When Hope Was Born

This was an Advent talk I gave last year, December 2019, in a Christian Charismatic Community that I am a part of, edited for the purpose of this blog. May it help you prepare your heart to Jesus this Christmas. 

I was asked to share perhaps a personal reflection or insight as we approach this season of Advent. Well, before anything else, I must confess the past few months I've been feeling, as the saying goes, "down on my luck" lately. Work has been kind of slow, and discouraging. And it distressingly affects me emotionally and makes me lose interest in doing things. And so, as I pray on what the Holy Spirit wanted me to share to you as we prepare ourselves for the season of Advent given my said despondent disposition, I was reminded about the gift God had shown me during my 1st deeper conversion of faith back in high school many eons ago, that helps recollect my spirit in times such as these. And it's a timely reminder for me because it's also something we are being constantly reminded of when Advent season comes along. Perhaps someone here tonight who share the same, or even a worse predicament or circumstance right now, may also need to hear this as well.

AN ATHEISTS GROUP PAGE 

To start, let me share a couple of very brief narratives or accounts. Earlier this year, a stranger whom I only got to know in Facebook invited me to a closed group he and his buddies created. He said they created the group for members to talk about religion from different denominations and beliefs. According to him, there are Catholics and Protestants in the group along with Non-believers, a.k.a. Atheists, and claimed that group members are open-minded, respectful and willing to dialogue. I said to him that I am honored to be invited and will gladly join but informed him that I may not have the luxury of time to be able to frequent the group page as much as he and his buddies expect me to. He said it’s ok, so I accepted his invitation. When I visited the page, I found out that it was run by a group of 4 or 5 Filipino Atheists, except maybe one Christian of some denomination as administrators of the group. To be honest, before the dawn of social media, I never thought there are a lot of atheists in existence, let alone Filipino atheists, more than I had ever imagined or presumed. So it comes to me as both shocking and sad. Indeed new atheism is on the rise and probably growing. Last time I checked the page, there are currently a dozen members in that group. And I was, you may say, culture shock to read the posts and comments these Atheists make. Somehow you can sense a lot of angst, bitterness, hostility, animosity and arrogance in the way they share their posts and comments, ridiculing and mocking God, Jesus and Christians here and there, even bullying. They consider Christians generally as irrational, illogical, and dumb, and Scientism seemed to be their only lord and savior, even though they don’t seem to be aware of it. For the few Christians in that group, it seems no matter what and how we try to represent Christianity, doing it with gentleness and respect as what St. Peter counsels us, we Christians can do no right, and they (the atheists) can do no wrong. So much for open-mindedness.

Anyway, it’s been about 3 months now since I last checked-in (and it's not a good and fruitful use of my time to be doing so anyway), but I do recall one time, one of the atheist administrators was telling his buddies that they need to start inviting or recruiting more new Christian members into the group (since it is beginning to be a little quiet), in order basically to have more opportunities to question and challenge (and ridicule) Christian perspective and rationality. It led me to wonder why they still need to constantly scratch that itch, even though, at least on surface, they already appear very convinced to have "stumped" every Christian arguments and overly confident of their atheistic worldview in the way they talk or rant. I thought it was quite sad. I felt sorry for them, because I felt there was this sense of restless longing and discontentment inside them, whether they are aware of it or not and whether they admit it or not. For them, enough seems never enough.

"WHY BE CHRISTIANS?"

Another account I would like to share was from one of the famous Atheists, I forgot whether it was either Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchkins. In his debate against a Christian fellow, he once asked, and I am paraphrasing here, “Why do we have to be Christians? There is nothing Christians can do that Atheists cannot do. If Christians build hospitals, Atheists can do that too. If Christians donate to charity, Atheists can do that too. If Christians help the poor, feed the hungry, visit the sick, etc., Atheists can do all of those as well. So why do we still need to be a Christian? What’s the difference?”

