The movie and the book start out with a younger Bilbo Baggins (an agnostic?) trying to live a quiet, pleasant and respectable life in the Shire. And then Gandalf (God?) comes along and invites him to join him on an adventure. Bilbo tries to end the conversation quickly, saying "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!".
But Gandalf seems to think otherwise and sends the company of dwarves to join Bilbo at his house, uninvited, for dinner. Hmmm... I wonder if the dwarves could be an analogy for the church sometimes?
During the course of the meal, Bilbo is given the contract (Bible, catechisms, creeds, church history...?) where he learns that he could even be killed in a number of gruesome ways on this adventure and thereupon passes out. But he ends up deciding to go and runs out of his house without his pocket handkerchiefs to catch up with Thorin and company who have already started on the journey, little realizing what he is getting himself into.
All for now.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? Discovering the Church as a hospital for sinners.
As I mentioned, Sin is our basic distrust of God, His intentions towards us, the goodness and wisdom of His character, will and plan as our Creator. Our individual acts of sin are the symptoms of that distrust and unbelief.
God however has a plan for our salvation from sin through Jesus Christ, His son. And part of His plan is for us to be in community in the Church which Jesus founded during his time here on earth. God designed it so we can help each other towards wholeness, maturity until we all become like Jesus.
But here's part of the deal, the Church is a hospital for sinners in the recovery process and it is staffed by sinners in the recovery process. And our salvation is a lifelong process for each of us. So guess what? Sin is going to happen in the Church. On top of that the Scriptures themselves warn that the dragon will also plant his agents in the Church to try to undermine and destroy it and us. Much of the New Testament was written in part to address problems in the fledgling churches caused by their sinfulness getting out of hand and yet God was their midst ministering through and to them. And He made some of them shepherds to tend His flock.
As I studied church history, I found it interesting that the Church fairly consistently rejected both licentiousness and perfectionistic legalism down through the ages. There were darker times and lighter times but the Church has never been nor will be perfect this side of heaven. As I have heard from numerous sources, "If you ever find the perfect church, don't join it because then it won't be perfect anymore." As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:18, quoting Proverbs 11:31 from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, “And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?” NABRE
And yet the promise that Jesus made in Matthew 16 still holds true and has down through the ages:
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." NABRE
Over time I came to believe in an inspired church made up of broken people. How did this help me? Realistic expectations always help and it gave me more compassion towards the weaknesses and frailties of others and even myself.
God however has a plan for our salvation from sin through Jesus Christ, His son. And part of His plan is for us to be in community in the Church which Jesus founded during his time here on earth. God designed it so we can help each other towards wholeness, maturity until we all become like Jesus.
But here's part of the deal, the Church is a hospital for sinners in the recovery process and it is staffed by sinners in the recovery process. And our salvation is a lifelong process for each of us. So guess what? Sin is going to happen in the Church. On top of that the Scriptures themselves warn that the dragon will also plant his agents in the Church to try to undermine and destroy it and us. Much of the New Testament was written in part to address problems in the fledgling churches caused by their sinfulness getting out of hand and yet God was their midst ministering through and to them. And He made some of them shepherds to tend His flock.
As I studied church history, I found it interesting that the Church fairly consistently rejected both licentiousness and perfectionistic legalism down through the ages. There were darker times and lighter times but the Church has never been nor will be perfect this side of heaven. As I have heard from numerous sources, "If you ever find the perfect church, don't join it because then it won't be perfect anymore." As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:18, quoting Proverbs 11:31 from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, “And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?” NABRE
And yet the promise that Jesus made in Matthew 16 still holds true and has down through the ages:
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." NABRE
Over time I came to believe in an inspired church made up of broken people. How did this help me? Realistic expectations always help and it gave me more compassion towards the weaknesses and frailties of others and even myself.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Disccovering the Church as a hospital for sinners.
In my journey towards the Catholic Church, I was looking for actual healing from the most deadly disease that all of us have and that is sin. I was looking for treatments that actually worked. I think a medical analogy is a good one.
But let's talk about the disease first, what is sin? Most of us immediately think of a list of things that we ought not to do but that we in fact do. If we think further we also think of sin as not doing things that we ought to have done. So we have discovered that there are sins of commission (doing what we ought not to do) and sins of omission (not doing what we ought to do). But we are still thinking about "sins", individual acts or instances which are only symptoms (although they can have disastrous consequences) of the disease, Sin, itself.
Sin is, at its root, an ingrained distrust of and in God and an ingrained trust of and in self. The symptoms or individual sins flow from our distrust in God's goodness and our pursuit of what we think is "life" apart from Him. It involves what the Apostle Paul calls exchanging the truth of God for the lie in Romans 1.
So my question has always been, how do I find healing from my disease? So I will talk about what I found.
May God be with you today in whatever circumstances you find yourselves in. May He be your refuge.
But let's talk about the disease first, what is sin? Most of us immediately think of a list of things that we ought not to do but that we in fact do. If we think further we also think of sin as not doing things that we ought to have done. So we have discovered that there are sins of commission (doing what we ought not to do) and sins of omission (not doing what we ought to do). But we are still thinking about "sins", individual acts or instances which are only symptoms (although they can have disastrous consequences) of the disease, Sin, itself.
Sin is, at its root, an ingrained distrust of and in God and an ingrained trust of and in self. The symptoms or individual sins flow from our distrust in God's goodness and our pursuit of what we think is "life" apart from Him. It involves what the Apostle Paul calls exchanging the truth of God for the lie in Romans 1.
So my question has always been, how do I find healing from my disease? So I will talk about what I found.
May God be with you today in whatever circumstances you find yourselves in. May He be your refuge.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic - Sacramentals
I still feel like there are thousands of things that I want to share with you and there is so little time and energy to do so. My mind and my heart flit from one beautiful facet of the truth of the gospel to another saying, "Oh! I want to share this with them and share that with them and I must not forget to write about this..." And I know a lot of you already know many of these things but as Peter told believers in his 2nd letter, "Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth you have." 2 Peter 1:13 NABRE
So I want to begin to write about sacramentals because they are one of the facets of the Catholic Church that drew me during my time with my beloved Methodist brothers and sisters. I have already mentioned some of them such as holy cards which have pictures and prayers on them and little prayer books one can carry around in one's pockets or purse. Sacramentals are material or physical objects and actions that help raise one's heart and mind to God and the things of God in obedience to the Apostle Paul's many admonitions in his letters such as Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
They include actions like making the sign of the cross, genuflection (a momentary kneeling with one knee), prostration (laying oneself down on the floor), bowing, folding one's hand in prayer, blessings and on and on.
They also include objects such as crosses, crucifixes (crosses with the body of Jesus on them), pictures, statues, holy water, holy cards, prayer books, rosaries, medals, and on and on.
As I like to say, it's physical or incarnational. God's son, the Word of God, was spirit like Him before the incarnation or becoming flesh. But now Jesus is one of us. And we are not just spirit or intellectual, we are physical. When Jesus healed, sometimes He just spoke a word from a distance and other times He used physical means.
And most importantly, it works.
And you can say, "Well, what about all those people who are just going through the motions or are doing them for the wrong reasons and ..." We can do that with anything, no matter what our faith tradition or lack thereof. That is part of our human condition.
