A Homily for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Given at St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
On Sunday, June 24th
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Last week in the Gospel we heard about the Kingdom of God
Being like a small seed which is tiny when planted, aut spreads out growing roots and branches in all directions.
In my short homily, I spoke about how like a seed
the truth of God’s love for us REQUIRES that our faith
which might start out small, MUST GROW,
spreading into every aspect of our life, if it is to stay alive.
Today is the Feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist, and as we continue our reflection on religious freedom, we see how, the seed of faith: the love that God has for us; requires a response: namely that we learn to love God. And as I have said so often before, LOVE, isn’t a gushy feeling,
LOVE is an action. It is doing what is good for the beloved.
Ironically enough, since God doesn't need anything from us doing what is good for God really means doing what is good for us.
As Jesus says, “if you love me you will keep my commandment’s.”
You know, the ones that He came to fulfill not abolish!!!
Because God loves us and promises us that if we love Him,
and keep His commandments we will find true happiness,
which is all God desire’s from us—to enjoy His goodness!
Strangely enough, it is sometimes hard to do what
is in our own best interest,
namely following the commandment’s of God.
This is because, as St. Paul tells us, sin is a type of slavery,
which enslaves us to doing the things we don’t want to do
and failing to do the things that we want to do.
Let’s think about this in the light of some of the controversial positions
that the world wants the Church to be silent about.
The church is pro-life, and challenges every Christian
to follow Jesus’ Gospel of Life.
Wow, that’s controversial!!!
The Church believes that every life, young and old, strong or weak
Is good, and has a purpose in God’s plan.
Isn’t this what every body wants to believe?
In fact isn't this the basis of a free society based on the rule of law,
the belief in the dignity of every human person?
No healthy person grows up thinking that I want to harm human life;
how many young girls do you think grow up thinking,
when I grow up I want to kill my unborn child?
No one CHOOSES abortion, rather we are coerced into it,
enslaved to the culture of death by countless choices, that are in opposition to God’s will and plan.
Another controversial part of the Gospel is divorce.
The Church is pro-marriage and has been since Jesus insisted
that this was a central part of God’s plan for our happiness.
Again, isn’t that controversial, the idea that divorce is bad and hurts everyone touched by it and so ought to be avoided like the plague!
How many little boys grow up thinking: when I grow up I want to abandon my family,
and break the hearts of my children and wife?
How many people grow up wanting to have their ability to trust,
and the ability of all those touched by this tragedy to trust,
run over by the monster truck of marital infidelity, separation,
and the betray of a life long promise?
Of course at the root of both of these sins, against life and marriage,
Is the sin against our human sexuality,
but that’s an issue for another homily…
Sin is a slavery that one little choice after another leads us into
until we are destroying communities
and ruining and perhaps even ending lives.
Fundamentally, our faith is about setting people free from this slavery.
This freedom is more important, according to the Gospel
than freedom from physical bondage.
Often non-Christian’s criticize this tenant of our faith by pointing to
the letter of St. Paul to Philemon, in which Paul writes
to a Catholic slave-holder, about a run-away slave
who Paul is sending back to slavery.
Paul enjoins the slave Onesmus,
who by the way Paul says he loves like a son,
to be obedient to his master, Philemon as he would be to Christ.
Even though slavery in the first century had nothing to do with race many point to this and say that St. Paul is endorsing racial slavery.
Without getting into the intricacies of one of the most interesting
and often overlooked letters in the New Testament,
it is important to understand that Paul is not endorsing ANYTHING
except the idea that we shouldn’t sin even to achieve a just result.
Simply put, the ENDs never justify the MEANS.
Paul is insisting that slavery to sin, is worse than physical bondage, or illness, or poverty, or any other physical evil…
And he has a lot of credibility in saying that,
since he was imprisoned several times for preaching the Gospel. This is after all the central message of the cross.
You know when the world see’s the Church preaching
Jesus, in our own little corner of the world, they are ok with that.
When it hears us preaching His love and therefore encouraging
things such as: the education of children, care for the sick, feeding the poor, clothing the naked, caring for widows and orphan’s, comforting the mentally ill,
or all those things that for two millennia the Church has pioneered,
it says: well isn’t that nice.
But if the seed of our faith is this the truth that
God loves us and wants us to be Happy
not just physically and in this world,
but spiritually and in eternal life
how can we fail to share this good news with our brothers and sisters?
How can stop at just the physical needs of our neighbors
and ignore His spiritual needs? Some times people need to be loved in ways they don't want to be loved--they need to be called to conversion. In fact we have a phrase for it--TOUGH LOVE
Our faith, like the mustard seed, must touch every aspect of our life, even those we might prefer be left alone, and if we love God and our neighbors, we must in turn plant the seed of faith in other people’s lives,
even when the ground seems rocky or unwelcoming.
This is the example that St. John the Baptism sets for us.
John went into the wilderness not to feed the hungry, or shelter the poor, or cloth the naked, but to teach the ignorant, calling all of us sinner’s back to repentance.
In fact, by going into the wilderness where he had nothing, and relying totally on the providence of God, He reminds us that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”
St. John show’s us that our Christian faith can’t JUST take on those socially acceptable forms of Charity, that the world wishes that we would stick to
St. John couldn’t limit his faith to the wilderness, as many want us to do today, rather he had to bring his message of repentance even to the seats of power.
Eventually it cost St. John everything,
and you know what, one day it might cost everything too, everything save the most important thing, the love of our God
And the eternal paradise that comes with that love.
We MUST challenge the SINNER, not because we hate them, and not because we are judgeing their souls in place of God, but because we want them to repent and believe in the Gospel, and thereby experience the Love and Peace and Happiness promised by our Lord.
Sin, makes us slaves, repentance sets us free! On this Feast of St. John let’s renew our commitment to work for freedom from sin, freedom from sin in our own lives, and freedom from sin in our communities, country, and world.
St. John the Baptist, pray for us!
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Freedom
Homily Given for the Feast of Corpus Christ
Given at St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
On Sunday, June 10th, 2012
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
But things like Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
Given at St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
On Sunday, June 10th, 2012
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
Freedom—we
American’s often think that we have a monopoly on it
Or
at least the best expression of it here in the US.
But although we often use the word,
I am not sure we take the time to think
about what it real means
today on this feast of Corpus Christi
a feast which celebrates the ultimate act of freedom,
a feast which celebrates the ultimate act of freedom,
the ultimate act of love, the total gift
of self,
I would like to consider freedom.
