Angels

The Church doesn't have clear job descriptions for angels and saints.  You can look them up in the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church), but it seems much is left to interpretation.  So I'm going to give my own interpretation, not sanctioned by the Roman Catholic church, but, I think, in line with the Church's teachings.
It's pretty much established that angels are messengers of God (think Gabriel), who bring us God's messages which can guide us on the right path if we are willing to accept/listen to those messages and act on them. The angels are whispering in our ears, guiding us, telling us what God wants us to know.  Why doesn't God speak to us directly?  God does, but we're not always willing to accept His directions, so God may call in a helper, a messenger to repeat the message, or perhaps sometimes the angel is the advance team, preparing us for God's message, "Hey, get ready!  Listen up! You're going to receive a message soon..."  I don't think angels petition for us as the saints do, and that is a key difference in my interpretation of angels and saints.  Angels can also help protect us (think St. Michael the Archangel, or your Guardian Angel).  I love the prayer for St. Michael and I know I make my Guardian Angel work overtime (hey, I drive in California!!).  The key difference between angels and saints for me is that saints lived on the earth, died, and were canonized while angels didn't go through all that. The CCC says angels are non-corporeal beings- no earthly body.  Imagine that your sole existence is to glorify God and bring His message to Earth.  That sounds wonderful to me!


  

Hello?

One of my sisters was facing a potential crisis this past week, so I pulled out the big guns and started my two favorite novenas, one to St. Joseph (my favorite saint!) and one to St. Therese of Lisieux.  Faithfully I petitioned day after day with no response.  No news from my sister, and no rose from St. Therese.  I felt as though the saints had turned a deaf ear.  Hello?  Anybody listening???
I finally heard from my sister, and wouldn't you know it, the silence from the saints wasn't so much of "La, la, la, we're not listening," as it was, "No problem! It's already been taken care of!"  So this is my public apology to St. Therese and St. Joseph for doubting that they weren't listening.  Even if the answer had been a flat out, "No!" from God- I should know by now (How old am I?? Still learning this stuff!!) that everything will be fine.

May the Saints Preserve Us!

I've had to call on the angels and saints a lot for a number of issues lately.  Since my Catholic up-bringing wasn't saint heavy, it's still a little surprising to me that I have come to rely on their support as much as I do. I have gone from a "straight to the Top" person to a "networking" person these last few years.  What has changed?
Over the years as I watched my husband use his friends and resources for support for all kinds of challenges he's faced I began to consider that perhaps I wasn't using my saintly resources as much I as could.  Sure, I have God's ear, and God will listen, but it couldn't hurt to get some saintly friends to plead my case to Him also.  I am careful to be clear that I'm asking my saint friends to ask Jesus to grant my petitions, I'm not asking the saints themselves to move mountains or perform miracles.  God alone grants our requests.  But the saints can guide us, be our cheerleaders and extra petitioners for us when we need them.
If you go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church you find that the saints are defined as "...models and intercessors.." (CCC 828)  I find that asking saints for their help can be very encouraging. When I ask them to intercede for me I begin to notice small, positive changes that help me see how Jesus is really working in our lives.  Even when it seems nothing at all is happening, I'm comforted by the fact that the saints are petitioning for me when I'm pooping out.  Saints don't get tired, they have enormous faith, and they are eager to help any time of the day or night- what a fantastic support group!

Tip For The Week

One of my favorite resources is The Word Among Us , a website that offers "Daily Meditations For Catholics."  The articles are always thoughtful and thought provoking.  We get the monthly magazine (which has all the online articles and meditations) and I often find myself snipping out paragraphs and entire articles to tuck in my prayer book.  If you don't already subscribe I highly recommend that you try it out- it is more than worth it!  

Something About Mary...

