One of the interesting parts of the story of the life of Joseph the Patriarch (Genesis 37-50) is how his life is a type for Christ. Of course, the entire Old Testament points to Christ, and we are to read it in light of Him. The many figures whose lives are recounted are types for Christ, and they help us to better understand some aspect of who our Lord is. For instance, Moses prefigures Jesus as the new lawgiver who presents the Sermon on the Mount as the new Moses.
Joseph prefigures Christ who saves His people through suffering. In the beginning of his story, we find Joseph, through a couple of dreams, presented with some inkling of what will happen in his life. Then his life takes a serious turn for the worse when all of his ten older brothers agree to first kill him. Later, they decide to sell him into slavery instead because it would not be so messy.
After being sold into slavery, Joseph is taken from the land of Canaan and sold again to an Egyptian official. Joseph undergoes years of suffering in Egypt. Although he initially finds favor with his Egyptian master because of his abilities to manage his master's household, he winds up in jail after being falsely accused of going after his master's wife.
Again in jail, Joseph finds favor. In this case, the jailer recognizes his management and people skills and puts him in charge of all of the rest of the prisoners. He interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh's butler and baker who had found themselves in the prison. The baker is executed as Joseph indicated by the interpretation of his dream. And the butler is restored to his position in accordance with Joseph's interpretation of his dream.
Years go by as Joseph languishes in jail. It would be very easy to expect him to become bitter and disappointed. Far from his homeland, without a sense that anyone from his family even knows he is alive, he is wasting his life in a prison.
Finally, as you know, through the butler's recommendation, he interprets the dreams of Pharaoh which predict seven years of agricultural abundance followed by seven years of famine. Since dream interpretation was considered a divine gift given to wise people, the Pharaoh appoints Joseph to administer a program to handle this coming crisis.
As much in life comes full circle, in one form or another, Joseph's brothers reappear in his life. During the regional famine, the brothers have come from Canaan to get grain in Egypt which has stores of grain due to Joseph's plan to save the people by storing up the additional grain during the seven years of abundance.
This is where the story becomes very interesting. Joseph receives his brothers. He does not turn them away. He also provides them with grain. However, he also is used by God to teach the brothers a lesson and to bring about their true reconciliation. Through a series of events orchestrated by Joseph, the brothers end up offering themselves to be Joseph's slaves. In the midst of these events, the brothers recognize that they are experiencing retribution for having sold Joseph into slavery although they do not yet realize that they are dealing with Joseph himself. Finally, Joseph identifies himself to his brothers, forgives them, and has his family, including is father, move to Egypt.
In understanding Joseph as a type of Christ, we see that like our Lord he was falsely accused and sentenced, he was tempted but did not sin, he was envied, he suffered patiently, he forgave his enemies, and he saved his people. He also is an example of admonishing the sinner.
When the brothers came to Egypt and Joseph recognized them, he did not run over to them and start hugging every one of them in a family reunion. Instead, he actually is fairly rough on them in a couple of their visits to Egypt which took place over a number of years. He does this because it brings them to a point of repentance and conversion after they examine their consciences. Our Lord does the same with us.
When we are walking in sin, Jesus calls us to conversion. He does not run over and start acting chummy with us as if there is no issue between the two of us. Instead, He wants us to realize what we have done and how it has damaged the relationship we have with Him. He brings about all kinds of circumstances to get us to that point of amendment of life. We would rather not experience the circumstances. We want the false friendship we would have if Jesus acted as if nothing had happened between us. The key is to come to the point, as Joseph's brothers did, of recognizing the problem and making a change by repenting and returning to God.
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Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, recognized the need for the Church to
evangelize via the Internet:
If it is possible to find God on the Internet, then the Church has the obligation to proclaim him in that medium, says a Vatican official.
He told a meeting today: "The Internet can be a new path to God, a call to the Church to question itself on the opportunities offered by the new media to inform, educate, pray and evangelize, to take the Word of God everywhere, to reach also those who live in solitude and who perhaps would never open the door to their home."
