Tag Archive for: faith

The Piano Farewell: My Wife’s Passing is Now Complete yet the Music Lives On*

My wife, Marty, after a four+ year downward spiral with cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, passed last March. But, for me, her passing was never complete as long as her piano remained at home. Recently, her piano found a new home and the way it all played out was truly a beautiful thing. I thought I should share it here.

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“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”                        St. Thomas Aquinas

Marty passed away this past March and her piano remained behind. It was part of her, an extension if you will, for no matter how much of her memory disappeared, every day she would still manage to play that piano. The last few months of her life she probably sat playing it two to three hours a day. It followed that after she was gone the piano stayed right where it had always been, the only difference being the silence resonating from it.

Copyright 2017 Larry Peterson. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2017 Larry Peterson. All rights reserved.

The presence of her piano had extended the grief process for me. When you came in my front door it was right there, waiting to be brought to life. It was silent but when I looked at it I could see Marty sitting there playing. At times I could even hear the music. When I did it was so clear and vivid that at times I just had to leave the house. I even thought I was “losing” it.

After several weeks I covered the piano up with a large blanket. I placed a few knickknacks on top and did my best to ignore it. The camouflage worked just a tiny bit but it was better than nothing. What to do? What to do? Here is where my faith comes in. Here is where I opened myself up and “let go and let God.”

I thought of selling the piano, but that thought evaporated quickly. There was no way I could “sell” Marty’s piano. I wanted it to go to someone who could not afford one and who would be able to play. So I contacted my parish and after two or three weeks of “no response” I forgot about it. So I just kept praying and waited.

Hospice had a bereavement group that had begun on May 10. I decided to attend. We met once a week for six weeks. I had discussed the piano with them. When we had finished our meetings, the three of us who were left exchanged our email addresses and phone numbers. On July 27, I received a Facebook message from Sue, who was part of the bereavement group. She wrote that the music director at the Anona Methodist Church (who was also a piano teacher) might know a family that could use a piano.

I phoned the music director. Her name was Sandy and she told me that she knew a lady named Sarah, who had a seven-year-old boy who was learning to play. They only had a keyboard as the family could not afford a piano. It was a perfect scenario. I asked Sandy if she would have Sarah call me, and the next day she did. She was thrilled at the opportunity to get this piano for her son. And herein is when I fully understood how God was in charge of this entire piano saga.

Copyright 2017 Larry Peterson. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2017 Larry Peterson. All rights reserved.

Marty began playing a piano at the age of six or seven. 70 years later, Sarah’s son has begun playing at the age of six or seven. I thought about it and realized that it is possible that maybe 70 years from now, an older man might be playing a piano somewhere. He would have learned to play on the same piano that a woman named Marty played her last song on 70 years earlier. In essence, the music coming from that piano had never stopped and now spanned four generations. And yes, the possibility exists that it may continue well after he is gone. Who knows, right?

I have absolutely no doubt that this was “meant to be” and here is why; the piano was picked up and delivered to its new owner on August 10. That is the Feast Day (and this only happens once a year) of St. Lawrence, who is my patron Saint (talk about messaging). Having Faith (as quoted by Aquinas above) is a beautiful thing. My prayers were, without a doubt, answered.

One final thought; I can see Marty looking down with that great big smile of hers stretched from ear to ear. She is watching as a little boy sits at her piano and fingers the very keys she had fingered only six months earlier. And, as is God’s way of things, life goes on. On occasion, so does His music.

*Another version of this appeared in Aleteia on August 11, 2017

© Larry Peterson 2017

My Yearly Faith Challenge: The Annual Prostate Exam

October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the nation. This is a good and noble fight and I am glad that “pink” is everywhere down to the shoes and wrist bands the NFL players wear to the pink bats MLB players use. But I would like to share about a cancer that is not talked about very much. I would like to share about the  second leading cancer killer among men–prostate cancer. (Lung cancer is the leading killer of both men and women in the USA). The following is personal aka”about me.”

