jesus

May 31, 2014 By Tyler Blanski 4 Comments

What is the Goal of the Catholic Church?

Why did Christ establish one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church?

Why did the eternal Son of God become incarnate of the Virgin Mary, call the Twelve, establish them on the rock that is Peter, give them the power to proclaim his Kingdom and even to absolve sins, and empower them with the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth? In other words, why did Jesus ascend into the heavens and leave his Church to finish the mission?

What’s God’s Goal?

To answer these questions, it can help to ask another question: What does God love most? What is God’s goal? Because God’s existence does not depend on anything outside of himself there can be only one answer. God’s goal is God. God loves God most. Does this make God an egocentric narcissist who is ultimately incapable of love? Not at all. God is not “self-centered” in human terms; God is God-centered in God terms, and “God is love” (1 John 4:8). God’s very being is an eternal exchange of love—Father loving Son, Son loving Father, in the binding love of the Holy Spirit.

God’s ultimate goal is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever. To borrow from Ignatius of Loyola, everything God does is “for the greater glory of God.” The Persons of the most adorable Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are eternally and passionately in love with one another. God’s love for us is grounded in God’s love for himself, and this makes his love for us so divine.

What is the best gift God can give you? Ultimately, the best gift God can give you is himself. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). We were made for God. “God has made us for himself,” says St. Augustine, “and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.” In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: “Redemption means that God, acting as God truly does, gives us nothing less than himself. The gift of God is God—he who as the Holy Spirit is communion with us.”

Only God is God. He alone creates; everything else is creation. He alone has always been; everything else has a starting point. He alone is supremely capable of love, because he alone is God. Out of the overflow of his self-love, the triune God is able to love us.

This truth first stabbed my heart when I was reading Cardinal John Henry Newman: “God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself, but it was His will to create a world for His glory…We are all created to His glory.” It was fanned into a flame when my favorite poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, answered the question, Why did God create? with this reflection:

[God] meant the world to give him praise, reverence, and service; to give him glory. It is like a garden, a field he sows: what should it bear him? praise, reverence, and service; it should yield him glory…It is a book he has written, of the riches of his knowledge, teaching endless truths, full of lessons of wisdom, a poem of beauty: what is it about? His praise, the reverence due to him, the way to serve him; it tells him of his glory.

When it comes to the Catholic Church, our first impulse can be to want God to make a big deal out of us. We want him to make us the center of attention. But the Church is not about us. It’s about God. When Christ established the Church as his new creation, he made a “praise, reverence, and service; it should yield him glory.” The Church “is like a garden, a field [God] sows.” St. Paul says “You are God’s field” (1 Cor. 3:9). As the baptized faithful, then, we were made for growing something beautiful, for bringing God praise. Until we get this right, we will never get the Catholic Church right.

As the new Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), Jesus Christ offers himself to the Father through the Spirit with his new Eve. The “new Eve” is God’s new creation and new humanity, the Church, his Body and Bride, personified in the Virgin Mary, who is filled with God’s Spirit and is the new mother of all living, the Queen of Heaven (Rev. 11:19-12:17). As the Church, we are Christ’s new creation. The Church reflects that uncreated Family of God, which is the Trinity, because she is the created Family, “the family of God” (CCC, no. 1655). By founding one Church as his mystical Body—as an extension of his Incarnation—Christ divinized flesh and made us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). In Christ, we have become children in the eternal family of the Trinity.

The Catholic Church is one because the Trinity is one. The Church’s “diversity”—which is not the same thing as schism, contradictory doctrines, or so-called branches—reflects the unity-in-diversity of the Trinity. Jesus prays that his Church would be completely one because this unity will bring God glory (John 17:21-24). God re-made us in Baptism for the same reason God made us in the first place—for the maximization of his own glory. “Bring my sons and daughters from afar, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory” (Isa. 43:6-7). The Didache puts it this way: “You, Almighty Master, created all things for your name’s sake…to you be the glory forever.”

What’s the Church’s Goal?

So why did Christ establish one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church? Because God is reigning. He has established his Kingdom. Jesus is the new king David (Luke 1:32), ruling the nations (Rev. 12:5) as “the King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). As the new Messianic King, he treats his mother with at least as much honor as Solomon and all the other Davidic kings treated their mothers (1 Kings 2:19-20; Rev. 12:1).

