Theology of the Body Reflections: Living For the Kingdom

As Christians, our ultimate goal is to one day reach the kingdom of heaven. Each one of us has individual and unique talents that can and should be used to help others and glorify God. Not all are called to same vocation. Most men and women are called to married life, but some are called to priesthood or religious sisterhood. Both of these vocations are necessary and equally valuable in an effort for us to reach heaven. Of course, both vocations must be lived out according to their unique purpose. Both vocations require living a virtuous lifestyle and a life of service.

With this in mind, I reflect on the recent scandal surrounding Fr. Cutie and also on the wise words of the late Pope John Paul II in his work Theology of the Body. First, I would like to address the controversy surrounding Fr. Cutie. In case you have not already heard about this story, I will give a brief summary of the scandal surrounding Fr. Cutie. Last month Fr. Cutie, former Catholic priest from Miami, was seen kissing a girl on the beach. He spoke to the archbishop of Miami and requested and was granted a temporary leave. Last week, Fr. Cutie announced that he was leaving the Catholic Church and joining the Episcopal Church. He also plans on marrying the woman he was seen kissing on the beach.

This story is very disappointing to me on many different levels. First of all, Fr. Cutie made a vow of celibacy when he entered the priesthood. His actions are no different than a husband or wife breaking their marital vows. While a husband is married to his wife, a priest is similarly married to the Church. Secondly, his decision to leave the Catholic Church because of what appears to be based primarily on a disagreement over the discipline of priestly celibacy is very sad. Changing churches and faith is not like changing shirts. It should not be something you do frequently and without much discernment and thought. His decision appears to be a rash decision based on the disagreement of a discipline of the Church he once accepted and vowed to follow. He is willing to leave the Catholic Church and lose out on ministering and receiving the Eucharist all because he may have feelings for a girl? I am not responsible to offer final judgment on anyone, but is it worth it to be with any human being if it could severely damage your chances for salvation? His mind is certainly troubled. The decision to join the priesthood is not one that can be made without serious discernment and full commitment. Seminarians must go through many years of schooling and preparation before they can become priests unless there is an extraordinary circumstance. We should also not neglect the fact that Fr. Cutie abandoned his parish. His selfish actions, both in breaking his vow of celibacy and in leaving the Church, left his parishioners without a priest. He did not inform the archbishop of Miami of his decision to leave the church; he found out through the media. So without even getting into whether priestly celibacy is right or wrong, we should all be able to agree that by breaking his vow of celibacy as well as his abandonment of his Catholic faith and faithful, Fr. Cutie was very much in the wrong.

Priestly celibacy is a Catholic discipline that can be justified by several different biblical texts as well as common sense. The vocation of the priesthood requires a complete commitment to serving God and the Church. How can one commit himself fully to the Church when he must also commit himself to a wife and family? A priest is an imitation of Christ, who lived the celibate life Himself. If our Lord and savior lived a life of celibacy, why do we as a society believe that priest should marry? Why do we as a society look down on those who chose to live a celibate life? Why do we think that bodily pleasure is the equivalent of happiness? Our fulfillment of our bodily desires is only temporary, while our spiritual fulfillment lasts a lifetime. The priests that I've had the pleasure to get to know are some of the happiest and most pleasant people I've ever met. Love leads to happiness. Celibacy is not a denial of happiness, but a mastery of oneself and a sacrifice for the kingdom. Even married couples must learn to become masters of their body. Just because a couple marries does not give them the freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want. Married couples must also practice abstinence for periods of time. Many people believe, erroneously, that priestly celibacy is the main reason for much of the scandal in the priesthood. Ironically, married ministers are 5 times more likely to leave their church because of morality issues. Jesus taught that while married life is good but the celibate life is just as admirable if not more so. Don't believe me? Below is a biblical defense for priestly celibacy, many quotes of which John Paul II referenced in his work Theology of the Body.

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Found on www.cathlicapologetics.org

Clerical Celibacy

The Roman Catholic Church demands celibacy--no voluntary sexual pleasure, hence, no marriage--as a prerequisite to the order of presbyter.