I remember it like it was yesterday. The doctor waltzed into the exam room and matter of factly said, “Well, you have a cancer in the prostate.”

As he stood there flipping through and staring at the sheets on his clipboard, I was thinking—Huh? What? Wait a minute—Huh? Then came the frightened stare as I looked at this guy who in the briefest of moments had changed my life with unexpected news about ME. Cancer? No way!

It had not been a knockout punch but I had surely been sly-rapped and dazed. He calmed me down and, as I slowly cleared my head, he said, “Don’t worry, Larry. We did twelve cuts when we biopsied and there was cancer only in one. I think we found it early. I recommend you get it out now and you will most likely be finished with it.”

That was in March of 2007. On May 10 of that year I underwent a radical prostatectomy. Robotic surgery was brand new and unavailable to me so I had it done the “old-fashioned” way, by hand. They took it out. All of it. I have been cancer free ever since, with some residual side effects (another story for another day).  So what is my faith challenge?

My annual checkup is every September. Every year, as the day approaches, the anxiety  in me builds. I cannot help it. I have never forgotten that initial announcement about my having “a” cancer. Anyway, the protocol is that I go for a PSA one week week and the following week I see the Doc for the results.

The results  have to be .003, yes, ZERO, and then I can breathe easy and go home for another year. So far, the results have been ZERO, nine years in a row. That is considered ‘probably’ cured. Praise the Lord, right?

That is my challenge. I like to consider myself a man of faith. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart,” right? I have this illusion that I do, but when it comes to this damn yearly test I get weak in the knees. I can’t shake it. Maybe I am a “man of faith” only when everything is hunky-dory. In other words, my “faith” is not nearly as strong as I may think it is. Am I a faith wuss?

I don’t know. I just want to go to the doctor like I’m going for a haircut and not give it a second thought. I tell myself God has my back. I think I believe that no matter what happens, it fits into God’s plan. Jesus loves me, I’m sure of it. So whatever is my problem? Is my faith journey all smoke and mirrors?

Here are a few numbers. One in seven American men will have prostate cancer during his lifetime. It is the second leading cause of cancer death among American men. Every 20 minutes another American man dies of prostate cancer, which factors out to 71 deaths per day. That means 26,120 men will die this year from this type of cancer. Early detection is the key to survival.

Next March I will be ten years out from my diagnosis. I should be kicking my heels and jumping for joy. Don’t get me wrong; I do thank God every day for my good health and cancer-free existence. I just think that I should be able to ignore the possible downside to my test results.

Maybe it is all part of the human equation. We just can’t help recoiling when confronted with our own mortality. My faith has, without a doubt, carried me through this and all aspects of my life. I have been blessed and I hope the Good Lord has patience for a faith wuss such as me.

There is one glaring fact that is as obvious to me as the sun shining on a clear summer day. Until I draw my last breath, my faith journey will always be a work in progress and I shall never take it for granted.

By the way–the color for prostate cancer awareness is pale blue or powder blue. Not many people know that.

© Larry Peterson 2016. All Rights Reserved

Planets, Dr. Seuss and Snowflakes—Combined Proof That There is a CREATOR

Ten  years ago, NASA’s new, Horizon Spacecraft left our humble, little planet and began its voyage to to the edges of our solar system and beyond. After traveling 3 billion-plus miles, New Horizon finally passed Pluto, the furthest planet from our sun. I don’t know about you but I find it so humbling and awe inspiring that we human beings, using the perfection that surrounds us, can mange to find a planet that is so far away. Yet, within our universe, it would be as close as a neighbor down the street.

How can we possibly know how to measure distance and location and density and climate relating to places that are so unimaginably far away? The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Who figured that out? How do you measure the speed of light? Assuming the number is correct, that means in one minute light travels 11+ million miles. That would be almost 16 billion miles in one day. Multiply that number by four and a half years. Do you see where I’m going with this? The light from our own sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth. Now scientists have found an “exoplanet” which is more than  a thousand light years away and they have figured out that  it revolves around its sun in 385 days vs our 365 days. WHEW!

