Questions That Wake You Up at Night

Copyright 2013, Used by Permission

What if this whole Christianity is one big, wish-it-could-be-true sham?

What if we have latched on to some ancient mythology out of a desperate desire for something beautiful, something to allay the deep loneliness of the human heart, which, no matter how superficially connected to others of the species it may seem to be, fears in its depths that it is somehow disconnected and alone? What if Christianity only depicts, like a painting, a beauty that is too good to be true?

What if Jesus of Nazareth has become the mythic man-god of Christian belief, a great man clothed with divinity by man's collective imagination?

These are questions that are especially prevalent in this skeptical age. They are questions that must be faced with courage because they will not go away. They will be asked with more frequency. And they will be asked not only by skeptics outside the Church, but those within.

When I was agnostic, I worked next to a fellow who loved the Lord. He took his Bible with him on his lunch hour for prayer and study with a colleague. He seemed happy and secure.

I asked him once how he could be certain God was real. His answer irritated me. He said, "I just know it in my heart." I wanted more. I wanted him to give me a reason for his certitude, for his hope.

Will the Real Jesus Please Stand up?

Copyright 2013, Used by Permission

It seems to me there are a lot of impostors out there. 

When I was a kid we watched a show called "To Tell the Truth." I am dating myself here, but the way it went, to the best of my memory, was this: A celebrity guest would face three guests claiming to be a certain person. Two were impostors and one was the real deal. The celebrity's challenge was to question all three and figure out who was being truthful. At the inquisitor's questions, the impostors could lie their heads off to trick the guest, but the authentic person had to tell the truth. 

I sometimes get the feeling we are in the position of the celebrity guest, having to discern between various claimants to the role of Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. 

In this case, the question is: Who is the real Jesus Christ among a myriad of impostors? 

The Vanity of The Gospel of Jesus Nice

The Gospel of Jesus... Nice?

Following my entry into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil as a young man nearly two decades ago, I was bewildered. Much of what I heard in catechesis seemed saturated in a banal sentimentality that presented Jesus as more of a sort of Deepak Chopra figure than the revolutionary Son of the Most High God who said, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49, NABRE)  

Rediscovering the Sacrament of Mercy, Part Two

One's view of God determines just about everything.

In Part One of this blog, we looked at the societal loss of the sense of sin, and how that may be a root cause of Catholics' avoidance of the confessional. 

But I am convinced that there is a second reason so many Catholics don't celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Many of us live with a distorted image of God.

Rediscovering the Sacrament of Mercy, Part One

In the coming months children will celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation for their first time, and some—perhaps many, I regret--- will not return for many years, if ever.

Jesus, the Divine Mercy, will wait in the confessional, eager to offer His healing salve to bruised and wounded hearts, but His wait will be long.

Why?

I believe the simplest answer is this: Mom and Dad have left the Lord waiting. They have neglected the care of their own souls through avoidance of the confessional. Children learn how to view and live life from their parents.

And why do parents leave the Divine Mercy waiting?

I believe there are basically two reasons.

Why it Matters to ME that YOU Be a Good Catholic

I was talking to a buddy on the phone yesterday and I confessed, “I am more Catholic cheerleader than apologist.”

When I watch apologists debate the Catholic and Protestant sides, I feel like I am watching an unbearably long Ping-Pong match without any record of score. Each observer has to imagine the score in his own head.

After half an hour or so, my brain goes numb.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe apologetics is a very important discipline, and I have great respect for those who engage in this essential ministry professionally. Many a seeker has made a definitive choice for the Catholic Church because the case for Catholicism was well argued and systematically presented. I have learned a great deal from the likes of Patrick Madrid, Jimmy Akin, and Michelle Arnold, brilliant apologists all.

Also, I believe that every Catholic should be able to articulate his faith well enough to present a logical and reasonable defense of Catholic doctrine, especially in these relativistic times when truth seems up for grabs and logic and reason are a rare commodity, obscured as they are by rampant emotionalism and banal sentimentality.

But when it comes down to me, my primary drive is to evangelize the disengaged, or the lightly engaged, of the fold. Perhaps this is because I found myself astounded upon my entry into the Church at twenty-nine years old, and following a life of impoverished agnosticism, by the many Catholics who seemed bored by the Faith. I was like a starving man that looks on in wonder as other hungry people sit before piles of the most exquisite food without partaking.

Five Ways to Lead Your Children to Heaven, PART TWO

Most of us have encountered people who journey through life in a way that exemplifies Thoreau’s famous line from Walden: “The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.”

I have observed that a common denominator in the “quiet desperation crowd,” barring other emotional causes, is often a seeming lack of a sense of purpose and meaning.