You see freedom is really at the core of
Christianity,
As St. Paul says, for freedom Christ has
set us free.
In the beginning the whole drama of our Faith begins
In the beginning the whole drama of our Faith begins
With God so loving His creation that He
respects human freedom
Even when that freedom becomes un-human,
Separating Man from God.
You know it’s funny how often I hear the question,:
You know it’s funny how often I hear the question,:
“Well, why did God let
us do it, why did he let us sin,
when He knew it would
result in suffering and death?”
This usually from the same person who
thinks it is a horrible imposition
On their freedom to ask them to come to
Mass on Sunday’s
Encourage them to keep the commandment’s
and insist that they respect our Faith, even if they don’t practice it.
Freedom is at the heart of creation, it is what set’s mankind apart
and insist that they respect our Faith, even if they don’t practice it.
Freedom is at the heart of creation, it is what set’s mankind apart
From all the other animals.
St. Augustine writes that it is freedom
that makes us in the image of God
And how we use it, that makes us in, or
mares, His likeness in us!
And it’s important to understand, that
Freedom,
a central theme in God’s creation in
Genesis
and in Christ’s redemption of creation
in the Gospel,
is not a matter of
being at liberty to do WHATEVER YOU WANT
rather it’s the ability to do what we must,
to do that which gives us our dignity, makes
us most human,
and makes us unto the likeness of the
living God.
At the beginning of the American experiment
At the beginning of the American experiment
the Church was a bit weary of the
American expression of freedom.
Particularly what we call the first Amendment,
Particularly what we call the first Amendment,
precisely because many thought it was a
misunderstanding of freedom.
The first amendment of course does not establish
The first amendment of course does not establish
separation of Church and State, as many
will suggest.
Rather it says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech,
So while the constitution insists that
the Congress not establish a Church,
it also guarantees our ability and RIGHT
to practice our faith publically,
even when it is not the majority
religion or faith.
This was idea was a bit strange to many thinkers
in the early 19th century
As established Christian Church’s had
been the norm for 1600 years
since just after the death of the Roman
Emperor Constantine.
Before that, religious toleration, which
was practiced sporadically
meant practicing your religion alongside
others,
essentially mixing all the different religions of the people together
essentially mixing all the different religions of the people together
regardless of the compatibility or truth
of these religions.
Religious toleration in America,
was seen by many Catholic thinkers as
pagan, for this reason,
because it seemed to them that freedom
of religion
implicitly suggested that it didn’t
matter what faith you were
it didn’t matter if you were
Catholic, Baptist, or
Unitarian, Jewish or nothing at all
So long as you didn’t make waves for the
State…
As Catholic’s we know that this cannot be true,
As Catholic’s we know that this cannot be true,
Since Jesus Himself says I am the WAY,
making no provision for another way!
There can be only one truth, and “the truth will set you free.”
However, it’s the connection of freedom of religion with speech,
However, it’s the connection of freedom of religion with speech,
That show’s the true intent of our
founders
Speech in the 18th century was about argument and debate in search of truth.
Speech in the 18th century was about argument and debate in search of truth.
And so the right to speech doesn’t
protect obscenity
but the quest for truth,
The right to free speech was placed next
to the right to free practice of religion because both are a search for truth.
From the beginning humans were made free by our creator,
free so that we could freely choose to love God.
From the beginning humans were made free by our creator,
free so that we could freely choose to love God.
This freedom corresponds with our duty,
To know, love, and serve God—and it is
this duty
which makes us human, and gives us human
dignity!!!
Because of this duty, man can speak of a natural right.
which simply means that no one can morally interfere with
Because of this duty, man can speak of a natural right.
which simply means that no one can morally interfere with
A human’s freedom to do his duty to God
or his neighbor in love,
because that duty is at the core of human dignity.
because that duty is at the core of human dignity.
Freedom of religion, stems not from the
unimportance of religion,
from tolerance, the agreement to agree
to disagree,
but from our duty to seek the Truth,
and the immorality of compelling someone
to accept a “truth”,
which in all honesty, they don’t believe.
You see it makes no sense to talk about “rights”
to things that are not fundamental to
our humanity
to things like health care, or education, or even marriage,
as these things can, and in the history of the world,
have been done without.
to things like health care, or education, or even marriage,
as these things can, and in the history of the world,
have been done without.
But things like Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
things like love, and the pursuit of
truth
these are essential to what it means to
be human
Government can and does limit our
liberty in many ways,
but morally it shouldn’t limit our
freedom
in a way that attacks human dignity, because
to do so
places the state at war with not just
you or I, but with humanity.
I meditate on freedom, on this feast of
Corpus Christi,
Because it is perfect freedom, in the
FACE OF,
state and religious tyranny, that we see
when we look at the Blessed Sacrament.
It is the freedom to love, and to do God’s will come what may.
It is the freedom to love, and to do God’s will come what may.
This freedom is at the heart of the our
Faith, and must be imitated!
It’s for this reason, that today, in the
face of so many
State sponsored attacks on freedom, that
we Catholic’s must stand up.
For the state to prohibit an action
For the state to prohibit an action
that is universally accepted to be wrong
is the states rightful purview,
is the states rightful purview,
but for the state to REQUIRE people of
faith
to violate their conscience, to do
something, support something,
or pay for something that is at best
morally ambiguous,
and at worse morally evil—is wrong!
And puts the state on the wrong side of human
freedom and human dignity!
We used to acknowledge and respect this
in America.
Respecting the right of
conscientious objectors not to fight,
And doctors, nurses,
and pharmacists not to treat people
In ways they believed immoral,
But for some time more and more of our
politicians
Have felt the need to push their
beliefs, their religion,
though granted not a religion based on
the worship of God,
on others, more and more placing them,
and their human dignity,
at odds with the state.
These same politicians use language like
freedom of worship,
rather than the constitutional
terminology of freedom of religion
to push religious people, who desire to
be faithful to the God
who they worship out of the public
sphere.
As people of faith, we cannot let that
happen.
We render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s,
but our Faith requires that we use our
Freedom to put our faith into action.
Over the next few weeks I will be focusing
my homilies
On the various attacks on human freedom,
That sadly are happening right here in
our country.
It’s important to see, as we think about each one,
It’s important to see, as we think about each one,
how each is really about truth,
about a proposition which if true
demands a response in love.
It’s also important to see that in an
area where people disagree about truth,
Not because there is no truth but
because it’s sometimes hard to find
The Government is in no position to
determine truth
Taking away this fundamental duty of the
human person
To seek the truth, and put it into
action.