ONE COMMON ANSWER

I brought these two anecdotes out because for me, they share one common answer. Yes, there is a difference to an Atheist’s benevolence from a Christian’s charity and yes, there is an explanation to my atheist friends' desperate wandering and restlessness. And the answer lies in the season we are about to celebrate in the coming weeks: the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Because the birth of Our Lord, the Messiah, inspires us and brings us the gift of HOPE, the one virtue these atheists lack and easily take for granted. Without transcendent hope, particularly when they hit rock bottom, they'll learn it is far tougher to be charitable, and far easier to harbor resentments and animosity towards God and fellow men, because they have nothing to cling onto, nothing and no one to hope for. Transcendent Hope drives one to persevere and to be patient in all things, regardless if one feels up or down.

MEANING TO SUFFERING
I have experienced this in my own spiritual journey. The gift that God had shown me, as I mentioned when I began my sharing, is that gift of Christian HOPE. This gift of hope is near and dear to my heart especially during my deeper conversion to faith that began back in high school and early part of college, those times in my life the virtue of hope was greatly manifested. It is, I believe, the very first virtue I noticed that made a difference between my Christian life and my old self. During my conversion days in high school that extended through college, the virtue of Christian hope kept me back on track when I wanted to stray away, and whenever I was faced with adversity, most especially when I was falling into despair and discouragement. It kept me from digging with my own hands a hole of rebellion and instability towards God the moment I was experiencing anything that goes against my expectation or upsets my plan. Christian hope I experienced in God gave me a sense of certainty of being on the right path despite my failures and faults. Somehow, through God’s grace, it led my spirit to resiliency and abandonment. It’s not an abandonment like in the form of quietism (by quietism as defined in the dictionary, we mean “the acceptance of things as they are without attempts to resist or change them”), because somehow even when I felt discourage and desperate, it obliged me to keep going, reminded me to persevere on my path and how to always go back and start again whenever I fall. It instilled confidence and serenity or peace. It gave me a sense of purpose. Instead of giving up, it gives meaning to my suffering.

It was through the virtue of Hope from the Lord that made it a little easier for me and somehow a bit surprised to find myself thanking Him, not only for all the good things He blessed me with, but for all the bad things in life that came my way: All the No’s, the closed doors, the endings and goodbyes, the roadblocks and the prayers that were never answered.

NOSTALGIC HEART

The two dilemmas I shared earlier: one that of my Facebook atheist friends and the other that of Richard Dawkin’s (or Christopher Hitchkins'), reminds me even more the words of St. Augustine that still holds very true to this day as it was written 1600 years ago: “You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until it rest on You.” I heard from Theologians that God rooted in our hearts a deep longing for Him whether we are aware of it or not, whether we believe in Him or do not. And as long as we are on the road on this earth, we carry with us this nostalgia for God and a dark restlessness that sounds pretty much like what my atheist friends are cluelessly clamoring or searching. And this sense of longing can only be relieved by finding and knowing God. If, like my atheists friends, we keep blocking this sense of longing in our hearts, our restlessness and nostalgia would eventually turn into despair and anguish, an endless wandering, purposeless seeking and discontentment. Nothing in this world perfectly quiets the longing of the soul than God alone. No wonder our hearts are always filled with excitement and joyful anticipation every time Christmas draws near, isn’t it?

WORLD WITHOUT HOPE

In a recent article I came across with regarding the new movie about the Joker, the writer reminds readers what the real world in which we live in would potentially be like without God in it. He writes that Joker came from an evil past and in which the world around him was hopelessly infected with the evils of self-centeredness, bullying, deception, and corruption. Perhaps like what my atheist Facebook friends are experiencing, each day is merely a purposeless exertion of energy, pushing the same boulder up the same hill. There was no basis for Hope. The absence of God in the film sets before us a shocking and disturbing vision of a mind and a world without transcendence, purpose, or hope.

Furthermore, he adds: “We cannot live without hope. Lacking hope, we inevitably move toward hell—toward absolute despair. The Joker is so painful to watch he said because it contains enough truth to show us a future following the turn away from God. Once God is “dead” in our lives, what is the real cause for hope, or the principle around which society can unite itself? The very heart of Christianity is a hope grounded in the infinitely good God (the Word became flesh one Christmas eve and dwelt among us), who can bring us to the heavenly home in which we find the peace that nothing in this world can give.”