The primary basis for the requirement of celibacy is clearly the lifestyle example of Jesus himself.

The Church notes that the practice is sanctioned by the New Testament.

Mt 19:12

Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.

1 Cor 7:6-7

This I say by way of concession, however, not as a command. Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am (single? widowed?), but each has a particular gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

1 Cor 7:25-26

Now in regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.

1 Cor 7:32-34

I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

The law of celibacy has no doctrinal bearing in the Catholic Church--it is a mere disciplinary law. Even today, there are married Catholic priests in the United States. Each is a former Episcopalian priest who joined the Catholic Church. There are Uniate Churches, churches in union with Rome, e.g., the Greek Byzantine Church, who have a married clergy.

Priestly celibacy became law in the Roman Church in the 6th century.

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In Theology of the Body, JPII discusses celibacy and marriage and each vocation in how each is uniquely designed to help us reach the kingdom of heaven. He repeatedly defends the importance of marriage and acknowledges the sacredness of the body. Marriage is necessary for the advancement and creation of life. While the married life is the calling of most, some are called to the exceptional calling of the priesthood or religious sisterhood. JPII described priestly celibacy as becoming a eunuch for the kingdom. What does this mean? I had never heard of the word eunuch before, but while watching an EWTN program called Theology of the Body for Teens, an excellent show that every teen should watch in preparation for confirmation, the analogy of eunuch for the kingdom was explained. Apparently, a eunuch is an Old Testament word for men incapable of having intercourse and whose job it was to protect the king's bride. Jesus is the king and the king's bride is the Church. I just think this is an awesome analogy. Marriage on earth is a sign of the perfect union with God. Priests' free choice to be dedicated to God and the Church is an Eschatological sign pointing us to heaven. It points us toward the marriage we're all called to, the marriage of Christ and the Church. Celibacy skips the earthly sign to more perfectly embrace the marriage in heaven. There is so much more that can be discussed about this issue. If you want to learn more about this, I suggest reading Theology of the Body or watch Theology of the Body for Teens on EWTN.

Phoenix Bishop Jailed for Ringing Church Bells

Church leader convicted under noise ordinance for hourly chimes praising God; ADF attorneys will pursue legal options
Wednesday, June 03, 2009, 2:05 PM (MST) |
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

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Comments

PHOENIX — A Phoenix bishop received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and three years probation Wednesday for violating a Phoenix noise ordinance because his church rang its bells hourly as a way of praising God. The ordinance does not include an exemption for religious worship, though it does provide an exemption for ice cream trucks. Bishop Rick Painter of Cathedral of Christ the King has retained attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to pursue legal options to defend his rights.

“Christians shouldn’t be punished for exercising their faith publicly,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “It’s ridiculous to be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church’s bells did not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks. We are reviewing the legal options available to us to defend Bishop Painter’s rights.”

The bells at the Cathedral of Christ the King normally chime at the top of every hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The bells have been registered to emit only 67 decibels from the nearest property line. A whisper is 30 decibels, and a normal conversation is about 60 to 70 decibels. Ice cream trucks are allowed to emit up to 70 decibels at a distance of 50 feet under an exemption to the city’s ordinance, but no exemption exists for church bells. In addition to Painter’s sentence, the judge issued an order restricting chimes at the church to no more than 60 decibels for two minutes on Sundays and specific religious holidays.

“The church bells chime a short, ancient melody of praise to God,” said Stanley. “It’s too bad that the value of the bells is lost on many in our society. In a busy neighborhood full of sirens, heavy traffic, and loud motorcycles, these chimes are a sound of peace that do not exceed the noise level of an average conversation. Certainly, that should be at least as acceptable as the sound of an ice cream truck.”

• Order issued by the Phoenix Municipal Court in State of Arizona v. Painter

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

www.telladf.org

Note: Facts in ADF news releases are verified prior to publication but may change over time. Members of the media are encouraged to contact ADF for the latest information on this matter.

