St. John Vianney on Fear and Crosses

St. John Vianney said:

"Our greatest cross is our fear of crosses." (Thoughts of the Cure of D'Ars, p. 23)

How true this is. We seek comfort, we seek predictability, we seek admiration, we seek things, but we run in dread from the God who made and loves us. We do not trust that He wants what is best for us.

St. John Vianney also said:

"You must accept your cross; if you bear it courageously it will carry you to Heaven." (p. 9)

Following Christ is counter-intuitive to how we are socialized by our culture. But contrary to the prevailing culture, suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to us. The worst thing that can happen to us is to be separated from God by our own actions which turn us away from Him.

The Eucharist: The Past is Not Past

The great twentieth-century American novelist, William Faulkner, famously said about the American South that there the past is not only not dead, it isn't even past. That can help us understand the sacrifice of the mass as a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this clear:

The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

1362 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.

1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men.184 In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them.

1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.185 "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out."186

1365 Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood."187 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."188

1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.189

When we go to mass, we need to bear in mind that we are not simply remembering an event that occurred long ago. Not only is Jesus really present in the Eucharist, but his sacrifice on the cross is, in a mystical way, present as well. Jesus is not dead, and He is not a memory, but He is there, with us, and we with Him.

Some Excellent Posts on Eucharistic Adoration

At her blog, "Practicing Catholic," Heather Barrett has a thoughtful posting on Eucharistic adoration. She rightly indicates our need to "question the Eucharist," not in the sense of doubting it, but in the sense of seeking a deeper understanding of that ultimately unfathomable mystery. Think of how St. Thomas Aquinas structures the Summa Theologica with questions, objections, and replies. He questions not to cast doubt on sacred matters, but rather to apply reason to make sacred matters more accessible and more firmly held.

Heather also points to another enlightening blog entry on adoration, this one by Julie at "Happy Catholic." She re-prints there a handout from a parish that actively discourages Eucharistic adoration. Her rebuttal to that handout is very well done. Certainly anyone who thinks of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who made Eucharistic adoration a central event in the daily lives of the Missionaries of Charity, should be convinced that Eucharistic adoration neither detracts from the Mass nor excludes the community.

Many thanks to Heather and Julie for these insightful posts.

St. John Vianney on the Eucharist

I went to one of our local Catholic bookshops today and picked up a booklet on St. John Vianney called Thoughts of the Curé d'Ars (Tan Books). Since we are now in the Year of the Priest, I thought this would be a good way to introduce me more to this beloved pastor.

Here are some of the passages that reflect St. John Vianney's thoughts on the Eucharist:

How pleasing to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occupations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him, to console Him. (p. 8)

We can only receive God once a day; a soul enkindled with divine love makes up for this by the desire of receiving Him every moment of the day. (p. 10)

Although the good God does not allow us to see Him, He is nonetheless present in the Blessed Sacrament; nonetheless ready to grant us all we ask. (p. 15)

When we leave the holy banquet of Communion, we are as happy as the wise men would have been if they could have carried away the Infant Jesus. (p. 15)

Grieve over the contempt cast upon Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and try to make amends for it by a greater and more ardent love." (p. 18)

Our Lord is hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, waiting for us to come and visit Him.... See how good He is!... If He had appeared before us now in all His glory, we should not have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself like one in prison, saying: "You do not see Me, but that does not matter; ask Me for all you want...." (p. 21)

"Live on Him that you may live for Him." (p. 22)

I have much to learn from St. John Vianney, and I look forward to learning it.

Good Secular Press Coverage of Religion

We often complain that the secular media does a poor job of covering religion in the news. GetReligion.org does a great job of even-handed critique of the secular press.

There is a story in the Wichita (Kansas) Eagle about a Vatican investigation of an alleged miracle through the intercession of Korean War army chaplain Fr. Emil Kapaun. The author of the article seems to understand Catholicism and is very balanced in his coverage.

Fr. Kapaun's story is an inspiring one:

Kapaun was a chaplain assigned to the U.S. Army's Eighth Cavalry regiment, which was surrounded and overrun by the Chinese army in North Korea in October and November 1951.
Kapaun became a hero, rescuing wounded soldiers from the battlefield and risking death by preventing Chinese executions of wounded Americans too injured to walk.