CULTIVATE THE VIRTUE

So as we approach this Advent season, first of all I asked that you keep me in your prayers to experience and encounter that deeper sense of hope once again as I walk through these temporal moments of desolation, and secondly to also invite all of you, in our waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ our Savior into our hearts--amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays, amidst our being busy with technology tinkering with our gadgets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram time, taking pictures of our sumptuous Noche Buenas, beautiful Christmas trees and decorations; amidst the Louie Vuitton bags, the latest IPhone gadget or ugly sweaters Christmas presents you've received; and amidst the Annual Christmas family portraits, selfies, gatherings and getaways we do and go to—I invite you to intentionally spare some Advent time in our prayer life to ask the Holy Spirit to cultivate that virtue of Christian Hope. Hope in our interior life, in our family life, and in our community life. Because when we commit ourselves some time with our Lord in prayer and meditation as we make our journey through Advent, more and more light attends in our journey, we hear more about His promise, His prophecy, about His Son and about His salvation if we listen to God’s word, you get to be filled with greater faith and deeper Hope. Chik-fil-A came up with a brilliant message in their latest Christmas ad this year of what it means to be intentional this Advent. Entitled "The Time Shop", the message simply is this: “Give the Gift of Time.”

 The Time Shop by Chik-Fil-A

MARY DID KNOW

As we reflect on the virtue of Hope this Advent, let us imitate Mary--the Mother of Jesus, our Hope seat of Wisdom, the vessel in whom the Holy Child was born--who not only for a few short weeks that she awaited and ardently prepared herself physically and spiritually as she carried our Savior in her womb, but nine long, enduring, yet hopeful months. If anyone knows the true virtue of Hope, it is Mary. Pope Francis said, Mary "is an example of strength and courage in accepting new life and in sharing the suffering of their children... She teaches us the virtue of waiting even when everything appears meaningless."

There is no better season in our calendar year than Advent to reflect upon this gift of Christian Hope, for this is the time of the year that redirects and points our minds and our hearts more importantly to the source of that gift, and for which our Christmas theme this year also fittingly affirms when it says "Rejoice, Jesus came for us and to make His Father known." And the Father for whom in Christ revealed is the Giver of Hope to mankind, the source of all that is good, the Light in this world's darkness, the God of second chances. Hope that brings true peace and inner joy amidst the storms and sense of emptiness in our hearts.

"THERE'S SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD"

To end, allow me to share with you one last thing before you grab a pillow and drift to sleep. You know, one of my most, if not my most favorite movie lines of all time (probably way up there on the top of my list), is from the movie “Lord of the Rings.” Written by the great Catholic Christian author J.R.R. Tolkien, the trilogy is riddled with Christian themes and symbolism.

When Two Towers came out back in the early part of 2000's, I was also in that time, I should say, in a despondent, lowly state. A cloud of hopelessness, despair and uncertainty hung over my head. Almost the entire movie, as I was watching, my mind was drifting away on and off, out of focus, until it came close to the climax of the movie I think, where Frodo and his loyal sidekick Sam Gamgee was taking cover against flying dragons scorching the villages with flames coming out of its mouths. Seeing all the helplessness, havoc and destruction, chaos and death, anger and frustration, Frodo was ready to give up the journey. He was giving up on hope. He said: "I can't do this, Sam."

Then what Sam said to Frodo next was epic, it woke me up like a light switch and struck my heart that fateful day, it must be providential.

Sam replied:

“I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here.
But we are.
It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were,
And sometimes you didn't want to know the end.
Because how could the end be happy?
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened?
But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow.
Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come.
And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something.
Even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.
I know now.
Folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t.
Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo asked: "What are we holding on to, Sam?"

Sam replied: "That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for."

Romans 5:1-5, 15:13 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Amen.

Merry Christmas!

  

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Politics are Hot Buttons, Indeed! (A Basic Catholic Principle for Electing Officials)

Whether you are red or blue or in between, I like to share what Dr. David Anders from EWTN said that, for me, succinctly articulated my political philosophy in the hope it may help enlighten those of what as a Catholic should decide, even for a little bit.

