Navarre Bible Commentary:Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Luke 5:27-32

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Jesus Calls Levi

27 After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.”28 And he left everything, and rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table[a] with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Footnotes:

1. Luke 5:29 Greek reclining

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraph 588. Citations from parallel passages in other Gospels can be found here.

Commentary

The calling of Matthew

5:27–29. Levi, better known as Matthew, responds generously and promptly to the call from Jesus. To celebrate and to show how appreciative he is for his vocation he gives a banquet. This passage of the Gospel shows us that a vocation is something about which we should be very grateful and happy. If we see it only in terms of renunciation and giving things up, and not as a gift from God and something which will enhance us and redound to others’ benefit, we can easily become depressed, like the rich young man who, not wanting to give up his possessions, went away sad (cf. Lk 18:18ff). Matthew believes in quite the opposite way, as did the Magi who, “when they saw the star, rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Mt 2:10) and who gave much more importance to adoring the new-born God than to all the inconveniences involved in travelling to see him. See also the notes on Mt 9:9; 9:10–11; 9:12; 9:13; and Mk 2:14; 2:17 BELOW

5:32. Since this is how Jesus operates, the only way we can be saved is by admitting before God, in all simplicity, that we are sinners. “Jesus has no time for calculations, for astuteness, for the cruelty of cold hearts, for attractive but empty beauty. What he likes is the cheerfulness of a young heart, a simple step, a natural voice, clean eyes, attention to his affectionate word of advice. That is how he reigns in the soul” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 181).

Notes on Mt 9:9-13

The call of Matthew

9:9. “Tax office”: a public place for the payment of taxes. On “following Jesus”, see the note on Mt 8:18–22.

The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.

In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. the note on Mt 8:18–22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever he chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Mt 4:19–21; Mk 1:17–20; Jn 1:39; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism. In other words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16).

Matthew’s promptitude in “following” Jesus’ call is to be noted. When God speaks, a soul may be tempted to reply, “Tomorrow; I’m not ready yet.” In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. Jon 1). “Tomorrow” runs the risk of being too late.

As in the case of the other apostles, St Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life: “What amazes you seems natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession! That is how he sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house. And—wonder of wonders!—Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seeds of Christianity” (St Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 799).

9:10–11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, he said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt 7:1), and elsewhere he added, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the vilest of sins unless God’s grace were to come to our aid.

9:12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by so doing he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.

9:13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A more faithful translation would be “I desire mercy more than sacrifice”. It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer him: he is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does—especially his worship of God (see 1 Cor 13:1–13; Mt 5:23–24).

Notes for Mk 12:14, 17

The calling of Matthew

2:14. St Mark and St Luke (5:27–32) both call him “Levi”; the First Gospel, on the other hand, calls him “Matthew” (Mt 9:9–13); but they are all referring to the same person. All three accounts describe the same event. Later on, St Mark and St Luke, when giving the list of apostles (Mk 3:13–19; Lk 6:12–16), include Matthew, not Levi. The Fathers identify Matthew with Levi. Besides it was quite common for Jews to have two names: Jacob-Israel, Simon-Peter, Saul-Paul; Joseph-Caiaphas; John-Mark … Frequently, the name and surname were connected with some significant change in the life and mission of the person concerned. Did Jesus’ saving intervention in this apostle’s life lead to a change of name? The Gospel does not tell us.

Levi-Matthew, as a publican or tax collector (Mt 9:9–13), was sitting at the “tax office”, a special place where one went to pay tribute. Publicans were tax-collectors appointed by the Romans. It was, therefore, an occupation hated and despised by the people; but it was also a much-coveted position because it was an easy way to become prosperous. Matthew leaves everything behind when Jesus calls him. He immediately responds to his vocation, because Jesus gives him the grace to accept his calling.

Jesus is the basis of our confidence in being able to change, provided we cooperate with his grace, no matter how unworthy our previous conduct may have been. And he is also the source of the confidence we need in order to be apostolic—helping others to be converted and to seek holiness of life. Because he is the Son of God he is able to raise up children of God even from stones (cf. Mt 3:9). Cf. the note on Mt 9:9.

2:17. The scribes and Pharisees reproach the disciples, and Jesus replies with a popular proverb: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” He is the doctor of souls, come to cure sinners of their spiritual ailments.

Our Lord calls everyone, his redemptive mission extends to everyone; he affirms this on other occasions, using parables such as that of the marriage feast (Mt 22:1–14; Lk 14:16–24). How, then, can we explain the restriction he seems to place here by saying that he has not come to call the righteous? It is not really a restriction. Jesus uses the opportunity to reproach the scribes and Pharisees for their pride: they consider themselves just, and their reliance on their apparent virtue prevents them from hearing the call to conversion; they think they can be saved by their own efforts (cf. Jn 9:41). This explains the proverb Jesus quotes; certainly his preaching makes it quite clear that “no one is good but God alone” (Mk 10:18) and that everyone must have recourse to the mercy and forgiveness of God in order to be saved. In other words, mankind is not divided into two—the just and the unjust. We are all sinners, as St Paul confirms: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Precisely because of this, Christ came to call all of us; he justifies those who respond to his call.

Our Lord’s words should also move us to pray humbly and confidently for people who seem to want to continue living in sin. As St Teresa beseeched God: “Ah, how hard a thing am I asking of thee, my true God! I ask thee to love one who loves thee not, to open to one who has not called upon thee, to give health to one who prefers to be sick and who even goes about in search of sickness. Thou sayest, my Lord, that thou comest to seek sinners; these, Lord, are the true sinners. Look not upon our blindness, my God, but upon all the blood that was shed for us by thy Son. Let thy mercy shine out amid such tremendous wickedness. Behold, Lord, we are the works of thy hands” (Exclamations of the Soul to God, 8).

The Fathers of the Church see this calling by Jesus as an invitation to repentance and penance. St John Chrysostom (Hom. on St Matthew, 30:3), for example, explains the phrase by putting these words in Jesus’ mouth: “I am not come that they should continue sinners but that they should change and become better.”

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome

We are the Ground:A Reflection on the Parable of the Sower

Familiar Story
The Parable of the Sower is a familiar story we hear in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matt 13: 1-9; Mk 4:1-20; Lk 8:4-15. In fact, we hear a variation of this reading several different times during the three year Liturgical Cycle. While the story may be familiar, we can often garner different meanings during different times of reflection. In previous reflections, I have written that we are both the seeds and the sower. Even more recently, I reflected on the call to bear fruit.

We are the Ground
Today, as I was listening to the USCCB Daily Reflection, it struck me that we are the soil – the ground on which the seeds of God's message fall upon. God is kind, merciful and patient in His pursuit of our love. He spreads the seeds of His good news even upon our hardened hearts when we have rejected Him or been complacent to His call. Nevertheless, the Lord waits, knowing that the through the grace of the Holy Spirit even our hardened hearts can be fertile ground for His message, like a flower growing out of a sidewalk crack. God's love can seep its way into even the tiniest of crevice our callous, cemented character.

Navarre Bible Commentary
Like the sower in the parable, God generously seeks to share His love with all of us. We are the one's who get in the way of our own salvation. Through our anger, complacency and lack of fortitude we are like the ground that does not permit the seed to bear fruit. The commentators of the Navarre Bible explain:

God calls everyone to salvation but only those attain it who receive God's call with good dispositions and who do not change their attitude; the value of the spiritual benefits the Kingdom brings--so valuable that one should give up everything to obtain them; the fact that good and bad are all mixed together until the harvest time, or the time of God's judgment; the intimate connection between earthly and heavenly aspects of the Kingdom, until it reaches its point of full development at the end of time. (The Navarre Bible: St. Matthew's Gospel, 101) 

Catechism of the Catholic Church
The types of ground described in the Gospel are representative of our attitude and disposition towards receiving the Lord into our hearts. The Catechism comments:

But this "intimate and vital bond of man to God" (GS 19 § 1) can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call. (CCC, 29)

Furthermore, the Catechism goes on to explain how Jesus used parables to invite people into the kingdom of God. Through these parables, he continues to speak to us.

Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". For those who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic. (CCC, 546)

Flash Animation Video

Answer the Call to Holiness

Universal Call to Holiness at National Shrine

The Laity
The laity makes up the largest group of the Church and its members are defined as those not ordained (CCC, 897; LG, 31). Many lay Catholics today have heard of “the universal call to holiness,” yet few know what this phrase means, let alone how to rightly pursue it in their daily lives. This is evident in the current mindset that says, “I love Jesus, but I just can’t buy into the teachings of the Church.” Mindful of this crisis of faith, Pope Benedict XVI instituted a Year of Faith, in which we have been instructed, among other things, to spend time reading the documents of Vatican II (Porta fidei, 5). In so doing we can discover what this call to holiness demands and what role the Church serves in helping us become sanctified, for indeed we are all “called to be saints” (Rom 1:7).

Pray, Pay and Obey

Ask a regular Joe fifty years ago what the role the laity served in the Catholic Church and you were likely to get an answer similar to this: "To pray, to pay and to obey." The fact is that many still fill that way, but Vatican II emphasized that we are ALL called to holiness – ordained and laity alike (LG, 40).

Holiness Defined
Holiness means to belong to God, to be in union with Him for holiness is an attribute of God. To be perfect, as God the Father is (Matt 5:48), requires that one be in unity with God. This is precisely what John the Baptist was articulating when he said “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). This means enjoining one’s will with the will of God. Thus the ultimate expression of one’s gift of free will is freely returning it to the Father. Then and only then can we say that it is not us who lives, but Christ Jesus who lives (Gal. 2:20). Put another way, holiness is the process of ongoing conversion towards this union with the Father, this relationship with the Holy Spirit, this friendship with Christ.

God Calls Us
God initiates this call to holiness, which is essentially a call to a relationship with him. Since God calls us, it must be possible to answer. In his love for us, God provides man with the tools for sanctification. Primary among these are the sacraments which all draw us closer to him by availing us to his grace. He also gives us the liturgy so that me might learn how to pray, the essential tool to develop our relationship with the Lord. He provides the faithful with role models to follow in the lives of the saints. Their lives provide evidence that answering the call to holiness is possible for all.

JP2 on Holiness...In His Own Words

Fatherhood Stirs Conversion

Kevin playing with Max, our first dachshund's father

Years in the Desert
Although, I was raised in a strong Catholic home where both my parents attended Mass regularly,  I drifted away from my Catholic faith when I went to college. I did not set out to leave the Church. At first, I simply claimed driving back cross town to attend Mass at my old parish was too far. Then I complained that the Catholic Church near SMU was too old and stuffy. Finally, I asserted that the campus ecumenical chapel wasn't Catholic enough to hold a "real" Mass. If anyone ever asked, I would say I was still Catholic. Even my dog tags in the Army were imprinted with ROMAN CATHOLIC. Before I knew it, I had wandered away, lost in the desert of sin for nearly 20 years.

Finally Home
Fast forward past those twenty years and I found myself at St. Catherine of Siena parish in Carrollton, Texas. I had already been sporadically attending Mass at St. Anne's, which was located in another diocese and miles away from the home we were leasing at the time. I didn't know about St. Catherine's until I happened to drive by it one day by accident. When I walked into the church for the first time and shook Sonny Cruz's hand as he greeted me at the door, I knew I was home.  It was not long after that +Stacey Gonzalez and +Kevin Gonzalez joined me and would eventually go through RCIA.

Why Catholic?
I very quickly got involved in the parish life: first as a reader and eventually as an adult formation catechist. My return to the Church gained warp speed after attending the Christ Renews His Parish retreat. Eventually, this would influence the formation of Joe Catholic. About this time, our parish began participating in the small faith group program, Why Catholic? While we were sharing at one of these sessions, someone asked me (I think it was one of the discussion questions) what brought me back to the Catholic Church. I had never had a good answer for this. I would just say it was a gradual thing. The Holy Spirit must have inspired me that night because I identified the event with pinpoint precision. I said Kevin moving in with me and Stacey motivated me to change. I figured out that this boy was looking to me for spiritual and moral direction and I didn't have anything to share with him. I had to get working on me so I could be there for him.

Fatherhood Stirs Conversion
So there it is, just add water and instant family – instant fatherhood. When I realized I wasn't just playing house with Stacey, that we were now a family, I had to get serious about becoming a better person, to become a real man, a real father. The Holy Spirit was guiding me towards conversion. I didn't use these words at the time– but they are fitting now – I needed to become more like St. Joseph who was a just man, a righteous man. Like Joseph, I was asked to raise a son who was not my biological son and raise him as my own. Eventually – and only time will tell how good a job I've done – this meant teaching him about our faith and morals.

Here's Kevin now, giving a talk on the North American Martyrs at Joe Catholic earlier in the year.

Do You Have the Right Tools in Your Toolbox

Photo by XJKyle1389

Our Dad's Toolbox
As I was preparing a talk on this subject for last month's Joe Catholic gathering, I thought of my Dad and his roll away toolbox. When I was in grade school my Dad was  a machinist, specifically a lathe operator for LTV. I remember him having two roll away toolboxes, one for his home tools and the "Big Red" one he had at work. I got to see the red one when he had his Christmas vacation (I would later learn these were actually plant shut downs).

Dad was very clear that my brother Tony and I were not to get any of the tools out of his toolbox. It had a lock, but Dad never had to lock because we feared what would happen if we sneaked a peak.  When we reached high school Dad declared we were old enough to be entrusted with the use of his tools from the home roll away. He, like many fathers, made it clear we were to return all the tools in the same condition as we received them. Inevitably we each put one away dirty, left one in the rain that got rusty and even lost one. Owning up to those times was not easy, but we learned a lot about responsibility and accountability from those tools.

Our Father's Spiritual Tools 

Our heavenly Father has equipped and entrusted each and every one of us with the necessary spiritual tools to succeed in answering the call to universal holiness, to achieve personal sanctity. Unfortunately, like the boys we once were, we have let them get rusty, failed to sharpen some and even forgotten other spiritual tools.

A-Count-Ability
One of the first things my Dad taught us about the tools is that you had to account for what tools you had and where they belonged. His reasoning was that you cannot know what tools you need for a job if you don't know what you have. Similarly, this is how we need to make an honest assessment of the state of our spiritual toolbox. More precisely this is deeper examination of conscience, one that reflects on our daily use of the spiritual tools our Lord has provided us with. These include the Communion of Saints, prayer, the sacraments and spiritual reading.

Ultimately, this inventory of spiritual tools should be part of our Spiritual Game Plan, what St. Josemaria Escriva called a plan of life. I recommend ordering a copy of Father John McCloskey's pamphlet - Seven Daily Habits of Faithful Catholics, available at CatholiCity.


Spiritual Reading
Do you have a good Catholic Bible in your library? I recommend the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition, published by Ignatius Press.  Along with the Bible, you should have a copy of the complete (GREEN) Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). The CCC is the most comprehensive collection of Catholic teaching; it is what we believe. Blessed John Paul II, in Fidei Depositum, described it as "a sure norm for teaching the faith" and thus "a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion." The cross-reference index and glossary alone make the "green book" worth purchasing.

In addition to the Bible and CCC, you should incorporate some spiritual reading from other sound Catholic writers. You can't go wrong with starting with writings of the saints, classic works like Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales or The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva. If you prefer something modern, I recommend looking at the spiritual reading list on the Joe Catholic homepage (right column).

Prayer
How can you say you are a man of God if you are not actively communicating with Him in prayer?
Scripture says we should pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17). This of course seems impossible for someone other than a cloistered nun or hermit monk. Actually it's not, if we begin to understand that prayer is more than words. When we begin to transform our lives into active prayer then we will begin to realize that we can communicate with God throughout our daily activities.