This is why we have rights, this is why we have freedoms,
This is why we have rights, this is why we have freedoms,
They come from our creator,
and like Christ who offers us His Body
and Blood today
and all the martyrs who shed their blood for the truth,
and all the martyrs who shed their blood for the truth,
we must defend it today.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Seen and Unseen
Homily for the Feast of Pentecost
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
“I believe in one God the Father almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible.”
We say these words every week on Sunday professing our belief in an unseen world. and for centuries this belief was a foregone conclusion to Christians and non-Christians alike. People felt in their heart a longing, a longing for the perfect, a longing for stability, a longing for the unchangeable and eternal, and this longing they reasoned, suggested that there was something in us and in the world, that could not be seen or touched or tasted but which would satisfy the deepest longings of the Human heart.
Today, distracted by so much busy-ness, by so many material marvels that entertain us and keep us occupied, that help us forget the reality of death and suffering, people often forget that desire, that yearning, for something better than this world. Even many Christians, have a backwards understanding of heaven, thinking that it is just a re-hashing of this world, except that no one will suffer, and everyone will be a millionaire. Often it takes the reality of suffering and sacrifice, to remind us again, that our heart longs for something better than this passing world. AND… This blindness is not a new thing. Jesus speaks of it over and over again in the scriptures. Jesus cures the blind so often in the Gospels not because there are an inordinate number blind Jews in Israel, but because He is speaking to all mankind, telling us all that there is so much more to be seen and thought of than just what our eyes can see.
Faith is difficult, because it demands that we who are blind Act as if we can see. Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine yourself walking now down Main Street, here in Wareham, with all the construction going on. Scary isn’t it. Just because you can’t see the holes in the side walk and the men working, and the heavy equipment, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
In the Gospel of John, our Lord says, “These words are Spirit and Truth and the Spirit gives life” Our Lord was talking on that day about the Eucharist, The gift of Jesus’ flesh and blood, which He says IS TRUE FOOD AND TRUE DRINK! Like the whole of our faith, this teaching then and now is difficult! Back then many of those following Jesus abandoned Him, because He taught this absurd notion that “We must Eat His Flesh and Drink His Blood.” And He was given every opportunity to clarify Himself to say no, I was just kidding, I was meant it symbolically, But He didn’t, in fact He re-enforced the REALITY of the Eucharist By saying, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you shall not have life within you.”
As Catholics we TRULY BELIEVE that HE IS REALLY PRESENT That the bread and wine, which we offer God, Is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, So that after the prayer of Consecration, when the priest lifts First the body, and then the blood, of the Lord, Although it may look like bread, there is no bread there, but TRULY it is His flesh, and although the chalice make look like its filled with simple wine, in truth it is His blood. The Great Angelic Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, called this mystery Transubstantiation. Saying that although the accidents were those of bread and wine the substance was His body and blood. Another way of saying this is that the appearance is that of bread and wine, while the reality is His body and blood.
Initially that is a hard concept to grasp, isn’t it, since usually things are what they seem to be. But then again, all you need to do is look in your car’s mirrors and read: “objects in the mirror are closer than they appear to be,” to realize this. Or think of the Sun and Moon. During the course of the day it often appears as if the Sun moves across the sky, and at night as we drive home in our car I am sure we have all pondered why the moon seems to follow our car. When we look up at that same night sky it appears as if we are seeing stars and planets and galaxies. When in reality, astronomers will tell us, that that light took thousands and perhaps even millions of years to get here, and today that heavenly body, might no longer be there.
I am sure all of us have heard and even used the phrase “things are not what they appear to be,” and that is what our Faith is about, Spirit and Truth, which gives life! Our faith is full of unseen realities: At the core of it is a belief in the unseen God. A belief that He is actually a Trinity of persons A belief that He loves us, and became Man. A belief in the reality of Jesus’ miracles, And the reality of His Sacrifice, A belief in His resurrection and in the promise of Heaven, and danger of Hell. As St. Thomas wrote in His famous song of Eucharistic praise: “Faith for all defects supplying, when the feeble senses fail.” It is the Spirit that gives life! And today Jesus send’s His Spirit on the Church to teach us all things, and help us see, if only in a partial way, for now, the reality of the unseen world.
The Spirit gives us blind sinners the courage to live as if we could see. and challenges us to act on realities unseen, but very real. It is the Spirit that gives us the strength, to fight our passions, Living according to God’s law, focused on going to heaven, Rather than on the pleasures of this world, which seem so good, so natural for us to seek. It is the Spirit that gives us the ability even to sacrifice everything With Christ on the Cross, for the things of Heaven. The Spirit that allows us to see the perfection of Christ’s Church Despite the imperfection of its Priests, religious, and laity. and to see the beauty of our neighbors even through the camouflage of their sins And on this weekend, when so many of our second graders will make their first holy communion it is the Spirit which gives us the ability to kneel in adoration before the Eucharist aware that what looks like bread, is actually the Body of the Lord, which has been Sacrifice, and what looks like wine, is actually His Blood. Whether we open our mouth to be fed by the Lord like a little child is fed by a loving parent. Or we raise our hands, brought together to make a throne for us to receive the king of the world, The Spirit allows us to see that Jesus is giving Himself to us, so that we can be strengthened to give ourselves for others! To live in this world, but not to be of it!
Eucharistic devotion is so important to the life of a Christian because in receiving the Lord and adoring Him, a little piece of that unseen world, the reality that is more real than what we can see is incorporated into our hearts. We receive Him so that we can see how much we have to be thankful for so that we can understand what He gave to us and now asks of us, and so that He can remain with us always, even unto the end of the age. Today we have the opportunity to receive the Lord, if our hearts are free from all sin, and open to His goodness. But it is important to remember that receiving Him is not enough. St. Paul warns against those who receive Him unworthily, with no desire to see the spiritual reality and truth, and be transformed by it. If we would see, we must ask the Holy Spirit to fall down upon us: by regularly confessing our sins, by living lives of prayer, and by acting as if we can see. One of the most powerful ways of doing this is Eucharistic Adoration, When we take some time out of our busy day, out of the material world To focus on the unseen world.
In two weeks time the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, often called Corpus Christi. In honor of the Feast day there will be many different events and devotions going on in our Parish and around the Diocese. Particularly, here at St. Patrick’s we will celebrate our annual forty hour devotion, as the Blessed Sacrament remains exposed for Adoration for 40 hours straight on the Altar of our Church. The unseen reality of Jesus’ love and gift for us will be here to be adored all day and all night, So that no one will have an excuse that they were too busy. Today I would challenge all of you hear to consider Individually or as a family spending an hour of Eucharistic Adoration with the Lord, to help you deepen the spirits gift of sight which is poured upon the Church each Pentecost.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
“I believe in one God the Father almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible.”