 

"The CHURCH has maintained always that no ideology, whether conservative, liberal, capitalist, socialist-- no political ideology is adequate to really capture the essence of the human person or of human flourishing, because people are transcendent beings, body and soul, made in God’s likeness and image and we have a transcendent destiny, and so there’s no material construction of civil society that is adequate to man’s transcendent end.

There are however some basic natural law principles, things that we can know naturally about human flourishing that have to be respected in any civil society. And one of them, Pope Leo XIII made this point very plainly in 'Rerum Novarum'--the first of the social encyclicals--is the right to private property, the right to marriage, its duties and privileges, man-woman-child as the foundational cell of civil society, the right to life, the principle of subsidiarity that we ought not to construct these superstructures over the state that govern every aspect of our lives but that society ought to be thick with mediating institutions, voluntary societies, churches, families, baseball clubs, etc. and you only bring in these massive superstructures to deal with those things that absolutely can’t be dealt with at the local level, you kind of need the federal government to lay down interstate highways and armed forces to protect the country, they don’t need to be down there micromanaging everybody’s life. All these things are principles of Catholic moral theology and political theology. 

And so some of the more radical visions of social reforms out there seem to me to run roughshod over some of those principles and I would be deeply uncomfortable with them." - Dr. Dave Anders, Called to Communion.

"Citizens have co-responsibility for society. The moral theology tradition teaches that one may not vote for an enemy of religion or of freedom except to exclude a worse enemy of religion or of freedom."

I also like to echo the phrase what again Fr. Ed Meeks beautifully exhorted in one of the masses he celebrated popularly captured on video. And that is we need to "think with the Church."

Jesus left us the Church for a reason (Matt. 16:18) and it is in her that we find the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15).

 

Before We Invoke the 'Judge Not' Mantra in Political Discourse

"JUDGE NOT." Probably one of the most misused Bible verses taken out of context. Now, popular culture has found a way of also utilizing and politicizing it in political discourse to dismiss or discourage partisan criticism in this growing revolution of the cancel culture.

I recently got a piece of the "citation" first-hand from someone when I made a social media post over a vandalized political signage I saw in the nearby street and made a remark to say that it seems rampant and consistent to be coming from one side of the political ticket than the other (taking into account multiple church vandalism, riots and looting the past several months). It appears it didn't sit well with the person and dropped the "Judge Not" wisdom on me, saying that (or should I say "judging") I was being judgmental. The person raised the following issues and premises:

1.) My rhetoric suggests I'm picking my audience with opposing political leaning or viewpoints to fight each other (i.e, "one side versus the other side").

2.) That I should look beyond the bubble, and put myself on other people's (ie., the vandal's) shoes. (I guess my friend means I should look into and empathize the feelings of the vandal why he/she/they spray-painted other people's property/signage?).

3.) That I'm blindly feeding hate and blame, and therefore I am no different from the vandals. (Ouch!)

4.) Reminding me that both far sides of the spectrum have their fair share of oppressing the views of people, inferring that both are no different from each other.

5.) And capped the comment by inserting a Christian advice to spread love, saying only God can judge.

That's a whole lot of perceptions and presumptions for a single remark I made.

Well, first of all, a lot of people don't know that as Christians, it is OK to judge (except the state of one's soul). Don't take my word for it, just ask theologians who are experts on this Bible verse hermeneutic business more than me and you, in understanding and putting into proper context what Jesus really meant by the things He was saying. And when those words came from Christ Himself, we can be certain that His precepts of "judging" and "loving" are not in contradiction to one another.

Secondly, just because both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of committing ludicrous acts and oppression, it doesn't follow that one party's actions are no less grave and no less egregiously consistent or disproportionate than the other party's, that therefore we shouldn't point out and differentiate two competing ideas and just cancel each other out, instead. Imagine if your spouse or child accused you of being self-righteous, divisive and judgmental every time you mention their shortcomings or flaws? And even returns the favor, points the finger back at you your own set of flaws and say you are no less different? It becomes a circular issue and nothing gets rectified. Just because Hitler also contributed some positive infrastructural and socioeconomic developments in his time, doesn't mean we automatically equate Nazi's atrocities and oppression to that of the oppression of ideals and values committed by Democrats or Republicans. A brave Fr. Ed Meeks recently said in his political exhortation: "Don’t get side-tracked by the spurious 'seamless garment theory' [that tells us] issues like immigration and the environment are of equal weight with abortion."

