 It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1779) Do you ever have that experience where you are trying to “catch up” with yourself? There are a lot of physical and psychological techniques we can use to calm ourselves down after a stressful day. Some people find exercise, or just going for a walk, helpful. It “clears the mind.” Others may do yoga. Still others may do some deep breathing or mindfulness practices. Others may just take a nap. These are all healthy ways to unwind that are good and much better than alcohol or drugs that dulls the mind and heart, masks the stress and fails to restore your strength. Nevertheless, these healthy means of unwinding still fall short of the requirement of conscience. I recall a time when I attended a NBA basketball game. The noise level was so high, I could not think. The “requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection.” (1779). It took all the concentration I could muster just to make a decision about what I needed. I decided that I had to get out of the building. I told my companions, “I’m leaving.” I would not even wait for the elevator. I walked down four flights of steps as quickly as I could. Once outside, I texted my companions to reconnect with them, found a place to sit down, breathed, and waited. The decisions we make under stress, even after we have relaxed, are not an act of conscience because we have to be “present to ourselves” so we can “hear and follow the voice” of our conscience. Sometimes, when I begin to slow down and be present to myself, I am surprised at all the voices inside of me. Ann Garrido, in one of her reflections, suggested “occlumency” as a spiritual practice. This insight came to her during a retreat when she found it difficult to clear her mind of “all the voices.” It reminded her of Professor Dumbledore, who wanted to protect Harry Potter from Lord Voldemort’s “access to his head space.” In the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling, “Legilimency” was the magical ability to access someone’s thoughts; “Occlumency” was the protection. This level of self-awareness is also found in modern business practices when leaders and managers carefully examine the information they are using to make business decisions. What data is relevant to our problem or opportunity? What is the source of that information? Are we taking all the relevant data into account? Do we have any beliefs - any assumptions - that might influence our understanding of the data and the conclusions drawn from that data? Chris Argyris (1923-2013), considered by many as the “father of organizational learning,” developed the Ladder of Inference as a conceptual model to explain how people make decisions and form beliefs. This model is a series of questions to identify assumptions and test for bias. In order to “hear and follow the voice of conscience,” we need to be present to ourselves, free of other voices, mindful of our assumptions and suspicious about bias. Remember taking tests in school? You needed to focus on the questions before you. You drew from your own ability to recall, and apply, the knowledge you learned. The teacher was there, but mostly to assure that students were staying on task and not cheating. Interiority is like that but with a big difference. With conscience, the teacher is Jesus who is there with you. You still need to do the work, but he is there loving you, encouraging you, and helping you to see and hear clearly. Pope Francis blessed the church with an extended catechesis on discernment during his General Audiences from August 31, 2022 to January 4, 2023. During his catechesis on December 21, 2022, Pope Francis stressed our discernment - our interiority - is never done alone. We bring to our conscience the Word of God, the teachings of the Church, our relationship with Jesus, the saints, our friendship with God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the graces we have received through the sacraments and prayer. We need to be present to ourselves in order to be alone with God. It is his voice, her breath, their music we strain to hear. The more we access our conscience - to be totally present to the moral quality of acts we have done, a choice we must make, or future choices - the more aligned we will be with God’s truth, mercy, and love. We will be free to be completely alive as the image of God we were created to be. Try it today. Take an hour. Turn off your phone. Let go of all those distractions that pollute your thoughts. Don’t fight them. Just let them go. Take five deep breaths praying. “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me,” then, with the second breath, “Spirit of the Living God, melt me,” then “... mold me,” “... fill me,” and “... use me.” Start a conversation. “God, what good do you want me to do tomorrow?” Just listen. Lots of thoughts may emerge. Breathe. Ask the same question again. Some thoughts will fall away. Breathe. Ask the question again, and again, until you hear a still small voice whisper a word or two deep within your heart. The psalmist sang of the righteous; “the law of the LORD is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2) The righteous are “right” with themselves, others, and God. The law of the Lord is his voice, his way, and it is the source of our joy and our companion “day and night.” May we, too, be so blessed.
