If we were to poll Catholics and ask which of the 3 Persons of the Trinity they LEAST understood, the odds are good that the Holy Spirit would be the most popular answer. While most of know something about God the Father and God the Son, the mysterious God the Holy Spirit can be rather vague. As we prepare for the great solemnity of Pentecost, let’s take a look at the Holy Spirit and examine 7 reasons to be thankful for His presence in our lives.

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He made this promise:

The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. (John 14:26)

Although we still may not have a clear picture of the Holy Spirit, looking at Our Lord’s words for a few minutes should give us an idea of the Holy Spirit’s function. He will help us to understand and follow the teachings of Jesus. I don’t know how you feel, but that’s something that I desperately need! As for the 7 reasons to be thankful for the Holy Spirit, here they are. Coincidentally (not!), these 7 reasons just happen to correspond with the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit as defined by the prophet Isaiah (Is 11:2).

1. Wisdom – The first and most important gift of the Holy Spirit, wisdom allows us to see through the eyes of God. This gift enables us to see things from His viewpoint.

2. Understanding – This gift allows us to grasp revealed truths more easily. While faith allows us to assent to God’s revelation, understanding helps us to comprehend the meaning of that revelation.

3. Knowledge – Sometimes we fail to see the benefit of the events that occur in our lives. Especially challenging are those happenings that are painful and cause great suffering. Knowledge helps us to become detached from the things (and events) of the world and see the providential purpose of anything that occurs in our lives – good or bad.

4. Fortitude – For many years, I was afraid to profess my faith (mainly due to a fear of being rejected or criticized) and I had no desire to learn more about the teaching of the Church (too many other “important” things to do). Now, I have a great desire to proclaim the “Good News” to everyone and I love to study the teachings of the Faith. What changed? An increase in the gift of fortitude!

5. Counsel – Those of us who follow Christ want to “do the right thing”. Sometimes, however, it’s not easy to determine what that “right thing” is. The Holy Spirit assists us with the gift of counsel. With His supernatural help, we can make wise and moral choices in life.

6. Piety – This gift increases our love for God and for our fellow man. If you find yourself getting annoyed at your parish priest or coworkers, it would be a good idea to pray for an increase in the gift of piety!

7. Fear of the Lord – Finally, let’s look at the most misunderstood and underappreciated gift of the Holy Spirit. Why should we fear a loving God? Who needs a “gift” like that? In reality, we all need this gift in a BIG way. Fear of the Lord enables us to respect God and His almighty power. It helps us to recall the He is the Creator and we are His creatures. Rather than fearing His wrath, pure fear of the Lord causes us to avoid sin out of love and respect for Our Father.

Although those of us who are baptized and confirmed have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they may be underutilized and dormant. We should get into the habit of praying daily for an increase of these gifts. By doing so, we’ll allow the Holy Spirit to do some miraculous things in our lives. If you need some evidence, take a look at the lives of the Apostles before and after they received the Holy Spirit. Going from cowards and self-centered knuckleheads to leaders and martyrs for the Faith doesn’t happen without some kind of supernatural intervention. The same infused gifts that allowed the early Church to grow will enable each of us to do great things for the Lord. Don’t waste the opportunity. Pray to the Holy Spirit and see what happens in your life!

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

“Religion is popular only when it ceases to be truly religious. Religion by its very nature is unpopular – certainly unpopular with the ego.” (Archbishop Fulton J Sheen)

Recently, an interesting article was brought to my attention. Appearing in The Morning Call (Allentown, PA), the point was raised that organized religion was on the decline throughout the area. More and more, organized religion is coming under attack, as evidenced by the recent YouTube video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”. While the idea of individuals creating their own personal version of Jesus’ teachings is nothing new, this philosophy is now creeping into organized religion. Evidence of this can be seen in a comment made by Rev. Tony Sundermeier, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Allentown (in the above article):

“We create a space for different ways for people to engage with God. I still think people are spiritual and religious. It’s just not orthodox Christianity they’re looking for.”

