Catholic Eucharistic Flash Mob
Did you see this? A Eucharistic “Flash Mob” put on by some Franciscan brothers and volunteers on 
Ascension Thursday.
Very courageous and SO NEEDED!
Let us not be afraid, let us not cower, let us not be afraid of theculture. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!
Thank you to Brother Paul, Brother Loarne and to those who courageously stepped up and stood strong for the Truth!
TrueMan up!
A Dirty Conundrum
One of the mysteries of the Catholic faith is why Mass attendance on Ash Wednesday is so high. It truly baffles me. When attending Mass on Ash Wednesday, you see droves and droves of people coming to receive dirt on their foreheads. The dirt (actually ashes, created by burning last year’s palm leaves) signifies our mortality, and is a reminder of our sinfulness. Do people turn out in record number because they like dirt? Do they think it’s a holy day of obligation (opportunity)? Do they enjoy receiving something? Is there another reason? The baffling part about it is that they could faithfully receive the Eucharist each and every Sunday (an actual holy day), or everyday if they so desired… how much better is the Eucharist than Ash Wednesday ashes?!
Another element about the fair-weather crowds on Ash Wednesday is the assumption (or maybe ‘sense of entitlement’ is the better phrasing here) that they can receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist isn’t simply a snack, or a party favor. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity! The Eucharist is reserved for Catholics, in the state of grace, who fully proclaim and live the truths of the Catholic faith.
Why do I bring this up? Partly to vent, because it’s frustrating to me. But, more importantly, because we need to realize the importance of catechesis and of witnessing to non-Catholics and others we come in contact with. We have to be reminded of what’s happening to our Church, and as men, step up and lead others to a deeper understanding of Christ and His Church.
Man up!
Summer Time Spirituality
Since many of TrueManhood’s readers are in college, I think it’s important to take some time to talk about a spiritual life during the summer months. Many of you have a strong faith community and spiritual support system while on campus and many of you are heading home (or at least away from your group) for the summer; how do you keep a strong spiritual life going? Well, it’s easy to get back into old, bad habits when you go back into an old environment. Some of those old, bad habits might be as simple as forgetting to pray everyday. They might be more serious (with lasting effects on the rest of your life) like excessive drinking and promiscuous sexual activity. That said, here are a few suggestions of how to keep your spiritual life going – and growing!
- Pray daily. Take time (whichever part of the day is best for you) to make this a priority. As with any relationship, it requires that you speak and listen to the other person. God, in this regard, is no different. Talk to Him.
- Make Sunday Mass a priority, and get to daily Mass as much as possible. The grace received from the Eucharist will help you fight temptations toward old, bad habits.
- Stay in touch with your friends from campus. (Your good friends – NOT your nasty friends.) A support/accountability/prayer connection helps a person significantly. We are relational beings – created to be with one another. Your friends want to help you, so talk to them. It’ll probably end up helping them too.
- Do spiritual reading. Find one or more (good/orthodox) Catholic spiritual books and read. This might also include taking notes, journaling about what you read and/or about how it applies to your life or talking about it with someone else.
- Do your best to keep Christ first and foremost. I listed this last, but it’s not the least priority, but yet the highest priority. I write about Christ last so that you remember that it’s all about Him. Keep Him #1.
Man up!
The People Only Make Up The Church…
The people only make up the Church, they don’t make it. Truth makes the Church. I have two examples in two days of people missing the boat on what “the Church” is all about. First example: I just watched a video of a pastor who spoke complete blasphemy about what the Church does. He said something like “the church is one of the biggest hindrances to conversion.” Obviously, this pastor is from a church that is wishy-washy and not centered in truth. (It appeared, from the video to be an amphi-theatre style mega-church where laser lights and smoke machines play the role of sacramentals.) His church, most likely, is centered on “whatever feels good” and “whatever it takes to “save” someone”. It’s sad, really. He’s missing the boat.
He told this story about a pastor who was fear-mongoring people into not having sex. The young lady that he took with him (a young, single mother in an extra-marital affair) wasn’t ready to hear that message, so this pastor was essentially blaming the Church for this poorly-delivered message, that most likely was “off” when it comes to sound doctrine. He’s aligning everything that one or more individuals may do with the Church as a whole and totally missing the point. See, Christ set up the Church to spread the Love of the Father, the Truth. He set it up to bring people to the Father, not to push them away from it. We grow closer to God through the Church.
Second example: yesterday, I was talking with a woman who said to me “I was raised Catholic, but I don’t go anymore. Is that bad?, it’s bad, isn’t it? I don’t like going because of all the hypocrisy… I’d see people there on Sunday and then they’d be talking bad about people the rest of the week.” This lady went on and on about it being “bad” that she doesn’t go any more. Then, she said to me “I used to like Fr. S0-and-So because his sermons were good. Once he left, I haven’t been back. Is that bad?” I said to her, the people only make up the Church, they don’t make it. If the people inside the Church are bad, it doesn’t mean that the Church is bad. You should go, give it a try again. It was very obvious to me that this lady doesn’t know what the Eucharist is.
It’s frustrating when people make condemning judgments (especially when they are made out of ignorance) like this that really affect the lives of others. In the first case, the pastor is going to have to answer for his blasphemy and how he led many people astray. The lady is going to have to answer for leading her kids astray, as well as herself. If you are reading this and understand what I’m saying, you realize that it’s a big responsibility to be a servant of the Lord. What are you saying or doing that may lead others closer to Christ? What are you saying or doing that make lead others away from Christ?
Man up!
