All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day is essentially the celebration of the Church Triumphant. However, the question is sometimes brought up about why we celebrate all the saints on one day when each has his or her own feast day. Pope Urban IV (Pope 1261-64) answers this by explaining that All Saints' Day is a day to celebrate those saints who are unbeknownst to us and to make recompense for any deficiencies in our celebration of other feast days.

We, as Catholics, have been celebrating this day in some shape or form since at least the late 4th century AD. Traditionally, Catholics in adjacent communities would get together to exchange and divide relics and to share a common feast once a year. Historians believe this was often on the Sunday following Pentecost, as there is evidence of an invitation by St. Basil of Caesarea to neighboring bishops for a celebration of the Church’s martyrs in 397 AD. Pope Gregory IV (Pope 827-844) named November 1 as the day of celebration for all the saints.

So why is this so pivotal a day for us? We look at the Church Triumphant as an ideal. On All Saints' Day, we are reminded that we must honor those who are now part of the Church Triumphant as role models for a Christian life and to hope to share in their joy of receiving the ultimate blessing of living with God, our Father in Heaven.

Some Exciting Additions!

Myself and Jenny are excited about some new happenings here with the blog and an upcoming network of Catholic material we're happy to be spear-heading. We thank you for your readership, feeder subscriptions, and prayers as we plod down the path of an online publishing vocation through blogging and soon more!

All-New DiscerningSainthood.com!
With you the user in mind, we've created an all-new Discerning Sainthood.com! At the moment it is a portal to the blog and the store with a little bit about Jenny and I and some email links. Click to visit!

Discerning Sainthood Online Store!
We've had it up in some minor form for the past several months, but now it's much more designed and user friendly for the buying experience. While there are only a few products right now, I'm happy to say that there will be several more up soon, just in time for the Christmas season! Visit www.cafepress.com/discerning to check out some fun bumper stickers and t-shirts.

Discerning Sainthood Newsletter!
Thanks to Cafepress.com which we run our online store through, we can also send newsletters. This is good news as we've been trying to figure out how to do this for little to no cost for some time now. Please sign up to receive the once-monthly Discerning Sainthood Newsletter filled with Updates, fun Catholic facts, and motivational messages. You can do so here on the site by entering your email in the newsletter box at the top right or on our store front.

Thank you, Thomas Merton.

I recieved an assignment to write an essay on the Buddhist principle of the Four Noble Truths. I had my doubts about my own competence in the matter. However, I took a step back and humbly followed the example of Thomas Merton. While he never waivered in his own faith after joining the Trappists, his study and understanding of the eastern faiths deeped and enriched his own. In that spirit I started my soul searching of what I had learned about the Four Noble Truths in the light of my own Catholic faith.

1. Life is suffering . . .

Life is suffering. We know this innately. We know that it does not feel good to be diseased. It does not feel good to experience negative emotions. It does not feel good to want. Life is full of trials. Every person experiences the suffering of earthly life. We cannot escape it. Suffering will never simply cease on its own.
Even though life has its positive moments, they are incomplete. The things that ostensibly make us happy and even the emotions themselves are fleeting and impermanent much like the physical universe.

2. Suffering is due to attachment . . .

For me, in my Catholic faith, this translates into an attachment to the sinful aspects of the world. To live in accordance with you flesh rather than in accordance with the Spirit causes a sinful and corporal attachment to things that are not in line with God’s plan. All attachments to things that are only of this passing, mortal world are sinful in nature. It is an obsession with things not created for man by God. To be attached to these things causes a longing for God. In attempting to fulfill this longing, man mistakenly tries to fill the void with empty acts and objects of the flesh.

3. The cessation of suffering is contingent upon extinguishing attachment . . .

In my own life and faith, in order to eliminate suffering, I must eliminate my attachment to the passing world and the things within it that are not representative of the pure goodness of God. In order to do this I must realize the void that exists even with the presence of passing, corporal pleasures and goods. I must fill this void with God, which will lead to a detachment of myself from the enslavement of the flesh.

4. The Eightfold Path extinguishes attachment . . .

It is here in the last of the Four Noble Truths that the Buddhist tradition teaches the action that is needed for the result. If the desired result is freedom from attachment to end suffering, then the action must lead to such a result. The Buddhist tradition asserts that the Eightfold Path leads to the elimination of desire and suffering. Each of the steps, or “rights,” of the Eightfold Path directly applies to the basic tenets of the Catholic faith.
Similarly, these “rights” all apply to my own life and faith. If one follows right view (Catholicism), right intention (doing God’s will), right speech (glorifying God in your words), right action (glorifying God in the things you do), right livelihood (fulfilling God’s plan for you in your vocation), right effort (doing what is asked of you by God), right mindfulness (glorifying God in your thoughts), and right concentration (living a healthy prayer life) then one may be led to God rather than to works of the flesh. In this way of life one lives in accordance with the Spirit rather than in accordance with the flesh.

Studying the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, including the Eightfold Path, gave me a chance to examine my own Catholic faith. I saw the beauty of both faiths more clearly. Thank you, Thomas Merton.

Lesson 1: To Be A Saint: Giving Up Everything

What does it take to be a Saint? What does it take to reach such an amazing honor bestowed by God and witnessed by the faithful?