He became a hero again in prison camp, stealing food for prisoners, ministering to the sick, saying the rosary for soldiers, defying guards' attempts to indoctrinate soldiers, making pots and pans out of roofing tin so that soldiers could boil snow into drinking water and boil lice out of their filthy clothing.

Hundreds of American prisoners died in the camp of exposure or starvation or illness that first winter. The Chinese guards did nothing to tend Kapaun when he became sick; he died in May 1951, two years before the war ended.

Soldiers who survived have praised Kapaun for decades; some of them have said he deserved not only sainthood but the Medal of Honor, in addition to the lesser Distinguished Service Cross the Army awarded him after his death.

I also admired a prayer written to ask for Fr. Kapaun's intercession:

"Father Emil Kapaun gave glory to God by following his call to the priesthood and thus serving the people of Kansas and those in the military," the prayer says. "Father Kapaun, I ask your intercession not only for Chase Kear... but that I too may follow your example of service to God and my neighbor. For the gifts of courage in battle and perseverance of faith, we give you thanks oh Lord."

We face battles big and small each day, battles where we fight with little strength or battles we avoid altogether. A chaplain's sacrifice can be a good example to us to stay in the fight.

Hopefully we will hear more about Fr. Kapaun in the future.

Desire for Prayer

Prayer is something every person of faith struggles with. The saints often speak of "dry periods." Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta went through many, many years of such a dry period. St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, as well as St. Therese of Lisieux experienced different versions of this dryness.

In his excellent book, How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist, Michael Dubruiel tells a story about cultivating a desire to pray:

One day a boy was watching a holy man pray on the banks of a river in India. When the holy man had completed his prayer the boy went over and asked him, "Will you teach me to pray?" The holy man studied the boy's face carefully. Then he gripped the boy's head in his hands and plunged it forcefully into the water. The boy struggled frantically, trying to free himself in order to breathe. Finally, the holy man released his hold. When the boy was able to breathe, he gasped, "What did you do that for?" The holy man said, "I just gave you your first lesson." "What do you mean?" asked the astonished boy. "Well," said the holy man, "when you long to pray as much as you longed to breathe when your head was under water--only then will I be able to teach you to pray." (p. 58)

Don't try this at home. Despite the resemblances to waterboarding, there is an important message here. One of the Acts of Contrition includes: "In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things." We certainly do not act as if we love God above all things. When we are drowning, what we want above all things is to breathe. That is how we are to love God.

Of course, as people wounded by Original Sin, we cannot love God to the fullest in this way. But it is an ideal for us to strive toward. Obviously, the holy man in the story is using hyperbole. Like infants, we must crawl before we can walk, walk before we can run. Baby steps.

It is often said--because it is true--that if we pray when we do not feel like praying, that is some of our most powerful and edifying prayer. So let us reach for the holy man's example but find solace if we only have the boy's curiosity at this point. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus started out at one level of relationship with Jesus, but they finished that road trip at a very different level.

Babies and the State

Fr. Peter Daly is the pastor of St. John Vianney parish in Prince Frederick, MD. He has a syndicated column that appears throughout the nation in Catholic newspapers. I read his most recent article in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's newspaper, The Catholic Telegraph. The article can be found here. Included with every marriage license in the state of Maryland is a brochure called "Family Planning: A Guide for You." The brochure can be found here. For further information, one of the contacts is Planned Parenthood of Maryland. The other is the Center for Maternal and Child Health, which is a department of the Maryland state government. The brochure mentions "fertility awareness methods" which would include Natural Family Planning. The brochure says, "If you need information on where to get services, check out the back of this brochure." However, neither Planned Parenthood nor the Center for Maternal and Child Health are sources where you will find out anything about "fertility awareness methods."

As Fr. Daly points out, such a brochure being given to married couples who are getting married seems inappropriate. Should the state be discouraging married couples from having children? Should the state be promoting Planned Parenthood to married couples? Why should married couples be informed about so-called "emergency contraception"?

Maryland should re-think this approach.