Simple illustration of the effectiveness of a sacramental.
Lyric by Chris Tomlin from Here I am to Worship, "I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross."
Howard looking at, meditating on and feeling with his fingers a crucifix with the battered and twisted body of Jesus on it, thinking of the Gospel accounts and Chris Tomlin's song. A light begins to dawn, a feeling begins to stir and a tear begins to trace its way down Howard's cheek, a heart begins to change...
May God bless you, my brothers and sisters/
So I want to begin to write about sacramentals because they are one of the facets of the Catholic Church that drew me during my time with my beloved Methodist brothers and sisters. I have already mentioned some of them such as holy cards which have pictures and prayers on them and little prayer books one can carry around in one's pockets or purse. Sacramentals are material or physical objects and actions that help raise one's heart and mind to God and the things of God in obedience to the Apostle Paul's many admonitions in his letters such as Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
They include actions like making the sign of the cross, genuflection (a momentary kneeling with one knee), prostration (laying oneself down on the floor), bowing, folding one's hand in prayer, blessings and on and on.
They also include objects such as crosses, crucifixes (crosses with the body of Jesus on them), pictures, statues, holy water, holy cards, prayer books, rosaries, medals, and on and on.
As I like to say, it's physical or incarnational. God's son, the Word of God, was spirit like Him before the incarnation or becoming flesh. But now Jesus is one of us. And we are not just spirit or intellectual, we are physical. When Jesus healed, sometimes He just spoke a word from a distance and other times He used physical means.
And most importantly, it works.
And you can say, "Well, what about all those people who are just going through the motions or are doing them for the wrong reasons and ..." We can do that with anything, no matter what our faith tradition or lack thereof. That is part of our human condition.
Simple illustration of the effectiveness of a sacramental.
Lyric by Chris Tomlin from Here I am to Worship, "I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross."
Howard looking at, meditating on and feeling with his fingers a crucifix with the battered and twisted body of Jesus on it, thinking of the Gospel accounts and Chris Tomlin's song. A light begins to dawn, a feeling begins to stir and a tear begins to trace its way down Howard's cheek, a heart begins to change...
May God bless you, my brothers and sisters/
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic - What about Mary and the Saints? Cont'd #3
The standard and ancient prayer asking Mary to pray for us is the Hail Mary. The first half of the prayer is a combination of the angel Gabriel's and Mary's cousin Elizabeth's greetings to Mary in Luke 1. It goes like this.
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
That's it. We are asking her to pray for us now and at the hour of our death. And she does because we are her offspring ,who are being pursued by the dragon (Satan) who tried to destroy her and her son.
As I am sharing these things, I am just covering the surface, there is much more I could share but I won't now for the sake of time.
What about the saints? I have talked about them somewhat but I will say a little more.
First of all, all members of the household of God, the Body of Christ, are saints. But the term is also used of Christians who have gone before us into heaven, who lived lives of heroic faith and virtue while on the earth and who the Church has formally declared to be Saints as examples to follow and ask for their intercessions.
When we talk of patron saints, we are often talking of saints who during their lives had particular experiences, interests and devotions and who therefore identify with us in praying for people in similar situations. So Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. Why? Because he devoted his life to making God known among the Irish and serving them. He still loves them dearly even though he is now in heaven and he therefore prays for them.
Before I became a Catholic, I asked for Saint Jude's intercessions for my family members and for me. He is the patron saint of desperate causes. And those of you who know my and my family's history can probably imagine why. I also chose him as my patron saint when I became a Catholic.
When we say the Apostles Creed, we say we believe in the communion of saints and it is a communion that is not broken by our earthly death since the saints are very much alive on the other side. There is a solidarity among us, kind of like the motto of the Musketeers, One for all and all for one.
Well, Howard, can you give an example from the Bible of a conversation of someone on earth with someone who has departed? Yes, the Transfiguration where Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah on the mountain.
Remember God is not the God of the dead but of the living. He said I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush as Jesus pointed out. And Jesus said to Martha when Lazarus died “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,..."
Now I also pray to God myself and I also ask my brothers and sisters on earth to pray for me. And the Bible is filled with people praying and being prayed for.
So that is all I am going to say for now on Mary and the Saints. Upcoming topics will be the Church and Sacraments and sacramentals.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The Lord's screw-up: Clarification
I am the screw-up but the Lord loves me and He wants me and He lets me be on His team anyway so I am His screw-up. He didn't screw up. I am just one of His motley crew. That is one thing that a lot of people don't get about the Church whether they are inside or outside of it.
The Lord generally chooses those who the world would consider the least likely to succeed. That is why the powers of this world whether religious or not didn't get why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and why He picked a bunch of hicks from Galilee, fishermen, a tax collector, a Zealot and so on to be His apostles.
The Apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1:
26Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, 28and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 29so that no human being might boast before God. 30It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.” NABRE
The Lord generally chooses those who the world would consider the least likely to succeed. That is why the powers of this world whether religious or not didn't get why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and why He picked a bunch of hicks from Galilee, fishermen, a tax collector, a Zealot and so on to be His apostles.
The Apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1:
26Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, 28and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 29so that no human being might boast before God. 30It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.” NABRE
Saturday, July 20, 2013
The Lord's Screw-up
At my parish it is okay to be fallible even when you are an altar server, like me. Tonight I came home from church sticky and reeking of wine. One of our deacons had been preaching a challenging homily (short sermon) and I was the head server. I try not to get too engrossed in the liturgy and homily because I still need to think ahead, keep track of where we are and what's next in the Mass and be alert to the needs of the clergy and possible changes in how things are going to go. But tonight his homily was really getting me thinking and I forgot where we were so when we stood up to say the creed after the homily I thought it was time to help the deacon get the altar ready for the Eucharist. When I picked up the tray of cups of wine, I heard them start saying the creed and realized my mistake. I end up knocking over some of the cups as I tried to set the tray back on the table, spilling wine over the tray, myself and the floor. Fortunately this all occurred behind a wall and with the help of some kind people, we muddled through it and managed to complete the Mass.
Now I wouldn't have been surprised if they had asked me to turn in my robe and kicked me off the altar serving team. Instead the priest blessed us as usual and thanked us for serving at the end of the Mass. The deacon laughed when I explained what had happened, thanked me for the indirect complement about his homily and said not to worry about it. And some people from the parish stopped by the sacristy afterwards to console me with stories of other Mass catastrophes.
Altar serving hasn't come naturally to me. I feel privileged to serve at the Lord's table but I don't feel worthy of the trust. I've been doing it for a year and a half because a deacon's wife asked me to and I said I would. Most of the servers are young children or teens but they need a few of us adults to help out. It seemed like I would do something out of sync almost every Mass at first. Most of the kids seem to take to it like fish to water and could probably do it in their sleep. Things had finally smoothed out lately and I seemed to have it down and then this disaster happened.
But that has been my experience with Catholics, they seem to know we are earthen vessels made of clay, frail and broken, and so they make allowances for that while encouraging us to walk with Jesus and strive for the holiness without which no man will see God, to seek the wholeness that God is providing through His Son. (Hebrews 12:14)
Goodnight.