In the same way, invoking the "judge not" mantra is refusing to see political differences of both sides as well as refusing to contrast the effect, influence and mentality or way of life and thinking of its respective political members and supporters. And this I should say entails living in the bubble. It discourages or denounces someone from giving your political preference a "bad-der" rap versus the opposing side, perhaps because you were merely offended by them for disagreeing with your political leaning. It thus sets a precedence and a danger of cultivating a political sort of relativism or indifferentism. It should be reiterated that different and opposing political ideologies and agenda direct and impact society in different and opposite directions, that is why you cannot just easily sweep the notion of "one side versus the other side" issue under the rug. For example, the left party is ok with abortion, the right party is not. The left is ok with LGBTQ lifestyles, the right is not, etc. You get the point. There is a reason why politicians form a "party", if everyone's of the same ideology, there is no need establishing different partisanship.

So just like we read reviews and check for competing product ratings to inform us as consumers (e.g., You rate/review a.k.a. "judge" products in Amazon to better inform and help consumers make better choices, right?), we need to see differences in political viewpoints, influences, motives, realities and consequences so that it will continue to help us critically discern and shape a more well-informed decision and conscience on which to align ourselves politically.

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; 

but to acquire wisdom, one must observe” 

- Marilyn Vos Savant

Brian Holdsworth, a prominent Catholic Vlogger, quoted quite succinctly that "just because your idea doesn't agree with your own belief, assumption or prejudices, doesn't mean you're confronted with hatred. Recklessly accusing people of hate speech simply because they disagree with you about something is the actual hate speech, because it's an attempt to oppress that great gift of speech itself." Popular-secular culture, especially on the left, particularly in recent years, had adamantly adopted the "Cancel culture" nowadays to new heights and have successfully indoctrinated and spun the masses by frequently playing the victim, sympathy and race cards to perfection (with the handy dandy megaphone of the mainstream media). Gone are the days of healthy disagreements if we continue to allow the secular its cancel cultural ways.

On a personal note, it's also quite unfortunate that the above people who accused me of being judgmental and divisive are the very same people who have forgotten the fact that they had made mocking social media posts on the opposing candidates the last election 4 years ago simply because their political side did not win. What happened to "practice what you preach"? I surmised it takes a special kind of arrogance to say "Only God can judge... We need to spread the love of Christ... and so on and so forth" you don’t even practice than those who do. It's sort of presumptuous and hypocritical.

Whenever we invoke someone the "Judge Not" mantra, it's always wise to read the verses that directly follows it as well to get a proper context. Matthew 7:1-6 "For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" Jesus tells us that what we measure will be measured out to us. This means that what we are judging them on, we will then be judged on. If I am judging you for being divisive and hateful, but I myself has a history of being divisive and hateful to someone, then God will judge me harsher than He would have been before. Talk about "Putting myself in one's shoes" my critics need to apply to themselves. Invoking the "judge not" mantra is simply ironic and self-refuting. In judging someone for judging, you are in fact judging him or her.

John 7:24 "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly."

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Catholic Worship vs Protestant Worship (How are they different?)

How Catholic Worship (aka Mass) Is Different From Non-Catholic's "Worship" (aka Service) 

 

One time in a party, I introduced a family new to our town to an old friend of mine. As we were all having nice conversation of pretty much anything the family needs to expect as newbies, my old friend (a fallen-away Catholic and now an active member of a certain evangelical ecclesiastic community) brought up in the conversation that they have a new pastor in their church that is smart and charismatic, and invited the new family to come and attend their worship service sometime.

Now, as a Catholic, I always admire our Non-Catholic brethren's enthusiasm of inviting other people to their church. They always seem to make evangelizing so easy and natural than a Catholic would do the inviting. We can always learn from them, we grant them that.

However, I also wonder how come is it this way? How come for some reason inviting someone to a Catholic Mass does not seem to have the same, for lack of a better word, sentiment or ease as inviting someone to attend a Protestant worship service. I come to think that aside from praying and trusting the Holy Spirit as a given among other factors necessary to evangelize others, part of it is also because Catholics and Protestants, like a lot of other set of beliefs and practices, have a different understanding of what "worship" in church means and entails.

In today's culture and generation especially, indeed we tend to gravitate and appeal towards a more contemporary, emotionally high and loud, concert-like form of music, lively sermons, energetic speakers and a great coffee service among other amenities. Choosing what church to go to is like a form of religious or ecclesiastical consumerism. So if your church is, more or less in some ways, sounds like having these attributes, your work is almost half way done "evangelizing".

On the other hand, Catholic mass tend to get a bad rap. Commonly perceived and stereotyped to be old, boring and irrelevant. We already have a preconceived defeated notion that since there won't be anything entertaining to see attending Mass, our protestant friends surely may find it unappealing, even misconceivingly cultic. Plus the anti-Catholic one-liner rhetorics and indoctrination over the past centuries of misconstruing the Mass as idolatrous, "re-sacrificing Christ in Calvary" and the like, added insult to injury.

But to help us understand worship, the question we ask ourselves is not just why we worship, but what is worship really all about, and to look at how should one supposed to worship in the context of historical Christianity. How the prophets in the old and the apostles in the new worship God in the first place? Most of all, how our Lord Jesus intended for us to worship?

Now I won't try to go through enumerating and exegeting every bible verses of what worship really is, since I'm no bible scholar or anything but in essence, worship entails sacrifice. In the old testament (e.g. Genesis, Leviticus) we read quite a number of sacrifices and offerings that had been carried out (ie., burnt sacrifices/offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings, guilt offerings, food offerings, communion sacrifices). These were how the Old Testament people worship. God centered the worship of his Old Testament people on sacrifice because it was an essential part of His plan of salvation. These are prefigured in culmination for the ultimate and perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself for the atonement of the human race. “Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God” as St. Paul said. (Eph 5:2; Hebrews 9, 10). Our Lord Jesus displayed all the dimensions of Old Testament communion sacrifice. He fulfilled a threefold role: offeror, victim and priest. In Genesis 22:7-8, Isaac asked his dad Abraham: "Hey Dad, the fire and wood are here but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" And Abraham replied “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (ie., God's own self).

As we walked through after Christ's death and resurrection, we find the continuing theme of worshiping God that entails sacrifice. Again St Paul tells the Romans (12:1) "to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." And even advised in Corinths (1 Corinthians 14:40) that "everything should be done decently and in an orderly way," not in a loud and boisterous freestyle fashion.

And we go through down the line in history to learn the successors of the apostles (like Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, the Early Church Fathers, all the 1st, 2nd, 3rd century Christians thru the 21st) all worship the same mode we find in the Catholic Mass.

The Mass is both a sacrifice and a sacrament, but primarily the former. The same offerer, victim and priest is present but in an unbloody manner. Nothing is as Christo-centric in worship as that in the Mass itself first instituted in the upper room by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And this is the way Christians ought to worship, regardless of how emotionally high or low we feel about the church's ambience, or how boring someone's homily, or how outdated the songs are, or how lousy the church coffee tasted like. Going to church to worship should not be a form of religious consumerism, where we cherry pick to look for the best sermon, the best speaker, the best-tasting coffee or the best songs and musical band.

How we convey that to somebody we want to invite to go to mass to really experience true biblical worship is a different story, because it is not as simple as inviting them to a birthday party or a concert. We just trust in the Holy Spirit to do the working when we put Christ out there for them by our invitation.

***

BONUS READING:

I found this write-up that was shared in one of the Facebook groups and thought this is another great read and perspective on the difference between Catholic Worship & Non-Catholic Praise Service, author unknown. It reads as follows:

Difference Between Catholic Worship & Non-Catholic Praise Service
The commands to "praise the Lord" are too numerous to mention throughout the Bible. For example, angels and the heavenly hosts are commanded to praise the Lord in Psalm 89:5; 103:20; 148:2. All inhabitants of the earth are instructed to praise the Lord (Psalm 138:4; Romans 15:11). We can praise Him with singing (Isaiah 12:5; Psalm 9:11), with shouting (Psalm 33:1; 98:4), with the dance (Psalm 150:4), and with musical instruments (1 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 108:2; 150:3-5).

