February 26

Two years ago today my Mom left us for heaven.

It seems fitting to post about her here. Mom was Catholic to the core. In an age when we don't teach our kids enough about our faith, Mom gave me enough grounding in Catholicism that I wasn't immediately swayed by the mistruths that circulate everywhere.

Over the years I've had a drive to continue learning about the Church. The result is a much deeper love and appreciation for Catholicism. That's one of Mom's many legacies.

She spent her last 10 years in increasing pain. We never realized quite the depth of it until after she passed. She left writings behind. Now we have a much clearer picture.

With all her pain, she never wavered in her belief in God. When He seemed silent, she still never wavered. She's an example to all of us.

She was an incredibly stong woman.

I should rejoice for her, but I'm only human and the loss is still too great.

Yet she continues to teach me. In my faith journey, I realize that I can't be complacent in a faith that can't get beyond myself and my loss. I cannot yet be joyous for her.

My grief is more about my selfishness and less about love. I miss seeing her, talking to her, sharing everything with her. That's all about me.

I'm realizing that shedding selfishness is going to be a lifelong journey, but a worthwhile one.

One day I want to be able to love my Mom and all the others in my life with a love that truly celebrates their joy, especially when they have the joy of heaven.

In the meantime, to the surprise of nobody who knows me, when I turned on my mp3 player this morning, a Switchfoot song was playing. The song was Let Your Love Be Strong from the Oh! Gravity CD. It seems appropriate today.

In this world of news, I've found nothing new
I've found nothing pure
Maybe I'm just idealistic to assume that truth
Could be fact and form
That love could be a verb
Maybe I'm just a little misinformed

As the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our skies tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired

Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your love

Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites

All of my world resting on your love


Happy Birthday, Mom.

The Eucharist: A Symbol or the Real Presence?

It's difficult to comprehend that a miracle occurs at every Mass, but in essence, that's what the Catholic Church teaches. According to the Church, the bread and wine become the real presence of Jesus, not just a symbol.

Though there are plenty of Biblical references to support this, other religions disagree. Many Catholics also believe that the bread and wine are just symbolic. I'm not sure why people who don't believe this continue to consider themselves Catholic because the belief in the Real Presence is central to Church teachings.

So where do you stand on the issue?

Before you answer, take a look at the article I've linked in the next paragraph. My first knowledge of this came from a book by James J. Drummey called Catholic Replies. In it, he talked about a priest in Italy in the early 8th century who doubted the Real Presence.

His doubts were laid to rest. One day during the words of consecration, the bread and wine were changed to look like what they actually were: flesh and blood.

The reason this story interested me is because of the follow-up in 1970. If you want to read more, just follow this link: Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano.

You may have already figured that this article will retell the story, and you would be right. You will also find proof of the claims.

But it's even better than that. This wasn't just any piece of flesh.

Just read the article. Note the specifics of what was found.

I hope it moves you as much as it moved me.

I'm discovering there are many other similar stories. I'll be looking into those in the next days.

Even though I've believed in the Church teachings regarding the Eucharist, after reading this article I'll never approach communion quite the same way again.

Prayers For A Priest

Sometimes I wonder if priests know how much they can affect our lives.

Many years ago a local priest died. He had a routine heart bypass surgery, he was relatively young and healthy, yet he died. The parish was devastated.

I'm thinking about that because of a blog I came across. The blog is at SaintRobertBellarmine.blogspot.com. Prayers are being asked for a priest who is dying.

There was a request made to email people and ask for prayers. I thought it would be appropriate to place this here to ask for prayers, too.

I only hope that when my day arrives, I can be as focussed on the right things as this priest is.

My prayers go out to not only this priest, but to those who love him. If this were happening to a couple of priests I know, priests who have had a significant impact in my life, it would be devastating to me.

Here's the message from the priest:

From Fr. Ed --

Here's an update on my health status.

A week ago Friday I met with my oncologist, Judy and some family members and prayerfully discerned to stop treatment. It wasn't very hard to make based on the options that I have. Anything aggressive is a long shot and some of it involves surgery with a high risk of infection with my weak body. Praying about the decision came through loud and clear to stop treatment.

I am at peace with that.

We even talked about hospice care at the appropriate time. Some tears were shed and it was nice to have family members there to share it together. Last week I visited my homeopathic doctor and he informed me that a body flooded with biliruben and a weakening liver can die in a matter of weeks but that it is a peaceful, pretty well painless way to die. That was a shock to hear that the illness could break the body totally down so rapidly.

All I can say is that for the past three and a half weeks my energy, appetite, general overall feeling has been constant--no regression and no progress. I would guess that without a miracle we’re talking about months rather than weeks. I began hospice care this week and that comes with some good benefits of paying for all of my prescriptions and reimburses me for ointments that help with the itching. I also get a massage each week.

I'm saying that on the scale of balance of going home soon or remaining here to continue ministry for a while, all of the facts tip the scale on the side of going home sooner rather than later. On the other side is the power of prayer which cannot be measured. I continue to ask Luminosa Bavosi to intercede for me and I feel her presence a lot.

As I say, I am at peace. Each day I have my bags packed for going home (heaven) and my brief case packed for doing the ministry of the day. I can’t think of anything more to put in the bag to go home. My brief case has about two appointments a day and a big reminder that . . .


LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT AND
EMBRACING JESUS FORSAKEN
IS THE GREATEST MINISTRY THAT I CAN DO.