Can we really love God with our whole hearts, minds and souls when we allow other things in our lives to be more important? That which consumes most of our time is our God (not deliberately, but practically). What is your God? I know I watch too much online TV. If you don't know what is getting in the way of you spending more direct time with the Lord, I recommend a calendar drill in which you log your entire day (a week is preferable) and see how you are spending your time. You will be amazed at how little time you devote to your relationship with God. As we approach Lent, this would be a good time to recalibrate and refocus our lives on Him.

Sacraments
One of the consistent recommendations found in studying the lives of the saints is frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Church teaches that we are only required to go to Confession once a year or when we have committed a mortal sin. Blessed John Paul II went weekly. Dr. Taylor Marshall outlined Seven Reasons to Frequent Confession During Lent (or any other time). I once heard a talk in which the priest described frequent confession as "the rotor router of the soul." Our deacon recently recommended every two weeks. I believe this is also what Scott Hahn recommends in one of his books. I believe we should approach the sacrament in much the same way as physical exercise. If we have not been regularly exercising we should ease into it. I would begin with once a quarter and then build up to once a month and then twice a month or every two weeks. Try it; the grace you will receive will transform you.

We should strive to incorporate Daily Mass into our schedules. In the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex in which I live, we have numerous opportunities to attend daily mass, ranging from 6AM masses to 7PM. This is where a tool like Mass Times comes in handy. Even if your schedule does not permit attending Mass everyday, you could still carve out a few days, starting with Wednesday (because of the Wednesday devotion to St. Joseph), to attend daily Mass. Maybe instead of eating out for lunch, you go to Mass during you lunch break and eat at your desk while you work later. Better yet, you could skip the meal and offer it up.

In addition to incorporating daily mass, we should all strive to participate fully in Mass. This means arriving to Mass a few minutes early to give yourself time to get in the right frame of mind and spirit. It also means that during Mass you actively listen to the readings and homily. I recently asked a group of men at a Monday gathering what the theme of the Sunday Gospel was and only a handful knew.

Spiritual Battle
St. Paul urged us to be vigilant because we are engaged in spiritual battle:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12.)

St. Peter warned that we should "[b]e vigilant at all times for your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Would you let an intruder in your home harm your family without defending them with your very life? Then why would you not put your life on the line for their souls!?! We must man up and stand up to fight.

Earlier this month, Defend Us in Battle raised the battle cry:

We, the living, are part of the Church, we are the Church Militant. We are the warriors fighting the powers and principalities set on the destruction of as many souls that they can sink their claws into. We wage battles and war against these evil powers through prayer, fasting, and alms giving. We are at war, for real.

Conversion
Conversion, which means change, starts at home, including our own parish and those we encounter in our daily lives. We MUST begin to take a supernatural, spiritual outlook on our daily lives. If not, then  how are we any different than the rest of society? Do others know you are Christian by the way you live your life or are you an imposter, one who blends in with everybody else?

Saint Talk: The Conversion of St. Paul

Today the Church celebrates the Conversion of St. Paul. St. Paul's conversion is such a big deal that the Church sets aside a special day to reflect upon it. I can't think of another feast day on the Church calendar that celebrates any other person in such a manner.

Saul, as he was named before his conversion, was a Jewish zealot intent on persecuting Christians. Saul journeyed to Damascus "so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1). God had a different plan for Saul. While he was traveling to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul in a flash of light. Saul "fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting' (Acts 9:4-5). Some biblical scholars dispute the accuracy of Caravaggio's famous painting which depicts Saul falling from a horse. The commentators of the Navarre Bible posit "Saul and his associates, who would probably have been mounted, would have had no difficulty in doing the journey in under a week." Personally, I like the image of Saul falling off his high horse. Isn't that what often happens to us right before we turn to God?

