Day 230: How We Live (INTRO TO PART 3)
PILLAR 3: HOW WE LIVE
Let’s welcome Dr. Mary Healy!!
Dr. Healy’s works at Sacred Heart Seminary and has written lots of books
Let’s listen to Dr. Healy’s life story…
Some people can see morality as guidelines or even a straitjacket
As opposed to here is the power to actually live as a disciple
Here is the power to actually choose God’s Will in such a way that actually leads to happiness rather than suffocation
PILLAR 3: HOW WE LIVE is BEAUTIFUL
PILLAR 3: HOW WE LIVE is JOYFUL
God’s whole plan is for our unimaginable happiness
God’s whole plan is beyond anything we can think or ask
God wants us to be happy
This is all about happiness
This is so contrary to our normal way of thinking
We think of the Commandments as a straitjacket
BUT…
The Commandments are a GIFT
There is a feast day called Simchat Torah, the Joy of the Law
WOW!!
The Law of God tells us how we can be fully who we are as He created us to be
How we can be fulfilled
It’s sweeter than honey
It is more precious than gold
The Saints are the best interpreters of teaching in the Church
Because they are living it and they are showing how life-giving and joyful it is
Cardinal Schonborn said, “The first two pillars, the Creed and the sacraments, they are about what God has done for us. The Creed is all about who God is and what it means, that He sent His Son to die for us, and He sent the Holy Spirit. The Sacraments-how God shares His own divine life with us, how He empowers us, how He fills us with the Holy Spirit. It is all God’s gift. The second two pillars are what we do in response. It is structured that way for a reason. God’s gift is always first.”
God initiates
It is always His sheer goodness
His generosity poured out for us
Everything we are called to do is in a thankful, loving response to that
People think it’s all about striving to be holy or striving to be a good Catholic
White knuckle Christianity
NO!!
That has nothing to do with what the Lord is actually revealing to us through Scripture and the Catechism
So what are some of the major themes of Pillar 3?
How can we prepare for this next step?
Here, it comes down to your DAILY CHOICES
Do I really believe what I say I believe?
One of the tragedies of our time is that there are people who profess to be good Catholics and good Christians who are acting in ways diametrically opposed to God’s revelation and the teaching of the Church
This confuses so many people
The reality is that FAITH IS FAITH LIVED
We are going to be confronted with challenging questions and what God demands of us
That can cause some of us to bristle sometimes
If you are not being challenged by this part of the Catechism, then you are not getting it
You are not paying attention
BUT…
IT IS SUCH A GOOD CHALLENGE!!
So what is the lay of the land of Pillar 3?
The first section is SECTION 1: MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
The second section is SECTION 2: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Why are we called by God to live out the Ten Commandments?
The first section is what is our calling?
Life in the Spirit
Everything that God asks us to do is given to us as a gift by His power in us
A lot of people think the Christian life is all about WWJD aka “What would Jesus do?”
How can we look back at our dearly departed founder of our religion and see how He modeled the ways to be kind to people, love God, love your neighbor, etc.
Yes that is all true
We want Jesus to be our model
BUT…
That is not the full Christian life
It’s NOT what would Jesus do
It is WHAT IS JESUS DOING IN ME NOW?
RIGHT NOW!!
What is Jesus asking of me RIGHT NOW?
What Jesus asks, Jesus empowers
Jesus never gives us a commandment that He doesn’t empower us by the Holy Spirit to carry out
The more challenging it is for our flesh…
Some of the Commandments really cut against our flesh
They hurt
They are not what we want to do
BUT…
When we give God our weak, hesitating, little YES, He comes through
Jesus did not come to give us more rules to follow
Jesus came to give us a new heart
That inner world that either attracts us to something or repels us from something
The power of the Holy Spirit, this encounter with Jesus, changes us internally so that we WANT to do the Father’s Will
Then the idea of saying NO to God becomes more and more repellant
It’s not automatically easy
Concupiscence still abides in our human hearts
BUT…
We are not left orphans and we are not left alone and we are not powerless
Think of little Sammy, whose mom tells him to come here right now
What does Sammy do?
He runs the other way
That’s human beings under the Old Law
We don’t like the Law
It chafes against what we want
We want OUR will
When God says, “Do this” or “Don’t do this” we run in the other direction sometimes
Now imagine a mom who holds out a chocolate ice cream cone and calls little Sammy over
Before the words are even out of her mouth, Sammy is coming this way
Sammy is drawn from within
Sammy is attracted to the good
THAT IS THE NEW HEART!!
