Christ, Our Teacher

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2010-05-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

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Exposing Anti-Catholicism

2010-04-15T10:39:00.001-07:00

April 15, 2010, 5:55pmBy BERNARDO VILLEGAS

(www.mb.com.ph)

I fully agree with Mayor Edward I. Koch, the Mayor of New York City, and a Jew. Those who have been very vocal in attacking the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI for the sexual abuse of children by a few Roman Catholic priests in countries like Ireland, Germany and the United States have an axe to grind. They are no longer interested in the truth but are pushing their respective anti-Catholic agenda. Mayor Koch, in a column in The New York Post last April 6, 2010, did not mince any word: "Many of those in the media who are pounding on the Church and the Pope today clearly do it with delight and some with malice. The reason I believe for the constant assaults is that there are many in the media and some Catholics as well as many in the public who object to and are incensed by positions the Church holds, including opposition to all abortion, opposition to gay sex and same-sex marriage, retention of celibacy rules for priest, exclusion of women from the clergy, opposition to birth control measures involving condoms and prescription drugs and opposition to civil divorce."

Well, if the critics of the Catholic teachings on these issues think that using the sex abuse scandals will soften the stand of the Pope against these acts which are considered by Catholic morals as intrinsically evil, they are in for a surprise. Although Mayor Koch candidly admits that he disagrees with the Church on all those points, he has enough intellectual honesty to recognize that the Church has the right to demand fulfillment of all of its religious demands by its parishioners, and indeed a right to espouse its beliefs generally. He quotes a good friend of his, John Cardinal O'Oconnor: "The Church is not a salad bar, from which to pick and choose what pleases you." Let this be a reminder to columnists and others in the local press who think that they can soften the stand of the Filipino bishops against the Reproductive Health Bill (which promotes the inherently evil artificial contraceptives) by constantly raking up the sex abuse scandals.

Mayor Koch gives us an example of objectivity in assessing this sordid happenings in the Catholic Church: "The sexual molestation of children, principally boys, is horrendous. This is agreed to by everyone, Catholics, the Church itself, as well as non-Catholics and the media. The Pope has on a number of occasions on behalf of the Church admitted fault and asked for forgiveness. For example, The New York Times reported on April 18, 2008 that the Pope, "came face to face with a scandal that has left lasting wounds on the American church Thursday, holding a surprise meeting with several victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Boston area...'No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,' the Pope said in his homily. ‘It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention.’"

The Mayor zeroes in on what he considers the fatal human error of the superiors of the offending priests: "The primary explanation for the abuse that happened--not to excuse the retention of priests in positions that enable them to continue to harm children--was the belief that the priests could be cured by psychotherapy, a theory now long discarded by the medical profession. Regrettably, it is also likely that years ago the abuse of children was not taken as seriously as today. Thank God we've progressed on that issue."

Catholics who practice the theological virtue of faith, without being insensitive to the sufferings of the victims, may actually strengthen their adherance to the teachings of the Catholic Church as infallibly taught by the Pope. They know that this is not the first time in the more than 2,000 years of the history of the Catholic Church that we are witnessing some rottenness from within. Without the constant protection of the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church, if it were only a human institution, would have long disappeared.

But as Jesus Christ Himself promised, the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church that He founded. Mayor Koch, who considers himself a Conservative Jew and attends an Orthodox synagogue, also knows how to quote from the New Testament in asking the critics to stop their anti-Catholic attacks: "He (or she) that is without sin among you, let him (or her) cast the next stone." (John 8:7)

We Will Remember...

2010-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

As we come closer to the Paschal Triduum, we must remember who it is that we live for. We live for Him that died for us. Christ came down from Heaven to suffer and die for us. Such love is not meditated upon today. We Christians know that we are a free people, but we have forgotten that our freedom was paid at a large price.

"When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:23-24)

The world has never seen such love before or since. As Christians, let us alway remember that Jesus, whom we sometimes take for granted, has died, out of love for us. The only thing he wants in return is love. That we may truly love Him, and all of our brothers and sisters in this world and the next.

May we remember this Good Friday who it was that died: the love of God...Jesus Christ.

Mary, Did You Know?

2010-03-28T21:45:00.001-07:00

Via Dolorosa

2010-03-28T21:43:00.001-07:00

The Sullied Gospel

2010-03-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

If you ever "channel-surf," you have probably seen some Evangelical preachers talk about "The Gospel of Prosperity." This means that God intends for all who believe in Jesus Christ to become materially wealthy. All you have to do, as a believer, is send the preacher an amount of money. "When you give, you receive from God a hundredfold!" This is the motto of most TV preachers. Unfortunately, this false gospel has been creeping into the Catholic Church. Some priests borrow this motto from their televangelist counterparts. The Gospel of Prosperity is today's Indulgence Abuse. In the 1500's, some within the Church decided to sell indulgences, which would be considered the sin of simony. Today, many Christians are selling Jesus Christ Himself, and at a cheap price! Let us remember the words of Our Lord, " If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Lord Jesus, help us to repent for our avarice and seek only You, for whoever has you, even if they are materially poor, has everything they need. Lord, give us the strength to carry our crosses daily and follow you up to Calvary, where you suffered for our redemption. Let us seek to be humble and not seek our own wealth. Let the purpose of our lives be to glorify you in all we do. Amen.

