Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!

Just One More Book

Today marks the annual Free Comic Book Day celebrated at comic book stores everywhere. As a comic book geek I love this day. Now I have come to love this day because it afforded me the opportunity to introduce the greatness of comics to my nephew and niece. Some of my fondest memories with my son Kevin are those of taking him to the comic book store or the book store. He knew how to play me. What father is going to tell their son they can't have "just one more book?"

Parents Who Read
One other reason I like this day is because I know that comics played a large role in me becoming a life-long reader. My mother fostered that early by giving me comics and later by sharing her books. Stacey and I have passed that on to our children. Now Kevin is grown and married, but one of his prized possessions is his library of books. Without knowing it, Stacey and I were arming our children with some of the most important tools in developing early reading skills – children seeing their parents read and reading with their parents.

Early Childhood Literacy
A recent early childhood literacy study conducted by Harvard University concluded "young children exposed to lots of early reading began talking more and showing an interest in books that provoked further shared reading with the parent and, in turn, the momentum for additional cognitive and vocabulary growth" (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Science Briefs: The Effects of Early Reading with Parents on Developing Literacy Skills, 2007). The flip side of this is that "the absence of early literary stimulation is the harbinger of sustained educational difficulties" (Jumpstart, 2009). In my 15 years experience as a high school teacher, I have observed that those students who are avid readers perform better on the SAT.

Vatican II and Parental Obligations
The Second Vatican Council teaches parents "that marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the begetting and education of children."  Furthermore, the Council instructed parents that they “should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those [to] whom it has been transmitted” (Gaudium et Spes, 50).

A Canonist's View
According to Benedict Nguyen, who is a Canon lawyer and one of my professor's at Ave Maria University:

In its Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis (GE) 3, the Vatican Council also forcefully reminds parents of this natural-law right and obligation to educate their children, teaching: “Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators.” Vatican II’s decree on the apostolate of the laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem (13), places a duty on Christian married partners “strenuously to affirm the right and duty of parents and guardians to educate children in a Christian manner.” Likewise, Pope John Paul II affirms the right and duty of parents to provide for the education of their children by calling the right not only “essential” but also “irreplaceable and inalienable and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.” (Familiaris Consortio, 36)

Marching Orders
Parents, go out and get some free comics for your children. Help them develop a love for reading and love for learning. Helping them love to read will equip them to be life-long learners. If you are worried that comics have become too "adult," the comic book publishers and stores have made kid friendly issues available for free too. Here's a link to the 60 FREE comics that stores will be giving away. By the way, Half Price Books is getting in on the act and will give away a free comic with any purchase.

Navarre Bible Commentary:Thursday, 2nd Week in Lent

Rich Man and Lazarus by James B. Janknegt

Luke 16:19-31

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz′arus, full of sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz′arus in his bosom. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz′arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz′arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”

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, paragraphs, 336, 633, 1021, 1859 and 2831.

Commentary

Lazarus and the rich man

16:19–31. This parable disposes of two errors—that which denied the survival of the soul after death and, therefore, retribution in the next life; and that which interpreted material prosperity in this life as a reward for moral rectitude, and adversity as punishment. The parable shows that, immediately after death, the soul is judged by God for all its acts—the “particular judgment”—and is rewarded or punished; and that divine revelation is by itself sufficient for men to be able to believe in the next life.

In another area, the parable teaches the innate dignity of every human person, independent of his social, financial, cultural or religious position. And respect for this dignity implies that we must help those who are experiencing any material or spiritual need: “Wishing to come down to topics that are practical and of some urgency, the Council lays stress on respect for the human person: everyone should look upon his neighbour (without any exception) as another self, bearing in mind above all his life and the means necessary for living it in a dignified way lest he follow the example of the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor man” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 27).

Another practical consequence of respect for others is proper distribution of material resources and protection of human life, even unborn life, as Paul VI pleaded with the General Assembly of the United Nations: “Respect for life, even with regard to the great problem of the birth rate, must find here in your assembly its highest affirmation and its most reasoned defence. You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favour an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life” (Address to the UN, 4 October 1965).

16:21. Apparently this reference to the dogs implies not that they alleviated Lazarus’ sufferings but increased them, in contrast with the rich man’s pleasure: to the Jews dogs were unclean and therefore not generally used as domestic animals.