We say these words every week on Sunday professing our belief in an unseen world. and for centuries this belief was a foregone conclusion to Christians and non-Christians alike. People felt in their heart a longing, a longing for the perfect, a longing for stability, a longing for the unchangeable and eternal, and this longing they reasoned, suggested that there was something in us and in the world, that could not be seen or touched or tasted but which would satisfy the deepest longings of the Human heart.
Today, distracted by so much busy-ness, by so many material marvels that entertain us and keep us occupied, that help us forget the reality of death and suffering, people often forget that desire, that yearning, for something better than this world. Even many Christians, have a backwards understanding of heaven, thinking that it is just a re-hashing of this world, except that no one will suffer, and everyone will be a millionaire. Often it takes the reality of suffering and sacrifice, to remind us again, that our heart longs for something better than this passing world. AND… This blindness is not a new thing. Jesus speaks of it over and over again in the scriptures. Jesus cures the blind so often in the Gospels not because there are an inordinate number blind Jews in Israel, but because He is speaking to all mankind, telling us all that there is so much more to be seen and thought of than just what our eyes can see.
Faith is difficult, because it demands that we who are blind Act as if we can see. Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine yourself walking now down Main Street, here in Wareham, with all the construction going on. Scary isn’t it. Just because you can’t see the holes in the side walk and the men working, and the heavy equipment, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
In the Gospel of John, our Lord says, “These words are Spirit and Truth and the Spirit gives life” Our Lord was talking on that day about the Eucharist, The gift of Jesus’ flesh and blood, which He says IS TRUE FOOD AND TRUE DRINK! Like the whole of our faith, this teaching then and now is difficult! Back then many of those following Jesus abandoned Him, because He taught this absurd notion that “We must Eat His Flesh and Drink His Blood.” And He was given every opportunity to clarify Himself to say no, I was just kidding, I was meant it symbolically, But He didn’t, in fact He re-enforced the REALITY of the Eucharist By saying, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you shall not have life within you.”
As Catholics we TRULY BELIEVE that HE IS REALLY PRESENT That the bread and wine, which we offer God, Is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, So that after the prayer of Consecration, when the priest lifts First the body, and then the blood, of the Lord, Although it may look like bread, there is no bread there, but TRULY it is His flesh, and although the chalice make look like its filled with simple wine, in truth it is His blood. The Great Angelic Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, called this mystery Transubstantiation. Saying that although the accidents were those of bread and wine the substance was His body and blood. Another way of saying this is that the appearance is that of bread and wine, while the reality is His body and blood.
Initially that is a hard concept to grasp, isn’t it, since usually things are what they seem to be. But then again, all you need to do is look in your car’s mirrors and read: “objects in the mirror are closer than they appear to be,” to realize this. Or think of the Sun and Moon. During the course of the day it often appears as if the Sun moves across the sky, and at night as we drive home in our car I am sure we have all pondered why the moon seems to follow our car. When we look up at that same night sky it appears as if we are seeing stars and planets and galaxies. When in reality, astronomers will tell us, that that light took thousands and perhaps even millions of years to get here, and today that heavenly body, might no longer be there.
I am sure all of us have heard and even used the phrase “things are not what they appear to be,” and that is what our Faith is about, Spirit and Truth, which gives life! Our faith is full of unseen realities: At the core of it is a belief in the unseen God. A belief that He is actually a Trinity of persons A belief that He loves us, and became Man. A belief in the reality of Jesus’ miracles, And the reality of His Sacrifice, A belief in His resurrection and in the promise of Heaven, and danger of Hell. As St. Thomas wrote in His famous song of Eucharistic praise: “Faith for all defects supplying, when the feeble senses fail.” It is the Spirit that gives life! And today Jesus send’s His Spirit on the Church to teach us all things, and help us see, if only in a partial way, for now, the reality of the unseen world.
The Spirit gives us blind sinners the courage to live as if we could see. and challenges us to act on realities unseen, but very real. It is the Spirit that gives us the strength, to fight our passions, Living according to God’s law, focused on going to heaven, Rather than on the pleasures of this world, which seem so good, so natural for us to seek. It is the Spirit that gives us the ability even to sacrifice everything With Christ on the Cross, for the things of Heaven. The Spirit that allows us to see the perfection of Christ’s Church Despite the imperfection of its Priests, religious, and laity. and to see the beauty of our neighbors even through the camouflage of their sins And on this weekend, when so many of our second graders will make their first holy communion it is the Spirit which gives us the ability to kneel in adoration before the Eucharist aware that what looks like bread, is actually the Body of the Lord, which has been Sacrifice, and what looks like wine, is actually His Blood. Whether we open our mouth to be fed by the Lord like a little child is fed by a loving parent. Or we raise our hands, brought together to make a throne for us to receive the king of the world, The Spirit allows us to see that Jesus is giving Himself to us, so that we can be strengthened to give ourselves for others! To live in this world, but not to be of it!
Eucharistic devotion is so important to the life of a Christian because in receiving the Lord and adoring Him, a little piece of that unseen world, the reality that is more real than what we can see is incorporated into our hearts. We receive Him so that we can see how much we have to be thankful for so that we can understand what He gave to us and now asks of us, and so that He can remain with us always, even unto the end of the age. Today we have the opportunity to receive the Lord, if our hearts are free from all sin, and open to His goodness. But it is important to remember that receiving Him is not enough. St. Paul warns against those who receive Him unworthily, with no desire to see the spiritual reality and truth, and be transformed by it. If we would see, we must ask the Holy Spirit to fall down upon us: by regularly confessing our sins, by living lives of prayer, and by acting as if we can see. One of the most powerful ways of doing this is Eucharistic Adoration, When we take some time out of our busy day, out of the material world To focus on the unseen world.
In two weeks time the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, often called Corpus Christi. In honor of the Feast day there will be many different events and devotions going on in our Parish and around the Diocese. Particularly, here at St. Patrick’s we will celebrate our annual forty hour devotion, as the Blessed Sacrament remains exposed for Adoration for 40 hours straight on the Altar of our Church. The unseen reality of Jesus’ love and gift for us will be here to be adored all day and all night, So that no one will have an excuse that they were too busy. Today I would challenge all of you hear to consider Individually or as a family spending an hour of Eucharistic Adoration with the Lord, to help you deepen the spirits gift of sight which is poured upon the Church each Pentecost.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Hard Truth
Homosexual Love is called Friendship
A Homily for the Feast of Ascension of the Lord
Given by Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
At St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
On this Feast of the Ascension, the Gospel reminds us of the requirements of Love: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Love requires us to speak, and not remain silent even when the Gospel message, the good news that death to the world begets a new beginning of Eternal life, is difficult.