0 Comments
 There are only a few people whom I look at in biblical history and identify with on an average-human-level. It can be hard to find personal connections to many saints and holy people for me. Some were ordinary and humble, but others were so extraordinary and left big shoes to fill. It can be challenging to wrap your head around their sanctity—I know it is for me. When I hear about St. Martha though, I think, “Yes, she’s my girl.” Martha had close friends and pesky siblings, and when important company came over, she was mad no one was helping as she cleaned and cooked herself into a tizzy. She was so human, so relatable. St. Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus were close friends of the Lord. We hear about them from Luke’s Gospel: As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. This is such a great passage. It shows the humanity of these average people. It contrasts Martha, the burdened preparer and host for the occasion, with Mary, the one who sat with and listened to their wise friend, Jesus. It is a chance for those of us who get frazzled to stop for a moment and listen to the Word of God. It is a chance for us to not only let Jesus into our homes, but also into our hearts as well. Martha is so relatable. In a later moment in John’s Gospel, we hear about Martha taking a completely different approach to the Lord’s arrival. This time, he is met with her sadness but also her faith. This is a big moment for Martha. She seems to have learned to trust and believe, and thus Christ’s arrival brings hope for her even after the death of her brother. She tells Jesus that if he had been here, Lazarus wouldn’t have died, but has hope and faith that everything will still be okay. Jesus responds, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” From this we hear St. Martha echo her own “fiat” with the words, “Yes, Lord.” This is when we see her inner beauty emerge. Her old self, prone to complaining and anxiety from hosting, has been replaced by faith. I find a lot of comfort knowing that St. Martha was imperfect and struggled—even when Jesus was in her home. Her feast day is July 29th, the day before my birthday, and I feel more connected to this saint than ever before. It wasn’t the first time that Jesus entered her home or that she listened to his words. It also probably was not the second or third time she had interacted with him, being close friends. But when the moment came for her to have hope in the Lord, she did. Patience and sitting with Christ, like her sister Mary did, might be another way to sainthood, but for Martha, her heart was not as ready to accept Him then. Her human imperfections kept her from that. Her path to sainthood was a journey comprised of moments of faith and trust, as we saw in her conversation with Jesus after Lazarus’ death. She shows us that, though we can’t always be perfect, our call to sanctity begins with the words, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe...” *This is a repost and was originally published July 29, 2021.*
 “With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity. Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.” – Pope Leo XIV, Homily for the Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate In the early days of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the Church sees a missionary, a unifier, and an advocate for the marginalized. He is a person with global experience, who also understands deeply and well both Church and society in North and South America. These traits and many others that we will see over time give us glimpses not only into him, but, more importantly of Christ. Steeped in the spirituality and traditions of the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo seems to want our hearts to rest in God, in the way of St. Augustine, but not rest from our loving care of others. As he shared in his first homily as Pope: “This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Mt 16:16). It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).” Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV! May the charity of Christ urge us on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank
 I, like many others around the world, was stunned to hear the news on Easter Monday morning that Pope Francis had passed away. I felt confused, as we had just seen him give the Easter blessing less than a day before. I honestly did not believe that the media headline was real until I saw more and more information from various sources. For me, Pope Francis was the pope that I remember most from my life. He was elected to the papacy when I was a freshman in high school, so his impact on the Church was felt most during my adolescence and young adulthood. During the transition between Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, I remember that we would watch a livestream of the conclave in my theology class every day until the new pope was elected. We would all wait to see the white smoke, and of course, the smoke was seen after school hours. It was exciting to see a new head of the Church be elected! It also was interesting to learn about the conclave process and papal elections as Pope Benedict was elected when I was maybe six or seven years old. We all were so excited going to theology class after the election. I remember my theology teacher sharing that this new pope was from South America - the first time that has ever happened, and we were all excited to learn more! She also explained that he chose the name Francis. He was the first ever Pope Francis in Church history, as he drew inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi. As Pope Francis’ papacy continued, I was inspired more and more by his actions. To begin, when he was elected, he gave a simple blessing to the crowd at St. Peter’s Square and asked for them to pray for him. I remember thinking of the humility in this. The man who is elected to lead our Church is asking his followers for prayers as he begins. He just gave the crowd a wave, and a simple blessing. But that is just the type of man Pope Francis was. We learned about when he was living in Argentina, he regularly rode public transportation and was a voice for the poor and helpless. He did not want the adornment or flashiness that came with the positions he held within the Church; he just wanted to be with his people and to help those in need. He regularly washed the feet and blessed those who were homeless. He invited those who were hungry to have meals with him. Even when elected, he turned down the usual papal apartment and opted for a simple room and wanted to live amongst the everyday people. His humility is seen even on his birthday! He did not invite cardinals or world leaders to celebrate with him. He chose to invite those on the street into the Vatican to share a meal with him. He chose to invite those who might not have known when their next meal was coming and be welcomed and fed by the pope of all people! When he passed, he did not want an over-the-top celebration. Instead, he wanted a simple ceremony, in a simple coffin, with little fluff or theatrics. He made sure that those who were suffering or helpless, migrants, and homeless were invited to his funeral and even had them be the final honor guard for his remains. In my eyes, Pope Francis’ papacy can be summed up in the phrase “aiming for peace”. It really is what he tried to do every day. He wanted to unite and bring peace to all, not just Catholics, but for all in the world. From bringing peace to the world through Laudato Si’ and caring for our common home, to regularly speaking out against violence in the world, to welcoming those who felt castaway by the Church. Pope Francis just wanted to bring us all together in the love of Christ. I remember watching a video of him speaking to a young boy who recently lost his father. The young boy was scared that his father, who was not a Catholic, would not be in Heaven. The boy mentioned that his father was a good man and had all of his children baptized but did not believe himself. It would have been easy for Pope Francis to just say “Well, if he is not a Catholic, he is not in Heaven”. But Pope Francis calmed the terrified young boy, even inviting him to come sit with him, and explained that his father was a good man and that God would not abandon a man with a character such as his. This was a wonderful example of the compassion and inclusivity to faith that Pope Francis was known for. There will never be another Jorge Mario Bergoglio who becomes Pope Francis. We will be left to remember the excellent man that he was and the even better pope that he became. Let us all pray for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul as we mourn his loss, but also let us pray for the cardinals who are currently in the conclave process of electing our new leader of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Apostolate Center has many resources during this time of transition. We invited you to visit our Pope Francis Portal and Papal Conclave Resource Page to learn more.