Now I wouldn't have been surprised if they had asked me to turn in my robe and kicked me off the altar serving team. Instead the priest blessed us as usual and thanked us for serving at the end of the Mass. The deacon laughed when I explained what had happened, thanked me for the indirect complement about his homily and said not to worry about it. And some people from the parish stopped by the sacristy afterwards to console me with stories of other Mass catastrophes.
Altar serving hasn't come naturally to me. I feel privileged to serve at the Lord's table but I don't feel worthy of the trust. I've been doing it for a year and a half because a deacon's wife asked me to and I said I would. Most of the servers are young children or teens but they need a few of us adults to help out. It seemed like I would do something out of sync almost every Mass at first. Most of the kids seem to take to it like fish to water and could probably do it in their sleep. Things had finally smoothed out lately and I seemed to have it down and then this disaster happened.
But that has been my experience with Catholics, they seem to know we are earthen vessels made of clay, frail and broken, and so they make allowances for that while encouraging us to walk with Jesus and strive for the holiness without which no man will see God, to seek the wholeness that God is providing through His Son. (Hebrews 12:14)
Goodnight.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic - What about Mary and the Saints? Cont'd #2
Another way that Mary helps me in walking with Jesus is by her intercessions for me and the things I am concerned about. When Catholics talk about praying to Mary and the saints, they are talking about asking them to pray for us much like we ask our friends on earth to do. Prayer is a conversation and a sharing between beings. Much like she did with the servers in the miracle at Cana in the Gospel of John, chapter 2, she brings me into the presence of her son, presents my concerns and then tells me to do whatever He tells me to do.
The Bible tells us that the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much in James 5 and then James gives the prophet Elijah during his earthly ministry as an example. How much more effective are the prayers of Mary and the saints and the angels who stand in the presence of God in heaven. And you may ask me, "Howard, do they really pray for us?" And my answer is yes.
In Revelation, chapter 5, as the Lamb of God (Jesus) is receiving the scroll from His Father, we read of humans in heaven offering up prayers to God in verse 8, "When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones." And in Revelation 8 we read of an angel offering up prayers to God in verses 3 and 4, "Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel." In verse 5, we read of the impact of those prayers upon the earth, "Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake." Our prayers really shake things up! But remember that it is God who answers our prayers from heaven, who wills and accomplishes great things. And He wants us to pray for one another. It is part of love.
But, Howard, have you experienced this power? Again, my answer is yes. One of my sons who was deathly ill on more than one occasion is well and still with us and I am still here.
I will give you a specific incident as I was on still on my journey towards becoming a Catholic. In 2004, my father died and our family went out to Oregon for a week for his memorial service. Our son who had been ill the year before had to stay behind and work so we boarded our two dogs so he wouldn't have to take care of them. One of them was our son's favorite, a small cocker spaniel mix. Shortly after we left, there was a thunderstorm and the bigger dog who was quite a digger and escape artist tried to escape from their pen. She didn't succeed but the small one was able to slip out. Our son looked for her frantically during most of the week during a hot summer, following tips and leads. There were coyotes, town roads, highways, railroads and open country. We were on our way home at the end of our week away and still she had not been found. And so I asked Mary and Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost things, for their prayers on the night before we would arrive home.
The very next morning our son called us as we were on the road home. He had been out driving a road on the edge of town and our dog came out of the brush and tall grass a few yards in front of his car looking tired, dazed and bedraggled. She was found and recovered from her adventure.
We are to pray to God ourselves but we are also to ask others to pray for us. More later.
The Bible tells us that the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much in James 5 and then James gives the prophet Elijah during his earthly ministry as an example. How much more effective are the prayers of Mary and the saints and the angels who stand in the presence of God in heaven. And you may ask me, "Howard, do they really pray for us?" And my answer is yes.
In Revelation, chapter 5, as the Lamb of God (Jesus) is receiving the scroll from His Father, we read of humans in heaven offering up prayers to God in verse 8, "When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones." And in Revelation 8 we read of an angel offering up prayers to God in verses 3 and 4, "Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel." In verse 5, we read of the impact of those prayers upon the earth, "Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake." Our prayers really shake things up! But remember that it is God who answers our prayers from heaven, who wills and accomplishes great things. And He wants us to pray for one another. It is part of love.
But, Howard, have you experienced this power? Again, my answer is yes. One of my sons who was deathly ill on more than one occasion is well and still with us and I am still here.
I will give you a specific incident as I was on still on my journey towards becoming a Catholic. In 2004, my father died and our family went out to Oregon for a week for his memorial service. Our son who had been ill the year before had to stay behind and work so we boarded our two dogs so he wouldn't have to take care of them. One of them was our son's favorite, a small cocker spaniel mix. Shortly after we left, there was a thunderstorm and the bigger dog who was quite a digger and escape artist tried to escape from their pen. She didn't succeed but the small one was able to slip out. Our son looked for her frantically during most of the week during a hot summer, following tips and leads. There were coyotes, town roads, highways, railroads and open country. We were on our way home at the end of our week away and still she had not been found. And so I asked Mary and Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost things, for their prayers on the night before we would arrive home.
The very next morning our son called us as we were on the road home. He had been out driving a road on the edge of town and our dog came out of the brush and tall grass a few yards in front of his car looking tired, dazed and bedraggled. She was found and recovered from her adventure.
We are to pray to God ourselves but we are also to ask others to pray for us. More later.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic - What about Mary and the Saints? Cont'd
In the 5th century AD, there was a faction in the church that was trying to explain the mystery of the Incarnation in a way that made Jesus two persons (one human and one divine) united into one instead of simply being one person, fully human and fully divine, the Word becoming flesh as presented in John's Gospel. The third ecumenical council was convened in 431 AD to discuss the issue and it proclaimed that Mary became the Mother of God by the human conception of the eternal Word of God (who was with God in beginning as John says) in her womb. The emphasis here is that Jesus born of Mary is in fact, God, become man. Her new title was designed to be a safeguard of her son's divinity. And so Mary has been called the Mother of God ever since.
So how has Mary helped me follow Jesus, her son?
Well, first of all, she has been called his first disciple because she offered her life up to God and to her future son, Jesus, in becoming his mother. Her life was no longer her own. And so I have been able to meditate on her life and imitate her life. The life of the one who said to God's angelic messenger, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
More later.
So how has Mary helped me follow Jesus, her son?
Well, first of all, she has been called his first disciple because she offered her life up to God and to her future son, Jesus, in becoming his mother. Her life was no longer her own. And so I have been able to meditate on her life and imitate her life. The life of the one who said to God's angelic messenger, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
More later.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic - What about Mary and the Saints?
Okay, we are going to talk about Mary and the Saints! This area is one of the biggies separating most Protestants (except for Anglo/Catholic Anglicans) and Catholics. The Orthodox are closer to Catholic faith and practice in this area but there are some differences in emphasis which I will not go into here.
Now before I started my journey towards the Catholic Church, I didn't give Mary much thought at all. She had the kid, mission accomplished, now get her off the stage. She was an accessory to any crèche set sitting next to the manger looking adoringly at the God/Man baby lying in it.