"The Church, as transmitter of the Revelation of God, has the task to communicate the Word and must encourage the use of Internet for the common good, the development of peace and justice, in respect of personal dignity and with a spirit of solidarity," he pointed out.
Internet is "the Areopagus of our time, the instrument to spread the Christian message," Archbishop Foley said. "But it is necessary to educate in its use, as with every reality that surrounds us, the positive element is opposed to the negative, creating confusion and false values.
"Yes, God can be found on the network. And among the millions of people who surf the Internet every day, many may find words of hope, come across other cultural and spiritual experiences, bringing down ideological barriers to discover new horizons."
I appreciate the Archbishop's comments. I believe that many a blogger understands that the Internet is a powerful medium for evangelization.
Of course, I appreciate almost everything that the Archbishop says. I have very fond memories of him from a number of years ago. Long before I was Catholic, I would hear him give the commentary during the Christmas Eve Mass from St. Peter's which was broadcast on PBS. The fact that I would watch the mass was a strange thing in itself given my very non-Catholic upbringing, but I enjoyed watching what I did not understand and I was fond of John Paul the Great as far as I understood who he was. Little did I know that God was planting seeds through the Archbishop's words. This is exactly what happens through the Internet. Seeds of evangelization are planted. Eventually from these seeds God produces beautiful fruit.
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[I was planning on writing this entry on the homily I heard this weekend. Before beginning to write the entry, I saw Amy Welborn's (Open Book) entry on preaching (See link below) which only provided me with further impetus to write this.]My family and I went to the vigil mass on Saturday. The guest celebrant priest is Dominican who looks at bit like Bernard Cardinal Law. However, I was dumbfounded when I heard him preach because he spoke on one topic I had never heard a Catholic priest address (I have never heard in-person; I am not considering EWTN.), and in the course of his homily he mentioned another word that I might have heard once since I began going to mass.
First, the priest spoke on the reality of the existence of the devil. He then went on to explain how the devil tempts us to sin. It was a breath of fresh air to hear someone speak about something of importance related to our spiritual life. Speaking about the reality of the devil and the possibility that we might by tempted him was enough to place this homily in a category of its own among Catholic sermons I personally have heard.
However, the information was also very useful. The priest described how no matter what state we might find ourselves in, we are vulnerable to the wiles of the devil. When I am down, he wants to discourage me by tempting me to think that God could care less about me. When I am up, he wants me to believe that I do not need God. And most of all, he wants me to believe that he does not exist because then I will not see the need to ask for God's protection and grace.
In the midst of this, the priest mentioned a word I have rarely heard from a Catholic priest (Again with the exception of priests on EWTN). That word is confession. In the years since I began attending mass prior to my entry into the fullness of faith over four years ago, I think that I have heard the word confession mentioned perhaps twice in the homilies I have heard. For obvious reasons, this is quite a shame. The Catholic Faith is a sacramental faith. It is through the seven sacraments which Christ instituted that we receive His grace. For adults, confession is the means by which we are able to be absolved of our serious sins. There simply is no other way.
Although the priest did not make the connection, I think it is appropriate to link the lack of teaching about confession and the lack of teaching about the reality of the devil. They really are the same thing. Both are a denial of sin. If there is no such thing as sin or mortal sin is almost impossible to commit, than it is obvious that there is no need for confession. Similarly, if the devil is just a piece of fairy tale left over to help the weak-minded, than ultimately there is no sin. In both cases, the denial of Church teaching leads to the same thing: a weakening of the resolve to grow in holiness. The fruit of frequent confession is a growth in holiness because I become more cooperative with the grace Christ gives me in the sacrament. Similarly, as I recognize the reality of evil that enters my life, I learn to turn to God more in order to fight against evil.