Let’s move past Pluto. It seems NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009,  found this exoplanet; they named it Kepler 452b.  This exoplanet could be similar to our hometown, Earth. “Hello sister planet, Kepler 452b.” The Kepler Telescope has identified close to 5000 exoplanets since it started scanning the deepest parts of space. But this is the first one that could be just like Earth. Now, get this–it is one thousand and four light years away. Our closest star system is Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light years away. That means our closest star system is trillions of miles from our solar system and would take us tens of thousands of years to get there. Kepler 452b is 200 times further than that. My question is–how can  we know these things?

By NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What about Earth? Think of some of the things that Earth does without us thinking about them. Here is one example; we never think about TIME but without its never ending accuracy we would have chaos. There are 24 hours in a day. Not 25 or 23 or 24.8, but 24. What if there were a random number of hours in a day? Imagine the possibilities? So how did we get 24 hours in a day? One word can answer that question, “perfection.”

What about explosions? (Please bear with me–I do intend to make a point.) Explosions are destructive and, for the most part, maim, kill and destroy. Last Fourth of July a guy in Maine, in a festive frame of mind, brilliantly set a rocket off from the top of his head. He died instantly. Jason Pierre Paul, the all-pro defensive star for the NFL’s N.Y. Giants, blew several fingers off his hand with fireworks. C. J. Wilson, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retired because he blew several fingers of his hand with fireworks. We can go back 70 years and remember that on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb blew the Japanese city of Hiroshima to smithereens. It also killed about 80,000 people. It follows that if I set a bomb off in my car the chances of the result being a nicer car are–well, ZERO.

So now–to the point. The Big Bang Theory of Creation has become the favored explanation of how our seemingly infinite universe came into existence. Scientists do agree that the universe did, in fact, have a beginning. They also know that the universe is expanding and changing and dying, just like we do. To the question: At the moment of creation when the unimaginable explosion took place or whether it was something like a giant balloon expanding and expanding until it “popped” spewing matter outwards, it all had to be controlled. Who did that?

Random explosions do not and cannot result in perfection. Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us imperfect species to depend on, including the animals.  It is a contradiction to believe otherwise. Perfection surrounds us. We can predict the rising and setting of the sun to the second, the new and full moons to the minute. We know when the tides rise and fall and can predict their lowest and highest points to the minute. We know when an eclipse, whether solar or lunar will occur and where. We have learned how to use the world around us to maintain our very existence or, in many cases, destroy it.

Bottom line: because the universe is so vast and expansive (and apparently infinite) and all of it is moving and changing within a perfectly ordered system proves someone bigger and smarter than any of us put this in place. We cannot understand this. We cannot scientifically prove it. But, no matter what, we live in it and survive by it every second of every day of our lives. Perfection does not come from chaos. Perfection can only come from someone who is PERFECT. We here at the CWG know who that Person is even though we cannot see HIM or touch HIM. All  we have to do is see a rising sun, a blooming rose, a full moon, a rainbow…or hear the cry of a newborn baby or ponder the magic of one snowflake, unique unto itself.

Maybe Dr. Seuss nailed it in his famous book, Horton Hears a Who. Maybe our planet Earth is really no bigger than Horton’s “Whoville.” Maybe we are specks on the end of a ball of dust. Maybe we are not as big and as smart as we think we are. We had to have a Creator. It is common sense. It is ultimately all in HIS hands. I am also sure HE subscribes to the famous sentence in Dr. Seuss’s book, “a person’s a person no matter how small.” Maybe those very “smart” people who reject what must be so need to breathe in a deep dose of humility and realize that this all did not just happen as the result of some random explosion or expansion. It is illogical and makes no sense (to me).

©LarryPeterson 2016

Lent: Highlighting Forgiveness & Redemption for All; Even “Dutch” Schultz

We are now into the third week of Lent and the road to redemption has been halfway traveled. Throughout the world Catechumens have almost reached their goal of full inclusion into the Catholic Church, which takes place during the Easter Vigil. It is a beautiful thing. In addition, this past December 8, Pope Francis started us on our journey into the Holy Year of Mercy.  The slogan for The Holy Year of Mercy is, “A Time to Heal, to Help, to Forgive.”  Yes, forgiveness is everywhere.