I did go so far as thinking highly of her for being willing to endure for God's will and plan the probable gossip going on in her community about her alleged indiscretions and what a good man Joseph was to go ahead and marry her anyway. I mean the Bible says that even Joseph had his doubts until an angel set him straight. (See Matthew Chapter 1) But that was about it for my thoughts about her.
Catholics on the other hand highly revere her (but not worship) and call her the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of all Christians/the Church, the Blessed Mother and the Mother of God. They regularly ask for her intercessions, confide in her and have a relationship with her as they do with Jesus.
So how did I come to adopt the Catholic view of Mary? Gradually. And it is based largely on Scripture.
I noticed for the first time as I was re-reading Revelation 12 that the woman even though she is not identified by name in the passage is obviously Mary and that her male child is obviously Jesus. The Protestant commentators just identified her as symbolically representing Israel. And Mary definitely does represent Israel but she is still Mary, the mother of Jesus. And she is in the sky standing on the moon wearing a crown. Hmmm... that suggests royalty, a queen or more precisely the queen-mother for she is the mother of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who will rule all nations with a rod of iron, Jesus.
And someone else is in the sky. A great, red dragon who is identified as the Devil, Satan and the Accuser. And he is seeking to devour the child and destroy the woman. An all-out war breaks out that seems to be taking place back and forth across time and simultaneously in heaven and on earth. And the sky appears to be heaven from which Satan and the angels that follow him are cast down from as they lose the war against the angelic host led by Michael the archangel. Satan is also unsuccessful in his attempts to destroy the mother and child and he is furious and the chapter closes with this verse.
"17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus."
Hey, that's us Christians! We are offspring of the woman, of Mary and of Israel too, through her. I understood that I was Mary's child, too. I also saw that this passage was one of the places where Catholics got the idea that Mary is Queen (or Queen-Mother) of Heaven and Mother of All Christians/the Church.
I think I will stop here because I want to write in bite-size chunks for my readers. I also want to make a few things clear as to my purposes in writing about my journey. I want my readers to know about and hopefully understand my journey. I also hope they will be able to learn things that will help them in their walk with Jesus as I have been helped. I also hope to help Christians from the three major branches understand and respect one another.
I have a bit more to write about Mary and how she has helped me along the way to follow her son, Jesus. Then I will address the Saints.
Now before I started my journey towards the Catholic Church, I didn't give Mary much thought at all. She had the kid, mission accomplished, now get her off the stage. She was an accessory to any crèche set sitting next to the manger looking adoringly at the God/Man baby lying in it.
I did go so far as thinking highly of her for being willing to endure for God's will and plan the probable gossip going on in her community about her alleged indiscretions and what a good man Joseph was to go ahead and marry her anyway. I mean the Bible says that even Joseph had his doubts until an angel set him straight. (See Matthew Chapter 1) But that was about it for my thoughts about her.
Catholics on the other hand highly revere her (but not worship) and call her the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of all Christians/the Church, the Blessed Mother and the Mother of God. They regularly ask for her intercessions, confide in her and have a relationship with her as they do with Jesus.
So how did I come to adopt the Catholic view of Mary? Gradually. And it is based largely on Scripture.
I noticed for the first time as I was re-reading Revelation 12 that the woman even though she is not identified by name in the passage is obviously Mary and that her male child is obviously Jesus. The Protestant commentators just identified her as symbolically representing Israel. And Mary definitely does represent Israel but she is still Mary, the mother of Jesus. And she is in the sky standing on the moon wearing a crown. Hmmm... that suggests royalty, a queen or more precisely the queen-mother for she is the mother of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who will rule all nations with a rod of iron, Jesus.
And someone else is in the sky. A great, red dragon who is identified as the Devil, Satan and the Accuser. And he is seeking to devour the child and destroy the woman. An all-out war breaks out that seems to be taking place back and forth across time and simultaneously in heaven and on earth. And the sky appears to be heaven from which Satan and the angels that follow him are cast down from as they lose the war against the angelic host led by Michael the archangel. Satan is also unsuccessful in his attempts to destroy the mother and child and he is furious and the chapter closes with this verse.
"17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus."
Hey, that's us Christians! We are offspring of the woman, of Mary and of Israel too, through her. I understood that I was Mary's child, too. I also saw that this passage was one of the places where Catholics got the idea that Mary is Queen (or Queen-Mother) of Heaven and Mother of All Christians/the Church.
I think I will stop here because I want to write in bite-size chunks for my readers. I also want to make a few things clear as to my purposes in writing about my journey. I want my readers to know about and hopefully understand my journey. I also hope they will be able to learn things that will help them in their walk with Jesus as I have been helped. I also hope to help Christians from the three major branches understand and respect one another.
I have a bit more to write about Mary and how she has helped me along the way to follow her son, Jesus. Then I will address the Saints.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 From Methodist to Catholic becoming open to an ancient church.
As you saw if you read my account of it, the strong reluctance I felt trying to enter a Catholic church on my own to attend an Easter Mass, even though I wanted and intended to. Many Protestants are raised or are taught after coming to Christ at a later time in their lives that the Catholic Church is way off base. My general overview of church history based on ignorance (before I became a student of church history) was that the early church went off the tracks somewhere between the death of the Apostle John, circa 100 AD, and the recognition of Christianity as one of the state religions of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th Century. I leaned toward the earlier date. According to the story line, things went from bad to worse from that point on until Christianity was fortunate enough to be rescued by the Reformers during the time of the Reformation in the 16th Century. The Eastern Orthodox were generally ignored by us since our beef wasn't with them and besides we didn't know anything about them except that they were into pictures and smells and bells, kind of like the Catholics.
So when the Lord told me when in the Sierra foothills to check out churches that had bishops and physical worship/liturgy, I naturally gravitated towards the Anglican (Church of England/Episcopal) family of churches. They are kind of half Catholic/half Reformed and are often called "the Middle Way". We were never near one until we moved to Central Oregon and I didn't think my family would go for it. So I was kind of a closet Anglican from afar for awhile.
When we moved to Central Oregon, we visited many different churches and attended a few for a time. We visited the Episcopal church in town and even talked about going there but we ended up at the Nazarene church until we moved to SE Colorado. Central Oregon was my looking into Eastern Orthodoxy time as well as the beginning of our SE Colorado time. It was also when I began reading about church history.
Going to the Methodist church in SE Colorado partially fulfilled my longings since the Wesleys from whom it came were Anglicans and it was semi-liturgical, a sort of Anglican/Episcopal Lite. And it did have bishops. There was also a smidgen of Catholic spirituality in the Upper Room/Walk to Emmaus circles. And I had some buddies there with leaning towards Catholic spirituality.
But what really challenged my original uniformed church history overview stated above was when I read about the martyrdom of some Christians in Gaul (present-day France) in 177 AD, among them was a young slave girl named Blandina (now Saint Blandina) who had such lion-hearted faith and joy in the midst of terrible tortures that she became a major source of strength for her fellow believers. After seeing them all safely into heaven, she was the last to die. God broke my pride and I confessed myself a lightweight who was not worthy to be counted among them. And who did I think I was to question and look down on their faith. And there are many more stories down through the centuries.
