Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Happy to Have a Church Fam
My Church family is a great blessing. True, family strains are very difficult...but family ties can be a huge blessing too. So it is with the Church. Today I give thanks for my family away from my family...my Church.
I have a friend who often talks about her church and how tight everyone is and how wonderful and deep their relationship. I used to feel jealous. But today I realize that there are many different ways of being family...and sometimes simply being at Mass together is a great blessing. It can be simple things, like families shuffling with kids and trying to take in the homily...when you can tell they are making the effort. Its when I realize just how wonderful they are. I imagine its like a parent when they stop by their child's bedroom and just gaze in for a moment and marvel at the beauty of it all. Its at these blessed moments that we priests realize how blessed indeed we are. We might not brag about it from the pulpit, but we feed on it in our heart.
Happy Sunday, and may you all be blessed. - Father Aaron
I have a friend who often talks about her church and how tight everyone is and how wonderful and deep their relationship. I used to feel jealous. But today I realize that there are many different ways of being family...and sometimes simply being at Mass together is a great blessing. It can be simple things, like families shuffling with kids and trying to take in the homily...when you can tell they are making the effort. Its when I realize just how wonderful they are. I imagine its like a parent when they stop by their child's bedroom and just gaze in for a moment and marvel at the beauty of it all. Its at these blessed moments that we priests realize how blessed indeed we are. We might not brag about it from the pulpit, but we feed on it in our heart.
Happy Sunday, and may you all be blessed. - Father Aaron
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wanted: The Conforming Church
A Catholic friend I met at St. Thomas University caught up with me in an email. I met this wonderful woman from the Rock of Newfoundland in my second year. I was always impressed by her zest for life and encouraged by what I perceived to be a latent Catholicism that kept her from giving herself away like so many other girls on campus. She had even been to World Youth Day in Rome! That said, she always seemed to have a strained relationship with her faith. It seems the strain has gotten the better of her. She reported the following about her relationship with the Church: "when I find a Church that meets my standards I shall enter it."
1) the death knell of any religious truth is when it must conform to our standards! I would even say that the seeds of all that is dangerous about humanity springs from such a principle. True religion keeps us from the dictatorship of ourselves!
2) the 'standards' here are the contemporary and tired outrage about women's equality, gay rights and married priests, access to contraception and abortion. Admittedly, the Catholic Church is certainly non-conformist when it comes to such 'issues'. However, the Catholic church refuses the false call to become 'the Contemporary Church of the Peoples' - she will not bend to the whim of the masses. There are many 'churches' or associations out there that do precisely that. Catholicism, however, is decidedly NOT that.
3) I am hopeful that my friend, with her amazing talents, virtue and compassion will realize the confounded path she is set upon. More to the point, I hope she can see that she is not seeking so much a church that 'conforms to her vision' as she is seeking the liberation that Truth can bring. As a sociologist she may believe that truth exists only in the masses - or that it is formulated and imposed by society. Nawww...c'mon now. More to the point, I pray she find the thirst she has lost or perhaps never experienced. The thirst that convinces us that God is real. Alas, the true place to find Him is in relation to His Church.
4) the Church is not something to be ashamed of or liberated from - she is our mother and teacher. More than this, she is the bride of Christ. Christ loves the Church and gave His very lifeblood for her. The Church is the heart of Christ in the world. Faith is not some intellectual exercise - it is flesh and blood with ramifications for politics, the environment, social policies and aid for the poor, the oppressed, the lonely. Those who bash the Church - even those within the Church - are playing with fire and risking the greatest loss of all: our faith.
Fr. Aaron
The Church always has and always will stand in the way of such blatant disregard for human rights. Warning: The pictures are graphic. They reflect choices based on personal beliefs disconnected from the protective and warm cover of Catholic faith. http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca/
1) the death knell of any religious truth is when it must conform to our standards! I would even say that the seeds of all that is dangerous about humanity springs from such a principle. True religion keeps us from the dictatorship of ourselves!
2) the 'standards' here are the contemporary and tired outrage about women's equality, gay rights and married priests, access to contraception and abortion. Admittedly, the Catholic Church is certainly non-conformist when it comes to such 'issues'. However, the Catholic church refuses the false call to become 'the Contemporary Church of the Peoples' - she will not bend to the whim of the masses. There are many 'churches' or associations out there that do precisely that. Catholicism, however, is decidedly NOT that.
