Category Archives: Critical Mass

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Critical Mass, Of Trials Opportunities and Gifts, Prayer/Prayer Requests
The Holy Spirit descends upon Ann Arbor - IMAG0575
Image by CadyLy via Flickr

I went to the Fellowship of St. Paul meeting last night, not knowing exactly what to expect.  I suppose my initial expectation was that it would be a little like the Life in the Spirit seminar that I attended at St. A’s and OLGC earlier in the year, especially since this month’s meeting included a panel that would be speaking on the gift of tongues and indicated that there would be an opportunity for people to be prayed over who wanted the gift.

After Life in the Spirit, everyone focused on the gift of tongues.  “Did you get it?  Did you speak in tongues?”  It was all anyone asked about.  They had made sure to say that there were many gifts of the Spirit and that not everyone received the same gifts.  I concluded that perhaps I just wasn’t one of the people to receive the gift of tongues.

I made a few friends upon arriving at the Seminary and saw several other friends there, which helped me feel more welcome and comfortable.  We started off with praise and worship (singing), which was quite like Steve and Lynn’s Fisherman’s Net prayer group, so it felt familiar and I liked it.  The fact that they sung songs which I knew was helpful, too.  Luckily, I sat next to a man who thought that I had a decent singing voice.  🙂

Next, we had a panel of people speak about the gift of tongues.  Dr. Williamson gave an introduction to the gift of tongues, including describing three uses of the gift:  as a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, to build up the Church when used in conjunction with the gift of prophecy, and as a gift for personal prayer.  Carol shared with us some personal experiences, especially healings, related to her gift of tongues and praying in the Spirit.  The priest from England, Fr. Gerard I believe, was quite funny and had some good analogies like relating this gift to laughter and how it wells up from within you but how you have control over it to an extent and can choose when to start laughing and when to stop.  He also related the experience of being in a community of people praying in the Spirit to being at a football (soccer) game, where people would be cheering and chanting and making noise — and how many people go to the games more for that atmosphere, rather than for the game itself (of this, I am so guilty!).

We then spent some time in prayer, led by Fr. Gerard on guitar.

We broke in to small groups, and I joined Dr. Williamson’s group, as he said that he would offer Q&A for people who still had some questions.  I wanted to listen to the various questions and answers, but didn’t particularly have any of my own.  I ended up getting busted for not asking anything, which was a little surprising as I wasn’t aware that I had a reputation for being particularly garrulous.  One of the guys in the small group asked the question about people receiving different gifts, and maybe not everyone would receive this particular gift.  The answer given was one that really makes me think.  He said that while people are given various gifts, it is suggested in Scripture that the gifts of tongues and of prophesy seem to be general gifts given to all.  The problem with many people is not that they do not have the gift, but that they do not use it and nurture it.

Huh.

Well, if I have been given a gift by God, don’t I then have a responsibility to use that gift?  It sounds like I have another area of spiritual growth to explore.

This meeting has also helped me related to our separated brethren, in particular communities like the Pentecostals, where it seems like everyone in the congregation speaks in tongues.  It has always been a mystery to me that — if everyone is given different gifts of the Holy Spirit — how can you have a congregation where everyone has the same gift?  The idea that it is a general gift given to all…well, that explains it quite nicely.  🙂

May We All Be One

Critical Mass, Grad School/Seminary, Reflections on Paul, Sacraments
dscn0086

Love craves unity.

We are physical beings as well as spiritual beings.

For these reasons, tangible expressions of love are so necessary. It is not enough that I am told that I am loved, but I need to see it, hear it and feel it. I need that hug, that kiss, that hand on my shoulder. We have an inborn need to profoundly connect with other people.

I was reminded of this by my latest reading:

Brothers, when we were bereft of you for a short time, in person, not in heart, we were all the more eager in our great desire to see you in person. (1 Thes 2:17)

It is not only other human persons for which we have this desire for unity but, most of all, for God. Which is why God gave us the sacraments, so that we can, tangibly, come into contact with Him. Through the sacraments, we can concretely encounter and interact with Christ. In Reconciliation, we can not only know that we are forgiven, but we can hear it said, “I absolve you….” In the Anointing of the Sick, our sick bodies are touched and the oil remains as a reminder of the healing freely given. In the Eucharist, it is Christ Himself whom we take into our bodies under the appearance of bread and wine. God effects in us the very unity which we crave. Would that we truly come to know what it is that He is doing.

