, literally on the other side of the world, the Reverend Billy Graham was delivering one of his typical fire and brimstone sermons 'Down Under' in Australia.

The theme of his sermon that day revolved around what he called "the greatest question ever asked by any man."

That questioner to whom he was referring was a bit notorious. It was Pontius Pilate, the first century Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea who has become legend for having condemned Jesus Christ to death by crucifixion.

While being questioned by Pilate, Jesus stated "...for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Pilate responded with his simple question that has resounded through history as that greatest ever to be asked: "What is truth?"

However, Pilate asks his question dismissively of Christ. As he asks the question, he waves Jesus off and walks away, as if to say 'yeah, right' or 'gimme a break'.

It is not as if Jesus Christ had never answered this question, for he had done so on numerous occasions previously, and none more famously than is presented in the Gospel of John.

Embarrassed About Christ?

There are many people in this world, especially right here in the United States, who would describe themselves if pushed into a corner as Christians.

However, many would have to almost literally be pushed into that corner and have a knife held to their throat to admit it. You might then even get their denomination: Catholic, Protestant, whatever.

But many are simply reluctant to ever bring up the subject in normal discussion, or to ever 'advertise' their faith, their belief in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Maybe they will wear a crucifix or a cross. Unfortunately, if left dangling on the outside of shirts and tops, it's frequently as much a fashion statement as anything true advertisement of faith or belief. Why is this so?

I was reading a great article yesterday by Colonel Oliver North in a recent issue of Townhall magazine. North was lamenting the fact that so many of us seem to know the names of our top athletes such as Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps and Venus Williams, and care about what is going on in the lives of celebrities such as Britney Spears, Madonna or Brad Pitt, but care little about our military heroes.

These men and women are fighting and dying for our country, and for the cause of freedom, all over the world. They are often committing incredibly brave and selfless acts that rival and surpass any story that could be told about a sports figure or a Hollywood starlet. Yet you don't know who they are.

The vast majority of you reading this article couldn't name a single 'Medal of Honor' winner, a single 'Purple Heart' recipient. The everyday heroes of law enforcement, fire fighting, and other public services only get attention when they are killed while doing their jobs. Even that is usually only a local story, with the exception of an event such as 9/11. Why is that so?

Much of the reasoning behind why you so easily speak about sports and entertainment, but so little about Jesus Christ and real American heroes, is that media and academia in this day and age have a political and social agenda. Roll your eyes at the claim if you like, but tell me it isn't the truth.

End of Days?

Every once in awhile, I sit down to watch some TV, nothing special is on my agenda, and a show or movie catches my attention and ends up drawing me in to watch the whole thing.

That very thing happened yesterday with Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1999 apocalyptic themed movie "End of Days", which I watched on the 'Encore' movie network.

I grew up in the whole Schwarzenegger-Sylvester Stallone-Bruce Willis-Harrison Ford-Clint Eastwood era of movie watching. I simply enjoy watching these actors performances in most of their action adventures.

This group of actors has delivered more memorable one-liners than any collective group in the history of cinema. Their films have come during the era when special effects have allowed almost anything to happen and seem realistic.

The plot of "End of Days" finds Schwarzenegger portraying an ex-cop turned private security specialist. He is providing security along with his partner, played by Kevin Pollack, for a wealthy Wall Street financier played by Gabriel Byrne.

Problems begin when Byrne's character's body is taken over by Satan himself. It is the devil's goal to mate with a chosen human woman in the final hour before the end of the Millennium.

That chosen woman is played by the beautiful Robin Tunney. The film is also highlighted by one of the final appearances (the last in a major film) from veteran actor Rod Steiger.

As the rest of the world prepares to celebrate the coming of the year 2000, officials of the Church are trying to track down and stop the mating process of Satan and his chosen concubine. Per the story line, this would result in the birth of a child who will usher in a 'hell on earth' scenario.

Schwarzenegger's character is an unbelieving, pragmatic dupe whose own wife and daughter were brutally murdered a few years earlier. He has descended into a battle with alcoholism in the aftermath, and is now just moving through life using his particular 'skill set' to provide private security services.

He finally is forced to realize that in this case, he is providing those services for the Dark Prince himself. Thus begins his mission: to protect Tunney from becoming the devil's mate, something which she was apparently born to become.

Choose

Making a choice is not always an easy thing to do, and when it comes to the most important things in life the choices you make will affect not only you, but those around you. Your friends, family, community.

Sometimes your choices can ultimately affect the entire world. One such decision, perhaps the most important one that any of us will ever make, is one that I have recently been contemplating.

The choice to accept Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior.

There, I said it. In some ways, it’s not an easy choice to make. Christ Himself said “You will be hated by all because of my name.” But I will put it to you here that it is the only rational choice that you can make, the only choice that makes any sense, and the only choice that will ultimately get you what we all search for – peace, love, happiness.

When there is a choice to be made, it is usually between at least two, and often many different things. There is nothing different about the choice to welcome Jesus Christ into your life. You can choose to do so, or you can choose evil, or you can choose ambivalence, or you can choose to delay your ultimate choice…but choose we all shall.

In my own life, it has taken far too long to come to this point. What will be your choice?