16:22–26. Earthly possessions, as also suffering, are ephemeral things: death marks their end, and also the end of our testing-time, our capacity to sin or to merit reward for doing good; and immediately after death we begin to enjoy our reward or to suffer punishment, as the case may be. The Magisterium of the Church has defined that the souls of all who die in the grace of God enter heaven, immediately after death or after first undergoing a purging, if that is necessary. “We believe in eternal life. We believe that the souls of all those who die in the grace of Christ—whether they must still make expiation in the fire of purgatory, or whether from the moment they leave their bodies they are received by Jesus into Paradise like the good thief—go to form that people of God which succeeds death, death which will be totally destroyed on the day of the resurrection when these souls are reunited with their bodies” (Paul VI, Creed of the People of God, 28).

The expression “Abraham’s bosom” refers to the place or state “into which the souls of the just, before the coming of Christ the Lord were received, and where, without experiencing any sort of pain, but supported by the blessed hope of redemption, they enjoyed peaceful repose. To liberate these holy souls, who, in the bosom of Abraham were expecting the Saviour, Christ the Lord descended into hell” (St Pius V, Catechism, 1, 6, 3).

16:22. “Both the rich man and the beggar died and were carried before Abraham, and there judgment was rendered on their conduct. And the Scripture tells us that Lazarus found consolation, but that the rich man found torment. Was the rich man condemned because he had riches, because he abounded in earthly possessions, because he ‘dressed in purple and linen and feasted sumptuously every day’? No, I would say that it was not for this reason. The rich man was condemned because he did not pay attention to the other man, because he failed to take notice of Lazarus, the person who sat at his door and who longed to eat the scraps from his table. Nowhere does Christ condemn the mere possession of earthly goods as such. Instead, he pronounces very harsh words against those who use their possessions in a selfish way, without paying attention to the needs of others […].

“The parable of the rich man and Lazarus must always be present in our memory; it must form our conscience. Christ demands openness to our brothers and sisters in need—openness from the rich, the affluent, the economically advantaged; openness to the poor, the underdeveloped and the disadvantaged. Christ demands an openness that is more than benign attention, more than token actions or half-hearted efforts that leave the poor as destitute as before or even more so […].

“We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our own riches and freedom, if, in any place, the Lazarus of the twentieth century stands at our doors. In the light of the parable of Christ, riches and freedom mean a special responsibility. Riches and freedom create a special obligation. And so, in the name of the solidarity that binds us all together in a common humanity, I again proclaim the dignity of every human person: the rich man and Lazarus are both human beings, both of them equally created in the image and likeness of God, both of them equally redeemed by Christ, at a great price, the price of the ‘precious blood of Christ’ (1 Pet 1:19)” (John Paul II, Homily in Yankee Stadium, 2 October 1979).

16:24–31. The dialogue between the rich man and Abraham is a dramatization aimed at helping people remember the message of the parable: strictly speaking, there is no room in hell for feelings of compassion towards one’s neighbour: in hell hatred presides. “When Abraham said to the rich man ‘between us and you a great chasm has been fixed’, he showed that after death and resurrection there will be no scope for any kind of penance. The impious will not repent and enter the Kingdom, nor will the just sin and go down into hell. This is the unbridgable abyss” (Aphraates, Demonstratio, 20; De sustentatione egenorum, 12). This helps us understand what St John Chrysostom says: “I ask you and I beseech you and, falling at your feet, I beg you: as long as we enjoy the brief respite of life, let us repent, let us be converted, let us become better, so that we will not have to lament uselessly like that rich man when we die and tears can do us no good. For even if you have a father or a son or a friend or anyone else who might have influence with God, no one will be able to set you free, for your own deeds condemn you” (Hom. on 1 Cor).

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

Navarre BIble Commentary:Thursday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

"Golden Rule," Norman Rockwell, oil on canvas, 1961,
 Norman Rockwell Museum Collections.
©1961 SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Thursday, September 12, 2013
23rd Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 6:27-38

Love of Enemies
[27] "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, [28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. [29] To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. [30] Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. [31] And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

[32] "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. [33] And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. [34] And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. [35] But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. [36] Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

[37] "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; [38] give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Cited in the Catechism:  In declaring the promulgation of 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 and explained in the Catechism paragraphs 1458, 1669, 1789, 1970 and 2842.