Today is the feast of the Assumption of Mary (Not a holy day of obligation this year because it falls on a Monday as Monsignor explained to us at Mass.  No Monday Holy days- it seems!) While some Catholics embrace Mary with a fervent devotion, I have never been one of those people.  I remember feeling shocked (Shocked! I tell you.) when my first grade teacher, Sister Inella, announced to the class that Mary was our mother.  What??  What about my mommy?  Who was she then?  For a few years after that I viewed Mary as someone who was trying to take my attention and love from my mother. (Thanks Sister Inella!)  As I matured I realized that Mary wasn't trying to 'horn in' on my affection for my mother- that's not what Sister Inella meant (sorry Sister!), but that Mary is our heavenly mother who would help us as much as she could, who would plead our case to Jesus for us, and who, most important of all, is constantly pointing the way to Jesus and asking us to follow Him.
Read this, Our Lady of the Lost and Found, by Diane Schoemperlen (a non-Catholic no less!) for a wonderful week-long visit with the Blessed Mother.

Reference Points Two,Three and Four

Reference point Two:  My interpretation of God is: God is a loving parent who gives us free will, who sent Jesus (who is God) to save us from the fear of death, promise us eternal life, asks us to be kind to one another and who sends us the Holy Spirit (also God) to inspire us and further guide us.  I don't believe God is in Heaven waiting to pounce on us and punish us for every tiny sin we commit.  I believe that God just wants us to be kind to one another, watch out for and care for each other, and praise and thank God for the opportunity.
Reference point Three: I believe the Roman Catholic Church is run by human beings who often try to follow God's plan, but because they are human- often misinterpret or ignore God's message, superimpose their own human message, get half of it right and muck up the other half- in other words act HUMAN, but I think, are still trying to follow God's plan. While I may have a more positive view of the Church than the general public, do not think for one minute that I am absolving the Roman Catholic church hierarchy for every terrible thing they have done in the name of God.  I realize the Church has sanctioned some mighty unChristian behavior in its time, but I also realize that the Church is run by HUMANS who may have been blinded to God's message by their human foibles.  Even the messes that the Church is in today I believe are a result of humans who I pray will see the light and make appropriate reparations.  The Church moves slowly- hundreds of years slowly, but I have a founded hope that it is moving in the right direction.
That leads to Reference point Four:  In my opinion the Roman Catholic Church should not bow to the whims of society. (This next scenario is an far-fetched example to illustrate my point, please do not think that this is an actual issue facing us today- I do not think we should cut off our right pinky toes!)  If society said that everyone should cut off their right pinky toe because it's useless, antiquated, we're holding on to it for no good reason, we're not showing solidarity with those who've cut off or lost their pinky toes due to injustice in the world, harvesting pinky toes would feed the hungry, clothe the naked, solve the economic crisis, etc. and the Church said it was a sin because it was self-mutilation, I wouldn't think the Church was wrong in that judgement. Society doesn't approach issues with "How does this affect our relationship with God and is this in God's plan?" in mind. The Church is supposed to be concerned about spiritual matters, no matter what society thinks is OK or not OK.
These are all short answers to issues I'll be tackling in future posts.  What are your major Reference points?

A Blogger's One Foundation

These first few posts will fill in some background and probably be reference points for future blogs.
Reference point One:  I'm a product of the transitional Church- I started school as the Church was launching Vatican II reforms.  When our pastor said Mass in English for the first time, I was young enough to think that Jesus was speaking to me because I could understand what was being said at church. My elementary school religion books all began with the question, "What is freedom?" (I'm also a product of New Math and our math books all began with the question, "What is a set?")  No doubt about it, we were putting the Baltimore Catechism behind us and eagerly launching into the Sixties.  My Catholic school had progressive nuns who shed their long habits and veils as soon as they were able and loved having guitar Masses on the lawn of the school when the weather permitted.  While you might assume that this was happening in "Hippie Land California" it was all taking place in the middle of Nebraska.  My father was one of the first lectors in our church, and six years later my sister was one of the first female altar servers.
We embraced the changes of Vatican II with enthusiasm thanks to the encouragement of our religious leaders.  While my religious education was heavy on discussion and light on doctrine it did give me a positive picture of God and of the Church.  So with this foundation I am trying to navigate my way in this world as a Catholic.  I hope you join me on this journey.