Year IX, Number 25

At this point we cannot forget the beginning of the "Decalogue", the Ten Commandments, where it is written: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20: 2-3). Here we find the meaning of the third constitutive element of Corpus Christi: kneeling in adoration before the Lord. Adoring the God of Jesus Christ, who out of love made himself bread broken, is the most effective and radical remedy against the idolatry of the past and of the present. Kneeling before the Eucharist is a profession of freedom: those who bow to Jesus cannot and must not prostrate themselves before any earthly authority, however powerful. We Christians kneel only before God or before the Most Blessed Sacrament because we know and believe that the one true God is present in it, the God who created the world and so loved it that he gave his Only Begotten Son (cf. Jn 3: 16). We prostrate ourselves before a God who first bent over man like the Good Samaritan to assist him and restore his life, and who knelt before us to wash our dirty feet. Adoring the Body of Christ, means believing that there, in that piece of Bread, Christ is really there, and gives true sense to life, to the immense universe as to the smallest creature, to the whole of human history as to the most brief existence. Adoration is prayer that prolongs the celebration and Eucharistic communion and in which the soul continues to be nourished: it is nourished with love, truth, peace; it is nourished with hope, because the One before whom we prostrate ourselves does not judge us, does not crush us but liberates and transforms us.

This is why gathering, walking and adoring together fills us with joy. In making our own the adoring attitude of Mary, let us pray for ourselves and for everyone; let us pray for every person who lives in this city, that he or she may know you, O Father and the One whom you sent, Jesus Christ and thus have life in abundance. Amen.

Q. Dear Fr. Anthony,

Is it desirable that a priest have had any experience of being happily in love before entering the seminary? If not, how can he give advice about dating and marriage without knowing how these people feel?

-Gustav

A. Dear Gustav,

A priest needs to have the experience of being happily in love, for sure. We were made for love and no-one is truly alive or truly human until he learns to love.

The problem is, we usually associate or limit love to its expression in the relationship between a man and a woman. However, that is not the sum of our experience of love; we love in a far richer variety of ways.

There is the human love of parents for their children, a gratuitous love that is often the source of much suffering and most always at the cost of sacrifice (the sleepless nights children often cost parents when they are infants, and again when they are teenagers). Constantly they are watching out for what is best for their child, without any thought of how or when or if they will be paid back for what they are giving, that’s love.

There is also the love of the child for his parent. When he is young it is usually a trusting, grateful love that seeks to learn from and correspond to the love he receives from them; when he is older it grows in generosity and sacrifice.

We have the love of a man for his country, which makes him willing to die so that others can be free and safe. And the love of the husband and father who toils and wears himself out to make ends meet for his family. And the love that moves volunteers to give time in hospitals, orphanages, rest homes and camps for the disadvantaged. The heroism of the firefighter and policeman, the doctor and the nurse, who are obviously not in it only for the money, for there are much safer and less nerve-wracking ways to make a living. As long as we are among humans we are surrounded by love. Not always perfect, but it tends to bring out the best in us and makes this world with all its imperfections a wonderful place to live in. It is what brings us hope and joy.

Then there is also a more spiritual love. The love Christ had for us in dying on the Cross, the love that drives the contemplative to “squander” his life in total abandon to his vocation, the love that moves a priest to forego the choice of human love and follow Christ, his love for his neighbor in service and the gift of himself.

Dating and marriage is one path that love takes, but in essence love is one and the same. Loving is giving yourself. The lessons learned in one form of love can help us understand and give ourselves properly in another form or path of love. So when a priest gives advice about love, his own experience of giving himself, of not seeking himself in his own act of love in following his vocation, the experience he has of receiving his parents unconditional love and God’s unconditional love in Christ, is what he uses and applies to help the couples he is guiding as they face the challenges of their own vocation towards married love. The obstacles are always the same, our egotism and selfishness. The path is always the same, giving ourselves.

That is what he transmits to people.

If he can help people to put God at the center of their relationships in dating and marriage there will be many more happy marriages. He can give them very good advice about love if he is constantly renewing and living sincerely his own vocation to love. And the example of his fidelity to his vocation and the sacrifice God has asked of him is generally very reassuring and encouraging for those he directs.