3) I am hopeful that my friend, with her amazing talents, virtue and compassion will realize the confounded path she is set upon. More to the point, I hope she can see that she is not seeking so much a church that 'conforms to her vision' as she is seeking the liberation that Truth can bring. As a sociologist she may believe that truth exists only in the masses - or that it is formulated and imposed by society. Nawww...c'mon now. More to the point, I pray she find the thirst she has lost or perhaps never experienced. The thirst that convinces us that God is real. Alas, the true place to find Him is in relation to His Church.
4) the Church is not something to be ashamed of or liberated from - she is our mother and teacher. More than this, she is the bride of Christ. Christ loves the Church and gave His very lifeblood for her. The Church is the heart of Christ in the world. Faith is not some intellectual exercise - it is flesh and blood with ramifications for politics, the environment, social policies and aid for the poor, the oppressed, the lonely. Those who bash the Church - even those within the Church - are playing with fire and risking the greatest loss of all: our faith.
Fr. Aaron
The Church always has and always will stand in the way of such blatant disregard for human rights. Warning: The pictures are graphic. They reflect choices based on personal beliefs disconnected from the protective and warm cover of Catholic faith. http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca/
Monday, February 7, 2011
Of U2 and the Green Bay Packers
...Speaking of Spiderman...I would love to be able to glide about stopping crime. However, in this city it would pretty much restrict me to downtown Fredericton. Ever imagine what Spidey would do if he moved to Three Hills Alberta? ha. What a slow crime-fighter he would be! We'd get tired watching him amble around to fight crime. He'd be exhausted - or like, totally in shape! You can imagine him leaned over a garbage can wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his overheated costume going, "I gotta get back to New York! This place is killing me. MaryJane, I did this for you...but I just can't go on!" Motto of this story: Beware of falling in love with a girl from Three Hills!
Life is fragile, handle with prayer.
Fr. Aaron
Life is fragile, handle with prayer.
Fr. Aaron
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A Feed on the Creed
What a great feast is set before us in the Creed(s) of the Roman Catholic church! The Creed is a necessary, vital, building block for constructive discussion and constructive Christianity. Vibrant Catholic communities will flow from vibrant Catholics who become reacquainted with the rich gift we have in our faith.
More to the point: I am excited that Rev. Dr. Michael McGowan will be offering a weekly course on the Creed here at Our Lady of Fatima church beginning mid-February. Fr. McGowan is a professor at St. Thomas University and director of the Atlantic Human Rights Center. He is involved in Church law and interpretation of Canon Law as well.
Bottom line: The future of the Diocese of Saint John is founded on our ability as a Catholic community to find a rallying point to converge upon. With a diocesan pastoral plan on the horizon there still exists many differing interpretations on the very essentials! A sustained effort at examining the Creed - and the inner logic that flows from it - strikes me as a great place to start! Fr. McGowan's experience as teacher will engage us - his background as pastor will help us digest the application for us today. If you can clear the decks on Tuesday nights you'll be in for a treat. Beginning mid-February and following throughout Lent. Open to non-Catholics. If interested in more information or pre-registering, call the parish (506) 444-6029.
More to the point: I am excited that Rev. Dr. Michael McGowan will be offering a weekly course on the Creed here at Our Lady of Fatima church beginning mid-February. Fr. McGowan is a professor at St. Thomas University and director of the Atlantic Human Rights Center. He is involved in Church law and interpretation of Canon Law as well.
Bottom line: The future of the Diocese of Saint John is founded on our ability as a Catholic community to find a rallying point to converge upon. With a diocesan pastoral plan on the horizon there still exists many differing interpretations on the very essentials! A sustained effort at examining the Creed - and the inner logic that flows from it - strikes me as a great place to start! Fr. McGowan's experience as teacher will engage us - his background as pastor will help us digest the application for us today. If you can clear the decks on Tuesday nights you'll be in for a treat. Beginning mid-February and following throughout Lent. Open to non-Catholics. If interested in more information or pre-registering, call the parish (506) 444-6029.
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