Reaching Out or Dumbing Down?
In an attempt to reach out and bring people back to church, some Christian churches are bending over backward to give the people what they want, rather than what they need. If the teachings of Jesus are too challenging, let’s change them so that they are more appealing. Strong evidence of this can be seen in the churches that proclaim the “health and wealth gospel”. Sometimes referred to as prosperity theology, the message is that faithful believers will be rewarded with financial wealth. While this can be an attractive message, it is certainly not the message lived and proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Additionally, some churches water down their teaching to make it more “user friendly” and appealing. In other words, let’s make going to church fun. If we take away the negativity and challenging doctrine, then people will come back in droves. Sadly, I’ve even seen this in some Catholic parishes and it is a big mistake. Christians deserve the truth and not a watered down message that “feels good”. For, although it might feel good now, a diluted set of religious doctrine isn’t going to help us get to Heaven! The question that must be asked is, although it may attract more people to church (and even this is debatable), what good does it do to remove the difficult, but necessary, aspects of Christianity?

What Does The Bible Say?
While I don’t claim to have all the answers, I do know that the Bible provides some valuable clues about truth. In his letter to Timothy, Saint Paul states that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). That statement implies that absolute truth exists, God wants us to know that truth, and learning and obeying it will allow us to get to Heaven. Given that statement, it’s easy to see why distorting that truth could be problematic. While I understand why this is being done, what is the point of getting people in your church if you’re not going to give them the teaching that they need to one day achieve salvation?

There is no doubt that the truth will cause division, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be spoken. What does Jesus have to say about the truth?

“Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Lk 12:51-53)

Furthermore, the words of Jesus as He commissioned the Apostles affirms the importance of always preaching the whole truth:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20)

Note that Jesus didn’t say to share only His pleasant and less challenging teachings…He said to teach ALL that He commanded. This includes unpopular and difficult teachings, even if they’re met with resistance. Jesus encountered this difficulty first hand when He taught about the necessity of the Eucharist for salvation. In His Bread of Life discourse (Jn 6: 22-71), when He proclaimed that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life within you” (Jn 6:53), many of His disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (Jn 6:60). Instead of backing down or modifying this crucial teaching, Jesus let many of His disciples walk away from Him. (Jn 6:66). Why? Because He couldn’t compromise the truth!

A Catholic Response
As Catholics, we are blessed to have the fullness of truth and, under no circumstances, can we change the truth in order to make it more palatable. Although we should become creative and try to meet people “where they are”, the “Good News” can’t be changed. For, in doing so, we’d be hurting people rather than helping them. Although it’s a challenge, we need to educate people about Church teachings. As many of us cynics have discovered, the teachings of the Church really do make sense once they are prayerfully explored with an open mind. That’s the great thing about truth…it’s TRUE!

Isn’t This The Clergy’s Job?
As lay Catholics, what can we do to combat declining Mass attendance? Isn’t this the job of the priests and deacons? In actuality, we should all be concerned about this matter. If you think about it for a minute, it’s not easy for the clergy to reach out to those who no longer attend Mass. Furthermore, the Church teaches that evangelization is the responsibility of ALL baptized Catholics. In his apostolic letter, Porta Fidei (The Door of Faith), Pope Benedict XVI observed:

The renewal of the Church is also achieved through the witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the world, Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus has left us.

In order to share the truth with others, the first thing we should do is learn, understand AND LIVE the teachings of the Catholic Church. Then, as charitably as possible, we should share these teachings with others. Our Church is blessed to have the fullness of truth and it would be wrong to keep this treasure to ourselves. With whom should we share? Everyone around us – our family, friends, coworkers and any others who we encounter in our daily lives.

Using The Internet
Do you spend a lot of time on the Internet? Why not use it for sharing the faith? One of the great things about the Internet and social media is the ability to reach those who no longer go to Church. Here are some simple and concrete steps that we can all take to share the truth with others:

Share good Catholic articles with others via email.