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Support All who promote the Culture of Life
Fr. Frank Pavone, in his
bi-weekly column, emphasizes the idea that although officially the two major political parties in the United States have completely opposite platform positions on abortion, it is the position of the individual candidate that matters:
The commitment to defend the weakest and most vulnerable human beings does not arise from a political party or platform, nor from any kind of personal or communal agenda. Nor does it arise from bishops, priests, or pastors. Rather, it arises from our humanity itself, fashioned as it is by the hand of God. God, who is life, writes upon our hearts its value, and He bestows on us both the gift of life and the privilege and duty to defend it. Nobody needs any kind of permission to defend life, nor can anyone excuse himself from that duty. Nobody has a monopoly on the defense of life, nor is the pro-life task a means to an end. Defending life is an end in itself, and has in itself all the justification it ever
needs.
As we know, there are pro-life Democrats, and there are pro-abortion Republicans. Those who are pro-life, no matter what party affiliation, should be supported, and those who are pro-abortion, no matter what party affiliation, should be encouraged to change their position.
My own observation about Catholics and party affiliation is that there is strong tendency for Catholics to place their party affiliation ahead of their Faith. The ones who identify themselves as Democrats often have a family history of Democrat party affiliation which leads them to support pro-abortion Democrats despite this obvious conflict with the Church's clear teaching against abortion. More often than not it seems that these Democrat Catholics do not even consider the abortion question in their political calculus either out of naivete or a wholesale acceptance of the package of lies that have been promulgated by the abortion industry. Their focus is on other traditional Democratic positions which arguably are much more in line with Catholic teaching than the Republican positions.
On the other side of the fence, I find that the Catholics who identify themselves as Republicans tend to proudly note that for the most part, Republican candidates are at least in official position pro-life. These Catholics often ignore the many other positions which the Republican candidates have which are out of step with Catholic teaching. Also, there is a certain degree that these Republican Catholics embrace the Republican party more for its traditional economic positions than for its positions on life. In other words, they really want to be Republicans, and thank goodness the Republicans have the better end of the life issues so they can look orthodox while maintaining their preferred party affiliation.
The fact is that many pro-life Republicans are only mildly pro-life. They hold a pro-life position on many issues because it is politically expedient to do so; it is not a deep conviction of their own. Evidence for this is found when the life issue becomes complex, such as embryonic stem cell research. The fact that there is no long history of debate in this country about the complex issues of life means that for the politician it is not easy to see where the political battle lines are drawn on these complex issues. Abortion is easy because there has been debate about this for decades. Consequently, you see pro-life politicians supporting embryonic stem cell research without understanding how naive, if not hypocritical such support is given their "clear" stand against abortion. Unfortunately, these politicians often lack the understanding of why abortion is wrong. They understand that it is taking life which is wrong, but they do not have the full understanding that human life starts at conception. Consequently, anything but protection of human life beginning with conception is wrong.
The problem is that there are years of misinformation to overcome. The Roe vs. Wade decision set in motion a whole slew of efforts that have changed the climate in the United States into what John Paul the Great called the Culture of Death. Reversing that atmosphere of lies is the true effort of the pro-life movement.
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The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Scriptural basis for devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is beautiful and profound. Primarily, it is St. Luke who wanting "to write an orderly account" (1:3) concerning the faith has given us the picture of our Lady's heart.
First, near the conclusion of the account of the nativity of our Lord (2:1-20), St. Luke writes, "But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." (2:19) Surely, she meditates upon all that has happened to her surrounding the birth of her child. From the angel Gabriel's announcement to her that she, as a Virgin, would give birth to the Messiah (1:26-38) to her visit with her cousin Elizabeth who declares that Mary is the mother of God when she hears Mary's greeting to her (1:39-56), there is much upon which she could ponder. Now, she has been providentially brought to the city of David to give birth to her precious son in a cave. Shepherds make their way to this cave to declare that angels have told them about His birth, and they have come to see what the Lord had made known to them.