Must I give up all of my belongings even if they do not come between God and myself? I have a roof over my head, I have clothes, a computer, many books, cds, a television, a car. But in these things I find purpose for God. On my computer I witness, I spread the Gospel, I take part in fellowship. Of my many books, the vast majority are religious texts, Bibles, writings by the Saints, devotionals, etc. In them I find God speaking to me. Even in my cd collection I find God, listening to music that inspires me to be a better Christian. And on my television I watch and learn about God, about those who need him, about things which I should pray for, etc.

So what do I give up? Those things which I can live without? I can live without almost all of the things I own. Is it that I own them that I must readdress? I give them freely to God in what I do with them and with how I lend them to others. You are reading this because I have a computer and I pray that it inspires you.

This past Sunday's readings included the story of the wealthy man coming to Jesus and asking him what he must do to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells him to obey the commandments. The man says that he has always adhered to them. Jesus then tells him that he has much wealth and to give up all that he owns, for it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy man to enter the Kingdom of God. The wealthy man then walks away sad, for he had many possessions.

I've heard people say that the moral of that story above all else is to give up that which comes between you and God. The wealthy man walked away sad because his possessions were something he would not part with, therefore if we have possessions that we will not gladly part with for the glory of God, then we MUST give them up. This makes a lot of sense to me, though at times I do struggle. Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm not doing enough, but I find comfort in knowing that I can never do enough to be worthy, only what I'm capable of doing with God's help. I can never give up enough, for it's not the action of giving something up that justifies me before God, but the reason I give it up.


(feel free to click on the above banner and use it on your own site as a reminder of what we need to do in order to grow in holiness.)

White Hats Repel Muslim eAttack

In the world of computer hacking, the hackers employed by corporations and organizations as Security Consultants are referred to as "White Hat Hackers". And just earlier this week when Muslim hackers planned and attempted an attack on the Vatican website, White Hats were the papal line of defense. And defend they did, repelling the attack which caused absolutely no damage or significant slow-down to the website, according to the ANSA news service. According to the report, the attack was to be a "denial of service" attack, where the Vatican site would be overloaded with visitors and be forced to shut down.

Apparently this was found to have been planned on a Muslim website where it was stated that the attack was to get back at Pope Benedict XVI for his comments in Germany "against Islam". If you ask me, ridiculous. I found this story here at Catholic World News. They make no mention of the term "white hats", but I decided to use it instead of "computer-security experts". Why attack the Vatican website? That's makes absolutely no sense at all.

Consecrated Hotpocket

I once knew a guy who had left the Church to become an Episcopalian (Anglican-Americanized) because he felt that he was called to be a priest, but also called to be married. This wasn't the only thing he was desperately confused about. One day he said he wanted to consecrate a Twinkie and Dr. Pepper once he became a priest. He was joking, yes, but I wonder if he really would. Knowing him, I can honestly say that I'm not so sure he wouldn't. Regardless, I hope he's following God's plan for him and carefully discerning his true vocation (whether it's marriage or priesthood).

Anyway, I didn't just lead in with that for no reason. As I sit here and eat a hotpocket, I thought of that person and how utterly lost they must be in their understanding of the Holy Eucharist. It made me contimplate for a little while what it's like to be without this precious miracle and most holy sacrament. And I realized, if you truly have faith in the Eucharist...if you try to love the presence of our Lord in this most holy and perfect sacrifice, then you can't live without it. And if you think you can, you don't have the faith or love for Christ that you thought you did.

The Deacon at our parish told us a story not too long ago about when he was in seminary as a young man. A friend of his, Baptist, asked if he could come to the local Catholic church with Deacon that day out of curiosity. See, Deacon was going to this church daily for prayer and reflection and his friend had always wondered what was so special about the space. Anyway, Deacon and the man walked into the church and up to the area in front of the altar. Deacon was explaining some of the religious art to his friend and genuflected before the tabernacle. Then he turned around to continue explaining things to his friend only to find him laying prostrate on the floor! He got up a few minutes later and asked Deacon what was in that box behind the altar, that he had never felt the presence of God like that before.

Amazing story, right? It's true. And it tells of a reality that a lot of people only see as some sort of weird religious experience type ordeal, or denounce it as fake or false. Or even pull out the relative card and try to say that all churches are the same, etc. The truth is in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. And that truth exists in the Holy Catholic Church. I pray for all to find it where it's guarded from evil and loved intensley. Your home is in the Catholic Church because that's where Christ is, that's where He's prepared his table. Amen.

Murder Magazine Hits Stores

It looks like pro-choicers have built another weapon to propogate murder. And this time it's not another slaughter clinic, but a magazine. Yes, in the guise of a periodical promoting women's issues and rights, Ms. Magazine is doing little more than promoting abortion and a false sense of feminism. To these women, feminism is about promoting a woman's right to choose to kill her unborn child, and they highlight this belief in an issue of Ms. Magazine where 53 women proudly come forward and admit to having murdered their unborn child ("terminated pregnancy"), because they chose to sin ("had the right to choose").

Score another point for satan. This has got to stop.

Humor, Children & Email

Here's a little humor compliments of an email I received. You know what I'm talking about, one of those Fwd (forwards) you get from someone you may or may not know (or remember). Turns out that sometimes they are actually worth reading. Enjoy!

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him ".

And one more...

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.

As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

It's always good to know that people are still writing jokes clean enough to repeat and fwd to your friends. Send these along too! And if you'd like the full email with all the jokes, send an email to discerningsainthood@gmail.com and I'll Fwd you the entire thing! :) Pax Christi!