Create your own Catholic website, podcast, Facebook group or Twitter account.

Whether we do it on the Internet or face to face, we must never stop proclaiming the true teaching of the Catholic Church. In the end, that truth is what is going to save souls. Sometimes people will get offended and “walk away”, but that shouldn’t deter us from delivering the “Good News” IN FULL. It happened to the prophets, it happened to the Saints and it happened to Jesus…and that’s some good company!

“No one is truly poor but except the one who lacks the truth.” (St. Ephraem the Syrian)

Don’t Let Your Prayer Life Go On Vacation For The Summer!

What are you doing this summer? How about joining me for a Prayer Safari? Starting on May 28, 2012 and continuing each week throughout the summer, I’ll be sending a weekly email with a specific prayer intention (an end to abortion, our priests, the entire Church, our families, etc.) and will ask you all to say the following 3 prayers each day for the weekly intention:

One Our Father

One Glory Be

Each week I’ll email a new prayer intention to all those who sign up. If you’d like to join us, here’s all you need to do:

1. Fill out the your name and email address in the form below.
2. Put “summer” in the subject.
3. Hit the “Send” button.

That’s all there is to it! Just think of all the good we can do by spending a few minutes in prayer each day throughout those months when we sometimes neglect our prayer life. Don’t miss out on the chance to join in this special gathering of prayer warriors and remember the Lord’s promise:

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

I’m looking forward to praying with you!!!

On today’s episode of Following The Truth, I discussed the Seven Sorrows of Mary:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon
2. The Flight into Egypt .
3. The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
4. Mary meets Jesus Carrying the Cross
5. The Crucifixion
6. Mary Receives the Dead Body of Her Son
7. The Burial of Her Son and Closing of the Tomb.

Here is a link to the book that I mentioned:

Devotion To The Sorrowful Mother (TAN Books)

Sometimes Catholics are accused of being “non Biblical”. We are chastised by some of our fellow Christians who believe that the Bible (as interpreted by the individual believer) is the SOLE rule of faith for Christians. I’m honored to have a guest blogger today. Saint Athanasius (296 – 373 A.D.), one of the early Church Fathers and bishop and Doctor of the Church will provide an answer in support of the Catholic position that the Word of God is transmitted by Sacred Scripture AND Sacred Tradition:

“The very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, was preached by the apostles and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded, and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called a Christian.” (Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

Thank you, Saint Athanasius, for reminding us that Sola Scriptura (the Bible alone) was never practiced by the early Church . Happy feast day and please pray for us!

“As our body cannot live without nourishment, so our soul cannot be kept spiritually alive without prayer.” (Saint Augustine)

From time to time most of us ask (or feel tempted to ask) ourselves, “Why should I pray?” While some will hesitate to actually ask this question for fear of a lightening strike or other Divine punishment, it raises a valid point and probably should be asked. For if we really examine the answer, it can spur us on to a better relationship with the Lord and increase our appreciation of prayer.

There’s no doubt that the main reason we should pray is because Jesus instructed us to do so. Furthermore, He prayed often, especially before the important milestones in His life. Let’s face it…if the Lord prayed than so should we! However, if you’re interested in arriving at a greater understanding of the importance of prayer, let’s look at 5 practical reasons why we should pray:

1. We Are Granted An Audience With God – Did you ever wish you could meet a celebrity? How about trying to get good seats for a sold out concert or game? Most of us just “aren’t important enough” to make things like this happen. Heck, it’s hard enough to get a doctor’s appointment when we need one! When we pray, however, we are able to speak directly with Almighty God…at any time of day and from wherever we are. And if that’s not enough, we know that He will hear us. What a great honor and privilege!