My Response to "What the Seminary is really like."

2010-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

In my own experience, there has been priests like this is the seminary I am currently studying in. I actually thought that the men who "form," or, in the case of seminaries like mine, "deform" men who believe they have a calling to the priesthood would be Christ-like. Christ was first and foremost a compassionate man. Some of the men who call themselves "priests of Jesus Christ," that I have to live with, fit the characteristics of some of the men that Carl White had to deal with in his seminary formation, even though he is a non-Catholic Christian. Take the president of Mr. White's seminary, he sounds like the character we have to deal with, we call this character, "Fr. Edward," although in this case the prefix "father" is used lightly. The man puts on a mask and hides his true self. I can truly repeat with Mr. White: " If I have ever seen a man put on a façade and pretend to be what he is not, it’s him." Formation is intended to be hard, you are being formed into a Man of God, which is not an easy task to undertake, but sometimes the people who are in charge of formation can really make you question your faith in the priesthood. I have witnessed other seminaries in action, and I can truly say that the environment in which I am being formed is not healthy or how the Church would like its future priests to be treated. I am tired of fake men telling people that they are not worthy to serve the Church or God. Such men should really look into themselves and start forming and criticizing themselves, before they do the same to others.
Now, that being said, I do appreciate those men who have the heart of Christ and who have to deal with men like Fr. Edward or people like him. I have met the worst priests of my life in seminary, but I have also met the best shepherds and Christ-like men in the same place. I ask the readers to please pray for all priests, especially those who fall from time to time in their priesthood. I ask you to pray for seminarians everywhere, especially those who have difficulties in formation.

What the Seminary is Really Like

2010-03-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

(Taken from a non-catholic seminarian( http://springbored.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/what-the-seminary-is-really-like/), but applies, specifically to some Catholic Seminaries and their faculty)