I started checking the early church fathers when I was preparing to preach and teach and was astounded by their depth and insights. Hmmm... so maybe my church historical overview needed a major overhaul. Maybe the Church didn't completely derail after the 1st Century like I thought. Maybe what Jesus said about His church was true.
Next up will be, what about Mary and the Saints?
So when the Lord told me when in the Sierra foothills to check out churches that had bishops and physical worship/liturgy, I naturally gravitated towards the Anglican (Church of England/Episcopal) family of churches. They are kind of half Catholic/half Reformed and are often called "the Middle Way". We were never near one until we moved to Central Oregon and I didn't think my family would go for it. So I was kind of a closet Anglican from afar for awhile.
When we moved to Central Oregon, we visited many different churches and attended a few for a time. We visited the Episcopal church in town and even talked about going there but we ended up at the Nazarene church until we moved to SE Colorado. Central Oregon was my looking into Eastern Orthodoxy time as well as the beginning of our SE Colorado time. It was also when I began reading about church history.
Going to the Methodist church in SE Colorado partially fulfilled my longings since the Wesleys from whom it came were Anglicans and it was semi-liturgical, a sort of Anglican/Episcopal Lite. And it did have bishops. There was also a smidgen of Catholic spirituality in the Upper Room/Walk to Emmaus circles. And I had some buddies there with leaning towards Catholic spirituality.
But what really challenged my original uniformed church history overview stated above was when I read about the martyrdom of some Christians in Gaul (present-day France) in 177 AD, among them was a young slave girl named Blandina (now Saint Blandina) who had such lion-hearted faith and joy in the midst of terrible tortures that she became a major source of strength for her fellow believers. After seeing them all safely into heaven, she was the last to die. God broke my pride and I confessed myself a lightweight who was not worthy to be counted among them. And who did I think I was to question and look down on their faith. And there are many more stories down through the centuries.
I started checking the early church fathers when I was preparing to preach and teach and was astounded by their depth and insights. Hmmm... so maybe my church historical overview needed a major overhaul. Maybe the Church didn't completely derail after the 1st Century like I thought. Maybe what Jesus said about His church was true.
Next up will be, what about Mary and the Saints?
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist. Cont'd # 3
You will probably have noticed that what was attracting me so far was practical Catholic spirituality and you are probably wondering about the doctrinal issues. With my fairly solid Biblical background, I was finding that actual Catholicism, as compared to the mythical version of Catholicism with which I was previously familiar as a Protestant, was actually very Biblical and in some areas even more literal in its interpretations and applications than my evangelical, Bible-believing background.
One of the things my wife and I found interesting, when we were in Central Oregon and had visited many churches looking for a church home, was what the different Christian churches said about the other churches and what they believed. Many of them had the Straw Man Syndrome. They often took the most extreme worst possible examples of the other churches faith and practice and made them the general rules for those churches. But Joan and I had been to the churches they were talking about and I had studied the history and theology of those other churches. And what the churches we were currently attending said about the others was often untrue or greatly distorted. The best way to find out about what a Christian group believes is to read its documents, go direct to the source.
One of the things my wife and I found interesting, when we were in Central Oregon and had visited many churches looking for a church home, was what the different Christian churches said about the other churches and what they believed. Many of them had the Straw Man Syndrome. They often took the most extreme worst possible examples of the other churches faith and practice and made them the general rules for those churches. But Joan and I had been to the churches they were talking about and I had studied the history and theology of those other churches. And what the churches we were currently attending said about the others was often untrue or greatly distorted. The best way to find out about what a Christian group believes is to read its documents, go direct to the source.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist. Cont'd # 2
Part 4 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Christian Prayer, begins with a startling revelation from John 4, the story of the woman at the well. I have included 2 paragraphs below.
2560 “If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him.
2561 “You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!” Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God.
I had never thought about God thirsting for us all, and especially not for me. Jesus thirsts for me that I might thirst for Him. God's love poured into my soul through this truth and I was lost in grateful wonder for a couple of hours. The rest of the section on prayer is great, too. And the Catechism is not dull or dry reading. You can tell it was written by people with a love for God.
The Lord also provided me with a group of brothers with similar interests and we read books on prayer like Letters from the Desert by Carlo Carretto, a brother, and With Open Hands by Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest.
Our church library also had a book by an Orthodox bishop, Anthony Bloom, called Beginning to Pray which is a good entry level book on prayer.
As I mentioned in my last post I found the prayer/holy cards handy to carry around in a pocket and to pull out and meditate on the prayers and pictures while talking to God and directing my attention to Him. And there were many little shirt or pants pocket-size devotional books that focused on one's relationship with God. These were very handy to carry around and pull out and use when one had a moment of free time.
Another thing I was finding out was that being Catholic meant joining a very large family that transcends space, time and even death. But more about that later.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist. Cont'd
What I discovered as I talked with devout Catholics online and started reading the Catechism, using the prayer cards with pictures on them, looking through and using some of the vast wealth of the devotional materials and prayer aids was a whole new world and way of living the Christian life.
And I needed a different approach. You see, as the Desperation Band's song goes, "I'm in a fight not physical, I'm in a war but not with this world...". I needed a Christianity for the trenches for Monday through Saturday, when there aren't any teachings or any praise bands, when I am going toe to toe with "The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world..., the accuser of our brothers...who accuses them before our God day and night."
If you have seen the movie, Hook, when Captain Hook and a middle-aged attorney Peter Pan (Banning) are having a sword fight to the death. And Hook pins Peter Pan next to a spinning grinding wheel that Hook sharpens his hook on while he recites a litany of Peter's failures in his real world life, "You know who you really are, don't you? You're these failures, sins and weaknesses!" And the fight starts to go out of Peter Pan...
Satan does that to me a lot. He pins me, begins reciting the litany. It is hard to concentrate and I can't think, but now I have weapons to fight back with, memorized or written prayers when I have no words of my own. Pictures worth a thousand words to remind me of God's love for me and that I am not alone. The host of heaven is around me. They have my back. And Jesus is there on his white horse, leading them. Kind of like in the Lord of the Rings, when Théoden is mounting a last charge at Hornburg and Gandalf with Eomer and hundreds of the Riders of Rohan come over the ridge to the surprise, horror and dismay of the orc horde that seemed to have victory in their grasp.
I know, Howard has a vivid imagination, but it is true, just unseen.
I mentioned the Jesus Prayer, there was about a month or so where the battle was so intense I couldn't concentrate to read or think, just kept praying the Jesus Prayer. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me, a sinner." And Jesus brought me out the other side.
Revelation 12 I think covers the whole sweep of history of the war between God and Satan, and you know how the accused brothers overcame the Accuser?
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
And I needed a different approach. You see, as the Desperation Band's song goes, "I'm in a fight not physical, I'm in a war but not with this world...". I needed a Christianity for the trenches for Monday through Saturday, when there aren't any teachings or any praise bands, when I am going toe to toe with "The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world..., the accuser of our brothers...who accuses them before our God day and night."
If you have seen the movie, Hook, when Captain Hook and a middle-aged attorney Peter Pan (Banning) are having a sword fight to the death. And Hook pins Peter Pan next to a spinning grinding wheel that Hook sharpens his hook on while he recites a litany of Peter's failures in his real world life, "You know who you really are, don't you? You're these failures, sins and weaknesses!" And the fight starts to go out of Peter Pan...