 If you are anything like me, you find it difficult to discern God’s call, but sometimes Jesus makes it plain and simple in Scripture. For example, Jesus very specifically calls us friends (John 15:15). Friendship is a calling. In my own faith journey, I continually find this actually a rather strange, startling summons. Jesus’ friendship is an unmerited grace-filled gift, which is desirable, but it also demands something of me, which is a bit frightening. On a day-to-day basis, nothing gives me, or most people I imagine, greater joy than faithful friendships. If we Christians lack Gospel joy, it goes to show among other things, that we are not heeding the call to be faithful friends of Jesus. Rediscovering friendship as a calling has challenged my paradigm for discerning my personal vocation. Friendship shapes both the context and content of my choices. Let me try to explain what I mean. A culture of friendship is an indispensable context for discerning a vocation. Faithful friends often know us better than we know ourselves. They help us discern our gifts, weaknesses, and purpose, and then encourage or challenge us to act in a way we couldn’t or wouldn’t on our own. Like the spiritual life in general, friendships are very often difficult to navigate. This is not because the path ahead is overly complicated, but because the next step usually lies in the darkness of the unknown. Friends who know our hearts invite us to step into the vulnerability with courage and bring our darkness into light. One example in my life is the young adult group I attend, the Baltimore Frassati Fellowship. We don’t focus on multiplying social activities, which too easily becomes another way to fill rather than sanctify our time. The Church teaches us to share each other’s time, not compete for it. We focus on cultivating an atmosphere of trust and virtue that counterbalances the typically transitory and fast-paced “young adult” phase of life. Our events are rather ordinary, but they are consistent and dependable: weekly adoration, regular service opportunities, and a larger monthly Holy Hour and social. Pretty soon, we all have to make decisions (something I’m bad at), so friendship also determines the content of our vocation. Paraphrasing John Henry Newman, each of us is called to some definite and unique vocation, which is centered in some specific friendship(s) (Meditations on Christian Doctrine, I.2). Here is a question to pray with: What kind of friendship am I called to, and with whom? I wasn’t always used to thinking about different “kinds” of friendships, so one helpful question I learned to ask while in seminary concerned the call to exclusive or inclusive friendships. Am I called to befriend one person like no other (marriage), to show no partiality and be a special part of many lives (religious life), or some other group? Moreover, since there is no greater love than “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” (John 15:13), friendship is also intrinsically sacrificial. Another form of the question is: Who is God calling me to daily lay down my life for: a spouse and children or on the altar of Eucharistic sacrifice? That’s what makes so special the radical witness of someone like Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche. Vanier felt called to leave behind an academic career to form a small community with persons with developmental disabilities where they could share their lives in faith and friendship. After 50 years, his original calling continues to grow and inspire others to embrace the joy, virtue, sacrifice, and particularity our friendships in Christ are meant to take. As part of the universal call to holiness though, evangelization involves going out and befriending others and inviting them to become friends of Jesus. Friendship, though it takes different forms, is an apostolate all are called to. *This blog was originally published on September 8, 2015*
 This past Easter Monday, Pope Francis died. As I shared this news with my toddlers, they were both sad and confused. They understood that when a person dies, those who cared about them will feel sad, but they were still confused and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s a pope?" The theology teacher in me lit up with excitement as I recognized a teachable moment! As we discussed popes and bishops, I stumbled upon explaining how popes are elected, and I had an idea – what if we have a family conclave? I could teach my children about the process and to unite the activities of our domestic church, as much as possible, with the coming conclave of the Roman Catholic Church. We could “elect” a family patron saint and mimic the aspects of the conclave so my children can understand. While I have not tried this out yet, here is my plan so you too can have your own conclave! The Short List At this stage, journalists, theologians, Catholics and non-Catholics everywhere are taking guesses as to who the next pope will be. Instead of taking a guess myself or trying to explain who is who to my four- and two-year-olds, I will create a short list of saints to vote for that my children already know about. Whether you gather as a class, a family, or a larger group, you can choose half a dozen saints or so to start with. Alternatively, if you are working with adults or older children, you could have participants nominate a saint for the group’s patron before voting. Voting As you may know, when the