In addition to this idea of tangible unity, the other thing this verse brings to my mind is the idea of intercessory prayer. I truly believe that prayer unites people. As I pray for you, my heart is softened toward you and I become better able to love you as God loves you. I believe this is why Paul says, “…we were bereft of you…in person, not in heart.” While they may have been physically separated, Paul continued to remember them, and not just in abstract recollections of memory, but — because heart in Paul’s day meant something more like the center of your will, rather than the center of your emotions — remembered them in prayer, where he was actively willing for their good.

Which brings me back to:

I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. (John 17:20-21)

In Thanksgiving for Their Faith

Bible Study, Critical Mass, Reflections on Paul

Okay, starting a new series:  Reflections on Paul.  I have a class on Pauline literature at the Seminary this semester, and we are being asked to keep a journal of our response to Scripture, both spiritually and intellectually.  And, of course, I will share with you!  🙂

We are starting with 1 Thessalonians.  It didn’t take me very long before I reached something to comment upon:

We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. (1 Thes 1:2-4, NAB)

I had marked this passage in my Bible with a little note, and it strikes me the same way today. It’s Paul’s prayer on behalf of himself, Silvanus/Silas and Timothy to the church in Thessalonica, but this is also my prayer for my priests.

I have this vocation/charism to be an intercessor, and have a particular focus on priests.  In a particular way, I have been called to be an intercessor for one specific priest.  Something similar to the idea of spiritual motherhood (I’ll provide the link to that Vatican article in a little bit, when I look it up), perhaps, or maybe as St. Thérèse of Lisieux prayed for her two priests.

Paul talks about how he prays unceasingly for the Thessalonians, and in a similar way, I pray unceasingly for my priest.  Sometimes I find this humorous, how he is always on my mind in prayer.  It seems like any difficulty that I may run into in the course of my day, I use this as prayer for him.  E.g. If I am driving and notice that it’s icy out, I will pray that he is protected while on the roads — that God keeps him safe.  If I am tired or stressed, I pray that he find rest, comfort, strength, perseverance and God’s grace to handle his duties and projects.  That God would renew him and give him His peace.  That he would be given moments throughout the day where he can get away from the daily pressures and find respite and rejuvenation in the Lord.  That he would be inspired to continue to run the race well and find a “second wind.”  That all of his frustrations would be turned into joy, knowing that he is doing the Will of God.  That he may see Christ in all the people that he encounters on this day.

Paul calls the Thessalonians “brothers loved by God.”  This is so true regarding my priest.  God speaks to me about him more than He speaks to me about any other person.  Sometimes, I’ll happen to be driving past church and He will tell me, “Right now, my son is here with Me.  Spending time with Me.”  You should hear Him.  He is so thrilled.  He loves it when His children spend time with Him.  It just encourages me that much more to spend time in front of the Eucharist in Adoration.  Praying for my priest and my priests.  That insight into His Heart and His Love for His children expands my own heart, and somehow helps me to love better.

“How you were chosen.”  Vocation.  The calling of God.  I love this.  My vocation, in a way, is to support vocations.  Particularly, those called to Holy Orders and to the presbyterate.  There’s no question that my heart has been changed by God.  That he has made me in such a way that this calling that I have — this intercession, this preference for priests — gives me joy and draws me closer to Him the more I engage in and answer my calling.  I was chosen for those who have been chosen.  There is a great responsibility there, but also a great comfort, to know that you have been chosen by God for a particular task.  Perhaps because of my unique calling, two of my favorite Masses are Chrism Mass and Presbyteral Ordination.  I cannot tell you how awesome those Masses are, but only encourage you to attend one, if you get the chance.

Thank You, Lord, for their call, for their faith…and for mine.

Self-Awareness

Bioethics, Critical Mass, Health and Medicine, Photography, Right to Life Issues


“Conceptual” Art
Originally uploaded by kenneth_rougeau

When does life begin?

That has got to be one of the most important questions of the day. I posit that this occurs quite early.

The female egg and the male sperm are haploid cells belonging to each person.  They have a function and belong to the organism, yet they are not of themselves a unique organism.  Their DNA, although haploid, is identical with that of the person.  Their function is to unite:  the egg works to chemically attract the sperm, and the sperm works to get to the egg.  “If fertilization is not accomplished, the oocyte typically ceases to be within twenty-four hours after ovulation; and sperm degenerate within two to five days.”[1]



fertilisation
Originally uploaded by abhilasha1190

Once the first sperm enters the egg, the entire scenario changes. Now, you have a new entity with its unique genetic code. How do we know this? Because it is in some way self-aware of the fact that it is now different, and reacts chemically for the protection of the new organism. This is known as the egg cortical reaction.