Satan does that to me a lot. He pins me, begins reciting the litany. It is hard to concentrate and I can't think, but now I have weapons to fight back with, memorized or written prayers when I have no words of my own. Pictures worth a thousand words to remind me of God's love for me and that I am not alone. The host of heaven is around me. They have my back. And Jesus is there on his white horse, leading them. Kind of like in the Lord of the Rings, when Théoden is mounting a last charge at Hornburg and Gandalf with Eomer and hundreds of the Riders of Rohan come over the ridge to the surprise, horror and dismay of the orc horde that seemed to have victory in their grasp.
I know, Howard has a vivid imagination, but it is true, just unseen.
I mentioned the Jesus Prayer, there was about a month or so where the battle was so intense I couldn't concentrate to read or think, just kept praying the Jesus Prayer. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me, a sinner." And Jesus brought me out the other side.
Revelation 12 I think covers the whole sweep of history of the war between God and Satan, and you know how the accused brothers overcame the Accuser?
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death. Revelation 12:11 NABRE
Good night. More later.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? An improved short answer.
I am one of those writers who is always searching for more clarity and conciseness as I seek to express what is waiting inside of me on the page before me. Therefore it takes a lot of time for me to write anything. I feel like one of the Ents in an Ent moot. It takes a long time to say anything at all in Entish. Which is why I have avoided it for so long. Now I can't seem to help myself. I want to help people that are interested to know what I learned and find what I have found.
My previous short answer was "It helps me to walk with Jesus and hang onto Him." That is a true answer in so far as it goes. However it dawned on me tonight that the reason it is easier for me to walk with and hang onto Jesus as a Catholic is that Jesus is making Himself more present to me. I am on the receiving end. I am merely availing myself of channels of grace like streams of living water that God has placed within my small reach and weak grasp. And these channels of grace are available and within reach of the lowliest. They aren't experiences available only to those upon whom they fall. I am not a super saint.
So as I am writing my longer answer I will be going into those channels of grace.
I want to thank my friend, Barb, and my sister-in-law, Claudia, for inspiring this post with their comments and questions.
My previous short answer was "It helps me to walk with Jesus and hang onto Him." That is a true answer in so far as it goes. However it dawned on me tonight that the reason it is easier for me to walk with and hang onto Jesus as a Catholic is that Jesus is making Himself more present to me. I am on the receiving end. I am merely availing myself of channels of grace like streams of living water that God has placed within my small reach and weak grasp. And these channels of grace are available and within reach of the lowliest. They aren't experiences available only to those upon whom they fall. I am not a super saint.
So as I am writing my longer answer I will be going into those channels of grace.
I want to thank my friend, Barb, and my sister-in-law, Claudia, for inspiring this post with their comments and questions.
Howard's Humpty Dumpty Analogy of Church History
Probably most of us English speakers have heard the rhyme Humpty Dumpty.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Now if you make the church (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) Humpty Dumpty and Jesus the King, it kind of describes what has happened over the course of church history. Like any analogy it falls apart if you get too detailed. So I am talking in generalities here. The first major split called the Great Schism occurred in 1054 between the East (Constantinople) (who became known as the Eastern Orthodox) and the West (Rome) (who became known as the Roman Catholics). The term catholic means universal. The second occurred at the Reformation between the Roman Catholic Church and the reformers who became known as the Protestants because of their protest against the Roman Catholic Church, The Protestants have been a pretty feisty lot and have continued disagreeing, fighting and protesting amongst themselves to this day. Last I heard I think there were 34,000 plus Protestant denominations not counting the non-denominational and house church folks (I almost went house church but that is another story).
There have been various attempts to bring us Christians or believers (as some prefer to be known) back together over the course of the last thousand years but all attempts by the king's men (us) have pretty much failed and so church history seems to resemble the rhyme above, does it not?
However, there is one stanza left off if one applies it to the church, "But the King can put Humpty Dumpty back together again." And I, for one, believe I see signs that He is beginning to do so in spite of all the continued splitting and the divisions that still exist among us. I am hopeful.
I will close with three quotes, one from our King Himself, one from the chorus of the famous country western song (Love Can Build A Bridge) and one from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12 RSV)
Love can build a bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?
(Love Can Build A Bridge by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet and John Barlow Jarvis)
“If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand” John Wesley
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Now if you make the church (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) Humpty Dumpty and Jesus the King, it kind of describes what has happened over the course of church history. Like any analogy it falls apart if you get too detailed. So I am talking in generalities here. The first major split called the Great Schism occurred in 1054 between the East (Constantinople) (who became known as the Eastern Orthodox) and the West (Rome) (who became known as the Roman Catholics). The term catholic means universal. The second occurred at the Reformation between the Roman Catholic Church and the reformers who became known as the Protestants because of their protest against the Roman Catholic Church, The Protestants have been a pretty feisty lot and have continued disagreeing, fighting and protesting amongst themselves to this day. Last I heard I think there were 34,000 plus Protestant denominations not counting the non-denominational and house church folks (I almost went house church but that is another story).
There have been various attempts to bring us Christians or believers (as some prefer to be known) back together over the course of the last thousand years but all attempts by the king's men (us) have pretty much failed and so church history seems to resemble the rhyme above, does it not?
However, there is one stanza left off if one applies it to the church, "But the King can put Humpty Dumpty back together again." And I, for one, believe I see signs that He is beginning to do so in spite of all the continued splitting and the divisions that still exist among us. I am hopeful.
I will close with three quotes, one from our King Himself, one from the chorus of the famous country western song (Love Can Build A Bridge) and one from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12 RSV)
Love can build a bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?
(Love Can Build A Bridge by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet and John Barlow Jarvis)
“If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand” John Wesley
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? The Longer Version Part 4 Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist.
It was actually in Central Oregon that I started to consider the Catholic Church. My wife and I really like John Michael Talbot's music. And so I decided to go to the Catholic Church for an Easter Mass at 5:30 or 6:00 am. I got to the Catholic Church about 30 minutes early so I could "case the joint" as they say. ;-) I was nervous and felt like I was breaking a 500 year old taboo which I was. A Protestant entering forbidden territory. At the same time, I was thinking this is ridiculous. How events 500 years ago that I had no part in could have such a powerful hold on me.
So I got out and began to walk towards the doors of the church. I got about halfway there, got cold feet, retreated to my car, regrouped and tried again. This time I made it three quarters of the way before I went back to the car. On the third try, I made it through the doors and seated myself towards the back on the right hand side of the church. I enjoyed the Mass and could follow along somewhat being familiar with the Anglican rite which follows a similar pattern. Afterwards I just left and went home.
One of the things that I was finding intriguing about the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches were all the aids to prayer they provide. From my Christian tradition, one was supposed to just talk to God in one's own words. However, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and He didn't act like they were dummies for doing so. Instead, He gave them the Lord's Prayer (Protestant) or the Our Father (Catholic) as it is called. Even the Apostle Paul admits in Romans 8:26 that we (he includes himself here) don't know how to pray as we ought so the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. I have had many periods in my life where I was mostly speechless when it came to prayer. We should also pray in our own words but sometimes we are speechless and clueless or we need the pump primed and the written prayers help. They are a means or channel of grace.