Praise is the joyful recounting of all God has done for us. It is closely intertwined with thanksgiving as we offer back to God appreciation for His mighty works on our behalf. Praise is universal and can be applied to other relationships as well. We can praise our family, friends, boss, or paperboy. Praise does not require anything of us. It is merely the truthful acknowledgment of the righteous acts of another. Since God has done many wonderful deeds, He is worthy of praise (Psalm 18:3).

Worship, however, comes from a different place within our spirits. WORSHIP SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR GOD ALONE (Luke 4:8). Worship is the art of losing self in the adoration of another. Praise can be a part of worship, but worship goes beyond praise. Praise is easy; worship is not. Worship gets to the heart of who we are. To truly worship God, we must let go of our self-worship. We must be willing to humble ourselves before God, surrender every part of our lives to His control, and adore Him for who He is, not just what He has done. Worship is a lifestyle, not just an occasional activity. Jesus said the Father is seeking those who will worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23).

In Scripture, praise is usually presented as boisterous, joyful, and uninhibited. God invites praise of all kinds from His creation. Jesus said that if people don't praise God, even the "stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). When the Bible mentions worship, however, the tone changes. We read verses like, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 96:9). And, "Come let us worship and bow down" (Psalm 95:6). Often, worship is coupled with the act of bowing or kneeling, which shows humility and contrition (2 Chronicles 29:28; Hebrews 11:21; Revelation 19:10). It is through true worship that we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us, convict us, and comfort us. Through worship, we realign our priorities with God's and acknowledge Him once more as the rightful Lord of our lives.

Just as praise is intertwined with thanksgiving, worship is intertwined with surrender. It is impossible to worship God and anything else at the same time (Luke 4:8). The physical acts often associated with worship—bowing, kneeling, clasping hands—help to create the necessary attitude of humility required for real worship.

Worship is an attitude of the heart. A person can go through the outward motions and not be worshiping (Psalm 51:16-17; Matthew 6:5-6). God sees the heart, and He desires and deserves sincere, heartfelt praise and worship.

Understanding the difference between praise and worship can bring a new depth to the way we honor the Lord.

Purgatory is not an essential doctrine, but an optional one, just like limbo?

In the following posts, I will be attempting to share some sort of a Q & A series taken from Karl Keating's book "What Catholics Really Believe" which I thought was pretty appropriate for this blog's originally intended purpose, and that is to educate and inform Lukewarm Christians, in particular Catholics, about common misconceptions of our Catholic faith and teachings and thereby find ourselves living the faith merely in mediocrity or none at all. Sometimes I may add or edit a few to make some more points or extra emphasis.

#31 Purgatory is not an essential doctrine, but an optional one, just like limbo?

Double mistake: 1. Putting purgatory and limbo at the same doctrinal level. 2. Saying purgatory is an optional doctrine.

Pope Gregory the Great Saving the Souls of Purgatory by Sebastiano Ricci oil painting

Purgatory is a defined dogma of the Catholic faith. Meaning, as a Catholic you MUST believe in it.

Limbo has a different status. It arises from theological speculation, not revelation. If you find the speculation convincing, you may believe in limbo but if you find it unconvincing, that's fine too, you have the option not to believe in it. Probably it is fair to say, today, fewer theologians writing in favor of limbo than there were 50 years ago. When they refer to limbo, they mean the limbo of infants, where unbaptized infants are said to go, as distinguished from the limbo of the Fathers, where good people who died before Jesus' resurrection were waiting for heaven to be opened to them. Since the limbo of the Fathers is specifically mentioned in 1st Peter 3:19, Catholics must believe it.

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Anyone can receive Communion at Mass?

In the following posts, I will be attempting to share some sort of a Q & A series taken from Karl Keating's book "What Catholics Really Believe" which I thought was pretty appropriate for this blog's originally intended purpose, and that is to educate and inform Lukewarm Christians, in particular Catholics, about common misconceptions of our Catholic faith and teachings and thereby find ourselves living the faith merely in mediocrity or none at all. Sometimes I may add or edit a few to make some more points or added emphasis.