As the new David, Jesus requires not only a cabinet of twelve ministers (1 Kings 4:7), the Twelve Apostles (Matt. 10:2-4), but also a Prime Minister (Isaiah 22:15-25), Saint Peter (Matt. 16:15-19). As King, Christ promised to be with us “to the end” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus ascended into the heavens and left his Catholic Church to finish the mission because he is bringing glory to his Father in Heaven—and he wants us, empowered with the Holy Spirit, to join him.

Christ created the Catholic Church to give God “praise, reverence, and service; to give him glory.” The goal is glory, the family of God enjoying and sharing the glory of God. The apostolic succession is a living sign of Christ’s unending mediation as “the one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 2:5). By grace, the Church is Christ’s mystical Body; by love she is his glorious Bride. She is “his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph. 1:23). She is “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Pet. 2:9).

The Catholic Church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15) because she is led by the Holy Spirit “into all truth” (John 16:13). She is built by Christ on the “rock” that is Peter (Matt. 16:17-19), built as a City with “twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles” (Rev. 21:14), “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20), built on the foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). The Catholic Church is “built as a city that is at unity with itself” (Ps. 122:2) because the goal is the supreme exultation of the most adorable Trinity.

The mission is salvation—not because we’re kind-of-a-big-deal, but because God’s a big deal. As Catholics, we are finishing the mission. God is bringing glory to himself through his Church, and we are called to be a part of it. The only question is, will you finish the mission?

Tyler Blanski is a writer who possesses a beard of medieval proportions. Tyler is the author of When Donkeys Talk and Mud and Poetry.

April 7, 2014 By Sam Guzman 9 Comments

St. Maximilian Kolbe on How to Have Heaven on Earth

St. Max looks happy enough to have found heaven!

Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like? I have. I mean, we talk about it all the time, but when we get down to it, we don’t know that much about it. We do know that we will behold God face to face there, and we also know that we will find the fulfillment of all our deepest longings. But we don’t know nearly as much as we would like.

Part of the reason for this may be that it is simply too wonderful for us to understand. St. Paul, who was actually taken up into heaven, had to confess that what he saw was beyond description. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what things God has prepared for those who love him,” he said in awe of what he witnessed.

Other saints and mystics who have seen our eternal home have confirmed the apostle’s words, assuring us that heaven is joyful beyond words, and that we should desire it more than any earthly treasure.

A Foretaste of Heaven

Despite our ignorance of the true nature of heaven, however, we have the ability to experience a small foretaste of its joys here on earth. One of my favorite saints, St. Maximilian Kolbe, explains how we can have this experience. Here is the saint in his own words (I have added numbering for ease of reading).

In any case, those who on this earth have had a chance to taste in advance a little bit of heaven can get some idea of what it will be like. Now everyone can have this experience. All he needs to do is:

1) Go to confession with sincerity, diligence, a deep sorrow for his sins and a firm resolve to amend his life. He will suddenly feel a peace and happiness compared with which all the fleeting, unworthy pleasures of this world are really an odious torment.

2) Let everyone seek to come and receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with proper preparation.

3) Let him never permit his soul to remain in sin, but let him purify it immediately.

4) Let him do his duty manfully.

5) Let him address humble and frequent prayers to God’s throne, especially through the hands of the Immaculate Virgin.

6) Let him welcome his brethren with a charitable heart, bearing for God’s sake the sufferings and difficulties of life.

7) Let him do good to all, even his enemies, solely for the love of God and not in order to be praised or even thanked by men.

Then he will come to understand what it means to have a foretaste of paradise; and perhaps more than once he will find peace and joy even in poverty, suffering, disgrace, or illness.

Eternity Starts Now

In a very real sense, eternal life starts now. Both heaven and hell are simply confirmations of how we have chosen to live in this life. If we choose the way of selfishness, pride, greed, lust, and everything that is not God, we will quickly have a very real idea of the misery of hell. But if we instead choose the way of holiness, self-denial, forgiveness, and love of God and neighbor, we will find such peace and joy that it will be a real foretaste of heaven.

Perhaps you think you have lived too sinfully to have this experience of heaven—but that is simply not true. It is never too late to turn back to God. Repent with a sincere heart, confess your sins, and return to your heavenly Father who loves you and who is waiting to embrace you. Then you, too, can know the peace that passes all understanding.

March 31, 2014 By Sam Guzman 20 Comments

Get Your Beard On: A Call to Untrimmed Spirituality in a Clean-Shaven World

The following is a guest post from Tyler Blanski—a writer who possesses a beard of medieval proportions. Tyler is the author of When Donkeys Talk and Mud and Poetry.

From bearded indie rockers to hipster barkeeps, facial hair is in. And with it come rumors of a holy renaissance. Men and women everywhere are rediscovering the hairy lore of church history, the long curly whiskers of the saints, the bearded patriarchs of the Bible, and how our own spiritual lives can be gnarly and unclipped.

What is more spiritual than facial hair? Socrates and Plato sported the philosophers beard, King David was the first of the bearded poets, and who can forget the gross and swarthy beard of Jesus of Nazareth? Jesus immortalized the beard. To this day, no matter how many centuries have passed since his ascension, growing a thick beard is a pastime for holy men (and maybe even a few women).

There are no harder working beards in church history than St. Augustine and St. Maximus the Confessor. Their beards were magnanimous. St. Clement said the beard is a saint’s “natural and noble adornment.” Google St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and you’ll get the idea: the longer the beard, the holier the saint — and good Gregory’s entire face was a fluffy, white, Santa beard. “The glory of a monk,” it has been scrawled, “is a beard fully grown.

In days of yore, saints with facial hair were considered wise, holy, chaste, even virile. Men shaved only as a sign of mourning. But in modern times, beards became increasingly associated with a lack of cleanliness or a loss of refinement. It all started in the 17th century when philosophers like Descartes, Locke, Newton and Bacon shook their fairy godmother wands and said, in so many words, “The world is now a machine.” Slowly, bald rationalism replaced wooly mysticism. The spiritual life was sent to the barber to be shorn. In 1698, Peter the Great even ordered all Russian men to shave. He levied a beard tax with the hopes that Russian society would be as disbelieving as Western Europe

It worked. By the 19th century, there were more skeptics than saints. “The beard is dead,” said Neitzche, and he promptly grew a moustache.

“It performs no useful function; it is a nuisance and a discomfort; all nations hate it,” wrote Mark Twain, perhaps bewailing the lack of saints in the modern era where “all nations persecute [the beard] with the razor.” Indeed, the disenchantment of Modernity calls to mind the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off my beard” (Isaiah 50:6).

But the beard lives on. True, the so-called Enlightenment announced that the universe is like a complicated clock and the human brain like a machine. But even Charles Darwin grew such a gorilla beard one wonders if it preserved within his breast the magic and wonder of the “Olde World.” From Moses and Abraham to John the Baptist and St. Peter, Godly men have spared the razor and groomed the beard.

Don’t let doubt pluck out your beard. Too often we don’t grow more than a five o’clock shadow because we romanticize our doubt. We quote clean-shaven poets who make our fingers pointed to the heavens, bent in the shape of question marks, seem a lovely thing. But to doubt is to pretend that we are kind of a big deal. Reality is not waiting for our yea or nay. God is not Sigmund Freud. He is not taking notes while we lie here, like we are, swooning on our couches.

Those of us who love to doubt are indeed in love — with our doubt, “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:7). Romanticized doubt is an overblown view of one’s self. It is idolatry. You say you want to see some evidence? The bearded saints of yore say to you: Thou hast a wimpy picture of divinity. God is not a clown at a circus. He is not bacteria in a Petri dish. Jehovah is not the summation of an equation. He is not the ergo of an argument.

Men of old sought to justify man before God. Today we do just the opposite. We try to justify God before man. We attempt to assert his existence by proofs; yet we forget that we can only prove his existence by worship. Argument can make God at best probable. God is not an x, itself explained, explaining nothing.

Let’s take our cue from the indie rockers and grow our beards long again. We do not need proofs; we need what the old-timers called ghostly strength. We need faith, and faith must be lived.

Imitate the faith of Abraham. Consider his beard. Just look at that thing. Awe inspiring. He’s the proof and the paradigm of faith. With a beard like that, who could expect anything less?

The beard is not dead, no matter what the Neitzche says. When we become life-long students of Jesus, we can be part of a holy renaissance — a God renaissance. A renaissance is when new vision and vitality rush into old truths and traditions. People see themselves as part of something bigger and more beautiful. They start to care, really care, about the triune God and what it means to be human. People wake up. Minds and hearts come alive. The Gospel is lovingly proclaimed. History is changed.