Also I did pick up the Jesus Prayer from the Eastern Orthodox, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” while in Central Oregon. That would come in handy in Colorado.
Okay, back to Colorado. I mentioned that when we moved we decided to go to the Methodist Church because we liked the pastor and the congregation. I also liked the Methodist origins, a movement founded by the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, and their friend, George Whitefield, who had their hearts strangely warmed by God and became powerful Spirit-filled preachers. They were Anglican ministers and I know at least the Wesleys remained so until they died. But eventually the revival movement separated from the Church of England both in Britain and America. We became very involved there, teaching Bible studies and Sunday School classes, participating in and leading prayer meetings. I became a lay speaker providing pulpit supply for out-of-town pastors. I became aware of the Upper Room ministry in the Methodist church and the Walk to Emmaus which have Catholic influences in them. We continued to buy and listen to John Michael Talbot CDs.
But the real change towards the Catholic Church for me was due to getting connected to the internet and seeking out Catholics to fellowship with on the web. When I first got on the web, John Michael Talbot's community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, had a chat room and forum that I started participating in. I met friends there that I have to this day. I was still suffering from ulcerative colitis at the time and one night I requested prayer by the community and their response really touched my heart. They said, "Howard, we will pray that God will heal you of the colitis but we will also pray that if it is not His will to heal you at this time that He will help you to bear it and will use it redemptively in your life and the lives of those around you." I thought, "Wow, that is exactly how I wanted to be prayed for! But I couldn't have come up with the words if I tried." Then a Catholic deacon in Arkansas who I met on the forum invited Joan and I to come visit him and his wife for a weekend. He was also a winemaker. We took him up on his offer and we had a wonderful time visiting with them. We toured their winery and vineyards as well as a nearby monastery where we got to meet some of the brothers. We concluded the weekend by attending Mass at the rural church where he served. It was a lively church, packed with people of all ages. And we both liked it but I really loved the Catholic spirituality.
I also discovered the Catholic Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) on the web and started watching their Catholic programs, especially The Journey Home with its host, Marcus Grodi. Each week Marcus would interview converts from many different backgrounds and reverts (former Catholics who had left and were now returning to the Church) and have them tell the conversion/reversion stories. Many of the converts were evangelical Protestant pastors and lay people. It was fascinating to hear their stories, the hardships they endured in their conversions and the blessings they had experienced during and after their conversions. How it had drawn them closer to Jesus.
I sent EWTN a donation and they sent me a Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Catholic materials which I began to read and use.
All for today. May God bless you and draw you ever closer to His loving heart.
So I got out and began to walk towards the doors of the church. I got about halfway there, got cold feet, retreated to my car, regrouped and tried again. This time I made it three quarters of the way before I went back to the car. On the third try, I made it through the doors and seated myself towards the back on the right hand side of the church. I enjoyed the Mass and could follow along somewhat being familiar with the Anglican rite which follows a similar pattern. Afterwards I just left and went home.
One of the things that I was finding intriguing about the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches were all the aids to prayer they provide. From my Christian tradition, one was supposed to just talk to God in one's own words. However, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and He didn't act like they were dummies for doing so. Instead, He gave them the Lord's Prayer (Protestant) or the Our Father (Catholic) as it is called. Even the Apostle Paul admits in Romans 8:26 that we (he includes himself here) don't know how to pray as we ought so the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. I have had many periods in my life where I was mostly speechless when it came to prayer. We should also pray in our own words but sometimes we are speechless and clueless or we need the pump primed and the written prayers help. They are a means or channel of grace.
Also I did pick up the Jesus Prayer from the Eastern Orthodox, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” while in Central Oregon. That would come in handy in Colorado.
Okay, back to Colorado. I mentioned that when we moved we decided to go to the Methodist Church because we liked the pastor and the congregation. I also liked the Methodist origins, a movement founded by the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, and their friend, George Whitefield, who had their hearts strangely warmed by God and became powerful Spirit-filled preachers. They were Anglican ministers and I know at least the Wesleys remained so until they died. But eventually the revival movement separated from the Church of England both in Britain and America. We became very involved there, teaching Bible studies and Sunday School classes, participating in and leading prayer meetings. I became a lay speaker providing pulpit supply for out-of-town pastors. I became aware of the Upper Room ministry in the Methodist church and the Walk to Emmaus which have Catholic influences in them. We continued to buy and listen to John Michael Talbot CDs.
But the real change towards the Catholic Church for me was due to getting connected to the internet and seeking out Catholics to fellowship with on the web. When I first got on the web, John Michael Talbot's community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, had a chat room and forum that I started participating in. I met friends there that I have to this day. I was still suffering from ulcerative colitis at the time and one night I requested prayer by the community and their response really touched my heart. They said, "Howard, we will pray that God will heal you of the colitis but we will also pray that if it is not His will to heal you at this time that He will help you to bear it and will use it redemptively in your life and the lives of those around you." I thought, "Wow, that is exactly how I wanted to be prayed for! But I couldn't have come up with the words if I tried." Then a Catholic deacon in Arkansas who I met on the forum invited Joan and I to come visit him and his wife for a weekend. He was also a winemaker. We took him up on his offer and we had a wonderful time visiting with them. We toured their winery and vineyards as well as a nearby monastery where we got to meet some of the brothers. We concluded the weekend by attending Mass at the rural church where he served. It was a lively church, packed with people of all ages. And we both liked it but I really loved the Catholic spirituality.
I also discovered the Catholic Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) on the web and started watching their Catholic programs, especially The Journey Home with its host, Marcus Grodi. Each week Marcus would interview converts from many different backgrounds and reverts (former Catholics who had left and were now returning to the Church) and have them tell the conversion/reversion stories. Many of the converts were evangelical Protestant pastors and lay people. It was fascinating to hear their stories, the hardships they endured in their conversions and the blessings they had experienced during and after their conversions. How it had drawn them closer to Jesus.
I sent EWTN a donation and they sent me a Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Catholic materials which I began to read and use.
All for today. May God bless you and draw you ever closer to His loving heart.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Beware! Don't be caught in a projection of the Echthroi (Greek for enemies).
Do you ever have bleak despairing visions of your future?
I have mentioned that my big fear is failure. So lots of times some version of this vision comes to me. Howard screws up big time, loses his job, his reputation, disgraces himself, his family and friends abandon him, he ends up penniless, out on the street, diseased and dying in a gutter with people shaking their heads, "Tsk, tsk, what a fool! Serves him right!" And God is nowhere around...
Hmmm, what a minute, God is always present. He promised never to forsake us. I know who the source of this vision is, the old adversary, the accuser of the brethren, Satan and his minions. Joan and I are reading Madeleine L'Engle's book, The Swiftly Tilting Planet again. And the Echthroi are out to try and trap the heroes of the story into believing their projections for the future so they come true and all mankind is destroyed.
So when we find ourselves having dark thoughts void of God, remember the source of those and turn to the Father of lights.