To give an example of how God’s mercy is ALWAYS available to those who seek it I would like to briefly mention a man by the name of Arthur Flegenheimer. Arthur was born in New York City in 1901, of German-Jewish ancestry. By the time he was 27 he was known as Dutch Schultz and was quickly becoming one of the most feared mob bosses in New York. The “Dutchman” was a bootlegger (running illegal whiskey), a numbers boss operating in Harlem and a “shakedown artist” within the NYC restaurant industry, offering protection while using the restaurant unions as cover.

His main enforcer was the infamous, Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, a brutal killer who did Schultz’s bidding without hesitation. Eventually the “Dutchman” got tired of Coll’s wanting more money. As “Mad Dog” sat in a telephone booth talking on the phone he was machine-gunned to death by Schultz’s henchmen. Dutch actually proved to be a more brutal killer than “Mad Dog” Coll. So how does my brain tie together Dutch Schultz and the Holy Year of Mercy combined with Forgiveness? Actually, it is not that hard to do. This is the phenomenal redemption available to all through the Church and her Sacraments.

Dutch Schultz wanted to kill U. S. Attorney Thomas E. Dewey (later to be Governor of NY and the presidential candidate losing to Harry Truman in the 1948 election). The Mafia Commission told Schultz,  “NO, it would cause us too much trouble.” Schultz refused to listen and decided to  kill Dewey anyway. The mob, under Lucky Luciano, sent “Murder Inc.” after Schultz. On October 23, 1935, they gunned him down in a restaurant in Newark, N.J. Enter the sacrament of Penance and Forgiveness. Enter Mercy.

Earlier, Dutch Schultz had been acquitted on tax evasion charges, and at that time he converted to Catholicism. He believed that Jesus had saved him. When he was shot he did not die right away. He was taken to the hospital for surgery and he immediately asked for a priest. He was 34 years  old and his last thought while he was dying was to  ask Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. The “Dutchman” went to confession, received absolution and was administered the Last Rites of the Church by a priest. Then he died. Did Dutch Schultz go right to heaven? Did he get to the “pearly gates” and have St. Peter say, “Sorry, Dutch, that priest made a mistake. What you did was uunforgivable. You are not welcome here.” I think not.

In a few weeks it will be Good Friday. Catholic/Christian people all over the world will mourn and honor the bloodied, tortured and crucified Son of God, Jesus Christ: Jesus, the God-man who embraced forgiveness for all people and extended love to everyone. This is also what He wanted us to do. This is why he suffered and died for us. He offered Himself to His Father for us. Then we celebrate His Father’s gift back to us, the Risen Christ. We all have been saved and we all  have the choice of whether or not we want to share eternal life with the Blessed Trinity. All we need to do is seek forgiveness. Because of God’s Mercy, even a Dutch Schultz can join in the Redemption Celebration. It is a beauty beyond description.

©Larry Peterson 2016.  All Rights Reserved

Another Secular Triumph–Helping Laura Kill Herself

Her name is Laura and she is 24 years old. She is a healthy woman who lives in Belgium. She wants to die. Why does she want to die? Because, as she says, “Life, that’s not for me.”

My initial thoughts were that this young woman is severely depressed or on drugs. She is only 24 years old and healthy. She has a whole life ahead of her. Why would she want to die? Plus, this story is all over the print and broadcast media. Why isn’t someone helping her?

Isn’t there anyone who has offered to give her the necessary counseling, spiritual guidance, or antidepressants to help her see that her own “life” is not her enemy? Is there no one who might convince her that her life is a one-of-a-kind, precious gift? Is there no one to prevail upon her that her life is rarer than the rarest diamond and more valuable than all the world’s riches combined? Cannot someone show her that she is the only one in the history of the world who is SHE or will ever be SHE? Well, my friends, Laura lives in Belgium and apparently in that country not too many people give a damn about the value or sanctity of life.