René Descartes once said that, in order to be a real seeker of truth, one must at least once in life, doubt all things. I took that seriously when I decided to step outside the framework of Christianity and observe from a different perspective what it was that I truly believed. I had never had the courage to say to myself, “Maybe I might be wrong.”
The struggle through my faith began with an evaluation of the Seminary.
One of the first things that I was told at the Seminary’s freshman orientation came from the Director of the Ethics Committee there. He said that if any of us were ever caught looking at pornography, we were going to be kicked out of school. That was a stressful message to hear on day one.
“Hi, welcome to the Seminary, if we discover your inequities, we will burn you!” (Actual quote from a Seminary professor of mine.)
The Seminary touts many rules and regulations. I constantly feared for my academic life while in attendance. I was once pulled over by the campus security for wearing my hat backwards. Another time I was walking around campus at night and a security guard told me that he almost pulled his gun out on me because I looked “suspicious.” They give these nuts guns! I digress.
We had chapel three times a week and if we missed more than just a few, we would be unable to graduate. I guess they had to make sure that we were getting their propaganda beat into us one way or another. I can recall one afternoon during a chapel service in which our Seminary President was preaching on the topic of sin. It was a routine sermon with a routine ending. He challenged the men and women of the audience to get rid of the sin in their lives. I remember him getting dramatically quiet and slowing his speech (a common technique used by preachers, I should know). He said, “Guys, if you are out there and you are dealing with sin in your life, particularly the sin of pornography, I want you to know that today, the faculty’s doors are open and we want to help you. If you are struggling and need help, we are here for you. Please, talk to one of us.”
I thought to myself, finally, they are actually trying to help people (not just trying to build a $32 million chapel in the middle of the most impoverished area of south Fort Worth, but that’s another story in itself).
As they were encouraged to do, several guys went into their professors’ offices that day, many of which I know personally, and they confessed the sin in their lives. They were looking for help. They were looking for change. They were looking for guidance. I am pretty certain that it takes a lot of humility to walk into your superior’s office and explain not only that you have done wrong, but what you have done wrong. Men and women like that deserve to be commended.
As it turns out, the opposite happened. Every person that went in to ask for help was turned over to the Ethics Committee and was kicked out of the school. Before leaving the campus, the Director of the Ethics Committee said, “See, I tried to tell you.” When the President of the Seminary was asked about this he said, “We needed to cleanse the school of people who don’t belong.”
Don’t be surprised. This is the message that Seminaries throughout the country are displaying. “You aren’t like us, so get out.” Time and time again, the Christian leaders of Seminaries fail to do what they are Biblically called to do, and that is to embrace those who are different.
Shouldn’t the message of the Seminary be: “You aren’t like us, but we will love you unconditionally”? Shouldn’t this be the message of the world? I watched 14 people get kicked out of the Seminary in my four years there, 6 of which were my close friends, 1 of which was my roommate. My roommate was falsely arrested while at work, 6 miles from school, yet he was kicked out of the school because even being falsely arrested sends a bad message about one’s moral character – according to the Ethics Committee.
And, what kind of leaders would make these decisions with well-meaning people’s lives?
First: I want to mention the faculty members at the Seminary. To sum most of them up in one word - arrogance. I can honestly say that the Seminary has afforded me the opportunity of meeting the most arrogant men of my short life. I had a professor of mine say in class that “Everyone in the room was an infant Christian and (he was) the only one there that understood complex theology.” That same professor, while on a mission trip to Mexico, asked the translator to introduce him as “an extremely important man with several degrees.” I got so sick of professors gloating about all the great things they had done in life that I made extra efforts to avoid contact with them. I have countless stories of professors who have continually shot down my expectations. Take this one as a representative example.
Second: I want to comment on the President of the Seminary which I attended. If I have ever seen a man put on a façade and pretend to be what he is not, it’s him. He lived on the campus in what they call ‘Pecan Manor” and, despite being less than 100 feet from the school doors, he was driven across the street each day by one of his three assistants in his own personal golf cart. Why anyone needs three assistants, I have no clue, but these three men drove him and his wife everywhere, went grocery shopping for him, ran obscure errands for him and his friends, walked his dog daily, washed his Escalade and, I’m sure, wiped his ass from time to time (no offense to my good friend who is one of his assistants).
His excuse for getting these pretentious perks: “A man of God does not have time to do the little things in life, I need someone else to do them for me so that I can serve God better,” he says. Here I was thinking that I needed to be a celebrity, politician, business owner or sports athlete to get pampered, but I can go ahead and just be a ‘Man of God’ and get the same treatment! Sign me up.
I don’t have to list the number of Bible verses that teach selflessness. In my opinion, if you’re going to tell people to follow what is written in Scripture, and you don’t even adhere to it yourself, then that makes your entire message hypocritical.
I do want to make the point that there were a handful of professors that truly touched my life. It may be a stretch that these few men are reading this post, but I want the readers to know that Dr. Emir Caner, Dr. Greg Smith, Dr. Art Savage, Dr. Russell Bowers, Dr. Tim McAlhaney, Dr. David Bertch and (Soon to be Doctor) Billy Marsh were all men throughout my Seminary experience that I genuinely grew to respect. I’m sure there are a few more that I didn’t get to meet. I don’t want it to appear that I believe every leader in the Seminary is an evil person, and I do think there are still good men training the future ministers of the world.
Despite the few people that made an impact on my life, my Seminary experience was a disappointment.
A majority of the leaders do not live the lives that they teach others every day to live. For that reason, I questioned my own faith in ways that I had never done before. These men claim to be teaching the absolute truth, yet this powerful truth has not even changed their own hearts, the leaders of the largest theological Seminary in the world. How then can I believe it to be truth?
I don’t place all of my faith upon the actions of other men, but it is a huge factor when it is one of the only tangible piece of evidence that I have for believing Christianity. After taking a hard look at the Seminary, my belief in Christianity began to shake. I wasn’t ready to give up everything I believed, but I was definitely heading in that direction.
My story is to be continued.
- Carl White

Formational Pharisees

2010-03-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

In today’s culture, the word Pharisee means a person who practices hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a disease that is running rampant within some seminaries. I am speaking of some formators who think that they are the ideal of priesthood I am reminded of a priest, who was in the seminary where I study, that preached homilies that were as heavy as stones for those in the pews. He would preach that it is prudent to calm our anger, but would be a very angry, and even vengeful, person. To most of the seminarians, he was a fake. We equated him with the Pharisees, who spoke one way, and acted in another. He was a man, who made mistakes, but who refused to admit them. Many seminarians left because of him. They figured that if you have to be like that to be a priest, then, it was not worth it. With a true love for the priesthood and for Christ, some tried to be open and develop a relationship with him, only to encounter a barrier.

I believe that he had issues that he needed to work out. Because of this, he took out his anger on some of the seminarians whom he deemed were “unworthy” for the priesthood.

I pray for this priest, that he may be given the strength to look within himself and see how many people he hurt in his campaign to form seminarians in his “image and likeness.” I ask that the Lord bless him and protect him, and that he may illumine his path.