When the sperm fuses with the egg plasma membrane, it causes a local increase in cytosolic Ca2+, which spreads through the cell in a wave…  There is evidence that the Ca2+ wave or oscillations are induced by a protein that is introduced into the egg by the sperm, but the nature of the protein is unknown.  The Ca2+ wave or oscillations activate the egg to begin development [Development of what?  Of the new organism], and they initiate the cortical reaction, in which the cortical granules release their contents by exocytosis…  The contents of the cortical granules include various enzymes that are released by the cortical reaction and change the structure of the zona pellucida. The altered zona becomes “hardened,” so that sperm no longer bind to it, and it therefore provides a block to polyspermy.[2]

“…there now appears to be a distinct organism directing its own processes of growth and development…  The [egg cortical reaction] especially seems characteristic of a new organism, whose existence depends upon a structural barrier to outside forces, rather than of a gamete cell, whose existence is fundamentally oriented toward uniting with another gamete…”[3]

[1] Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen, Embryo:  A Defense of Human Life (New York:  Doubleday, 2008), 36.

[2] Bruce Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th ed., (New York: Garland Science, 2002), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26843/ (accessed November 28, 2010).

[3] George and Tollefsen, Embryo, 38-39.

What Kind of Logic is This?!?

Critical Mass



Blastocyst: – Day 5

Originally uploaded by lounbern

From Embryo: A Defense of Human Life by Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen

[There is a] claim made by some supporters of embryo-destructive research that because early-stage embryos can split into identical twins, they are not yet individuals or determinate human beings. (Pg. 22)

I don’t think this conclusion necessarily follows.

The only thing the twinning phenomenon changes is how many persons there are, not whether it’s a human person.

Amen!

Critical Mass, Jennspeak, Of Vice and Virtue, Prayer/Prayer Requests

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1061 The Creed, like the last book of the Bible,[644] ends with the Hebrew word amen. This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament. The Church likewise ends her prayers with “Amen.”

1062 In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word “believe.” This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can understand why “Amen” may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in him.

1063 In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression “God of truth” (literally “God of the Amen”), that is, the God who is faithful to his promises: “He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [amen].”[645] Our Lord often used the word “Amen,” sometimes repeated,[646] to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God’s truth.

1064 Thus the Creed’s final “Amen” repeats and confirms its first words: “I believe.” To believe is to say “Amen” to God’s words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to him who is the “Amen” of infinite love and perfect faithfulness. The Christian’s everyday life will then be the “Amen” to the “I believe” of our baptismal profession of faith: May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if you believe everything you say you believe. And rejoice in your faith each day.[647]

1065 Jesus Christ himself is the “Amen.”[648] He is the definitive “Amen” of the Father’s love for us. He takes up and completes our “Amen” to the Father: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God”:[649]
Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

How many of us say “Amen” in a thoughtless or empty fashion? Do any of us really understand what it means when we say this?

I think paragraph 1064, of all of these, is most important for us to reflect on today. For God calls us all to live with integrity. That means that if we say something, we should mean it.

So what does it mean?

I think that when you say, or pray, “Amen,” you are saying a few different things:
1. I believe and adhere to my baptismal profession of faith and to the Creed.
2. I believe and am faithful to the entirety of the Truth that is God.
3. I am saying “Yes” to all that God is asking of me.
4. I pledge my faithfulness.
5. I consecrate my life. [Meaning that I set myself apart for the service and worship of God.]

We should be putting our entire selves into that word and offering ourselves as a gift back to the Father. Especially in our prayer. Prayer is not supposed to be a quick listing of all the things in my life that I want God to fix for me, with a quick “Amen” at the end. It should be a dialogue, a conversation, an encounter with the Father/Son/Holy Spirit who LOVES ME.

Yes, we should have all confidence and trust in God as the only one with power. Yes, we should know that He is all good and that He loves us and that this means that He always has our best interests in mind [even if those best interests may be painful or cost us]. Yes, we should remember that He always hears us.

But this is a love relationship.

I cannot see myself as disengaged from this. Prayer is never a one-sided affair. You can never think of prayer or encounters with God as a disconnected transaction, as an impersonal withdrawal from God’s Bank of Grace.

We need to give our entire selves back to Him in return. We need to engage our hearts. We need to enter into the relationship with the persons of God. Because God *is* a person — or, rather, three persons — and not a vending machine to feed my whims and desires.

We need to have integrity when we pray “Amen.” We need to recognize that it is an affirmation of our adherence to and reliance upon Him, the Almighty, who has done, is doing and will continue to do great things for us.

Our “Amen” should be an “I love You.”

A Difference in Relationship?