New Layout

I am in the process of getting a new layout. You will notice that I have already started by editing my sidebar. I have added more recommended links and categorized them to make it easier to navigate to my recommended sites more easily. The links might not be set up yet, but I'll have the links up soon. I highly encourage you to frequently visit my recommended links. I especially encourage you to frequently visit the News and Pro-Life websites. I visit those sites on a daily basis and get a lot of good information from them. Hopefully I get my post up on the priest who left the Catholic church before the weekend! God bless!

Infamous Late-Term Abortionist Murdered

The infamous late-term abortionist, George Tiller, was murdered this morning inside the lobby of a Lutheran Church in Kansas. As someone who considers himself 100% pro-life, this news is sad and troubling to me. Those who are truly pro-life would never advocate such violence against anybody regardless of their ethical or political positions. With this in mind, I did have some immediate thoughts when I first heard this news.

First thought: Oh no, pro-life advocates will be persecuted unfairly because of this. I am certain that pro-abortion advocates will use this as an example of domestic terrorism. In fact, pro-abortion groups are already calling on Obama to come down on pro-lifers despite the fact that several pro-life groups have already come out quick and vocally denounced the murder. Pro-abortion groups will blame pro-life advocates for this murder despite the fact that nobody knows at this time who shot Tiller or why he was shot. This generalization is just one way that pro-abortion crowd can distort the real issue of abortion. It is very possible that this murderer, described as a white man, was the father of a late-term aborted child. This does not justify the act, but it brings me to the second thought that crossed my mind when I heard this news.

Second thought: George Tiller killed hundreds of babies. This man was a mass serial killer. He was one of the very few who would do late-term abortions. This was a very evil man. Again, I'm not condoning his murder, only stating some facts. Pro-abortions are appalled at the news of his death, but why were they not equally appalled at the each and every death at the hands of Tiller? His death is unfortunate, but equally unfortunate are the hundreds of lives that he took through the abortions he performed.

George Tiller is dead. He will no longer perform abortions. The first fact is an unfortunate one, the second fact should be a comforting fact. My fear is that this murder will be a rallying cry for the pro-abortion supporters, who have seen a recent surge in pro-life advocates. People are out in public evangelizing and teaching the truth about abortion. It is evil. It is an intrinsic evil. We should be equally appalled when a single baby is aborted as we are when a person gets murdered. As a society, we still don't treat individuals equally. Perhaps this is because we don't usually see the abortions, or perhaps some still rationalize that abortion doesn't kill a person, or perhaps this is because many are simply ignorant on the issue. Murder and violence is not what the pro-life movement is about. The person responsible for the murder should be caught and sentenced to prison for his act. His act is unacceptable. I just hope that all pro-life advocates don't get labeled as terrorists because of this. I continue to pray that hearts and minds change. God bless!

A Call to Union

There have been a lot of issues to discuss lately. One of the big news stories recently from the Catholic perspective involves that of priestly celibacy and God’s desire for union with us and our desire for union with Him and others. I have written about priestly celibacy before, but I’d like to go into further depth on the Catholic understanding of priestly celibacy and the idea of union for two reasons: to address the controversy surrounding the ex-Catholic priest from Miami who has left the Catholic Church and is now engaged; and because this very issue is a topic in my reflections on the Theology of the Body. Certainly the media will take this controversy as an opportunity to question the Catholic discipline on priestly celibacy. I have some very interesting statistics and thoughts in response to the not so surprising reaction of mass media surrounding this issue. I will discuss all these things in a follow up post in the next couple days.

However, this post is all about a triumph story; a story that will go down in the annals of time, a story that will bring a smile to anyone’s face, a story about curiosity, determination, love and a desire for union! This blog is affecting lives people! When I started this blog, my goal was to affect at least one person’s life. Perhaps that has happened; perhaps it’s too early to know for sure, but regardless I was really excited when I heard about this story. Although my blog was not directly involved, it may have played a role indirectly in the union of two people. I will let my cousin Dan tell the story in his own words. Thanks for sharing Dan!