That is living under the New Law
It’s not like it happens automatically or easily
BUT…
We do have this new desire from the deepest part of our being to love God and do what He wills
This is a power GREATER THAN OURSELVES
It gradually becomes a power GREATER THAN OUR EARTHLY DESIRES
Hopefully that is something that we all want
There could be some stumbling blocks that we encounter
For example the areas dealing with sexual morality
Because what God reveals, what the Gospel teaches, what Jesus teaches, is so contrary to what the world teaches
What we read in the Catechism or in Scripture is not going to be applauded and upheld and validated by the culture
It can even be hated
Good is called evil and evil is called good
So when we get to those parts of the Catechism a good thing to do is take time and look Jesus in the eyes in your prayer
Like the Samaritan woman in John Ch 4
Jesus basically rips out her heart by saying, “You have had five husbands, and now you are living with another who is not your husband.”
The woman had a history of brokenness, a history of living outside of God’s Will
BUT…
She is looking into the eyes of Jesus and she sees NO CONDEMNATION
She sees FIERCE LOVE
She sees a love from a man like she has never seen before
She knows that she is known and understand in the very depths of her being
IT CHANGES HER WHOLE HEART!!
It enables her to leave behind her whole life, symbolized by her leaving the water jug behind
She runs into town and tells everybody about Jesus
She is a new woman
The shame on her face is gone
“He is the one who told me everything about myself.”
She doesn’t care because in the gaze of Jesus, there is no room for pride and there is no room for shame
Another thing to do is listen for His voice because it is the voice of the Good Shepherd
It is the voice who calls YOU to greatness
It is the voice of a love who loves you EXACTLY AS YOU ARE but too much to just leave you there
It is the voice calling you to be fully who you were created to be
It is the voice calling you to become who He has made you to be
It is the voice of love, of gentleness, of patience with your weaknesses
It is the voice continually calling you on
So we have to learn to be in SILENCE and hear that voice
It will change the way we approach God’s Commandments
When the Holy Spirit or when the Lord’s voice speaks to us, there can be a CONVICTION
Here is where I failed to live up to this
Here is why I have said NO to the Lord
BUT…
It is a CONVICTION that leads to HOPE
It is a CONVICTION that leads to HUMILITY
It is a CONVICTION that leads to CONVERSION
As opposed to the Accuser who accuses us
His is an ACCUSATION that leads to CONDEMNATION
THEY SOUND SO DIFFERENT!!
THEY FEEL SO DIFFERENT!!
The voice of the Accuser ALWAYS makes you feel TERRIBLE
The voice of the Accuser ALWAYS makes you feel like a loser
BUT…
THe voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit may convict and may pierce to the heart and it can hurt
It cuts between soul and spirit
BUT…
IT NEVER BRINGS CONDEMNATION
IT BRINGS FREEDOM
If you are willing to say OK
I can be convicted of the ugliness of sin and at the very same moment I can be convicted by the power and beauty of His love in the midst of that sin
WOW!!
We need to pay attention to what Pillar 3 says about conscience
There is tremendous misunderstanding of conscience today
Conscience is used to excuse and cover up for ignoring parts of God’s revelation
“I was acting in according to my conscience”
What the Catechism makes so clear is that we have a solemn obligation to FORM OUR CONSCIENCE
If we are acting according to a MALFORMED CONSCIENCE because we have not taken the trouble to discover what God reveals and what the Gospel teaches and what the Church teaches, then we can still be culpable for doing something out of a MALFORMED CONSCIENCE
Conscience does not mean that I will decide what I think is the best thing to do for me
Conscience is the VOICE OF GOD IN THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS
We have to be able to listen to the voice of God clearly
Sometimes we pick and choose what we accept while reading through the Catechism when we should really be asking the Lord to guide us
Since this is THE TRUTH then we need God to teach us
So a docile disposition is critical as we move forward
Or else this is going to be really painful
We have to be like children of our Heavenly Father and trust Him
He made us, after all
He knows what’s for our happiness
So what is key for the integration of the first 3 Pillars?
THE KEY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity given to us in Baptism and in Confirmation
The whole of the Christian life is basically a life in partnership with the Holy Spirit
The power comes from Him
When we put God in the driver’s seat we go along for the ride
It’s not that we don’t struggle
BUT…
It is HIS power in ME
It is NOT my power
It is the Holy Spirit in me conforming me to Jesus by His Power, which is UNLIMITED
So how do we do this?
Say a very simple prayer handing over your life to Jesus
(Personally, I love this one: “Oh my Jesus, I surrender completely. Take care of everything.” 😀 Oh by the way for this PILLAR 3: HOW WE LIVE, anytime I comment, the color will be BLUE instead of my regular GREEN)
Dr. Healy’s friend prayed, “Lord, I’ve made a mess of my life. I’ve been in charge so far, and it has not gone very well. From now on, I put you in charge.”
Or you can say, “Lord, I give you all my flaws, my sins, my past, present, and future, all my gifts, my assets, my talents, everything. I write you a blank check, Jesus.”
It is not complicated
Say a prayer like that and keep at it
Don’t just make it a one-time thing
It is not just a one-time event
DO IT AND KEEP DOING IT!!
YOU WILL SEE THE LORD ACT!!