cardinals gather to vote for a new pope, they vote secretly using paper ballots and “drop… the twice-folded ballot in a large chalice.” They vote four times each day, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, until one person has two-thirds of the votes. In your own conclave, you can, likewise, pass out paper and pens, let each person secretly write the name of the saint they’d like to “elect” as the group’s saint, fold it twice, and one person at a time cast their vote into a large bowl. Because my children are small and cannot write yet, we will have to forgo the secrecy part. But we can still let them choose the saint they want to vote for and deliver their votes to our “large chalice” (a big mixing bowl). Then, we will tally the votes and assess if a majority has been reached. If a majority is not reached, I recommend having a snack break before repeating the process. Of course, if you’re working with small children, you need not strictly hold to the two-thirds rule, any majority or even simply choosing the saint with the most votes would be just as successful. Habemus Papam! (We Have a Pope!) When one saint wins, you can joyfully announce “Habemus sanctus!” or “We have a saint!” just as the senior cardinal deacon announces “Habemus papam!” or “We have a pope!” from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica when a new pope has been elected. In my house, I will also be making red paper cardinal hats and a white pope hat for my toddlers who love dressing up. Maybe I’ll even make some pretend red vestments to add to the experience. However you choose to participate in the upcoming conclave – whether it’s watching news updates on TV or having your own conclave with family and friends – let us take this momentous occasion to reignite our trust in the Holy Spirit who guides the cardinals in their voting. And let us all unite our prayers for the cardinals and whoever our next pope will be. You can visit our Conclave Resource Page for more information on how popes are elected.
 Happy St. Joseph’s Day! As someone who sins, I love St. Joseph. I mean, I can easily relate to him: he sinned. I sin. We have something in common. One of my favorite mental pictures of St. Joseph is within the everyday happenings of family life in Nazareth. Albeit, within my own imagination, I picture a normal day of meal preparation, carpentry work, and rest. Then, someone swears after a woodworking injury – because who likes splinters? Or maybe, later that day someone gets prideful or impatient or envious or slothful… that someone has to be Joseph. Jesus and Mary were sinless, so any sinful thought, word or action in that holy household had to be Joseph. Can you imagine living in a household where you are the only one who commits sins? Yeesh! What great patience and humility that man must have acquired over the years! No wonder he is a saint! As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I sometimes find myself falling into a pattern of negative self-talk. While I can much more easily be kind to others around me, more often than I should, I proverbially beat myself up when I miss a step, knock something over, or don’t buzz about my house at peak efficiency. Really, as I write this article, I can see that the idea that I would walk, think, and do everything in my day perfectly, efficiently, and sinlessly is absolutely absurd. I am a human living after the Fall, so I make mistakes, and I sin. Yet, somehow, I think I should be downright Olympic and saintly in the way I run my household of three children under the age of five. And I expect to maintain a heavenly calmness all the time. Whatever the reasons for why I end up down the rabbit hole of pursuing perfection, when I get bogged down, I like to turn to St. Joseph for strength and inspiration. I am willing to bet St. Joseph got discouraged, at some point, or frustrated with his own sinfulness. He probably recognized the holiness of Mary and Jesus, and by contrast, the lack of that fullness of holiness in himself. Yet, St. Joseph never gave up. He humbly and sincerely lived and worked with the two most holy humans in all history for approximately 10,958 days, give or take a few. And if we were to spend some time thinking about it, I imagine that those ordinary days in Nazareth looked at least a little bit like our ordinary days today – waking up, getting dressed, preparing food, eating and drinking, putting away leftovers and cleaning dishes, working, getting tired, and eventually going to sleep. And, like so many of St. Joseph’s days in Nazareth, Jesus is with us! While Jesus is not exactly growing up in our house, Jesus is “with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). If only I would remind myself of Jesus’ presence in my life throughout each day! Lastly, I celebrate St. Joseph as the patron saint of peaceful deaths. While it is not known for certain, tradition holds that St. Joseph died with Jesus and Mary by his side. What a way to leave this world! I pray that we are also given such a grace as to recognize Jesus’ presence with us at the hour of our own deaths! St. Joseph, please pray for us! Humbly, may we always strive to pursue holiness, and not perfection. May we follow in your footsteps and never grow weary in our pursuit of holiness.
|
Archives
June 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
About |
Media |
© COPYRIGHT 2025 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED