The Apostles - A Book Review

I finally finished "The Apostles". It's an awesome book that I recommend for everyone to read. It is written in a way that is very easy to read, yet it is filled with great insight and interesting details. While it is not groundbreaking and does not introduce anything new, unlike so many modern works, it introduces traditional teaching about the apostles and the early church in a simple way without being watered down.

Here is a quote which deserves to be repeated over and over again.

The saints have not 'fallen from Heaven'. They are people like us, who also have complicated problems.
Holiness does not consist of never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again, and, especially for reconciliation and forgiveness.

An even greater passage appears in the ninth chapter "Peter the Apostle". Pope Benedict explains the subtle message behind John 21:15. That blew me away as I read the page over and over. I'll make you read the book for that one, though. Let me just say that much is lost in the translation we hear at Mass and I now feel cheated because of it. I hope that someday I will hear a homily based on the real text.

An Apt Reflection

Since I posted about the murder of Fr. Ragheed and his three subdeacons, I have been unable to get them out of my mind and my prayers. In particular the image of them remaining in the street because everyone was too afraid to remove the bodies.

I attended the noon Mass at the Cathedral and the first reading seemed so appropriate:

Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8

I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life
on the paths of truth and righteousness.
I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people
who had been deported with me to Nineveh, in Assyria.

On our festival of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks,
a fine dinner was prepared for me, and I reclined to eat.
The table was set for me,
and when many different dishes were placed before me,
I said to my son Tobiah: “My son,
go out and try to find a poor man
from among our kinsmen exiled here in Nineveh.
If he is a sincere worshiper of God, bring him back with you,
so that he can share this meal with me.
Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back.”

Tobiah went out to look for some poor kinsman of ours.
When he returned he exclaimed, “Father!”
I said to him, “What is it, son?”
He answered, “Father, one of our people has been murdered!
His body lies in the market place where he was just strangled!”
I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner untouched;
and I carried the dead man from the street
and put him in one of the rooms,
so that I might bury him after sunset.
Returning to my own quarters, I washed myself
and ate my food in sorrow.
I was reminded of the oracle
pronounced by the prophet Amos against Bethel:

“All your festivals shall be turned into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation.”

And I wept.
Then at sunset I went out, dug a grave, and buried him.

The neighbors mocked me, saying to one another:
“He is still not afraid!
Once before he was hunted down for execution
because of this very thing;
yet now that he has scarcely escaped,
here he is again burying the dead!”

While I am sure Biblical scholars more skilled than I will tell the actual meaning of this passage, I want to reflect on it in this light. May the Christians of Iraq follow the example of Tobit and continue in their faith despite the repercussions they may face.

Sandro Magister has a great post on the plight of Iraqi Christians. Read it here.

Is Your Prayer a One Way Street?

Cardinal Rigali's reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent focuses on listening to God in prayer.

A Blessed Holy Day and a Wonderful Anniversary

Today is both the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican Council II.

I will begin by writing about the Holy Day. It is a day which, unfortunately, many people are confused by. The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary being conceived without original sin. It is often confused with the Virgin Birth or the Annunciation, both of which are about the birth and conception of Jesus. I think the reason for the confusion is that the readings at Mass tell the story of the Annunciation. The conception of Mary is not recorded in the Bible. That story come to us in the apocryphal Protoevangel or "Infancy Narrative" of James.
While many the Mass obligation has been circumstantially lifted on many Holy Days, the obligation of the Immaculate Conception remains. So, even if the feast falls on a Saturday or Monday it is a day of obligation.

Now, I will turn to the Second Vatican Council. Forty years have passed since the closing Mass of the council. Many Catholics today don't remember a time when the Tridentine Mass was heard and most young Catholics don't realize that there was ever a time when females couldn't be altar servers.
Whether the Church is better off now is debatable. I believe that Vatican II made great improvements in the Church, but the work is still not complete. Some changes were good, others not so good. We still have a lot of work to do. I pray that with the leadership of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that we will make great strides toward perfection.

Have a Blessed Advent

In our secular society, which prepares for Christmas before Thanksgiving, or now, even before Halloween, Advent is that beautiful, yet often overlooked season of joyful expectation during which, we prepare for the exultant joy of Christmas season.

It is a time to look forward to the future and to reflect on the past. It is a time to remember that we are called to be a "Voice crying out in the desert" as the scripture says of St. John the Baptist. Is our message good news? It definately should be.

We are called to proclaim good news; to be a light to the world if everything we do.