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Hey Mike, I don't think you know anything about this, but if you don't you will soon. So here's the story in all its ridiculousness:

I was reading your blog about a month and a half ago as I do so periodically and I randomly clicked one of the links on the side, not knowing what it was. It turns out it was for a Catholic dating website. I was about to navigate away when I saw a picture of this girl on the site and I was like "what the heck" and clicked it, read her profile, and thought "this is a girl I would really be interested in getting to know." But the site was expensive so I did some internet sleuthing and found the same girl on a different Catholic dating website that was cheaper. I told myself what the heck, subscribed, contacted this girl and promptly got shot down. So I find myself subscribed to this site feeling like a total idiot and I'm like "well here goes nothing" and I proceed to get shot down for the next few weeks by several different girls until this one responded and we kept talking. That was four weeks ago and I just got back from an awesome weekend with her in St. Louis (where she lives). I attached a picture. Anyways, we're dating now and I'm sure the story will spread like wildfire, so I thought you should hear it firsthand from me! : )
God Bless,

Dan

P.S. I really enjoy your blog and it has often led to me stop and think. Keep up the great work!


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Dan has been assigned as a platoon leader at Ft. Campbell. He will be deployed to Afghanistan in April of next year. Please keep Dan and all our military in your thoughts and prayers. Dan, thank you so much for all that you do and will continue to do for the defense of our country and freedom. Your dedication and tremendous sacrifices are commendable and inspirational. I hope you continue to visit my blog and that it might help strengthen you in your faith. Thanks again for sharing your story with me. God bless!

Taking Up Our Cross

In the gospels we read where Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. What does it mean to take up our cross? Most of us think of the symbolic meaning of taking up our cross as the burdens we have to carry in our lives. While taking up our cross does require us to humbly accept our daily burdens and responsibilities, Jesus is asking much more from us. When Jesus says that we must take up our cross, He is telling us that we must be willing to follow Him unto death. He is commanding us to die to self. These words are hard for us to hear and even harder to live by.

Our individualist society is continuously encouraging us to chase those things that offer instant self gratification. This kind of lifestyle and way of thinking never leads to fulfillment because it never provides lasting peace. It may be a medicine for our desires, but it is not a cure. The reason is because God made us to be in union with Him and with others. When our objectives are solely based on our own personal goals or gratification, we sometimes lose a sense of belonging and fulfillment. We like to share our experiences, our successes and our failures with others. When we take up our cross, we not only carry our own daily burdens but also those of others. In reflecting on our mission to take up our cross, I'm reminded of the prayer of St. Francis. We are to live to console not to be consoled, to love not to be loved, and to die so that we are born to eternal life. When we think of death, we usually think only in terms of a bodily death, but when we take up our cross we also die to self. We abandon our selfish instincts and live a selfless life, a life of service to God and one another.

Jesus lived a life of service and self sacrifice. Any time we make a choice in life we are sacrificing something. The idea of sacrifice is to deny oneself for the glory of God whether that be abstaining from meat on Fridays or doing works of charity. When we understand the meaning of self sacrifice and service we will discover love and recognize a true feeling of happiness and peace.

I have a much better idea of what it means to take up my cross now that I am a father. When I was single, I only had to take care of myself. I was living for myself and simply tried to please God. Once I married my wife, I also had to live for my wife. Now I must also live for my daughter. My life has changed dramatically in what seems like such a short time. Sometimes I think about how my life was less complicated and easier. Things may have been easier and less complicated, but they were not better. Just because something is easy doesn't mean it is good, and in fact it is often the things that are the most difficult that are the most rewarding. Being a father is not as easy as I thought it would be and I know my wife is struggling with her new role as a mother. Babies don't come with manuals and so we are both learning how to take care of our baby Julie.