From one Catholic to another, here’s something to text about. God’s salvation plot continues, and we can be a part of it. Find inspiration in those apostles and saints who have gone before us, and may your faith grow as long as their beards. Let it grow long and white. Leave it wild and untamed. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

March 21, 2014 By Sam Guzman 13 Comments

The Other Woman in My Life

Men, I have a confession to make: There’s another woman in my life. She’s beautiful, faithful, holy and strong, and I love her more all the time. Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell my wife— she already knows. I’m talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Brothers, despite what you may think, you need to be devoted to Our Lady. If you want to progress in holiness, if you want to imitate Jesus Christ, if you want to overcome temptation, if you want to be strong in sufferings, if you want to make it safely to heaven, there is no better way than being a faithful son of Mary.

Devotion to Mary is hands down one of the most masculine devotions, and of the great saints who have been most devoted to Mary, the majority are men. Men like St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Eudes, St. John Damascene, St. Peter Canisius, St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe— and the list goes on.

You may still be skeptical, but that’s alright. I’m going to give you 5 reasons to love Mary, but know that there are countless others.

1. She is the refuge and hope of sinners – The saints constantly tell us that no one, no matter how great a sinner, will be condemned if they are truly devoted to Mary. Let’s face it, falling into sin can be discouraging. When we fall, we fear God’s punishment, displeasure, and discipline. We wonder if we will ever be saved, or if there is any hope for us. The answer is yes, especially if we fly to Mary.

One of Mary’s most beautiful titles is Refugium Peccatorum, “the refuge of sinners.” In the Old Testament, God instituted cities of refuge, and these cities were safe havens for criminals. If you committed a terrible crime, a crime worthy of death, the only way you could avoid punishment was to run as fast as you could to a city of refuge. Only there would you be safe.

In the New Covenant, Mary is the city of refuge, the safe haven for sinners. When you fall into sin, run as fast as you can to Mary and she will obtain mercy and pardon for you from her Divine Son.

2. She helps us be pure – In the Middle Ages, women were vulnerable. Any brigand could disrespect or even assault a woman and probably get away with it. But that’s not the end of the story. A movement of men began to rise up and commit themselves to chastely protecting and honoring the dignity of women. This movement was known as chivalry, and chivalry was direct byproduct of devotion to Mary.

Living in the modern world is like living through one long temptation to impurity. It is relentless. More than this, women are constantly disrespected and objectified. It’s time for a new movement of chivalry. The more we love Mary, the more she will help us be pure in an evil world. And our devotion to her will instill in us a deep respect for femininity that will cause us to protect women in a world that wants to abuse them and use them.

3. She strengthens us in sufferings – When Jesus was in agony on the cross, the one small consolation he was allowed was the presence of his mother. Think about it, when you were a little boy and you hurt yourself, who did you run to? Your mom. I see my little boy do it all the time with my wife. A mother’s presence is enough to comfort us, even if it doesn’t take away the pain.

Mary is the ultimate comforter, and she helps us carry our crosses as we follow Jesus. When we are hurt physically or emotionally, her presence helps us bear the pain.

4. She crushes demons – Demons are real, and the want to make sure you never make it to heaven. They will send temptation after temptation your way to ensure you fall into sin— temptations to pride, greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, hatred, and unforgiveness.

How can you possibly survive such powerful spiritual enemies? You guessed it, through Mary. After the fall of man, God promised Satan that one day, his head would be crushed by a woman— and that woman is Mary. Satan hates Mary with every fiber of his being, because he knows that she will be the instrument God uses to defeat him.

There’s a deep theological reason for this, and maybe I’ll write on it another time, but for now, know that the devil is powerless against Mary. When you feel yourself overwhelmed by temptation, call on Mary and the demons will flee.

5. Jesus loved her – As Catholic men, our mission to imitate Jesus Christ in every respect. And what did Jesus do? He gave himself totally to Mary. He shared her flesh and blood and she formed him in her womb. He trusted her, he obeyed her even though he was her Lord. As a child, he ran to her when he was hurt or frightened, as is depicted in the beautiful icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. On the cross, her presence comforted him in his agony. In short, Jesus loved Mary intensely and depended on her completely, even though he had no need of doing so.