Through this pondering in her heart, Mary grew closer to God. Her meditation would only increase the awe she felt for the God who was so wonderfully working in her life. As St. Ambrose wrote, "Even though she was Mother of the Lord, she wanted to learn his precepts, She, who had given birth to God, desired to know God still better." (
De virginibus, 2, 6-16)
The second reference to Mary's heart is at the conclusion of the narrative on St. Joseph and our Lady's finding of our Lord in the Temple (2:41-52). Here again, St. Luke records that "His mother kept all these things in her heart". (2:51) She meditates again on the ways of the Lord which have her search for Jesus for three days only to find Him in the Temple with the teachers. Jesus' reply to His mother as to why He has disappeared for three days, is fruit for her meditation. Because Jesus makes clear to His parents that their parental role is under His Heavenly Father's authority over Him. However, as their son, He is subject to them, and he demonstrates this by His obedience to them (2:51).
Perhaps the most important indirect reference to our Lady's heart is in the prophecy of Simeon recorded in the Presentation account of St. Luke's Gospel (2:22-39). Simeon announces to our Lady and St. Joseph that, "a sword will pierce through [Mary's] own soul, also" She, too, will know the suffering that her Son will experience. Surely, she meditated on the amazing word which were spoken to her by Simeon. Over the years, she must have wondered what the exact meaning was for a sword to pierce in her soul. It is only at Calvary that she would fully understand the depth of what was prophesied so many years prior.
Throughout all three of these passages, Mary is the person who is pondering the mysteries of God. She dwells upon how the Almighty is working in her life. She is an active participant in God's plan, yet she, too, must meditate on what the Lord is doing. She would also simply meditate on who He is that would be born of a Virgin. Consequently, it is easy to understand how devotion to our Lady's Immaculate Heart would begin and grow. St. Luke recorded how her heart focused on the work of the Lord. This devotion teaches us that, led by our Lady's example, we too, should ponder in our hearts the work of the Lord.
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Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have included another section from the
Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy:
Popular piety tends to associate a devotion with its iconographic expression. This is a normal and positive phenomenon. Inconveniences can sometimes arise: iconographic expressions that no longer respond to the artistic taste of the people can sometimes lead to a diminished appreciation of the devotion's object, independently of its theological basis and its historico-salvific content.
This can sometimes arise with devotion to the Sacred Heart: perhaps certain over sentimental images which are incapable of giving expression to the devotion's robust theological content or which do not encourage the faithful to approach the mystery of the Sacred Heart of our Saviour.
Recent time have seen the development of images representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the moment of crucifixion which is the highest expression of the love of Christ. The Sacred Heart is Christ crucified, his side pierced by the lance, with blood and water flowing from it (cf, John 19, 34).
Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 173
Truly, the image of our Lord crucified is an icon worthy of our meditation. Here the God-man has given Himself as the one, perfect sacrifice for our sins. The unblemished lamb who knew no sin has become sin in order that we might be saved from our sins.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches
wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and praise. Revelation 5:12
Before His Sacred Heart, which is pierced and from which flows water and His precious blood, we can only bow in adoration before our God. He is the One who has loved us so much that He took on flesh in order to offer it up for the sake of us who are sinners.
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If you are not familiar with podcasting then you probably have not heard about the
Catholic Insider. First, things first. For those who do not know what podcasting is, according to
Wikipedia:
Podcasting is a way of publishing sound files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed and receive new audio files automatically. Podcasting is distinct from other types of audio content delivery because it uses the RSS 2.0 file format. This technique has enabled many producers to create self-published, syndicated radio shows.
Users subscribe to podcasts using "podcatching" software (also called "aggregator" software) which periodically checks for and downloads new content. It can then sync the content to the user's portable music player, hence the portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting". Podcasting does not require an iPod; any digital audio player or computer with the appropriate software can play podcasts.
Now that it is clear what podcasting is, what is the Catholic Insider? It is a podcast by Fr. Roderick Vonhaegen who is a Dutch priest of the Archdiocese of Utrecht, Netherlands. Although he hails from the Netherlands, he gets around. His most interesting podcasts wererecordedd during the time of the death of John Paul the Great, the Conclave, and the installation of Pope Benedict XVI. Not that his other podcasts which are not live from the Vatican City are not interesting, but it is tremendous experience to hear him share his observations while standing in St. Peter's Square as he cheers with the rest of the faithful when the "Habemus Papam" is announced.
