Urban Ashes: Lent in the City

The University where I teach part time is in an urban setting, so when I went to teach this past Wednesday night, I was kind of amazed at what I saw. It was, as you know, Ash Wednesday. I had been to Mass at 7:15 that morning, and it was going to be a long day (the class I teach meets from 7-9:40). I was walking through the student commons to get a drink, maybe coffee before class when I started seeing something that made me smile. There, on an urban campus, crosses on people's foreheads.

Mine had all but disappeared, but these student's ashes were going strong. And I didn't just see one or two, but dozens of students who had ashes imposed. It was quite the joy to see. They greeted each other and acknowledged others marked with the sign of the cross. In some ways I felt like I was back in the second or third century, one of the brothers of Christ among the pagan world (then again, it's not much different now is it?). It was a great thing to witness!

The University is not a Catholic school, but a Cathedral is just about smack dab in the middle of campus and holds a "University Mass" at 5 pm. That's where they had been (after some research I found that the Cathedral was the only place that had service around that time on campus). So not only had they bucked the cultural trend and were marked with the cross visibly for all to see, but they had done so at Mass! What a great thing to see.

Let us not be afraid to visibly wear our faith. This culture, this world needs more than ever to be reminded of its responsibility and even more so that its God is not that of retail or money. For the next week, try and wear a crucifix or cross on your clothing or around your neck, but keep it visible. There's nothing silly about showing your faith, we as Christians have so much to "brag" about ;)

Catholics and Confession

“When I was 7, 8 or 9 years old,” she said, “I found myself repeating the same sins over and over to the priest. It seemed to me they weren’t really sins but simply human nature. On the other hand, if I did something really serious, the guilt alone would drive me to confession.”

This quote is taken from an article by Ed Conroy, writer for the National Catholic Reporter, featured on Catholic Online about the decline in numbers of American Catholics participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. From this quote it seems that there must be some kind of warped view on what it means to be human. This woman said the sins she was confessing as a child did not seem sinful, but human. Sin is part of our human weakness, not our nature of inherent goodness as children of God. The pitfalls that seem to be part of our "human nature" are really those small sins into which it is easiest to fall. We have the blessed gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and we receive abundant graces from it to help us combat these sins in the future in addition to forgiveness we receive in the first place.

The article goes on to explain that one of the biggest reasons Catholics cite for their staying away from confession is ". . . the feeling they said that confession gave them [was that of] of being trapped within personal weaknesses, always guilty, always in need of forgiveness." It is exactly the opposite that is true. Without the Sacrament of Reconciliation we are ". . . trapped within personal weaknesses, always guilty, always in need of forgiveness." The focus of the sacrament is not the sins of the faithful, but the restoration of the human to a level of dignity appropriate to a child of God. Humans cannot be fully realized without purity of heart and soul, which is exactly what the sacrament helps us to attain. Now more than ever our world needs a renewed sense of purity, a complete conversion of the heart. Let that begin with Catholics worldwide, beginning with an increased participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The abovementioned article can be found at the following URL:
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=22951

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Where's the line? Murder or... murder?

This morning, the large news outlets are reporting a shocking story. A woman, Tiffany Hall, has been arressted after brutally murdering a woman and her unborn child. She killed the woman by forcefully cutting her unborn child (of 7 months) from her womb, effectively killing the child also. The official charge is intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Wait a second, what?

The official charge is intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Whoa. Okay, I must be reading something wrong because last I checked "intentional homicide of an unborn child" takes place thousands of times a day in this country legally. It's called abortion. The only difference is that the mother of the child is killing her unborn child instead of someone else.

So where's the line?

When is it not murder to kill an unborn child? Obviously what Ms. Hall did is horrible and I'm not in anyway trying to minimize it, but there's a huge issue of common sense here. God gave us reason, let's use it, why aren't we? If it's murder when someone else kills your unborn baby forcefully, why isn't it murder when a woman gives consent for someone to kill her unborn baby (abortion)?

The answer... it is.

It's a shame we live in a "culture" of "intellectuals" who either have no common sense or can't put one and one together.

Tiffany Hall has also been connected with the murders of three more children. This is a horrible travesty. Please pray for her soul and those she has killed and affected by her actions. Also, pray for the millions of mothers who have had abortions, may their souls reach heaven and be reunited with the children they never knew.