If we want to be true men in imitation of our Divine Captain, we must likewise submit ourselves humbly and lovingly to Mary. Just as she formed Jesus in her womb, she can form us in a similar manner through grace. Jesus came to us through Mary, and all the graces of God come to us through her. We should go to God the same way he came to us— through Mary. The closer we are to her, the more we will be like Jesus, and if we are like Jesus, we will be the best and truest of men.

Conclusion

When I was converting to Catholicism, Marian devotion was one of the hardest things for me to understand. But the more I learned about Mary, the more I grew to love her. She is truly the most beautiful of women, and I can’t imagine my spiritual life without her.

Men, I challenge you to learn to love this Lady. Start by study the great saints who have loved Mary the most. Learn about their heroic lives and read their writings. Then, immerse yourself in the Marian teachings of the church. They aren’t random, there is a very good reason for each of them. In short, find Mary and you will find Jesus.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Your faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her, You may truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen.

March 13, 2014 By Sam Guzman 5 Comments

Spiritual Weapons: The Name of Jesus

“Flog your enemies with the Name of Jesus, for there is no weapon more powerful in heaven or on earth.” – St. John Climacus

“Blessed be the Name of Jesus.” – The Divine Praises

Among the spiritual weapons in our arsenal, there are none as powerful as the Holy Name of Jesus. The saints have healed the sick, conquered temptation, demolished heresies, driven away demons, and converted sinners by invoking this powerful name. It is the name that signifies our hope and our salvation. In fact, Jesus is the most powerful name in heaven and earth, and Scripture tells us that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

But what does Jesus mean? How can we grow in holiness by calling on the name of Jesus? Let’s find out.

Meaning

The name Jesus means, “God saves” in Hebrew. To the Jews, this name was deeply significant. It recalled their freedom from enslavement in Egypt, the conquering of their enemies, and their entrance into the promised land, led by the military hero, Joshua. Not coincidentally, Jesus in Hebrew is the same name as Joshua.

Yet, Jesus was no military leader. Rather than driving out temporal enemies, he conquered the spiritual enemies of sin, Satan, and death, and he leads us to the true promised land of heaven. As the Angel announced to Mary, the Savior would be called Jesus because, “he will save his people from their sins.”

The Catechism summarizes these truths in a beautiful paragraph:

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity The Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” “YHWH saves.” The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him.

The more we meditate on the name of Jesus, the more we grow to love it.

Prayer and Invocation

Since the earliest centuries of the Church, the name of Jesus has been invoked to drive out demons and heal the sick. But above all, it has been called upon to conquer sin, overcome temptation, and grow in holiness. In fact, many of the saints became saints by doing nothing else but calling on the name of Jesus, either by ceaselessly repeating his name or by praying a prayer such as, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”

The name of Jesus is incredibly powerful for combatting temptations and in conquering sinful passions. No matter what you’re struggling with— anger, alcoholism, lust, pride, laziness, fear— the name of Jesus can conquer it.

“Naught but the name of Jesus,” says St. Bernard of Clairvaux, “can restrain the impulse of anger, repress the swelling of pride, cure the wound of envy, bridle the onslaught of luxury, extinguish the flame of carnal desire – can temper avarice, and put to flight impure and ignoble thoughts.”

Now, to clarify, repeating the name of Jesus should never be mindless. We should not treat this name as a magical incantation, but should rather realize that we are calling on a living Person—one who loves us and gave himself for us. By invoking this name, we are acknowledging our sin, helplessness, and our need for constant mercy. By calling on Jesus, we are crying like St. Peter as he drowned in the waves, “Lord, save me!”

If you want to overcome sin and grow in virtue, look first at your own neediness and helplessness. Acknowledge it— it’s healthy to do this. Then, call sincerely and constantly on the great and holy name of Jesus. I promise you, he will come to your aid.

I will conclude with the words of St. Bernardine of Sienna, who had a great devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and who summarizes it far better than I ever could.

Jesus, Name full of glory, grace, love and strength! You are the refuge of those who repent, our banner of warfare in this life, the medicine of souls, the comfort of those who morn, the delight of those who believe, the light of those who preach the true faith, the wages of those who toil, the healing of the sick. To You our devotion aspires; by You our prayers are received; we delight in contemplating You. O Name of Jesus, You are the glory of all the saints for eternity. Amen.