The stress can sometimes become overwhelming, especially for mom. Much of my stress comes from a sense of helplessness. I want to help as much as I can, but there is only so much that I can do. I must go to work to provide for the family and yet I want to ease my wife's burdens by helping take care of the baby and home duties. I want to take care of my baby Julie, but I also have the responsibility to take care of my wife. When I think of the stress we incur, I am also reminded that Jesus also experienced stress. He was so intensely stressed before His passion that He actually sweat blood. Our stresses seem light when compared with the stress Jesus was under. We think that our cross is difficult to bear, but he carried the burdens of ALL people and he did it with ultimate love. He is our perfect example.

It is important to realize that it is not sinful to experience stress, but when we do experience stress we should be careful not to fall into despair. Sometimes we are not in complete control of our emotions. My wife has just experienced a huge lifestyle change and she also has to deal with major bodily changes. I will never know what it feels like to deliver a baby. I will never be able to breast feed my children. That role is reserved for mothers. Mothers have such a special bond with their children. It takes a very special person to be a mother and my wife is an exceptional person. It saddens me deeply to see her sad and struggling with the stress that inevitably comes with the birth of a baby. I will never have to sacrifice for my daughter as much as my wife has to sacrifice now. This is hard for me to accept. I want to give everything I can to my wife and daughter. I love them so much.

I ask that you please pray for me and my family. Pray that we will be mentally and physically strong in difficult times. May we always remember Jesus' call for us to live a selfless and sacrificial life. May we take up our cross and follow Him. Thanks and God bless!

Memorial Day Reflections

This morning I attended mass. The mass was held at the beautiful prayer garden on the grounds of my parish at St. Michael. It was a beautiful ceremony. I hope that there will be more opportunities to have mass service in the prayer garden. I am going to borrow some of Father Larry's talking points in his homily as material for reflections.

Today we celebrate Memorial Day. Today we remember the sacrifices of those who have served and continue to serve our country in the armed forces. Today we remember those who have paid the ultimate price and lost their lives in defense of our country. Today we are reminded of the great evil that is war. Today we give thanks for our freedom, a freedom which many people even today do not enjoy.

As we reflect on this freedom, a freedom God yearns for all people, we reflect on how freedom is lost and why freedom is not guaranteed to all people. Our country's veterans and the men and woman currently serving in our military forces are responsible for protecting our country and for protecting the freedoms we are guaranteed in our country. Ironically even the United States, a country founded on the Christian principals, we can not guarantee the most basic and fundamental right of life. We are currently engaged in a war against terrorism. The justification of the war has been the defense of our country and the promotion of freedom for countries in the Middle East that don't recognize certain basic freedoms we enjoy in America. These are noble aspirations, but war is and should be the absolute final option after all other options are exhausted. We should ask ourselves if all other options had been exhausted, and we should also ask ourselves if we can truly promote freedom in another country when we can't even promote and protect the freedom of our own people in this country.

War is an absolute tragedy. God is certainly sorrowed to see all this fighting and war in the world. God yearns for us to discover peace and we can only find that peace through Him. We can only discover peace in our world when our world accepts and promotes the freedom of all people. Unfortunately, even those who fight under the name of freedom, often deny their very own of the freedom every life deserves. Are we really promoting freedom when we fund abortions oversees? Abortion is the exact opposite of freedom. It is not promoting choice it is suppressing choice. Abortion is a grave intrinsic evil, but there are many other intrinsic evils prevalent in our day. These evils of abortion and embryonic stem cell research are prevalent in our very country. Why are these obvious violations of freedom occurring in our country?

I think the root cause of these great evils, the civil rights issue of our time, is that of moral relativism and lust. Our current president, government, and hundreds of thousands of citizens in this country believe that truth is something that cannot be known. They believe that truth is relative and that each person has the "right" to decide what is right and wrong for themselves. The problem with this is that it leads to totalitarian rule. Truth lies in whoever has power. This is happening right now in our country. It should not come to a surprise to us. Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Theresa predicted this would happen over a decade ago. They had the foresight and knowledge that when any segment of society is denied basic freedoms, we all lose freedom. They recognized that the greatest threat to peace was not nuclear warfare, but the acceptance of abortion. If the most innocent among us are not guaranteed the most basic and first fundamental right of life, none of us are truly free. We are already seeing innocent people being arrested and ridiculed for standing up for the freedom and lives of millions of unborn.

