One of the most incredible rewards of preaching is the realization that something far more powerful than you is at work.
I have preached horrible - in my eyes - homilies. I almost wanted to go straight to the sacristy and not process out at the end of Mass. But invariably, those are the ones where people tell you later it had an incredible positive impact on their lives. Even more miraculous is when they tell you the most important thing they heard is what you know for certain you never said. Every cleric I have met has had the same experiences.
The same is even more true for evangelization (and evangelization is not synonymous with catechesis.) Christ made clear many times that it is Him at work, and not us. To quote the old sneaker ad campaign "Just do it!" Don't worry you don't know how: Jesus is the one doing all the real work.
“Xavier encouraged them, children especially, to visit the sick and recite the creed, to recite the catechism in the presence of their families.”
It seems to me that we could encourage the New Evangelization here in the U.S. by giving up the attempt to provide general education in our Catholic schools and using the resources for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and other programs which are open to the poor. The Catholic schools are now too expensive; and they are an obstacle to our attempt to provide “a preferential option for the poor.”
It depends on where you live. In Indiana the money follows the student so the poor student can go to whatever school the parents prefer. Or to the home schooling family in a much smaller amount for supplies used.
It's not just about the poor, but also about the adults. Several generations of bad catechesis have resulted in adults who do not know the faith or morals and have no habit of prayer.
This doesn't actually take a lot of money, so much as it takes time, effort, and willingness on the part of the teacher to teach what the Church says, rather than what he thinks or feels. Baltimore catechism is less than $15, used for less than $10, sometimes on sale for $5, and online for free. Reciting the creed and the 10 commandments like St. Francis Xavier did is free.
We have a habit of spending money rather than doing the simple, cheap thing that works as well or better - and excluding the poor in the process.
This was exceptional as the Pillar Posts always are (though this one really was especially good). I know it's a few days late, but thank you so much for all that all of you at the Pillar do.
Thank you JD for making me realize another reason I hate baseball. Football teams shouldn't be allowed to give the ball to their best player whenever he's open! He should have to wait his turn. It's only fair to the other team to be boring and predictable.
The Carmelite nuns wish to maintain their Catholic identity while rejecting the Church’s authority, effectively positioning themselves outside the institutional framework of Catholicism. Although they may continue to adhere to Catholic theology, their actions suggest the creation of a personalized version of the faith—one tailored to their preferences. It seems likely they would lose the sympathy of their Catholic supporters if they were more transparent in acknowledging that they are, in fact, pursuing a distinct form of Christianity.
“We’re trending culturally to situations in which people who are poor, who are depressed, who are inconvenient or neglected or alone, will be — and are already — increasingly encouraged to do the right thing, and off themselves, rather than stand as inconvenient reminders of our collective failures to help people who are suffering.”
Yep, and as a person with a disability myself and the uncle of a nephew with a serious disability, this scares the heck out of me. The old eugenics of the 1920s and 1930s is back, and it’s on both the left and the right in the USA now (Malcolm and Simone Collins are pronatalist eugenicists and have deep connections with Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley well to do who think the worlds of GATTACA and Brave New World are models to emulate and want to essentially turn kids into consumer products and wipe out kids with disabilities via IVF and genetic screening, essentially recreating humanity in their own image).
This is the stuff that Chesterton fought hard against in England in his time. We need to gird our loins and fight like hell against this evil ideology like he did.
I don’t feel safe traveling to Canada because they think my life is a “life unworthy of life”.
The way the Canadians have gone after people with mental disorders as minor as depression makes me wonder if anyone in Canada is safe. Talk about a motivation to avoid asking for help.
Excellent reflection, JD. The link to Canadians being encouraged to seek physician assisted suicide takes me to the Carmelites article; where is the correct link?
JD, what if you and Ed each wrote each other’s weekly e-mail “in persona” the other for one week, just for fun and to mix things up a bit? I don’t know how practically feasible something like that would be, but I think many of us Pillar Readers would get a kick out of that! 😉
Also, one of the things I love most about watching a baseball game the most is it’s slow paced enough that you can have some quality fraternity with a friend and catch up while watching it. Glad to see you’re developing more of an appreciation for baseball through your kids’ experiences with the game.
I don’t know if Fr. Burke Masters, the Chaplain for the Chicago Cubs, ever makes it out to Denver or not, but he’d be a neat guy for your kids to meet if he does make it out there. I think he was pretty far on track to be a professional baseball player before God called him to seminary formation and the priesthood.
One of the most incredible rewards of preaching is the realization that something far more powerful than you is at work.
I have preached horrible - in my eyes - homilies. I almost wanted to go straight to the sacristy and not process out at the end of Mass. But invariably, those are the ones where people tell you later it had an incredible positive impact on their lives. Even more miraculous is when they tell you the most important thing they heard is what you know for certain you never said. Every cleric I have met has had the same experiences.