In February of 2014, Belgium approved legalized euthanasia for children. I believe this supposedly sophisticated, civilized, and pompous nation has earned the title “The Great Nation of Self-Annihilators.” In Belgium you are witnessing Nihilism in all of its twisted “splendor.” This is encapsulated in the total rejection of the value of life as witnessed in the upcoming assisted suicide of Laura.

How sad, how disgraceful, how blatantly sinful. Doctors have given Laura the go-ahead to kill herself. They will help her to be “successful.” Why would doctors do this? In Belgium many of them feel that life and death are really not such a big deal in the first place. Laura says that she has been considering suicide since the age of six. Are you kidding me? She says that she was ONLY six when she started thinking that she “didn’t want to live at all.” It is hard to even fathom such thoughts bouncing around inside the head of a six-year-old who has not even reached the age of reason.

Laura has had psychological problems her entire life. In high school she was a “cutter,” self-mutilating her arms. Her father had been an abusive drunk and her mother left when Laura was a toddler. She grew up with her grandparents who loved her dearly, but maybe the trauma of her parents’ behavior was too much for her and drove her into depression. It does not matter. What matters is that this child had problems and no one gave a damn. She was left to grow with a festering and debilitating sense of “nothingness.” Now they want to help her kill herself. This is Nihilism run amok.

Laura has told doctors that she needs to kill herself because, as she says, “life, that’s not for me.” They readily agreed and Laura has now set a date for her death injection to be administered in her apartment. The actual date has not been publicized. She is planning her funeral and writing final words to be read. Doctors and mental health professionals are happily helping her along on her death journey. I cannot get it out of my head that she is only 24 years old and healthy and doctors are gladly helping her to kill herself simply because she asked them to help her do it. Whatever has happened to the moral fiber of people around the world?

Secularism has infested the entire world with its self-fulfilling message of false happiness. Belgium, a country that is 75% Catholic, voted 2 to 1 to pass the child-euthanasia law. The bishops in the country begged them not to vote for it. It did not matter. The attitude of many people is: what do God’s representatives know about real life? For that matter, what does God know about real life? If poor Laura wants to kill herself to be happy, why not. And then they go to church. WHATEVER!

Well now, if you do not have God in your life and believe that death leads to nothing then you probably find comfort in believing that “nothing” cannot hurt you. It follows that being dead will make you happy. How sad and perverse is this? But it proves one thing. While the secular world fights to eliminate God from our lives, it is God who is desperately needed back in their lives. For with God comes Hope and Love and when a person has that Faith in their lives they are not asking compliant strangers with fancy diplomas to help them die. Especially when they are only 24 and filled with life.

© Larry Peterson 2015. All Rights Reserved

Book Blast: Your Faith Has Made You Well: Jesus Heals in the New Testament by Barbara Hosbach

This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Guildie Barbara Hosbach’s book, Your Faith Has Made You Well: Jesus Heals in the New Testament. It’s an SOA winner that explores what happened when Jesus healed and what it means for us today.

Summary: Jesus’ healing power speaks to all of us who are willing to turn to him and have our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts opened to what he offers us. Each chapter of this book begins with the Scripture account of a healing story and then takes a deeper look at what happened…[and] what those encounters might have felt like when viewed through the eyes of the people involved. Questions at the end of each chapter—which can be used for private reflection or group discussion—invite readers to identify with each story in a personal way…

jesus heals cover

Win a Book! Barbara will be giving out a free copy of Your Faith Has Made You Well on her website. People can enter for a chance to win by leaving a comment on one of her blog posts before June 25 and the winner will be notified by email on June 26.