Thanks for your unity and prayers, and love. I lean on them a lot.


Fr. Ed


P.S. Thanks for your prayers of intercession with Our Lady of Guadalupe and the praying of the Psalms.

Perfectly said. There's nothing more for me to add.

Crossing the Tiber

Catholics are frequently criticized for beliefs that the Church doesn’t even hold. When beliefs they actually do hold are mocked, usually it’s because Church teachings are imperfectly understood.

Public ridicule seems to be more frequent lately. My biggest disappointment was hearing a program on a local Christian radio station talking about some so-called teachings of the Catholic Church. The host wasn’t just discussing them, either, but actually laughing at them.

Yet he was 100% wrong in what he was talking about.

I wrote to the general manager but never got a response. Needless to say, I don’t listen to that station anymore. I can only conclude that the owners believe that Catholics aren’t Christian.

Still, would they present beliefs of non-Christians, such as Jews or Muslims, without bothering to make certain they were accurate first? In the areas where they disagree, would they laugh at them?
----------------------------------

I find that to tell people I’m Catholic means I have to be ready to defend my faith. Sadly, sometimes that means defending it even to other Catholics. I’ve found that, at least where I live, Catholics are often not taught their catechism well at all.

In Crossing the Tiber, author Steven K. Ray tells the story of his family's Protestant background, their misconceptions about Catholicism, and their eventual conversion. I bought this book in part because readers often commented about the extensive documentation. I was curious what made this family decide to become Catholic, and I wanted to know what kind of research they had done so I could refer others to it.

This book is worth reading for many reasons. In telling his conversion story, Mr. Ray discusses their biggest obstacles to believing in Catholicism and explains clearly what the Catholic Church teachings are on those issues and why those beliefs are held. If you’re tempted to think he is just picking and choosing his arguments, you can easily check it out because the documentation is extensive.

It doesn’t explain all of the Catholic teachings. That was never its intent. Instead, it explains some essential issues in depth.

This book is a good start for non-Catholics who want to better understand Catholicism, but it’s also a great book for Catholics. If you are a Catholic without a strong understanding of why the Church holds certain beliefs, I would highly recommend this book. If you’re to the point of considering leaving the church, please don’t go any further until you have read this book and some others, including a basic catechism. The people I personally know who have left Catholicism were, like most non-Catholics, full of misconceptions.

If you cherish and understand the Catholic Church, this is still a great book to read. Unless you have a parish that worships well and a priest like our local priest, one whose passion for God makes him glow as he speaks, it’s easy to get into the routine of Mass and forget what it's all about, how truly incredible it is.

This book will bring that back. Reading the author's excitement and awe at his first Mass reminds you of the uniqueness and wonder that we are invited to partake in each and every week.

In Mr. Ray's first book, you could feel his excitement from the beginning. It makes me want to read more of his works. A brief glance at his website shows he has several to choose from. You can find them here.

In the meantime, I’m starting to read The Shattered Lantern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God by Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I. You can read my thoughts about a different book of his I’ve read called The Holy Longing. I’ll let you know what I think of this one.

Another Hero Makes Ultimate Sacrifice

Here's the story of a man who was studying for the priesthood. Before getting there, he made the ultimate sacrifice.

I found this story at NZHerald:

A Kiwi priest has died a hero after sacrificing his life for a 7-year-old boy drowning off the coast of New Caledonia.

Jeremy Gray, 29, was walking in shallow water with the boy while on a New Year's church picnic celebration, when the pair fell into a hole in a coastal reef at Yate, near Noumea.

Neither of them saw the hole because the water was muddied by the recent rainy season floods. They were trapped by the swirling seas.

Gray managed to push the boy out of the deep water and back into the shallows and, despite being tired from his efforts, refused to take the youngster's outstretched hand.

"Jeremy shouted 'go back, go back'. He knew he would pull the small boy back into the water and they would both die," said Father Bernard Girol, one of those at the picnic.

"He used all his energy to save the boy and he got tired. It was Jeremy who saved his life."

The 7-year-old ran to get help and returned with his father, who dived into the rough water to rescue the unconscious Gray, but it was too late.

"Jeremy was already gone, and the boy's father almost drowned too; he got caught in the whirlpool as well," Father Girol said.

Other rescuers pulled both Gray and the 27-year-old father out - but the trainee priest was dead.

There's quite a bit more to the article. You can read the rest at NZHerald.

I pray for the family. They have some tough times ahead.

The World Needs Heroes

The Archdiocese of New York is running a movie trailer proclaiming "The World Needs Heroes." They are running this in the hopes of attracting the attention of men who are considering the priesthood. You can find it at NYPriest.com/

The title resonated with me. Like so many people, life circumstances have brought me to a "dark night of the soul." I seem to be slowly coming out of it, but I'm not anywhere near where I want to be.

Three different priests, all in their own way, have been instrumental in helping me. One of them doesn't even know of my struggles, but through his passion for God he has influenced me greatly.

The other two have counseled me with complete understanding. During my darkest days, some people told me I wasn't praying properly (like God has some magic but secret formula that you have to follow) or that I didn't have enough faith (as though I could just decide to have it and it would be there.)

I heard all sorts of things putting the blame on me, but never from a priest. They recognized my pain and didn't try to come up with the easy, instant answer.

I hope to one day say I have total faith again. In the meantime, I've become a better person.

These three priests have enhanced my life greatly. They have done more to help me with the most important part of my life than I can express.

These priests are truly heroes.