Critical Mass

In Genesis 4:1, Adam “knew” his wife and she bore Cain. (NAB translation, “had relations with”).

In Genesis 6:4, the sons of God “came in to” the daughters of men, who bore them children. (NAB translation, “had intercourse”).

Both translations appear to show a difference in relationship. The sons of God appear to be merely using their partners for physical pleasure, rather than engaging in a rightly ordered marital union.

Reconciliation

Critical Mass, Photography, Sacraments, Scripture Pix

This is in follow-up to my last post.

I went back to SS. Cyril and Methodius tonight at 8 pm, to try again to go to Confession. There were about 12 people already there, scattered around the room. I was difficult to keep track of who was next. Over time, new people would come in. One woman asked if she could go ahead of everyone, since she had a small child. Another older woman just cut in line. The man sitting next to me looked over and said, “Don’t worry, we will get in there eventually!” and we had a short conversation about this. I tried to be patient, but in my head, I pictured myself jumping up and down shouting, “Me! Me!” Obviously, I really *needed* to go to Confession. I spent my time reviewing what I was going to say. Not to make it sound better, but to try to be as accurate as I could and minimize the rationalization and contextualization that I often try to stick in there to make it sound as if I really wasn’t as bad as I was.

When I got in, my confession was kind of like a series of bullet points. I committed sin X, Y, Z…. Bare and hanging out there, with no justification for why I committed them. The priest stops me for a minute to ask a question, then says this:

“You are a young person, you could be such a blessing to others…. But you need to make a routine, or you will never go anywhere in your spiritual life.”

I hadn’t said anything yet about feeling like I have been slacking off in my prayer life, or feeling disconnected from God this week, but here he is! Speaking about that very thing! You need no further proof to know that when you confess, you are confessing to Christ himself working through that priest! And that is so true. I really do need a routine in my life when it comes to spiritual matters. I am so haphazard about it and that bothers me.

After confession, I went back to St. Anastasia and spent some time with the Lord in the chapel. I took the Bible off the shelf and sat there for a moment, thinking of where I should start reading. It popped in my head to start reading in Hosea. So, I opened to Hosea and started reading at the first page I came to:

P3070106

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them,
the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and burning incense to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of compassion,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one,
who raises an infant to his cheeks,
and I bent down to them and fed them.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim!
How can I hand you over, O Israel!
How can I make you like Admah!
How can I treat you like Zeboiim!
My heart recoils within me,
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come to destroy. — Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9

Basking in God’s love and God’s forgiveness, I knelt down to pray. A minute later, I felt a warm glow on my face and opened my eyes. The light from overhead was reflecting from the gold of the cover of the Bible.

God’s Word was shining on me.
Such a lovely way to end the evening.

Sacrifice and Love

Critical Mass, Of Trials Opportunities and Gifts, Penance, Prayer/Prayer Requests, Sacraments, Tales of My Amazing Priests

I have to confess that lately my prayer life has really stunk. I mean, I pray every day, especially intercessions for the people I care about. But I haven’t felt that I am growing in my relationship with the Lord. I just feel disconnected in a way. And this is upsetting to me because I am used to having, or feeling that I have, a close connection to Him. So, I have been floundering quite a bit. Which also means that I have been sinning more often and in worse ways than “normal” (if sin can ever be called normal). Which is also irritating, because I really have no desire to do the sins I do, yet I find myself doing them anyway.

I know the problem is me. All me. And I need Reconciliation. I need to stop what I am doing in my life right now and re-order everything — making God my center. This morning, I got up early and went to Adoration before the exposed Eucharist in our chapel. I started by reading the Pope’s book, “In the Beginning,” but was soon interrupted. Something was bothering me; what was it?

I looked up. The Lord was present in the center flanked by 4 candles. In the niche to the right was the tabernacle. In the niche to the left was the Book of Gospels.

Divine Mercy Chapel - dscn0074

However, the Book of the Gospels wasn’t lit as brightly as the tabernacle. You could see that the light was on, but it was as if the dimmer switch was turned very low. This is what was bothering me. We are fed from both tables. We should revere the Word of God as we revere His Body. I wanted the lighting for the two niches to be equal.

I looked back to the book in my hands. It is a great book, and I was enjoying reading it. However, I was still unsettled and I felt an urging, a nudge, to read His Word. So, I got up and grabbed a Bible and sat back down, reading Genesis 3-5.

After Benediction, I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte at my local Starbucks. Instead of leaving right away as I usually do, I settled into a comfy armchair and continued reading the Pope’s book. At one point, I stopped reading…because he said something that made me review my week.