Website: www.biblemeditations.net

Excerpt:

A leper came to [Jesus] begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. Mark 1: 40-42

The leper dared to approach Jesus even though it was forbidden. Once determined “unclean” by the priests, lepers had to live outside the camp, wear torn clothes, and leave their hair uncombed. As if that wasn’t enough to keep others away, they had to call out, “Unclean, unclean!” to make sure people kept their distance (Lev 13:45-46). What a lonely, miserable way to live! It’s bad enough to be isolated, but forced to wear rags and give up personal grooming? That’s adding insult to injury, literally. No wonder the leper begged for Jesus’ help.

…Many of us choose to isolate ourselves when we’re having a rough time for any number of reasons. We voluntarily treat ourselves much like the leper. We stay home in dirty pajamas or a ratty bathrobe and pull the covers over our heads. We don’t shower or comb our hair. We transmit the message loud and clear that we want to be alone. We determine that we are unclean, unfit for the company of others. The spiral of isolation continues in its downward trajectory every time we look in the mirror.

We don’t share our problems because we fear others will reject us. Instead, we beat them to the punch and reject ourselves. If we aren’t up to putting our best foot forward, we may not feel emotionally healthy enough to be around others at all. We deny ourselves the healing opportunity of unconditional love, the gift of being accepted just as we are. Our friends, loved ones, or even professionals may not have the power to heal us of our troubles instantly. What others can do is help us break out of the self-imposed isolation that makes the problems we’re struggling with loom larger.

People with skin diseases can’t really cover them up. Their condition is out in the open for all to see. Unlike them, we can choose to cover up our inner blemishes and sore spots, hoping no one else will see, but what does that gain us? We are as alone as if we were in quarantine. There’s a saying that we’re only as sick as our secrets. Granted, we don’t have to broadcast our difficulties in public. Discretion is always wise, but discretion is not the same as going it alone. Surely God will lead us to at least one trusted person we can share our challenges with honestly and confidentially, be it a friend, loved one, or professional. God’s wisdom is a powerful, sustaining source of guidance for us all, no matter what keeps us from the fullness of life…

Ponder: What isolates you from others? What would it take to be healed of this isolation?

Pray: Trinity of Love, we’re called to live in community. Melt the barriers of fear and pride that isolate me from others.

Get it today: http://tinyurl.com/l3jsc3k

 

Sisters of the Last Straw: CWG May Book Blast

 

This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Karen Kelly Boyce’s delightful children’s book Sisters of the Last Straw, Case of the Stolen Rosaries. It’s an SOA winner as well as an award-winning novel.

Summary: The Sisters of the Last Straw are a group of sisters struggling hard to overcome their bad habits. Sister Krumbles forgets everything. Sister Shiny can’t stop polishing and cleaning everything. Mother Mercy has a terrible temper. Yet when the misfit nuns band together to form a new order, lessons on tolerance and forgiveness (as well as much hilarity!) ensue. In this, the third of the series, the adventures of the lovable sisters continue! New troubles for the Sisters of the Last Straw require courage and cunning! A renegade rooster terrorizes the Sisters’ back yard and a mysterious thief snatches the Sisters’ rosaries. The Sisters struggle with their problems while seeking to love Jesus more. The Case of the Stolen Rosaries is a fun story that teaches tolerance and forgiveness in the midst of many comic exploits.

It’s available in paperback or electronically. You can read the first few chapters here: http://reginadoman.com/CP_book_previews/Sisters_of_the_Last_Straw_3_sample/index.html

Find it on Amazon or get it from Chesterton Press. http://www.chestertonpress.com/sisters-of-the-last-straw-3-the-case-of-the-stolen-rosaries/

Karen’s website: www.karenkellyboyce.com/

 

Confirmation: Are We Doing it All Wrong?

One of my favorite blogs is written by our own, Jennifer Fitz. She writes for Patheos and her blog is called “Sticking the Corners“. I began to read her April 19th post which was titled, “What’s Wrong with Age-Bracketed Sacramental Prep?” As I read, (get this) I gave her a “fist pump” and said, “You go girl.” That was because she quickly nailed it about her topic and also opened up my eyes to a fact I have thought about but never really paid any attention to. Her column made me pay attention. (Thanks, Jen.)