Commentary:
27. "In loving our enemies there shines forth in us some likeness to God our Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and reconciled to Himself the human race, which previously was most unfriendly and hostile to Him" (St. Pius V Catechism, IV, 14, 19). Following the example of God our Father, we must desire for everyone (even those who say they are our enemies) eternal life, in the first place; additionally, a Christian has a duty to respect and understand everyone without exception, because of his or her intrinsic dignity as a human person, made in the image and likeness of the Creator.

28. Jesus Christ teaches us by example that this is a real precept and not just a pious recommendation; even when nailed to the cross He prayed to His Father for those who had brought Him to such a pass: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34). In imitation of the Master, St Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, when he was being stoned, prayed to our Lord not to hold the sin against his persecutors (cf. Acts 7:60). In the liturgy of Good Friday the Church offers prayers and suffrages to God on behalf of those outside the Church, asking Him to give them the grace of faith; to release from their ignorance those who do not know Him; to give Jews the light to the truth; to bring non-Catholic Christians, linked by true charity, into full communion with our Mother the Church.

29. Our Lord gives us more examples to show us how we should act if we want to imitate the mercy of God. The first has to do with one of what are traditionally called the "spiritual works of mercy" -- forgiving injuries and being patient with other people's defects. This is what He means in the first instance about turning the other cheek.

To understand what our Lord is saying here, St. Thomas comments that "Sacred Scripture needs to be understood in the light of the example of Christ and the saints. Christ did not offer the cheek to be struck in the house of Annas (Jn 18:22ff), nor did St. Paul when, as we are told in the Acts of the Apostles, he was beaten in Philippi (Acts 16:22f). Therefore, we should not take it that Christ literally meant that you should offer the other cheek to some to hit you; what He was referring to was your interior disposition; that is, if necessary we should be ready not to be intolerant of anyone who hurts us, and we should be ready to put up with this kind of treatment, or worse than that. That was how the Lord acted when He surrendered His body to death" (Commentary on St John, 18, 37).

36. The model of mercy which Christ sets before us is God Himself, of whom St. Paul says, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions" (2 Cor 1:3-4). "The first quality of this virtue", Fray Luis de Granada explains, "is that it makes men like God and like the most glorious thing in Him, His mercy (Lk 6: 36). For certainly the greatest perfection a creature can have is to be like his Creator, and the more like Him he is, the more perfect he is. Certainly one of the things which is most appropriate to God is mercy, which is what the Church means when it says that prayer: 'Lord God, to whom it is proper to be merciful and forgiving...'. It says that this is proper to God, because just as a creature, as creature, is characteristically poor and needy (and therefore characteristically receives and does not give), so, on the contrary, since God is infinitely rich and powerful, to Him alone does it belong to give and not to receive, and therefore it is appropriate for Him to be merciful and forgiving" (Book of Prayer and Meditation, third part, third treatise).

This is the rule a Christian should apply: be compassionate towards other people's afflictions as if they were one's own, and try to remedy them. The Church spells out this rule by giving us a series of corporal works of mercy (visiting and caring for the sick, giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty...) and spiritual works of mercy (teaching the ignorant, correcting the person who has erred, forgiving injuries...): cf. St Pius X Catechism, 944f.

We should also show understanding towards people who are in error: "Love and courtesy of this kind should not, of course, make us indifferent to truth and goodness. Love, in fact, impels the followers of Christ to proclaim to all men the truth which saves. But we must distinguish between the error (which must always be rejected) and the person in error, who never loses his dignity as a person even though he flounders amid false or inadequate religious ideas. God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts; He forbids us to pass judgment on the inner guilt of others" (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes, 28).

38. We read in Sacred Scripture of the generosity of the widow of Zarephath, whom God asked to give food to Elijah the prophet even though she had very little left; He then rewarded her generosity by constantly renewing her supply of meal and oil (1 Kings 17:9ff). The same sort of thing happened when the boy supplied the five loaves and two fish which our Lord multiplied to feed a huge crowd of people (cf. Jn 6:9) -- a vivid example of what God does when we give Him whatever we have, even if it does not amount to much.

God does not let Himself be outdone in generosity: "Go, generously and like a child ask Him, 'What can You mean to give me when You ask me for "this"?'" (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 153). However much we give God in this life, He will give us more in life eternal.

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

Navarre Bible Commentary:23rd Sunday in Ordinary TimeNativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Source: HD Christian Images by George Samuel

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
September 8, 2013
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 14:25-33

Conditions For Following Jesus
[25] Now great multitudes accompanied Him (Jesus); and He turned and said to them, [26] "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. [28] For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30] saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' [31] Or what king, going to encounter another king in a war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. [33] So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple."

Cited in Catechism - These passages are cited and explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1618 and 2544

Commentary:
26. These words of our Lord should not disconcert us. Love for God and for Jesus should have pride of place in our lives and we should keep away from anything which obstructs this love: "In this world let us love everyone," St. Gregory the Great comments, "even though he be our enemy; but let us hate him who opposes us on our way to God, though he be our relative [...]. We should then, love, our neighbor; we should have charity towards all -- towards relative and towards strangers -- but without separating ourselves from the love of God out of love for them" (In Evangelia Homiliae, 37, 3). In the last analysis, it is a matter of keeping the proper hierarchy of charity: God must take priority over everything.

This verse must be understood, therefore, in the context of all of our Lord's teachings (cf. Luke 6:27-35). These are "hard words. True, 'hate' does not exactly express what Jesus meant. Yet He did put it very strongly, because He doesn't just mean 'loveless,' as some people interpret it in an attempt to tone down the sentence. The force behind these vigorous words does not lie in their implying a negative or pitiless attitude, for the Jesus who is speaking here is none other than that Jesus who commands us to love others as we love ourselves and who gives up His life for mankind. These words indicate simply that we cannot be half-hearted when it comes to loving God. Christ's words could be translated as 'love more, love better', in the sense that a selfish or partial love is not enough: we have to love others with the love of God" (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 97). See the notes on Matthew 10:34-37; Luke 2:49.

As the Second Vatican Council explains, Christians "strive to please God rather than men, always ready to abandon everything for Christ" (Vatican II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4).

27. Christ "by suffering for us not only gave us an example so that we might follow in His footsteps, but He also opened up a way. If we follow that way, life and death becomes holy and acquire a new meaning" (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes, 22).

The way the Christian follows is that of imitating Christ. We can follow Him only if we help Him bear His cross. We all have experience of suffering, and suffering leads to unhappiness unless it is accepted with a Christian outlook. The Cross is not a tragedy: it is God's way of teaching us that through sin we can be sanctified, becoming one with Christ and winning Heaven as a reward. This is why it is so Christian to love pain: "Let us bless pain. Love pain. Sanctify pain....Glorify pain!" (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 208).

28-35. Our Lord uses different examples to show that if mere human prudence means that a person should try to work out in advance the risks he may run, with all the more reason should a Christian embrace the cross voluntarily and generously, because there is no other way he can follow Jesus Christ. "'Quia hic homo coepit aedificare et non potuit consummare! He started to build and was unable to finish!' A sad commentary which, if you don't want, need be made about you: for you possess everything necessary to crown the edifice of your sanctification -- the grace of God and your own will." (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 324).

33. Earlier our Lord spoke about "hating" one's parents and one's very life; now He equally vigorously requires us to be completely detached from possessions. This verse is a direct application of the two foregoing parables: just as a king is imprudent if he goes to war with an inadequate army, so anyone is foolish who thinks he can follow our Lord without renouncing all his possessions. This renunciation should really bite: our heart has to be unencumbered by anything material if we are able to follow in our Lord's footsteps. The reason is, as He tells us later on, that it is impossible to "serve God and Mammon" (Luke 16:13). Not infrequently our Lord asks a person to practice total, voluntary poverty; and He asks everyone to practice genuine detachment and generosity in the use of material things. If a Christian has to be ready to give up even life itself, with all the more reason should he renounce possessions: If you are a man of God, you will seek to despise riches as intensely as men of the world seek to possess them" (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 633). See the note on Luke 12:33-34.

Besides, for a soul to become filled with God it must first be emptied of everything that could be an obstacle to God's indwelling: "The doctrine that the Son of God came to teach was contempt for all things in order to receive as a reward the Spirit of God in himself. For, as long as the soul does not reject all things, it has no capacity to receive the Spirit of God in pure transformation" (St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 1, Chapter 5, 2).

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

Natural Family Planning Awareness Week

NFP Awareness Week

Did you know that this week, July 21-27, is Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week? The USCCB has dedicated this week to promote awareness of NFP. Many (if not most) Catholics do not properly know what NFP is and very few Catholics practice it. The USCCB should be lauded for attempting to promote awareness, unfortunately the timing is horrible since all of the media attention – including the Catholic media – is rightly focused on World Youth Day. 

What is NFP?

Pope John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae

In his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II outlined the appropriateness of NFP:

At the first stage of life, centers for natural methods of regulating fertility should be promoted as a valuable help to responsible parenthood, in which all individuals, and in the first place the child, are recognized and respected in their own right and where every decision is guided by the ideal of the sincere gift of self. (EV, #88)

From the scientific point of view, these methods are becoming more and more accurate and make it possible in practice to make choices in harmony with moral values. An honest appraisal of their effectiveness should dispel certain prejudices which are still widely held, and should convince married couples, as well as health-care and social workers, of the importance of proper training in this area. (EV, #97)

What the Catechism Teaches

The Catechism articulates the Church teaching on family planning. Additionally it sets forth the proper disposition for discerning when to regulate procreation.

2368 A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality:When it is a question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life, the morality of the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and evaluation of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria, criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts criteria that respect the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love; this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is practiced with sincerity of heart. (NOTE: CCC cites GS 51 § 3 as an endnote).

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.158  These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil:159  Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. ... The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle ... involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. (NOTE: CCC cites HV, 16; HV, 14; FC, 32 as endnotes).

Links to Documents Cited in CCC:

• Gaudium et Spes (GS)
• Humanae Vitae (HV)
• Familiaris Consortio (FC)

Receiving the Eucharist in an Unworthy Manner

Image from LifeTeen

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. (1 Cor 11:27-29, RSV-CE)

Overview
St. Paul instructs the Church in Corinth to discern the body of Christ with respect when they received the body and blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:29). This passage can rightly be interpreted to mean that we need to be mindful of being properly disposed to receive the Eucharist, but it contains additional meanings. [Note: All of these scenarios, assume the person is a Catholic who has received the sacraments.]

Spiritual Disposition
Prior to receiving the Eucharist, one should be properly disposed. This happens in a couples of ways. First, we should approach the Eucharist in a prayerful and reflective manner. Additionally, we should examine our consciences to insure that we are in a state of grace – that we are free from mortal sin. If we are in a state of mortal sin, we should not receive Communion and immediately seek the sacrament of Reconciliation.  See Can. 916 and Can. 988 for a more extensive discussion of the elements.

The Eucharistic Fast
We are now required to abstain from food and drink one hour before the reception of Communion (Can. 919).  Note that the requirement is one hour before COMMUNION, not the start of Mass. We shouldn't make a habit of this minimalistic approach, but it is good to know if you are in a pinch. The fast does not include water or medication. Chewing gum prior to mass is NOT a violation of the fast (EWTN), but chewing gum during Mass is disrespectful. If you wouldn't (and you can't) chew gum in a court room, why would you do it in the Lord's house?

Discerning the Body of Christ
St. Paul is also teaching us (in 1 Cor. 11:29) to discern Christ in all those who make up his body and to treat them with the dignity they should be accorded. In other words, respect for Christ in the Eucharist has to be coupled with a respect for all mankind. The commentary from The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament supports this claim: 

Probably a word play on the term "body", which refers to the Eucharistic Body of Christ and to the ecclesial Body of Christ made up of believers united to him (10:16-17; 12:12). Recognizing Jesus in the Sacrament is thus coupled with recognizing him in our spiritual brothers and sisters (Mt 25:34-40). (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament, 302). 

This lesson is supported by the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that asserted “by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man” (Gaudim et spes, 22). Christ further teaches us that we are to follow in His footsteps of humility. We too are called to live lives of humility. Christ not only humbled Himself to become human and dying on the cross, but he also humbled Himself by taking on the form of bread. We must open ourselves to union with Christ in the Eucharist, allowing Him to transform us. “Sharing in the body and blood of Christ has no other effect than to accomplish our transformation into that which we receive” (Lumen Gentium, 26). As my mother used to say, “you are what you eat.” 

Eucharistic Prayer
I recall reading the following prayer. It sums up how we should be disposed to receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.

Lord, May I receive you like this is the first time, the last time and the only time I will receive you.

Year of Faith - Midway Checkpoint

Half-Way Point
We've long passed the half way point of the Year of Faith. What have you done either personally or through your parish to learn more about your Catholic faith?

If the answer is nothing or very little, there is still time to set out to consciously learn more about our rich Catholic faith. Here are some suggestions.