God bless.

-Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

First, I would like to thank you for your wonderful ministry- it has helped me and enlightened me a lot. My question isn't about my vocation- its about other's vocations. I've heard it said that one reason there is a shortage of priests is that people don't answer to their vocation. Well, I know this person who felt that he might of had a vocation to the priesthood. Sadly, his parents discouraged him, and now he is not anywhere near that idea. I feel bad because I know that if it was his vocation, it would be the way he could be happiest. So, is there anything I should do or say when something like this comes up? Perhaps it is to late for him to go down that path now, but what if I hear of someone else who is younger and being discouraged from what they feel is their vocation? Should I say something to the parents like, "Hey, don't discourage your kid from his vocation," or what? Do I talk to the person and ask if they are still considering religious life?

-Danielle

A. Dear Danielle,

It is very sad that your friend was discouraged from the vocation by his parents. This happens all too often, and sometimes the parents do it with the best of intentions, but it is nevertheless a mistake. One thing is to encourage a young man to consider well the step he wants to take, to test him a little to make sure it is a mature decision or to make sure he faces up to his weaknesses or something he may be running away from, for example, and quite another to discourage the thought of the priesthood - sometimes using some pretty heavy emotional blackmail in the process.

I don't see anything wrong with respectfully calling the parents on something like that, it may be a great favor you are doing them and their son. But keep in mind that there are good ways and not-so-good ways of doing something good. You have to know whom you are dealing with as well, since the motives behind such opposition can be many and varied, from their own struggles with the faith, to prejudice against the priesthood, to skewed ideas about the particular seminary their son wants to join, to mention a few examples.

Similarly, I would see nothing wrong in making a suggestion to your friend if he is still at an age and in a situation in which the priesthood is still an option. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and you may be just the instrument God is looking for to speak to his soul.

God bless.

-Fr Anthony

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Lord, I hope in you. You can remove the scales from my eyes, to recognize you as you are. Lord, I love you. You are my life. You call me to spread the faith to souls, unto the farthest reaches of the earth...

Petition: Lord, in this Jubilee Year of St. Paul that begins today, enflame my heart with a passionate love for you, expressed in a tireless zeal for souls.

1. Who do people say that the Son of Man is? When the Son of God took on a human nature, he also subjected himself to the fickleness of human opinion and opened himself to misunderstanding. There will always be many diverging opinions about who he really is. The variety of opinions is reflected in the apostles’ answer to Jesus, and the extent of human error or imagination is reflected in one opinion in particular: some even say he is John the Baptist. Too many, dazzled by the news of Jesus’ miracles, jump to conclusions about his prophetic identity without going to him and experiencing him for themselves, without reflecting and accepting what he himself says.

Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Jesus asks the question, not so that the apostles will base their opinion on that of the people around them, but as a prelude to questioning them on their own internal conviction. By listening to what people say, or fail to say, he wants them to deepen in their own thoughts. As I contemplate what the world says, I should notice the contradiction in so many conflicting opinions about him, detecting their roots. I should fear being trapped in a shallow understanding of Christ and his mission, for something is not true when it is based merely on public opinion. Jesus is actually inviting me to use my mind, my capacity to reflect, in order to liberate me from what Pope Benedict calls the dictatorship of relativism in my spiritual life.

With St. Paul, I might pray: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord may well reply: I am Jesus ... now get up ... and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:5-6).

2. But who do you say I am? Our faith is an intensely personal matter. Not that each one invents his own, subjective faith, but no-one else can believe in our place. In this way, each one stands alone before God and has to give account of all the graces and gifts he has received from God. Jesus is intensely interested in each one of us, in seeing our faith grow and be solidly rooted. He does not want followers to surround him who are only there for the emotion, or for the miracle or the next prophetic sign. He wants to see us approach him as Who he is, our Lord and savior, he wants us to discover him in a personal way and experience who he really is, for only then can he open to us the treasures of his mercy and help.

Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Cfr. John 14:6). He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. All things came to be through him, and ... what came to be through him was life, life that was the light of the human race (John 1:3-4). Christ is my life! His light will guide my steps...