We live in a culture that promotes promiscuous activity. Our culture embraces unchaste relationships and denies the existence and reality of truth. We are so confused as a culture that we have to have a debate on whether or not people of the same sex should be allowed to marry. This obvious misunderstanding of marriage is a reflection of our culture's lack of knowledge or denial of God's plan for marriage and family life. It is a denial of the meaning of the body and the meaning a true love. Our culture embraces lust and often times tries to convince us that lust is actually love when in fact it is the exact opposite. Lust is a taking for oneself whereas love is a giving of oneself. Our culture encourages us to do whatever makes us feel good for ourselves. Our culture is all about the individual. Our culture teaches us that sex is love when in fact it is God who is love. The conjugal act is an act of love because it is a complete giving of oneself to another. This act becomes an act of lust when it is not free, total, faithful and fruitful. If any or all of these things are absent from the act, it is not a true act of love. Until our culture comes to the realization that contraception and our unchaste practices lead to lust and not true love, we will continue to see attacks on our freedom. Many believe that living an unchaste life sets us free, when in reality it suppresses freedom. Living an unchaste life does not make us happy but only fuels the fire of our lust. When we live an unchaste life, we are not fulfilled and in fact we become very unhappy. Often our answer is to seek even more self pleasure, which only deepens our lustful passions and takes us further and further away from the true love which all of us desire.

I believe that moral relativism and our culture's confusion about the meaning of true love are the two most dangerous issues of our time. Abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and many other evils are the result of these two underlying problems. My mission is to promote the truth and dispel the evil myths of moral relativism and lust. We can only truly be free when all people are guaranteed the freedom and right to life. We can not protect that which we do not possess. While we are blessed to have many freedoms in this county, our county is not truly the land of the free. We live in a country and on an earth where peace is not a reality because freedom for all is not guaranteed. When freedom for all is guaranteed and truth is realized, then and only then will we have peace. Until that time, which we won't likely realize in our lifetime, we must protect the freedoms we currently do have and always promote complete freedom for all.

It is because of this confused world that we must have a military. I can't imagine being faced with the obligation to shoot another person even if this action is made in self defense. These soldiers are faced with tough, life altering decisions each day. I pray for each one of them on this day that they never forget the reason they are on the battlefield. May they know our profound respect and gratitude for the sacrifices they make on our behalf. May they not be troubled when they must make tough decisions in order to protect and save the lives of the innocent. I pray that God protect our military from all mental and physical harm and that they may come home to their families safe and soon. I pray for a quick end to the war and that through God's grace that all may come to realize complete and true freedom and discover peace and truth. I am dedicated to spreading this message of faith, family, freedom, justice, life, marriage, peace and truth. I ask you all to say a quick prayer for our veterans and military today. May we never forget the sacrifices they make and may we never forget the greatest sacrifice of all. Jesus showed us how to love completely and gave his very life for ourselves. May we never forget this great sacrifice and example of love. He asked for nothing and gave everything. May we do the same. God bless!

Best "Human" Picture of the Year

The picture below is the winning picture for Best "Human" Picture on the Internet in 2008. Awesome picture.
Good news on the life front. Several recent polls are showing a shift in this country toward pro-life views. For the first time in a long, long time a majority of Americans consider themselves pro-life. While it is sad that there are still about 49% who lean pro-choice in the abortion issue, there are indications that the number is reducing. I went to the abortion mill again this Saturday morning. St. Michael's brought 7 people which was a pretty good showing. Along with me were the usual group; Pam, Katherine, and Kelly. Katherine's husband Jason joined today as well as another Knights of Columbus member who brought his teenage daughter. It was awesome. We think at least 2 lives might have been saved, many more hearts and lives were touched by our presence and prayers, and some of the women who had abortions received consolation and help from our sidewalk counselors. God is good. Have a great holiday weekend. God bless!