In his podcasts, Fr. Roderick shares the Faith through this medium in a way that is winsome and beautifully sincere. On several podcasts, you can hear him huffing and puffing while the wheels of his bike turn as he describes the scenery while taking you along to another soundseeing tour. Perhaps Fr. Roderick is about to take you on a tour of a church with a distinctive history or maybe he lets you share an Easter celebration, including an Easter egg hunt for his nephew, with his family. He weaves the everyday items of life, including Dutch customs and practices, together with information on the Faith through history, practice, Tradition, and Magisterial teaching. Also, his podcasts often feature contemporary and classical music which helps to set the theme of the podcast.
In addition, to his podcast, Fr. Roderick has recently added the morning and evening prayers of the Divine Office. Like the podcasts, these can be received via a subscription which you access through a news aggregator. Or the files can be directly downloaded from his Web site. Either way, it is nice feature which can be added to your devotions through this new medium of podcasting. For more information, on the morning and evening prayer, click
here.
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Breakthrough in potential for adult stem cells
For those who might have missed it (and I believe there were a number of us), an important story on adult stem cell research was quietly reported over two months ago. Unfortunately, the culture of death is more interested in perpetuating itself than in actually helping people. Thus, the apparent lack of fanfare for yet another example of the research on adult stem cells which is leading to real treatments that help people.
Potential seen in adult stem cells - Mar 21, 2005
Australian scientists have found that stem cells taken from adults could have the same life-saving potential as those taken from embryos, a discovery that could potentially end the contentious debate over embryonic research.
The results from the four-year project, at Australia's Griffith University in Queensland, show that adult stem cells harvested from the nose can be grown into virtually any kind of cell in the human body.
"Their other big advantage over embryonic stem cells is their potential for autologous therapies in which a patient's own cells are removed from the nose, grown and multiplied in a dish and transplanted back into the same patient which overcomes the issue of immune rejection or related immune-suppressing drug therapies," he said.
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, told The Australian newspaper that the research could provide a possible solution to the moral debate over embryonic research and said he would refer it to the Vatican.
The Catholic Church provided Aust. $50,000 ($39,000) in funding for the Griffith University project.
more >>
The article demonstrates the bias toward embryonic stem cells, as the opening paragraph slips in the line, "same life-saving potential as those taken from embryos". There is of course the potential for embryonic stem cells to do amazing things, but as of now, it is only theoretical. However, the
list of actual benefits of adult stem cells continues to grow.
Hat tip
Michael Dubriel
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The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for June
Missionary - For Christians: may they come to an ever deeper realization that the Most Holy Eucharist is the pulsing heart of the Church.
General - For the millions of refugees in the world: may they receive brotherly love and concrete aid from all Christians.
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A Year Later: Some Positive Change in My Diocese
According to the
Richmond Times Dispatch, during the year since his installation as the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Richmond (my diocese), the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo, has initiated some positive changes:
1) Re-established the diocese's liturgical commission to among other things investigate parishioners' complaints of liturgical abuse.
2) Appointed a diocesan theologian who is charged with approving parish requests for outside speakers.
3) Removed the sexual-minorities commission.
4) Increased the number of clustered parishes (one priest for two parishes).
5) Hired auditors to assist parishes and schools in checking the financial books.
6) Moved his residence from across the street from the cathedral to a suburb of Richmond some 25 minutes away. The three-story house is now used for diocesan offices which meant a $35,000/year rental of offices could be saved.
These are all very good changes. However, as one person in the news article indicates, I would like to see more rapid changes which rollback the damage done during his predecessor's 29 years and which encourage an active, orthodox faith in the diocese.
As a convert, I am somewhat ignorant of how a diocese is run, but I do know that my bishop is called to be a shepherd who leads his flock to Christ through His Church. He will be judged by our Lord on how he served. Exactly how he implements reforms and renewal is not as important. My calling is to pray for him and to support the orthodox practice of the Faith. On that I will be judged.
Hat tip to
Michael Dubriel.
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