Love requires us to speak because Faith is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.
And so today, I feel compelled by the Lord to speak to you about a difficult topic.
One that raises many tempers because it touches the heart of who we are, why we were created, and how we live.
…
Mr. Charles Darwin, once noted that species seemed to evolve, and he theorized that the success of one genetic line, was due to survival of the fittest, the best genes.
Darwin’s theory of evolution, which in a more nuanced form remains today more or less widely accepted as the best explanation of the evidence gathered by biological science, reminds us of a biological truth, that CORRISPONDS with a truth of our FAITH but IS NOT DEPENDANT ON FAITH.
Namely that the propagation of our species, procreation, the command that the Bible renders “be fruitful and multiply” in the first pages of the book of Genesis is a SCIENTIFICLY verifiable EVOLUTIONARY IMMPERITIVE.
What we call a NATURAL LAW, that anyone: Hindu, Buddhist, Protestant, Atheist, or Agnostic, can see in nature, and accept without reference to God’s Revelation, the Church, or the Bible.
Historically, faiths, societies, and legal orders have PRIVELEDGED the relationship between a man and a woman, BECAUSE offspring, children, are good not just for the propagation of the species, or a particular family line, but also for society.
Demographers note that every stable society, like a stable building, MUST be at LEAST as large in the foundation as it is at the rooftop.
And what is the foundation or base of the societal structure: the young.
To have a STABLE society there must be at least 2.1 children born to every married couple in a society, for it to remain stable. and children, as the cliché notes, ARE THE FUTURE, so the more of them the better the chances of a bright future.
Both for the sake of society and for the individual, NATURALLY not having children is a PHYSICAL EVIL.
Let’s get that straight, a physical evil, not necessarily a moral evil, what we call a sin.
When a couple is trying to have a child and they can’t that’s a physical evil, they are not guilty of it, it’s not a sin it’s just not good.
To be clear, what I am saying as a celibate priest, is that the choice and promise I made at ordination is not natural— you could even say it’s a physical evil.
Sadly, while many of you can understand and agree that priestly celibacy is not natural
Many of the same people get enraged when the Church teaches that other forms of chosen infertility are not natural.
I chose celibacy, as Jesus suggested in the Gospel of Matthew, “For the sake of the Kingdom” for a supernatural reason to do, what I believe is God’s will, but what is the reason that so many others CHOOSE, and that’s the key word when talking morality: FREE CHOICE; what is the reason people choose behaviors that render them infertile?
…
So, what’s all this got to do with the Feast of the Ascension which the Church celebrates today?
Well the Feast of the Ascension, along with the Feast of the Assumption that we will celebrate in August POINT TO a key truth of our Faith.
They point to the fact, that like Jesus who Ascended this day into Heaven, and Mary who was Assumed and sits at the right hand of the Son, we too, are DESTINED, by virtue of our Baptism, to go to heaven, BODY AND SOUL. We believe, as we will soon profess in the Resurrection of the Body.
And what will we do in Heaven?
Well as St. Paul tells us: “…the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit…”
Food, in St. Paul’s letter to the Roman’s is a analogy for pleasure, disconnected from “righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;” In a word St. Paul is telling us that we are made for Charity or Love, which the opposite of becoming a stumbling block for the sake of pleasure, but always doing what is in the best interest of the other.
Love on earth points us to Love in Heaven, and the Feast of the Ascension reminds us that we need to practice on Earth, what we are meant to do for ever in Heaven
Today the world tells us that loving other people is “affirming them” In whatever they WANT to do, irregardless of the Law of God. But our faith tells us that tolerating evil, is the opposite of love.
The other day there was a little controversy in the news, because a church in a neighboring town DARED to challenge people to change the way they were living, this church DARED to freely speak about our Catholic Faith.
The Church posted a sign in front of the Church that read “Two Men Are Friends not Spouses.”
Sadly this sign provoked outraged, But what was so bad about it?
There was once a day when signs were posted in local business that said despicable things like “Catholics need not apply” and “Whites Only” And yet in their day these signs did not cause the outrage that this sign did.
Let’s think for a minute what the sign meant: “Two Men Are Friends not Spouses.”
Obviously is a rebut to the notion of “Gay Marriage,” And our president’s recent endorsement of it. But more importantly it is a statement about the natural law, and love.
First of all it says I love you my brother or sister enough to challenge them because I care about their soul. The truth sets us free, and the truth is that marriage is about the good of procreation and the propagation of the species.
In Heaven, Jesus tells us, that despite the fact that we will have bodies, there will be no marriage.
“For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven,” we read in Matthew’s Gospel.
LOVE does not require marriage; the perfection of Love, is not marriage, but what many married people tell me they long for: true friendship.
Two men, who love each other, are called friends not spouses, Because while the natural good of procreation draws a man and a woman together in that sacred bond in this life, that bond is not possible for two men or two women, AND not necessary for Love, Happiness, or Holiness. The Church is against fornication: in the form of homosexual marriage, but also pre-marital relations and contraception not because the POPE said so. We are against these things, because they are not loving.
Love entails doing what’s good for the other, for your beloved, and nature and Mr. Darwin tells us that procreation is the good for which we marry.
Where procreation is not possible, LOVE still is, friendship still is, and friendship with each other and with God is the definition of the Love we hope to experience forever in Heaven.
Catholic’s don’t hate Homosexuals, we love them, and because of this we desire them to be happy, we profess the truth, that marriage, and the marital act, is only good, only loving, when it is open to the possibility of new life. We deny homosexual “Marriage” because it is contrary to the good of the individual and society And therefore not loving. But LOVE and fulfillment is possible even for those who suffer from same sex attractions, just as it is for me, and countless men and women who have chose to be celibate for the sake of the kingdom.
The Church challenges all these to Love like the Angels, and to remember that as Jesus ascended into Heaven, we are made for Heavenly Happiness not merely for Earthly pleasure.
A Homily for the Feast of Ascension of the Lord
Given by Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
At St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
On this Feast of the Ascension, the Gospel reminds us of the requirements of Love: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Love requires us to speak, and not remain silent even when the Gospel message, the good news that death to the world begets a new beginning of Eternal life, is difficult.