The same is even more true for evangelization (and evangelization is not synonymous with catechesis.) Christ made clear many times that it is Him at work, and not us. To quote the old sneaker ad campaign "Just do it!" Don't worry you don't know how: Jesus is the one doing all the real work.
I did not see that Little League / euthanasia pivot coming.
It hit me like a 120 mph EV grand slam. Well done.
[Aside: Kudos for not using *that* particular type of stealing home as an image for the piece, as tempting as the wordplay might have been.]
Yes, it was very well done. That type of commentary can often overcome the grim news reported in the Pillar
thanks guys.
“Xavier encouraged them, children especially, to visit the sick and recite the creed, to recite the catechism in the presence of their families.”
It seems to me that we could encourage the New Evangelization here in the U.S. by giving up the attempt to provide general education in our Catholic schools and using the resources for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and other programs which are open to the poor. The Catholic schools are now too expensive; and they are an obstacle to our attempt to provide “a preferential option for the poor.”
It depends on where you live. In Indiana the money follows the student so the poor student can go to whatever school the parents prefer. Or to the home schooling family in a much smaller amount for supplies used.
It's not just about the poor, but also about the adults. Several generations of bad catechesis have resulted in adults who do not know the faith or morals and have no habit of prayer.
This doesn't actually take a lot of money, so much as it takes time, effort, and willingness on the part of the teacher to teach what the Church says, rather than what he thinks or feels. Baltimore catechism is less than $15, used for less than $10, sometimes on sale for $5, and online for free. Reciting the creed and the 10 commandments like St. Francis Xavier did is free.
We have a habit of spending money rather than doing the simple, cheap thing that works as well or better - and excluding the poor in the process.
Thanks re: Xavier, JD. AMDG!
This was exceptional as the Pillar Posts always are (though this one really was especially good). I know it's a few days late, but thank you so much for all that all of you at the Pillar do.
Hearing this passage stopped me up shirt. Thank you.
Thank you JD for making me realize another reason I hate baseball. Football teams shouldn't be allowed to give the ball to their best player whenever he's open! He should have to wait his turn. It's only fair to the other team to be boring and predictable.
The Carmelite nuns wish to maintain their Catholic identity while rejecting the Church’s authority, effectively positioning themselves outside the institutional framework of Catholicism. Although they may continue to adhere to Catholic theology, their actions suggest the creation of a personalized version of the faith—one tailored to their preferences. It seems likely they would lose the sympathy of their Catholic supporters if they were more transparent in acknowledging that they are, in fact, pursuing a distinct form of Christianity.
“We’re trending culturally to situations in which people who are poor, who are depressed, who are inconvenient or neglected or alone, will be — and are already — increasingly encouraged to do the right thing, and off themselves, rather than stand as inconvenient reminders of our collective failures to help people who are suffering.”
Yep, and as a person with a disability myself and the uncle of a nephew with a serious disability, this scares the heck out of me. The old eugenics of the 1920s and 1930s is back, and it’s on both the left and the right in the USA now (Malcolm and Simone Collins are pronatalist eugenicists and have deep connections with Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley well to do who think the worlds of GATTACA and Brave New World are models to emulate and want to essentially turn kids into consumer products and wipe out kids with disabilities via IVF and genetic screening, essentially recreating humanity in their own image).
This is the stuff that Chesterton fought hard against in England in his time. We need to gird our loins and fight like hell against this evil ideology like he did.
I don’t feel safe traveling to Canada because they think my life is a “life unworthy of life”.
The way the Canadians have gone after people with mental disorders as minor as depression makes me wonder if anyone in Canada is safe. Talk about a motivation to avoid asking for help.
Excellent reflection, JD. The link to Canadians being encouraged to seek physician assisted suicide takes me to the Carmelites article; where is the correct link?
Bo Jackson was one of the best. Proud to be a Royals fan!
His ability to break a bat in half with seemingly no effort is incredible. I think my neck would break before the bat would if I tried that.
Beautifully reasoned and written- thanks for sharing.
JD, what if you and Ed each wrote each other’s weekly e-mail “in persona” the other for one week, just for fun and to mix things up a bit? I don’t know how practically feasible something like that would be, but I think many of us Pillar Readers would get a kick out of that! 😉
Also, one of the things I love most about watching a baseball game the most is it’s slow paced enough that you can have some quality fraternity with a friend and catch up while watching it. Glad to see you’re developing more of an appreciation for baseball through your kids’ experiences with the game.
I don’t know if Fr. Burke Masters, the Chaplain for the Chicago Cubs, ever makes it out to Denver or not, but he’d be a neat guy for your kids to meet if he does make it out there. I think he was pretty far on track to be a professional baseball player before God called him to seminary formation and the priesthood.
Lastly, I’d love some way to purchase a The Pillar Christmas ornament of some sort to hang on my tree someday. 🙂