The subject discussed the practice of giving the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion to children who are usually around seven to eight years old. Then, for some reason, we give the Sacrament of Confirmation to these same kids at unspecified times in their lives, like at twelve, fourteen, maybe seventeen. Sometimes they just stop coming back. That all started my wheels spinning and my mind meandered back in time to when I was in third grade and my classmates and I received our Confirmation. Why third grade back then and teenagers and older now? (The RCIA “candidates” and Easter Vigil is another topic for another time.)

Back to our newly-confirmed teenagers. We all know that these young folks do not turn into Apostles with tongues of fire dancing over their newly baptized heads. They are not dashing out into the streets converting Muslims and Hebrews and Presbyterians and Scientolgists and atheists. Why? Because they are not ready. (In fact, I stink as an evangelizer and I received my Confirmation long, long ago.) To the point: maybe the Sacrament of Confirmation should NOT come later. Maybe it should come before, like in second or third grade like it was for me and my peers of the 1950s and into the 60s. We became Soldiers of Christ in 3rd Grade and what did we know? The answer is nothing, absolutely nothing.

Then why receive Confirmation so young? Jennifer’s blog made me realize that what they were doing back then was the right way. We needed a shield of armor and a shroud of protection as we began our journey toward fourth grade and being ten years old. The Sacrament of Confirmation is our spiritual armor against the evil that surrounds us. It is to protect us as we move on and grow. By the time a kid is seventeen his/her faith formation has been set in place. Isn’t receiving Confirmation after the fact somewhat like putting on the body armor after the explosion?

Would it not be better to have the Holy Spirit and His gifts given to a child so they might have that protection available to them as they grow and confront the world and its temptations? Would not the graces that flow from the Sacrament be available to them as the world they are growing into invades their lives? It makes sense to me.

Many of these kids do not receive religious education at home. Oftentimes they are sent off to CCD or Faith Formation by their parent(s) who think that is all they have to do to instill the faith in their kids. The problem is, the secular world has gobbled up so much of our lives that it takes a lot more than an hour or so a week to instill anything in anyone. It has to be an ongoing process with a base of operations. That base is home base and without the fortress of a spiritually guided home front, the struggle for these young people will be ongoing, frustrating, and long term.

Time to “Slap Back” at the Self-Serving Intolerance of the Anti-Catholic/Christian

Sorry–it is Good Friday and I do not feel too “bubbly” right now. When I began to contemplate the Cross today and Who was nailed to it I found myself disgusted. I am disgusted and fed up with the approximately 2% of the population who are gay and are screaming at the “intolerance” of the Catholic/Christian community which comprises 80% of the American population. I am tired of us being called “intolerant” and “homophobic” and “racist” etc., simply because they do not get their way in every little thing they demand. Have they ever once considered what that Cross we revere stands for? The fact is, they have hijacked the Cross and insist it represents them and their self-indulgent ideology. We Christians are the “bad people.” This perverse nonsense has to stop.

I am also tired of the mainstream media and the Hollywood elite denigrating and mocking Christianity and all who belong to it as “fools.” Aren’t you tired of being trashed by the anti-God people? Why can’t they seem to understand one bit of the the kindness and goodness that has been extended to ALL people by Catholic/Christians, you know, people like all of us. Bill Maher says that people who believe in God, “are idiots and they are stupid.” Has he or any of his fellow God-haters ever taken one damn moment and looked at that Cross and reflected about the sweet mercy, flowing grace and abundant love that smeared blood red all over the wood? I think not.

The United States State Department says that in at least 60 countries, Christians face persecution simply because they are Christian. Imagine, being hated for loving. How twisted is that? Seventy-five percent of the world’s population lives in areas with severe religious persecution. Yes, yes, I know, we are supposed to “turn the other cheek.” Well, this Catholic man says I’ll turn it but if you keep slapping my face every time I do, sooner or later I am going to slap you back. My brothers and sisters, I think it is time to start slapping back. Not with fists and pipes and lies and rants but with the written word defending our Faith against all attacks, even if it is a Tweet on Twitter or a blurb on Facebook.