Love requires us to speak because Faith is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.
And so today, I feel compelled by the Lord to speak to you about a difficult topic.
One that raises many tempers because it touches the heart of who we are, why we were created, and how we live.
…
Mr. Charles Darwin, once noted that species seemed to evolve, and he theorized that the success of one genetic line, was due to survival of the fittest, the best genes.
Darwin’s theory of evolution, which in a more nuanced form remains today more or less widely accepted as the best explanation of the evidence gathered by biological science, reminds us of a biological truth, that CORRISPONDS with a truth of our FAITH but IS NOT DEPENDANT ON FAITH.
Namely that the propagation of our species, procreation, the command that the Bible renders “be fruitful and multiply” in the first pages of the book of Genesis is a SCIENTIFICLY verifiable EVOLUTIONARY IMMPERITIVE.
What we call a NATURAL LAW, that anyone: Hindu, Buddhist, Protestant, Atheist, or Agnostic, can see in nature, and accept without reference to God’s Revelation, the Church, or the Bible.
Historically, faiths, societies, and legal orders have PRIVELEDGED the relationship between a man and a woman, BECAUSE offspring, children, are good not just for the propagation of the species, or a particular family line, but also for society.
Demographers note that every stable society, like a stable building, MUST be at LEAST as large in the foundation as it is at the rooftop.
And what is the foundation or base of the societal structure: the young.
To have a STABLE society there must be at least 2.1 children born to every married couple in a society, for it to remain stable. and children, as the cliché notes, ARE THE FUTURE, so the more of them the better the chances of a bright future.
Both for the sake of society and for the individual, NATURALLY not having children is a PHYSICAL EVIL.
Let’s get that straight, a physical evil, not necessarily a moral evil, what we call a sin.
When a couple is trying to have a child and they can’t that’s a physical evil, they are not guilty of it, it’s not a sin it’s just not good.
To be clear, what I am saying as a celibate priest, is that the choice and promise I made at ordination is not natural— you could even say it’s a physical evil.
Sadly, while many of you can understand and agree that priestly celibacy is not natural
Many of the same people get enraged when the Church teaches that other forms of chosen infertility are not natural.
I chose celibacy, as Jesus suggested in the Gospel of Matthew, “For the sake of the Kingdom” for a supernatural reason to do, what I believe is God’s will, but what is the reason that so many others CHOOSE, and that’s the key word when talking morality: FREE CHOICE; what is the reason people choose behaviors that render them infertile?
…
So, what’s all this got to do with the Feast of the Ascension which the Church celebrates today?
Well the Feast of the Ascension, along with the Feast of the Assumption that we will celebrate in August POINT TO a key truth of our Faith.
They point to the fact, that like Jesus who Ascended this day into Heaven, and Mary who was Assumed and sits at the right hand of the Son, we too, are DESTINED, by virtue of our Baptism, to go to heaven, BODY AND SOUL. We believe, as we will soon profess in the Resurrection of the Body.
And what will we do in Heaven?
Well as St. Paul tells us: “…the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit…”
Food, in St. Paul’s letter to the Roman’s is a analogy for pleasure, disconnected from “righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;” In a word St. Paul is telling us that we are made for Charity or Love, which the opposite of becoming a stumbling block for the sake of pleasure, but always doing what is in the best interest of the other.
Love on earth points us to Love in Heaven, and the Feast of the Ascension reminds us that we need to practice on Earth, what we are meant to do for ever in Heaven
Today the world tells us that loving other people is “affirming them” In whatever they WANT to do, irregardless of the Law of God. But our faith tells us that tolerating evil, is the opposite of love.
The other day there was a little controversy in the news, because a church in a neighboring town DARED to challenge people to change the way they were living, this church DARED to freely speak about our Catholic Faith.
The Church posted a sign in front of the Church that read “Two Men Are Friends not Spouses.”
Sadly this sign provoked outraged, But what was so bad about it?
There was once a day when signs were posted in local business that said despicable things like “Catholics need not apply” and “Whites Only” And yet in their day these signs did not cause the outrage that this sign did.
Let’s think for a minute what the sign meant: “Two Men Are Friends not Spouses.”
Obviously is a rebut to the notion of “Gay Marriage,” And our president’s recent endorsement of it. But more importantly it is a statement about the natural law, and love.
First of all it says I love you my brother or sister enough to challenge them because I care about their soul. The truth sets us free, and the truth is that marriage is about the good of procreation and the propagation of the species.
In Heaven, Jesus tells us, that despite the fact that we will have bodies, there will be no marriage.
“For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven,” we read in Matthew’s Gospel.
LOVE does not require marriage; the perfection of Love, is not marriage, but what many married people tell me they long for: true friendship.
Two men, who love each other, are called friends not spouses, Because while the natural good of procreation draws a man and a woman together in that sacred bond in this life, that bond is not possible for two men or two women, AND not necessary for Love, Happiness, or Holiness. The Church is against fornication: in the form of homosexual marriage, but also pre-marital relations and contraception not because the POPE said so. We are against these things, because they are not loving.
Love entails doing what’s good for the other, for your beloved, and nature and Mr. Darwin tells us that procreation is the good for which we marry.
Where procreation is not possible, LOVE still is, friendship still is, and friendship with each other and with God is the definition of the Love we hope to experience forever in Heaven.
Catholic’s don’t hate Homosexuals, we love them, and because of this we desire them to be happy, we profess the truth, that marriage, and the marital act, is only good, only loving, when it is open to the possibility of new life. We deny homosexual “Marriage” because it is contrary to the good of the individual and society And therefore not loving. But LOVE and fulfillment is possible even for those who suffer from same sex attractions, just as it is for me, and countless men and women who have chose to be celibate for the sake of the kingdom.
The Church challenges all these to Love like the Angels, and to remember that as Jesus ascended into Heaven, we are made for Heavenly Happiness not merely for Earthly pleasure.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Hearing God
From a talk given to the Koinonia Vocation Group at Bishop Stang
I often get the question:
on Luke 24:1-32
By Rev. Ronnie P. Floyd
By Rev. Ronnie P. Floyd
I often get the question:
Does God really talk to us? Can we really hear God's voice?
Many Christians, particularly young Christians doubt
that if we talk to God in prayer He will talk back to us.
Perhaps you have talked and talked to God, at times,
and you feel as if you have never gotten a response:
about God's vocation and plan for you,
about your requests
about your questions
about why he allows people you love to suffer
Maybe you would just like him to say: "hey how you doing"
to let you know you're not crazy
for taking time to talk to God and practice your Faith,
when the world seems to be telling you are...