#16 Anyone who wants to can receive Communion at Mass?

Incorrect. In order to be disposed properly to receive Communion, communicants should not be conscious of grave sin, have fasted for an hour, and seek to live in charity and love with their neighbors. Persons conscious of grave sin must first be reconciled with God and the Church through the sacrament of Penance (confession). A frequent reception of the sacrament of penance is encouraged for all. In other words, you must be in the state of grace to receive Communion. If you are not, you commit sacrilege (which is irreverence toward what is sacred). Sacrilege is a sin (1 Cor. 11:27).

"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." - 1 Cor. 11:27

What is grave sin? Grave sin is the same as a serious sin or mortal sin. We call such sin mortal because it mortally wounds the soul. These include any serious infractions of the "7 deadlies" (pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth). The most popular sins in our culture are those which disqualify one from receiving Communion: abortion, contraception, adultery, fornication. Mortal sin is any sin which fulfills 3 conditions: 1.) It involves a serious matter. 2.) You give your full consent to it. 3.) You are fully aware.

As for Non-Catholics attending Mass, Catholics believe that the Eucharist is an action of the celebrating community signifying a oneness in faith, life and worship of the community. Reception of the Eucharist by Christians not fully united with us (e.g. Protestants) would imply a oneness which does not yet exist and for which we must all pray. We Catholics welcome them to the celebration of the Eucharist who are not fully united with us, but again, it is a consequence of the sad divisions in Christianity that we cannot extend to them a general invitation to receive Communion (just like the aforementioned Catholics who are aware of mortal sin, haven't gone to confession, cannot receive Communion as well).

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Because of Ecumenism, Catholics may now read any Bible translation?

In the following posts, I will be attempting to share some sort of a Q & A series taken from Karl Keating's book "What Catholics Really Believe" which I thought was pretty appropriate for this blog's originally intended purpose, and that is to educate and inform Lukewarm Christians, in particular Catholics, about common misconceptions of our Catholic faith and teachings and thereby find ourselves living the faith merely in mediocrity or none at all. Sometimes I may add or edit a few to make some more points or added emphasis.

#10 Because of Ecumenism (ie., the aim of promoting unity among Protestants and Catholics), Catholics may now read any Bible translation?

    Yes and No. No one will rap you on the wrist if you pick up a Protestant translation, but unless you're well-versed in biblical studies, you'll do yourself a disservice if you rely on any translation not approved by the Church.

    First of all, you'll probably be missing the seven deutero-canonical books, which means the Old Testament you'll be reading will have only thirty-nine books, not the full forty-six. (Or in the case of fundamentalists, you might have heard them say that "we added books to the Bible," but this is another topic for another time).

    Second, you'll be reading accompanying notes (or commentaries) not necessarily in harmony with Catholic teaching. If you know our teaching well, you can profit by seeing what Protestants believers think, but if your understanding of the Catholic faith isn't rock-solid, you might find yourself picking up, perhaps unconsciously, notions which aren't compatible with Catholic doctrines (because Non-Catholic commentaries and exegesis have their agenda and influence in mind to justify Protestant doctrines and traditions).

    If you're going to read only one Bible, make sure it's a Catholic translation with Catholic notes. Even that doesn't mean you won't have to keep your eyes open, of course. There is no ideal translation, and no Catholic Bible now on the market has notes which can't be criticized by someone--after all, translators and note-writers, being human, sometimes express themselves poorly.

Look for more of these series. To get updates of new posts and blogs

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Thank you.

Find Karl Keating's book at Amazon

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DISCLAIMER: LettersToLukewarmers.blogspot.com is 100% "YOU"-supported. Links included in this blog might be affiliate links. When you purchase a product through one of the links, LettersToLukewarmers.blogspot.com may receive a very tiny commission at no extra cost to you.

Thank you for supporting LettersToLukewarmers.blogspot.com and for spreading the good, true and beautiful through the One, Holy, Apostolic & Catholic Faith!