James 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: 17all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. NABRE
I have mentioned that my big fear is failure. So lots of times some version of this vision comes to me. Howard screws up big time, loses his job, his reputation, disgraces himself, his family and friends abandon him, he ends up penniless, out on the street, diseased and dying in a gutter with people shaking their heads, "Tsk, tsk, what a fool! Serves him right!" And God is nowhere around...
Hmmm, what a minute, God is always present. He promised never to forsake us. I know who the source of this vision is, the old adversary, the accuser of the brethren, Satan and his minions. Joan and I are reading Madeleine L'Engle's book, The Swiftly Tilting Planet again. And the Echthroi are out to try and trap the heroes of the story into believing their projections for the future so they come true and all mankind is destroyed.
So when we find ourselves having dark thoughts void of God, remember the source of those and turn to the Father of lights.
James 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: 17all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. NABRE
Monday, July 1, 2013
Why did I become a Catholic? Longer version Part 3 The Wilderness Years
I moved my family to Central Oregon with a goal to change careers and to be near my parents. However, I ended up just getting a job pretty quickly in the same line of work because I knew I didn't have any idea of what else to do and didn't have a fire in my belly to do so.
There had been a desire off and on to go to seminary and become a pastor because I loved preaching and teaching the Scriptures and helping people to follow Jesus the best I knew how. But we had 4 kids, my wife was homeschooling them and I was the sole breadwinner Also I was hesitant to become a pastor when I was having trouble handling life where I was. I didn't want to stand up there and say my version of the Christian faith actually worked. I believe in God and the Scriptures firmly. I knew that Jesus had the words of eternal life like Peter said in John 6. And although the prayer books helped I still was inconsistent in prayer, still was running to my idols and so on. So teaching people the truth about God as a layman was about all I could do. I also wasn't the husband or father that I wanted and needed to be, partially because I didn't know how to get there.
God had a divine appointment for my wife there to help her grow but I ended up kind of being placed on a shelf ministry-wise. We got involved in a church there that God directed us to and there met a pastor and good friend who really helped my wife and all of us. But there was a change in senior pastors and in the direction of the church after about a year there. Our pastor friend left the church there and for about the next 4 years we wandered around the churches trying to find a community that was a good fit for our whole family. Prior to moving to Bend, we were pretty much from a non-denominational/Baptist background. I had been raised in the Presbyterian Church as a child. So in Bend we started out in a Conservative Baptist church, then we went to a large Foursquare church for about 6 months which we liked but we hadn't had the necessary Pentecostal or Charismatic experiences to really remain there and serve. Then we went to a small Orthodox Presbyterian church where the people were very caring but there were hardly any kids there. For awhile my family stopped attending church and we just went to a Bible study taught by our pastor friend but I continued looking for a church and sometimes my wife would join me. We looked into an Evangelical Free church, a non-denominational church and an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America church. Finally we ended up at a Nazarene church and stayed there for 9 months until we moved to Colorado with another job change for me.
During that time we became acquainted with the music of John Michael Talbot, a Catholic musician and the founder of a community called the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Arkansas. I also picked up a book on the Eastern Orthodox Churches by Eastern Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware, an Englishman. I was fascinated by their emphasis on prayer and the spiritual life. I had by this time also become a student of church history, looking for clues to help me walk with Jesus. But we were living in rural Oregon and most Orthodox churches are in major metro areas so my family was spared the experience of my trying to talk them into trying one out. The Eastern Orthodox Churches tend to be ethnic churches and so there has to be sufficient concentrations of those ethnic groups to have a church. My family just knew Howard or Dad liked to investigate all kinds of strange Christian churches and movements.
I was involved in an early 5:30 am weekly men's Bible study with the Orthodox Presbyterians for about 3 1/2 years until it disbanded. They welcomed me and I enjoyed the study and fellowship with them even if their church didn't work out for us as a family.
But then a friend and former boss from a former job called to encourage me to apply for a job with the small college he was at in a small town in southeast Colorado. As we prepared to move there, my wife checked out the pastors of a number of churches via phone interviews. We then visited the churches and decided to attend the United Methodist church in town and stayed there for the 13 years we lived there.
My next post will be entitled, Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist. So stay tuned.
There had been a desire off and on to go to seminary and become a pastor because I loved preaching and teaching the Scriptures and helping people to follow Jesus the best I knew how. But we had 4 kids, my wife was homeschooling them and I was the sole breadwinner Also I was hesitant to become a pastor when I was having trouble handling life where I was. I didn't want to stand up there and say my version of the Christian faith actually worked. I believe in God and the Scriptures firmly. I knew that Jesus had the words of eternal life like Peter said in John 6. And although the prayer books helped I still was inconsistent in prayer, still was running to my idols and so on. So teaching people the truth about God as a layman was about all I could do. I also wasn't the husband or father that I wanted and needed to be, partially because I didn't know how to get there.
God had a divine appointment for my wife there to help her grow but I ended up kind of being placed on a shelf ministry-wise. We got involved in a church there that God directed us to and there met a pastor and good friend who really helped my wife and all of us. But there was a change in senior pastors and in the direction of the church after about a year there. Our pastor friend left the church there and for about the next 4 years we wandered around the churches trying to find a community that was a good fit for our whole family. Prior to moving to Bend, we were pretty much from a non-denominational/Baptist background. I had been raised in the Presbyterian Church as a child. So in Bend we started out in a Conservative Baptist church, then we went to a large Foursquare church for about 6 months which we liked but we hadn't had the necessary Pentecostal or Charismatic experiences to really remain there and serve. Then we went to a small Orthodox Presbyterian church where the people were very caring but there were hardly any kids there. For awhile my family stopped attending church and we just went to a Bible study taught by our pastor friend but I continued looking for a church and sometimes my wife would join me. We looked into an Evangelical Free church, a non-denominational church and an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America church. Finally we ended up at a Nazarene church and stayed there for 9 months until we moved to Colorado with another job change for me.
During that time we became acquainted with the music of John Michael Talbot, a Catholic musician and the founder of a community called the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Arkansas. I also picked up a book on the Eastern Orthodox Churches by Eastern Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware, an Englishman. I was fascinated by their emphasis on prayer and the spiritual life. I had by this time also become a student of church history, looking for clues to help me walk with Jesus. But we were living in rural Oregon and most Orthodox churches are in major metro areas so my family was spared the experience of my trying to talk them into trying one out. The Eastern Orthodox Churches tend to be ethnic churches and so there has to be sufficient concentrations of those ethnic groups to have a church. My family just knew Howard or Dad liked to investigate all kinds of strange Christian churches and movements.
I was involved in an early 5:30 am weekly men's Bible study with the Orthodox Presbyterians for about 3 1/2 years until it disbanded. They welcomed me and I enjoyed the study and fellowship with them even if their church didn't work out for us as a family.
But then a friend and former boss from a former job called to encourage me to apply for a job with the small college he was at in a small town in southeast Colorado. As we prepared to move there, my wife checked out the pastors of a number of churches via phone interviews. We then visited the churches and decided to attend the United Methodist church in town and stayed there for the 13 years we lived there.
My next post will be entitled, Becoming a closet Catholic while being a practising Methodist. So stay tuned.
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