The Problem
The problem with talking with God
is that His response is often lost in translation.
You've all studied foreign languages;
have you ever decided to take your language skills out for a spin?
And tried to talk with an actual foreign speaker,
Bonjour m'amie comment t'allez vous ma cher...
And gotten back in response a garble of jiberish
that sounds like radio static?
Speaking of radio static....
did you know that much of the static we hear on the radio
is actually human voices and signals that we are just not tuning into properly or that are too weak for us to understand.
Like talking to a foreigner or tuning into the radio
it takes time and effort to hear voices from far away.
We need to focus on what is being said, and tune out other noise.
Sometime we just need to listen more carefully
or become attune to how something is being said.
And even when you understand the basics of what they are saying
you need to understand what they are saying means.
We had a professor in Rome who used to regularly say
"e un pezzo di torta..." it's a piece of cake
To which the actual Italian speakers would scratch their head wondering, what does the Trinity have to do with cake?
Our God is not far away or a foreigner,
but one of the key principles of theology is that
God is always so much greater than what we think He is.
God is not like us, in fact He is not like anything
we will ever experience in His creation!!!
And since we learn from experience
and think using these learned ideas
it is hard for God to communicate with us,
because it's hard for us to understand God.
In the Garden of Eden we are told
God walked with Adam and Eve,
somehow making His presence
co-natural with their understanding.
But because of sin that's not the case any more for us.
Movies like Oh God, and Evan Almighty,
demonstrate our human desire
for God to just talk to us man to man.
And of course He tried that in the incarnation.
The problem then and now being that
you can ignore your fellow man, as many ignored Jesus.
How to Hear from God
So how can he get our attention?
Wouldn't it be great if God decided to use billboards to talk to us? Just think, we could drive down the road and God
would simply choose one of a zillion billboards
to get our attention.
On the other hand, he could use something more subtle.
Like a gentle rap on the side of the head
whenever we veer off the course.
Yup, there's a thought. God smacking people upside the head whenever they don't listen.
The problem is I'm afraid we'd all be walking around in a daze from all the repetitive brain trauma.
Hearing from God is a learned skill.
Of course, you could be one of the lucky ones like Moses,
who was walking up the mountain, minding his own business, when he stumbled upon the burning bush.
Sadly although God talks to lots of people in spectacular and seemingly overt ways in the Bible,
the bible is the history of thousands of years,
and in all that time God spoke to people in these ways
only a handful of times.
Most of us don't have those kinds of encounters so we find ourselves looking for skills to help us hear from God.
But the fact of the matter is that God speaks to us
in all these ways and many more on a daily basis,
if only we pay attention and listen to him.
Like that piece of cake my professor used to talk about,
God try's to speak to us with images and symbols that we understand and can interpret.
When I was 16 praying about my vocation
God sent me a message in a little bundle of flesh.
Holding my infant nephew for the first time in a hospital
and marveling at the miracle of life,
for the first time I began to think of my vocation
not just in terms of the job I would do, but who I was called to be.
At that moment I was sure I was called to be a father,
and I was...I just needed to listen a little bit more
it took me another 8 years to understand that there is more than one type of father.
In billboards, on TV, in movies, on the Radio, in Books, in other people, in life events,
God is sending us a message through symbols and images
that we can understand, if we stop and think about them in prayer!
So how can you tell if God is Talking to you?
Here are some common ways God talks to us:
• His Word--In order to understand a person we need to know something about their character and history.
The more we understand the story of who someone is
the more we understand what they say
and why they are saying it.
To actually "hear" from God we have to know who God is, and the way he does things, and who we are to God.
The Bible goes into a lot of detail about how you can expect God to react and what kinds of expectations he has for us,
• Other People--In Genesis God creates man in His Image and Likeness, and so if we want to get to know God we can look at his picture in other people. And if Jesus says in the Gospel whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers you do for me, then logically when we listen to our neighbors we listen to God.
Many times God will use other people to speak directly to us or try to get through to us.
It's possible for God to use anyone at any time, but speaks particularly clearly in those who are striving to do His will.
And let's not forget that listening to other people includes things like the arts and culture, which are after all just alternative means of communication.
I love movies, particularly very artsy and symbolic movies. people often think I am weird when I tell them I hear God talking to me in movies. But why not? And I am not just talking about overtly Christian movies.
Sure, God is speaking to us all about courage and sin in a movie or book like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings,
but why can't he also speak to us through Stephen King, or Shakespeare, or even someone as antiCatholic as Dan Brown.
Our Circumstances--Sometimes the only way God can teach us something is to allow circumstances in our life to lead us to and through the very thing we need to discover.
Peter knew he was a sinner from the start of the Gospel, but he needed to experience his weakness, and how much he needed the Grace of God, in order to internalize that message, and so Jesus said "Verily I say to you Peter, before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times."
God doesn't want us to sin, but if we are to accept what St. Paul teaches: "that all things work for God for those who love God," then even in the experience of sinning God can speak to us.
I am not of course encouraging you to sin to hear God's voice, since the act of sinning is as much a distraction from God as an opportunity to hear Him
• The Still Small Voice--although our God is not in the habit of wacking us upside our head when we get off the path, our conscience attempts to do just that and is the small voice of God speaking to us in our heart.
As St. Ignatius explains when we are doing God's will we should have peace in our heart.
Whenever we're considering something and we don't have peace about it, it's a very good idea to stop and carefully look at the options. There's a reason you don't feel peace about it.
• The Actual Voice--Sometimes in our dreams or even occasionally in ever day life we're able to actually "hear" something that sounds to us like an audible voice.
Pay attention to those occasions because it is very likely God trying to tell you something important.
Overall, when God Talks, Shut Up and Listen!
Jesus is here, remaining with us,
but often we are so afraid, so uncomfortable,
with just being with Him, in His presence.
It all starts here, at the Altar, in the Eucharist,
through the Word of God, and in Prayer.
Here we begin to understand the structure of reality,
and see and understand God's constant conversation with us,
if we believe and are open to it.
Finally like the women who first received the message of the Resurrection at the tomb, don't be surprised or afraid
if other people, and even other Catholics think you are crazy
for hearing the voice of God.
It is always easier, in terms of effort and comfort,
not to hear Him! And that's why many don't...
Many Christians, particularly young Christians doubt
that if we talk to God in prayer He will talk back to us.