I also want our bishops to get up there and start defending Christ and His people. And I want them to tell their priests to defend it also. (When was the last time you heard a priest in your parish defend the faith against the evil run amok all over the world including the USA?) I want them to say “We don’t need your your damn tax exemption 501c3. We must defend our faith no matter what.”

That’s right, forget this “PC” (politically correct) nonsense. We, as Catholics, do not put pen to paper and lie, slander or foment falsehoods about people. We write about Jesus Christ and the beautiful Faith He has given to us. That is not evil or intolerant. That is what we are about. We are about loving our neighbor and, for the most part, we do.

Last June ISIS overran the city of Mosul in Iraq. They killed countless numbers of our brother and sister Chaldean Catholics. The Church in Erbil has set up camps and is helping more than 130,000 refugees settle in temporarily until they might once again go back home to Mosul. Pope Francis has set an example for us all, including our hierarchy. He has sent Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, to these displaced Catholics. The Holy Father has initiated a program to give out cakes to each of the families in the camps. A total of more than 20,000 cakes will be distributed as the Holy Father shows them they all have his support and he is standing up to the maniacal, Satan driven savages of ISIS. He has taken the lead.

All I am asking for is more defense of the faith via the spoken and written word and some leadership from our safely placed American hierarchy in mounting a campaign to do so. Jesus never said it would be easy following Him. Seeing what happens to Him on Good Friday proves it. War is being waged against us, not only over there but right here in our own country. Time to “slap back.”

Connie Rossini and St. Therese – CWG March Book Blast

This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Guildie Connie Rossini’s book, Trusting God with St. Therese. It’s an SOA winner as well as an award-winning novel, and an inspiration to anyone needing find inspiration in the face of difficult situations.

 

Summary: Are your fears, weaknesses, doubts, and anger keeping you from intimacy with Christ? Do you struggle with despair? Let St. Therese teach you perfect trust.  Learn how Therese of Lisieux trusted God through tragedy, scruples, spiritual darkness, and physical suffering. Connie Rossini pairs episodic stories from the saint’s life with memories of her own quest to trust. With Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and insights from psychology, Rossini leads readers to surrender their lives completely to Jesus. Practical and accessible, Trusting God with St. Therese includes questions for reflection that make it perfect for book clubs and faith-sharing groups.

Buy it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LTATI6C

Excerpt

St. Therese’s trust in God is almost legendary—so much so that we might consider such trust beyond our reach. In her family and later in the Carmelite cloister, she was bathed in a culture focused on Christ. When she struggled at school, she came home to learn among those who understood her. When she wanted to give herself fully to God, she became a nun. When she began to speak about her little way of spiritual childhood, others encouraged her. We daily encounter challenges to trust that she never faced. The world around us—sometimes even including our dearest family members—meets our desire for God with indifference or hostility. In the Church, others think us presumptuous for even striving to follow God more faithfully. And an insistent voice inside us urges us at every step to abandon our course. “Why focus on trust?” we ask ourselves. There are so many pressing problems for Catholics in today’s world: battling the Culture of Death, bringing strays back to the faith, revamping catechesis, caring for the poor. Why not focus instead on one of these? When we ponder this question more deeply, the mistaken notion behind it reveals itself. We do not practice one virtue or join an apostolate in isolation from the rest of our Christian life. Focusing on trust does not take us away from these other important things. It helps us advance in them. Fighting the Culture of Death, for example, can be discouraging, heartbreaking, and personally risky. Trust gives us the strength to persevere. Likewise, we must trust God with the hearts of the lost, for ultimately only he can convert them. We must trust him to work through his Church, even when the humans who make up that Church fall short. And unless we can accept God’s providence, the trials of the poor will crush our spirits. Why should we focus on trust?

In a letter to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart, Therese put it concisely: “It is trust, and nothing but trust that must bring us to Love” (PST, 61). “Love,” of course, is God himself. In other words, we cannot grow close to him until we trust him.