The Catechism
It is not too late for you to register to get the daily emails to read the Catechism in a year. Granted, you aren't going to be able to accomplish the complete reading without going back and reading archived posts, but you could start today. You can register to receive the daily emails at Flocknote. If reading the Catechism through the emails isn't to your liking, you could pick one of the main sections of the Catechism and read it. I would recommend reading Part One, The Profession of Faith.

Documents of Vatican II
You still have time to read some of the documents of Vatican II. I recommend the following:

• Lumen Gentium - Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
• Dei Verbum - Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
• Apostolicam Actuositatem - Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
• Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Consitution on the Church in the Modern World
• Sacrosanctum Concilium - Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

Despite what you may have heard or assumed, these are wonderful documents. One theologian described them as the "Christmas gift that has gone unopened." If you need a little help understanding them, you can listen to Father John Trigilio's EWTN show, Council of Faith: the Documents of Vatican II. 

Free Comic Book Saturday

Just One More Book

Today marks the annual Free Comic Book Day celebrated at comic book stores everywhere. As a comic book geek I love this day. Now I have come to love this day because it afforded me the opportunity to introduce the greatness of comics to my nephew and niece. Some of my fondest memories with my son Kevin are those of taking him to the comic book store or the book store. He knew how to play me. What father is going to tell their son they can't have "just one more book?"

Parents Who Read
One other reason I like this day is because I know that comics played a large role in me becoming a life long reader. My mother fostered that early by giving me comics and later by sharing her books. Stacey and I have passed that on to our children. Now Kevin is grown and married, but one of his prized possessions is his library of books. Without knowing it, Stacey and I were arming our children with some of the most important tools in developing early reading skills - children seeing their parents read and reading with their parents.

Early Childhood Literacy
A recent early childhood literacy study conducted by Harvard University concluded "young children exposed to lots of early reading began talking more and showing an interest in books that provoked further shared reading with the parent and, in turn, the momentum for additional cognitive and vocabulary growth" (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Science Briefs: The Effects of Early Reading with Parents on Developing Literacy Skills, 2007). The flip side of this is that "the absence of early literary stimulation is the harbinger of sustained educational difficulties" (Jumpstart, 2009).

Vatican II & Parental Obligations
The Second Vatican Council teaches parents "that marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the begetting and education of children."  Furthermore, the Council instructed parents that they “should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those [to] whom it has been transmitted” (Gaudium et Spes, 50).

A Canonist's View
According to Benedict Nguyen, who is a Canon lawyer and my Canon Law professor at Ave Maria University:

In its Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis (GE) 3, the Vatican Council also forcefully reminds parents of this natural-law right and obligation to educate their children, teaching: “Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators.” Vatican II’s decree on the apostolate of the laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem (13), places a duty on Christian married partners “strenuously to affirm the right and duty of parents and guardians to educate children in a Christian manner.” Likewise, Pope John Paul II affirms the right and duty of parents to provide for the education of their children by calling the right not only “essential” but also “irreplaceable and inalienable and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.” (Familiaris Consortio, 36)

Marching Orders
Parents, go out and get some free comics for your children. Help them develop a love for reading and love for learning. Helping them love reading will equip them to be life long learners. If you are worried that comics have become too "adult," the comic book publishers and stores have made kid friendly issues available for free too.

Why Do We Need Community?

NFCM

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12).

Man is wired to be part of society to be part of a community. Aristotle made this observation:

Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. (Aristotle, Politics)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says in section 1879 that individuals need to live in community, that it is part of our nature to live in association with others. In other words, God made us to be communal people. We see this in the formation of the early Church as its members "devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life" (Act 2:42).

The Second Vatican Council made a similar observation in Gaudium et spes (#23):

One of the salient features of the modern world is the growing interdependence of men one on the other, a development promoted chiefly by modern technical advances. Nevertheless brotherly dialogue among men does not reach its perfection on the level of technical progress, but on the deeper level of interpersonal relationships.

We are not wired to live in isolation or to live our faith alone, but share it with others. Christ told His followers (that's means us too), "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house" (Matt 5:15).

The Catechism (1890) goes on to teach that "there is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves." I believe this is precisely the role that small men's faith groups, like Joe Catholic, serve. This goes to the heart of iron sharpening iron. We need to be able to lean on others in difficult times as well as share our victories so as to inspire each other to keep walking the walk.

One step in that direction, might be registering for a men's conference like the one being co-sponsored by Joe Catholic at St. Catherine of Siena on September 22nd. Registration information is available HERE.