Perhaps you have talked and talked to God, at times,
and you feel as if you have never gotten a response:
about God's vocation and plan for you,
about your requests
about your questions
about why he allows people you love to suffer
Maybe you would just like him to say: "hey how you doing"
to let you know you're not crazy
for taking time to talk to God and practice your Faith,
when the world seems to be telling you are...
The Problem
The problem with talking with God
is that His response is often lost in translation.
You've all studied foreign languages;
have you ever decided to take your language skills out for a spin?
And tried to talk with an actual foreign speaker,
Bonjour m'amie comment t'allez vous ma cher...
And gotten back in response a garble of jiberish
that sounds like radio static?
Speaking of radio static....
did you know that much of the static we hear on the radio
is actually human voices and signals that we are just not tuning into properly or that are too weak for us to understand.
Like talking to a foreigner or tuning into the radio
it takes time and effort to hear voices from far away.
We need to focus on what is being said, and tune out other noise.
Sometime we just need to listen more carefully
or become attune to how something is being said.
And even when you understand the basics of what they are saying
you need to understand what they are saying means.
We had a professor in Rome who used to regularly say
"e un pezzo di torta..." it's a piece of cake
To which the actual Italian speakers would scratch their head wondering, what does the Trinity have to do with cake?
Our God is not far away or a foreigner,
but one of the key principles of theology is that
God is always so much greater than what we think He is.
God is not like us, in fact He is not like anything
we will ever experience in His creation!!!
And since we learn from experience
and think using these learned ideas
it is hard for God to communicate with us,
because it's hard for us to understand God.
In the Garden of Eden we are told
God walked with Adam and Eve,
somehow making His presence
co-natural with their understanding.
But because of sin that's not the case any more for us.
Movies like Oh God, and Evan Almighty,
demonstrate our human desire
for God to just talk to us man to man.
And of course He tried that in the incarnation.
The problem then and now being that
you can ignore your fellow man, as many ignored Jesus.
How to Hear from God
So how can he get our attention?
Wouldn't it be great if God decided to use billboards to talk to us? Just think, we could drive down the road and God
would simply choose one of a zillion billboards
to get our attention.
On the other hand, he could use something more subtle.
Like a gentle rap on the side of the head
whenever we veer off the course.
Yup, there's a thought. God smacking people upside the head whenever they don't listen.
The problem is I'm afraid we'd all be walking around in a daze from all the repetitive brain trauma.
Hearing from God is a learned skill.
Of course, you could be one of the lucky ones like Moses,
who was walking up the mountain, minding his own business, when he stumbled upon the burning bush.
Sadly although God talks to lots of people in spectacular and seemingly overt ways in the Bible,
the bible is the history of thousands of years,
and in all that time God spoke to people in these ways
only a handful of times.
Most of us don't have those kinds of encounters so we find ourselves looking for skills to help us hear from God.
But the fact of the matter is that God speaks to us
in all these ways and many more on a daily basis,
if only we pay attention and listen to him.
Like that piece of cake my professor used to talk about,
God try's to speak to us with images and symbols that we understand and can interpret.
When I was 16 praying about my vocation
God sent me a message in a little bundle of flesh.
Holding my infant nephew for the first time in a hospital
and marveling at the miracle of life,
for the first time I began to think of my vocation
not just in terms of the job I would do, but who I was called to be.
At that moment I was sure I was called to be a father,
and I was...I just needed to listen a little bit more
it took me another 8 years to understand that there is more than one type of father.
In billboards, on TV, in movies, on the Radio, in Books, in other people, in life events,
God is sending us a message through symbols and images
that we can understand, if we stop and think about them in prayer!
So how can you tell if God is Talking to you?
Here are some common ways God talks to us:
• His Word--In order to understand a person we need to know something about their character and history.
The more we understand the story of who someone is
the more we understand what they say
and why they are saying it.
To actually "hear" from God we have to know who God is, and the way he does things, and who we are to God.
The Bible goes into a lot of detail about how you can expect God to react and what kinds of expectations he has for us,
• Other People--In Genesis God creates man in His Image and Likeness, and so if we want to get to know God we can look at his picture in other people. And if Jesus says in the Gospel whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers you do for me, then logically when we listen to our neighbors we listen to God.
Many times God will use other people to speak directly to us or try to get through to us.
It's possible for God to use anyone at any time, but speaks particularly clearly in those who are striving to do His will.
And let's not forget that listening to other people includes things like the arts and culture, which are after all just alternative means of communication.
I love movies, particularly very artsy and symbolic movies. people often think I am weird when I tell them I hear God talking to me in movies. But why not? And I am not just talking about overtly Christian movies.
Sure, God is speaking to us all about courage and sin in a movie or book like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings,
but why can't he also speak to us through Stephen King, or Shakespeare, or even someone as antiCatholic as Dan Brown.
Our Circumstances--Sometimes the only way God can teach us something is to allow circumstances in our life to lead us to and through the very thing we need to discover.
Peter knew he was a sinner from the start of the Gospel, but he needed to experience his weakness, and how much he needed the Grace of God, in order to internalize that message, and so Jesus said "Verily I say to you Peter, before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times."
God doesn't want us to sin, but if we are to accept what St. Paul teaches: "that all things work for God for those who love God," then even in the experience of sinning God can speak to us.
I am not of course encouraging you to sin to hear God's voice, since the act of sinning is as much a distraction from God as an opportunity to hear Him
• The Still Small Voice--although our God is not in the habit of wacking us upside our head when we get off the path, our conscience attempts to do just that and is the small voice of God speaking to us in our heart.
As St. Ignatius explains when we are doing God's will we should have peace in our heart.
Whenever we're considering something and we don't have peace about it, it's a very good idea to stop and carefully look at the options. There's a reason you don't feel peace about it.
• The Actual Voice--Sometimes in our dreams or even occasionally in ever day life we're able to actually "hear" something that sounds to us like an audible voice.
Pay attention to those occasions because it is very likely God trying to tell you something important.
Overall, when God Talks, Shut Up and Listen!
Jesus is here, remaining with us,
but often we are so afraid, so uncomfortable,
with just being with Him, in His presence.
It all starts here, at the Altar, in the Eucharist,
through the Word of God, and in Prayer.
Here we begin to understand the structure of reality,
and see and understand God's constant conversation with us,
if we believe and are open to it.
Finally like the women who first received the message of the Resurrection at the tomb, don't be surprised or afraid
if other people, and even other Catholics think you are crazy
for hearing the voice of God.
It is always easier, in terms of effort and comfort,
not to hear Him! And that's why many don't...
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