We who call ourselves “ministers,” who wish to serve God’s people and bring Christ to them, should really look at the way we treat others and should act like Christ. After all, you can’t give what you don’t have.

"Thou Art a Priest Forever"

2010-03-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

To live in the midst of the world with no desire for its pleasures;

to be member of every family, yet belonging to none;

to share all sufferings;

to penetrate all secrets, to heal all wounds;

to go daily from men to God to offer Him their homage and petitions;

to return from God to men to bring them His pardon and hope;

to have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity;

to bless and to be blest forever.

O God, what a life, and it is yours, O Priest of Jesus Christ!

(Fr. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, OP)

This is for all priests, past, present, and future, who give their lives in love to the Lord and who do so much for the people of God. This is for the priests who suffer persecution, but remain with their flock, even if it means death. This for the priests who follow the example of the One High Priest: Jesus Christ! May God Bless our "Fathers," our Priests.

Codes of Behavior... or are they?

2010-03-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

"These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost."

- Connor from "Boondock Saints"

As people with a heart for others, we are called to love the people of God and to correct our brothers and sisters with compassion. We are not called to pontificate! We are not supposed to put forth rules that only seem right to us and have nothing to do with the Christian Life. Unfortunately, we sometimes preach our own personal gospels instead of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We let our own agendas prevail in the ministry we do and like the above quote make our own statements infallible. We come up with what we think are "codes of behavior" and we want those who do not prescribe to them to "pay the dearest cost." Fortunately, there are priests out there who truly love their priesthood and shine the light of Christ on all they do. I have met some of these priests and I truly see the fatherhood of God in them. These are the men who inspire others to follow God's will and together with St. John the Baptist say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

The Journey of Life in Christ

2010-03-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Do not be afraid! Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. He alone can give full meaning to life, He alone is the center of history. Live by Him!

- Pope John Paul II

In times when we fear that our lives may be obstructed by darkness, sadness, or injustice, we must remember these words by the saintly Pope John Paul II. Our lives must be centered in Christ because it is only in Him that we can find fulfillment. Sometimes we think we know where the Lord is calling us, but we find out later that our calling is elsewhere. It is in the moments of understanding and consolation that we can see God's voice calling to us in the darkness. Sometimes the "Divine Pest" goes after us to make us see that it is in His divine will, that we find our happiness. A journey of discernment can tire us if we forget the reason for which we started in that journey to begin with. If we ask ourselves "Why am I here? What is my purpose at this moment?" and if we can answer those questions with honesty, then we can be certain that God is present in our lives and that we are living by Him.

A Prayer for Priests and Seminarians

2010-03-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, idle curiosity, lust for power and idle talk.

But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love.

O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brother. For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.
Amen.

This prayer should be recited by all those in formation and those who have been ordained, that they may not forget the reason for them wearing that piece of plastic around their necks. It is the prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian and it is recited during Lent. It should be recited by those who minister to the people of God.

Shepherds after His own Heart

2010-03-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

As I posted last time, Formation is not easy! Especially when there obstacles in the way. These obstacles may be interior, but sometimes they come from outside sources. People in the seminary can harm other's process of discernment when they become obstacles. I really think that the priesthood of Jesus Christ is in serious need of MEN who will follow in His footsteps and I pray for all those who are in charge of forming those who will be the shepherds of the Church in the future. There are some in high positions who believe that their ideal of the priesthood is the last word on formation. It is hard to be yourself around these people because they judge harshly and without compassion. This is not the way Christ behaved. It is hard to discern the priesthood of Jesus Christ when some who model it have "daddy-issues" that they project on those under them. I pray to St. John Vianney that those who are in charge of formation may seek the heart of Christ as he did, even if they lack the capacity to be "shepherds after his own heart."

Liberated by Jesus

2010-03-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

As I look at my life as a man in formation discerning the priesthood of Jesus Christ, I cannot help but notice the change that has come over me. Before entering the seminary, I did many things which I now see were wrong. These things only made me feel guilty and shackled in a certain sense. After being in seminary for a couple of months, I can see that it is Christ who can liberate me from my shackles and can set me free. The Lord says, "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed," (Jn 8:36). The Lord has made me free and has called me by my name to follow in His footsteps and become a "Fisher of Men." Life in the Seminary is definitely not easy, but if I keep my eyes on the Lord, I can surely overcome any obstacle. Many believe that the seminary is for those who "know" that they will become priests in the future. This is not true. The seminary is a place in which men who feel called to a priestly vocation can be formed to become men of communion and affectively mature people who can discern the will of God in their lives. As I said before, it is not an easy task. The hardest thing about it is the constant introspection that seminarians must do to become more self-aware. The Lord Jesus carries those in formation towards becoming more like Him and therefore being men whose lives are dedicated to the Lord and His Church.