Saul was literally blinded by the light of the Truth. Soon after Saul encounters Ananias, who baptizes him and lays hands on Saul (a symbol of commissioning and ordination). Paul became the Lord's vessel, His instrument for good. Paul spread the Word to gentiles throughout the world and is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul's response to God's call is an example for all of us. Pope Paul VI explains:

"The apostolate is [...] an inner voice, which makes one both restless and serene, a voice that is both gentle and imperious, troublesome and affectio- nate, a voice which comes unexpectedly and with great events and then, at a particular point, exercises a strong attraction, as it were revealing to us our life and our destiny. It speaks prophetically and almost in a tone of victory, which eventually dispels all uncertainty, all timidity and all fear, and which facilitates-- making it easy, desirable and pleasant--the response of our whole personality, when we pronounce that word which reveals the supreme secret of love: Yes; Yes, Lord, tell what I must do and I will try to do it, I will do it. Like St. Paul, thrown to the ground at the gates of Damascus: What would You have me do?

"The roots of the apostolate run deep: the apostolate is vocation, election, interior encounter with Christ, abandonment of one's personal autonomy to His will, to His invisible presence; it is a kind of substitution of our poor, restless heart, inconstant and at times unfaithful yet hungry for love, for His heart, the heart of Christ which is beginning to pulsate in the one who has been chosen. And then comes the second act in the psychological drama of the apostolate: the need to spread, to do, to give, to speak, to pass on to others one's own treasure, one's own fire. [...]

"The apostolate becomes a continuous expansion of one's soul, the exuberance of a personality taken over by Christ and animated by His Spirit; it becomes a need to hasten, to work, to do everything one can to spread the Kingdom of God, to save other souls, to save all souls" ("Homily", 14 October 1968).

When I was about sixteen years old, ABC ran a mini-series called Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. While the movie was not completely accurate in its portrayal of biblical events, it did strike a chord with me. To this day, when I proclaim a reading from St. Paul's epistles at Mass, I think of Anthony Hopkins' portrayal. Here is a clip from the movie depicting St. Paul's conversion.

Keep the Coals Burning - Sustaining Conversion

Tuesday we published the Joe Catholic debut of Frater Bovious. Today we get to see the man behind Frater Bovious, Mark Connolly. In November, Mark gave a talk comparing conversion to barbecuing. Only Mark could come up with such a unique analogy.

This is only our second Joe Catholic Media production (I use that term loosely), but we do have more in the works.

I hope you enjoy the video.

St. Monica: Patron of Mothers

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Monica the patron of mothers. St. Monica was married to a pagan and had a son whose lifestyle would have competed with Charlie Sheen's today. Nevertheless, St. Monica prayed daily for the conversion of her husband and son. Eventually both converted to Catholicism. Her son, St. Augustine just happened to turn out to be one of the great saints of the Church.

For all those who suffer because a loved one has left the Church, ask St. Monica for her help and intercession. I know my mother invoked her intercession while I was lost in the dessert of self absorption. My mother prayed for nearly twenty years for my return to the Church.

I am sure other mothers (and fathers) have similar stories to share.

St. Monica pray for us and those we love, especially those searching for the truth. May they find the truth in He who is Truth.  Amen.

To learn more about St. Monica visit:

New Advent - St. Monica

ETWN -St. Monica

Father John McCloskey on Catholic Answers

Father John McCloskey, author of Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and The Crisis of Faith, will be taking calls during the second hour of Catholic Answers Live on Catholic Radio. Father McCloskey is the former director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. The National Catholic Register described McCloskey as "one of the Church's most accomplished 'fishers of men.'" In fact, his spiritual direction was instrumental in the conversions of Judge Robert Bork, Robert Novak and Bernard Nathanson, an atheist who oversaw over 70,000 abortions.

I mention his appearance on Catholic Answers because Bishop Vann recommended spiritual direction as an integral part of spiritual growth.  I anticipate, based on the title of the show - Spiritual Direction and You - that Father McCloskey will speak on that subject. He is a proponent of spiritual reading as evidenced by his Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.

Catholic Answers may be heard on your local Catholic radio station, streamed through their website,  through their mobile application and on their podcast.

Father John Corapi's Conversion Story

In light of all the recent news surrounding Father John Corapi, I have decided to repost his conversion story video. I think hearing this will shed some light on what Corapi was as a preacher and why his story profoundly impacted so many people. It also provides context to the sadness felt by many at hearing his decision to leave public ministry as a priest.