2. No Prayer = No Heaven – Putting it bluntly, it is not possible for us to get to Heaven if we don’t pray. Why? Because we need God’s help, in the form of actual and sanctifying grace in order to achieve our salvation. On our own, we’re just not good enough. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Prayer is a vital necessity” (CCC 2274) and that “Prayer and Christian life are inseparable” (CCC 2275). According to Saint Alphonsus Liguori, “A person who prays will certainly be saved, but a person who does not pray will certainly be lost.” In addition to praying for temporal goods (earthy possessions), we should pray often for spiritual goods (spiritual possessions) so that we can lead holier lives.

3. It Always Produces Results – Sometimes we feel that our prayers don’t do any good. We erroneously believe that God doesn’t “hear us”. That’s a huge mistake and will cause us to lose many graces that would have been ours had we persisted in prayer. Throughout Sacred Scripture, the Lord assures us that when we ask…we’ll receive:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (John 16:23)

What often drives us crazy is that we sometimes don’t get what we requested. If we study Jesus’ words in context, however, we’ll realize that He doesn’t promise that we won’t always receive what we want…we’ll receive what we need…for our salvation. As hard as it is for us to accept, we sometimes don’t know what’s best for us and pray for things that will put our salvation in jeopardy. God loves us too much to let that happen and will often deny our requests in order to protect us. In the end, the most important thing we can ever pray for is final perseverance as that will allow us to reach our ultimate destiny…Heaven!

4. It Will Bring You Peace – For many people, this is the benefit that will “seal the deal”. Once we realize that praying will bring peace into our anxiety-filled lives, we’d be foolish not to pray. And we DO KNOW that prayer is guaranteed to bring peace. According to Saint Paul…

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

5. It Can Help Others – Do you ever wish that you could help other people…the poor, the hungry, your children, your spouse, the sick, the souls in purgatory? Would you like to help put an end to the evil of abortion or prevent sinners from going to hell for all eternity? You can help out all of these (and many more) situations by your prayers. Why does it work? Only God knows. What we do know is that it DOES work and that the Lord wants us to pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1) for ourselves and for others. By expanding our vision and praying not only for ourselves, but for others, we can do infinite good in the world!

Now that we’ve looked at some important reasons to pray, how about methods? Is one way of praying better than the next? I personally prefer a mixture of formal prayer (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, etc.) and an informal dialog with God throughout the day. Formal prayer helps me to “find the words” when my mind is blank and informal prayer lets me speak with the Lord throughout the day. More important than the actual method is the fact that we DO pray and that it comes from the heart. By doing so, we’ll not only receive the gifts God wants to give us, we’ll get to know Him better. And that’s a really good thing!

“Would that I could stand on a high mountain where I could be heard by the whole world. I would constantly cry out: Pray, pray, pray!” (Saint Teresa of Avila)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

It’s difficult to find the words to adequately express my thoughts on what took place over the past 7 weeks. All I can say is that, for me, it was a life changing experience! According to the emails I received, many of you felt the same way. In fact, I had several people tell me that this was their “best Lent ever”…that is a VERY powerful statement!

Through the various meditations, we learned that we exist to “know, love and serve God in this life and live with Him forever in Heaven”. We also discovered that there are many things in our lives which hold us back from fully loving God. Hopefully, we have learned what some of these things are and taken steps to detach ourselves from them. It’s important to remember, however, that this retreat isn’t an “end”, but rather a “beginning”. We’re going to be making decisions and discovering inordinate attachments for the rest of our lives. By participating in the retreat, we’ve learned some techniques for dealing with these situations. According to the late Father John Hardon, “the vocal and mental prayers of the Spiritual Exercises have this twofold aim: that I may see myself as God sees me, and that I may give myself to Him without reserve.”

On Friday’s Following The Truth radio program, I presented the final topics of the Spirtual Exercises, as taught by Saint Ignatius:

1. Contemplation for Divine Love

2. Three Methods of Prayer

3. Rules for Thinking with the Church

I also recited the Suscipe, a prayer composed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He recommends that all who made the Spiritual Exercises pray it each day:

“Do you really believe God loves you? If you do, you know that everything that happens in your life is for your good. And it isn’t always a peaceful experience.” (Mother Angelica)

How do I know what God wants me to do with my life? How can I be sure that I’m following His will?