Peter’s answer is the fruit of God’s grace. Let us ask God for this grace to make this answer my very own, an answer I will never deny no matter what others may think.

With St. Paul, I can make my own his attitude: For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus (2Corinthians 4:5). Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

3. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. Blessed are you ... For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. The greatest gift in life is faith. Faith is a grace that I must ask for: Lord, increase my faith! Living by faith can allow Christ to make of me a living stone from which to build his Church on this foundation. In fact, Peter has understood my role as a Christian to be precisely such: like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1Peter 2:5).

Through his faith, Peter is made by Christ the Rock on which his Church is built. John the Evangelist, a witness to this promise of Jesus to Peter, later reflected: to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God (John 1:12-13).

St. Paul describes the outcome of this divine adoption by telling us: When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. Then he goes on to give us a program of spiritual life, which we might choose to adopt during the Jubilee Year of St. Paul that began with today’s solemnity: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3: 4,12ff)

Conversation: Lord Jesus, deepen the convictions of my faith. Make me a witness to your truth. Wherever you place me or send me I will always make sure your message goes with me, and reaches every person I meet. Let me live no longer for myself; rather, live in me so that I may faithfully fulfill your mission until the end.

Questionnaire:

1. How personal is my faith in Christ? Who is he for me?

2. Am I influenced by what others say about Christ, the faith and salvation?

3. Christ built and maintains his Church on Peter’s faith. Who is depending on my faith?

¡Cuánto nos cuesta abandonarnos a una fe desnuda, como único apoyo para caminar por la vida!

Paul is but a paradigm of what every Christian ought to become: someone who, by virtue of his faith in the risen Christ, allows himself be recast and remodeled by the Holy Spirit and becomes a convinced apostle of the cause of Christ. How few convinced apostles it would take to bring Christ’s name to every nation! Let us not be deceived. Despite the crisis of Christianity, what we need is not numbers but rather depth of conviction. Are we ourselves convinced? Up to what point are our psyche and our subconscious mechanisms controlled by a radical doubt and in compensation seek human security in knowledge, preparation, books, worldly prudence, and in not acting so as not to take a wrong step and thus avoid ridicule or ironic commentaries? Let us never forget, our spiritual senility and apostolic sterility are due to the fundamental fracture in our belief in the Resurrection of the Lord. So many areas of our personality lie still in darkness! How difficult we find it to abandon ourselves to bare faith as our only support as we journey through life!

Every action done for God rises to his throne as an act of homage. It constitutes a lifting up of out whole being to His supreme majesty, a recognition - which although not always explicit, is nonetheless real - of His sovereign due, and it is the filial act of the creature offering everything to his Creator and his Father.

In practice, what is required of one who wishes to pray always?

He must give to each of his intentions the maximum of supernatural perfection that is humanly possible. And in this he will be aided greatly if he tries to perform his with the maximum professional skill of which he is humanly capable. In other words, he has to purify the underlying motives of all his actions, and he has to do all his best under all circumstances.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Test Your Call Weekends. Experience the novitiate in Cheshire, CT with retreats for young men ages 16-27 sponsored by the Legion of Christ. These weekend retreats combine time for personal reflection, preached meditations, conferences, and opportunities for confession and spiritual direction with the experience of the day to day life of the seminarians. For more information, please call Br. Francois at (800) 420-5409 or email vocation@legionaries.org. Dates in 2008: July 25-27, Aug 14-17, Oct 10-12, Nov 26-30, Dec 19-23, and Dec 26-30

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

Mark your calendars for World Youth Day in Australia 2008! In the days leading up to the celebration of World Youth Day, young people from around the world will gather to take part in a special service mission proclaiming the Holy Fathers message throughout parish communities. By joining us as Missionaries for the Pope you spend four days helping local parishes get the Word out about the upcoming World Youth Day events. Young Women ages 16-29 are invited to join MissionYouth during the World Youth Days' activities July 7-21. Cost is $1700, not including airfare, but does include the WYD. For more information please contact Katie Stephens at kstephens@missionnetwork.com or 678/679-2512.

ShoreLines welcomes your questions and comments at questions@shorelines.org. If you do not specify otherwise, your question may be posted in the Vocations Q&A section.

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