In my last post, I talked about fractioning using a large vs. medium sized host and I included a quote about the Altar of Sacrifice, which gave us a graphic image of the Lord’s Blood and Body splashed all over the altar — for us.

Two days after that post, I was at Mass during lunch at the hospital. Our priest told us that there was a priest upstairs who had been declared brain dead, and that our Transplant team was going to be harvesting his organs for Gift of Life later in the day. I work for the Department of Surgery. That was my team that was going to be in that OR. I was involved, in a way, with this. I thought about what this meant. This priest, whom I didn’t know personally, was giving of himself — one final time here on Earth — for the benefit of another person. Talk about sacrifice. Talk about self-gift. All priests lives flow from and return to the sacrifice on the altar. This news, this realization of what he did and was doing, was a powerful image for me of that visceral, close connection that our priests have to the Mass, to the Lord’s Passion, to the Eucharist. So beautiful.

When I go to Mass, at consecration when the Body of our Lord is elevated, I pray in a particular way. Usually, it goes something like this,

This is Your son, who has You in his hands. I see him looking up at You, and I feel You looking down on him with such love. Please Lord, bless and protect him. Strengthen him to be able to do Your work. Refresh him and support him and give him comfort and encouragement, as only You can do. Keep him healthy in mind and body. Help him to turn his heart ever more towards You. Let him know of the incredible love that You have for him.

I hear back the words the Father spoke at the Baptism of the Lord, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

As I finish my recollection of these events of the past week, I return to the Pope’s book. What had given me pause was where he was speaking of the greatest love there is: “I will for you to be.” I think, in context, he was speaking of the incredible love that God has for each one of us that he not only called us into being, but is continually sustaining us in being. For me, I think that this is the best kind of love, one that we should all aspire to have towards the people around us. They are not objects to be used, but people to be loved. Just because they are. Their existence alone gives such joy…or it should.

I am blessed, blessed, blessed by the people I have around me. I love them and I love our Lord who gifted me with them. And I realize that even though I have felt like I’ve had a bad week in my relationship with the Lord, he has been there through it all, giving me grace and love.

After Starbucks, I headed to SS. Cyril and Methodius for Reconciliation prior to Mass. I was to be the next person into the confessional when the priest stopped hearing confessions in order to pray Mass. I looked at the Lord in the tabernacle for a while, “Now what?” After a bit, I headed to St. Anastasia for the 10:15 am Mass. During his homily, Fr. JJ was talking about the Prodigal Son, saying that most people think that they have to reconcile with the Father in order for him to bestow his grace and love upon them, but in fact it is the reverse: it is the fact of the Father’s love which leads to reconciliation.

So, now that I have been graced with this reflection and with the beauty and power and gift that is the Mass…. I will try again to get to Reconciliation this evening. Because God has given me everything which is good in this life.

And I love Him.

The Fractioning Question

Critical Mass, Neat Things I Didn't Author, Photography, Sacraments
3549394978_28805ca8c2_o

There was a link to a discussion on what happens during fractioning posted on XT3.  The referenced link with commentary by Fr. Z posted here.  The original post by Fr. Allan McDonald can be found here.  

What they are basically saying is that the larger hosts used during Mass scatter lots of pieces of the Lord’s Body during fractioning and that they can no longer in good conscience use the larger hosts, and have switched to using a smaller host.  Fr. McDonald’s trial with the larger host did show the pieces which broke off from it in detail; however, a similar trial was not done using the smaller hosts.  It is possible that they scatter a larger number of pieces, which are smaller in size and harder to detect.

Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand Fr. Z and Fr. McDonald’s concern over the unnecessary and avoidable scattering of the Body of our Lord.  However, I absolutely LOVE this reply to the discussion:

I have always felt that the Altar is a table of sacrifice. It is enough to imagine the priest of the OT accomplishing the sacrifice of the lamb by dismembering it in the ritual manner and see the pieces of flesh and blood splattered allover the altar of sacrifice as he divides the different portions. I had a view of the butcher’s shop to see how much blood and small pieces of flesh are scattered all over the place as he cuts them to small pieces.That reminded me about what happens when the sacrifice is offered each day at the Altar. I imagine the flesh and blood of the Lord splashed all over the place. Mercifully the Lord has concealed Himself in the form of Bread and Wine, that we may continue to celebrate the Mass. But how much care is needed in the fraction and cleansing of the holy vessels. And as I kiss the alter to depart, to remember that the table is soaked with the Blood of the Lord spilled to save me and mankind.  — Fr. Jose Sebastian, posted on XT3 website 9/6/10