While this is a concern for anyone who is sincerely trying to follow the Lord, the answer is simpler than you realize. Although there are decisions that must be made in the course of our lives, there is one sure way to be certain that we’re following the will of God. It is to simply accept everything that happens in your life as being God’s will.

That’s it? You bet! This method of discernment is so simple that it often gets overlooked. In addition, it’s one of the most difficult things that we can ever do. Why? Because it involves our accepting illness, poverty, sorrow, loneliness, humiliation and uncertainty as being part of God’s will… and that isn’t easy!

The Bible tells us that “all things work for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28), but that is often forgotten when we are faced with unexpected challenges. Just for a minute, imagine how peaceful you’d be if you TRULY believed that everything that God permits to happen in your life is in your best interest. In reality, that’s exactly what the Church teaches. It is God’s will that we all end up in Heaven (1 Thes 4:3) and He sometimes allows “bad” things to happen in order to help us arrive at our eternal destination.

In his book, Uniformity With God’s Will, Saint Alphonsus Liguori advises, “Whenever anything disagreeable happens, remember it comes from God and say at once, ‘This comes from God’ and be at peace.” While this advice seems simple, just think of how many times we violate it each day! How often do we complain about flat tires, financial problems, poor health, heavy workloads, tiredness and so many other issues?

Today, why not try to follow God’s will by NOT complaining when unpleasant things happen? Instead, make it a point to thank the Lord for making His will known!

“Whatever good or evil befalls you, be confident that God will convert it all to your good.” (Saint Jane Frances de Chantal)

And it happened that, while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him… (Luke 24:30-31)

For the second consecutive day, the gospel reading from daily Mass presents a story of someone who was dejected…and shouldn’t have been! Just as we saw yesterday with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus were sad about the Lord’s death and didn’t realize that He was right beside them! As He did with Mary, Jesus reached out to the men and they finally recognized Him after He “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them”. Do those actions sound familiar?

They should, because that’s exactly what happens at Mass! One of the biggest mistakes that we make is to walk around sad and gloomy, forgetting that the Lord makes Himself available EVERY DAY in the Holy Eucharist. As Catholics, we are blessed with a privilege that seems too good to be true. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is present to us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Instead of suffering and struggling to carry your cross by yourself, turn to Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. He is reaching out to us, just as He did to Mary Magdalene and the disciples traveling to Emmaus. In addition to your Sunday obligation, try to attend daily Mass a few extra times each week and receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. By doing so, you’ll receive the graces that will help you experience peace and deal with your problems. And if you can’t attend daily Mass, make it a point to stop by your adoration chapel or church and spend some time with Jesus, who is FULLY present in the Blessed Sacrament…

the only thing you have to lose is your gloom and misery!

“Without the Holy Eucharist, there would be no happiness in this world, and life wouldn’t be bearable.” (Saint John Vianney)

The gospel reading from today’s Mass teaches us an important lesson. Sometimes, as in Mary Magdalene’s case, we get so wrapped up in the problems and worries of our lives that we fail to recognize the Lord’s presence. Mary flat out “missed the point” when she wept at the tomb. Jesus had risen from the dead, but Mary didn’t get it. Bodily resurrection was not something that occurred to her. Instead, she assumed that someone stole the body of Jesus. But what happened then is really important…first the angels and then Jesus appeared to her. The Lord’s appearance finally snapped her out of her sorrow and made her realize that all was well.

Every day, we encounter situations which could cause us to hang our heads and weep. If we give in to the desire to lose hope, we’ll miss the presence of Jesus and the peace that He can provide. By clinging to our own preconceived ideas of what is “good” for our lives, we often fail to see God’s providence in action. Sometimes, “bad” things are actually “good” for us and can help us to reach Heaven. Instead of weeping at “the empty tomb”, we should instead seek out the Lord – in Scripture, in prayer and, most of all, in the Eucharist. Then, and only then, will we feel His peace in our heart!