Since the Church gives us these Saints as models, the Saints are so far from being cookie-cutter saints
They are so unique
Look at Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teenage computer whiz
Or Chiara Badano, who wanted to be a flight attendant
Or Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was a mountain climber
These saints are more fully alive than other people
Sometimes our reluctance comes from a FALSE IDEA OF WHAT HOLINESS IS
HOLINESS IS NOT PERFECTION
We are not going to reach perfection in this life
HOLINESS IS NOT NOT STRUGGLING
HOLINESS IS NOT WHERE EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH TURNS TO GOLD
BUT…
It does become easier
God gives us the virtues and as we practice them, it really does become more natural
The culture we encounter has a vastly different view of the human person than we have as Catholic Christians
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about Dr. Peter Kreeft…
This comes out of our understanding of what it is to be human and what it is to have human dignity
How does our view of human dignity or human nature differ from the culture we are living?
What is our vision of the human person?
Our vision comes from Scripture
We are created in God’s image and likeness
Male and female
There is something SACRED about being created male and female
For most people, that means a call to a spousal communion in marriage that reflects God in the world
God Himself is a communion of persons in an eternal exchange of love
Who we are is an image of God
It is written into our very bodies, male and female
It is the exact contrary of what the world says
The world’s view is dualistic
The world believes that we are a mind that happens to inhabit a body
The body is incidental to who we are according to the world
My body, my choice
We have all these slogans
We can manipulate our body with the transhumanist agenda
We can make our body live forever
We can change the sex of our body
We can cut our body
The culture has this tremendous demeaning of the human body because it sees the body as totally insignificant to who we are
That is radically opposed to the Biblical, Christian vision
We are body-persons
My body is who I am
How I live in the body determines my character
Even for Eternity
We have to treat the body with such respect
You are your body
Therefore, what you do with your body matters
That is a radical difference from our secular culture
We don’t have to go far to find a culture that vehemently disagrees with what we believe
We are living in that culture right now in the post-Christian culture
You are your body
Therefore, you do and how you actually live matters
Another vision of the human person is that we are given freedom
What is the role of human freedom when it comes to this life?
Without freedom, we would not be human
God created us with this incredible gift of freedom because He did not want robots or pets who live purely by instinct
We are given the incredible privilege of CHOOSING the good
God tells us what is good
God tells us what is for our ultimate happiness
Now we have to choose
It is a privilege that can feel like a burden
Let’s listen to Dr. Healy’s story about how choosing the good, even if it hurts, is for our happiness…
They decided to do it God’s way
This is ultimately oriented towards our ultimate happiness
BUT…
There is an element of the immediate happiness as well
How do you create a great marriage?
How do you create a great family?
Start with the basics
How about we do it God’s way?
It’s not just observing NFP AND the 2nd Commandment and the 8th Commandment
It’s also about observing ALL the Commandments
Three elements are absolutely crucial for living out this challenging teaching
First, the mercy of God the Father who continually invites us to enter His embrace
Even if you blow it, just come to the sacrament of Reconciliation
You will find forgiveness
You will find mercy
You will find inexhaustible love
Second, the truth of Jesus
Even in His difficult demands
Don’t even look at another person lustfully
Don’t even harbor an angry thought at another person
So we need the very very high moral demands of Jesus
We can’t dilute them
Third is the Power of the Holy Spirit
If we are really struggling to live out some of the Lord’s moral teachings, which we all do, we need more of the Power of the Holy Spirit
So we need to ask for it
Sometimes we need to receive prayer from other people
We need to be honest with what we are struggling with and say, “Lord, I’m doing the white-knuckle thing, and I really need more of your power in this area right now.”
The MERCY of God the Father
The TRUTH of Jesus, Son of God
The POWER of the Holy Spirit
God loves us unconditionally AND still calls us to conversion
God loves us as we are
BUT…
He loves us too much to leave us there
We are thirsty and we have desires we want to be fulfilled
We have sexual desires
We have desires for esteem and approval, for identity
We have desires for greatness, for fame, for a name
God actually put these desires in us
They are fundamentally good
They are from God
BUT…
They have gotten twisted and distorted
It’s like we are super thirsty and we see salt water
We think we should drink that salt water
God says, “Do not drink that salt water.”
We say, “No, I’m really thirsty and and that water looks good so I’m going to drink it.”
God says, “Don’t drink that salt water.”
We say, “But if you only knew how thirsty I was.”
God says, “No, I know how thirsty you are.”
So we have to trust our Heavenly Father
“Don’t drink the salt water. It is going to kill you.”
So we need to say, “Ok, I’m not going to drink it.”
God says, “Let me give you a fountain of fresh water, bubbling, clear, overflowing water of life. That’s why I told you to stay away from the salt water.”
If we are so used to drinking salt water we might think, “Are you sure, though? But what do I have to do?”
The salt water is right here
Sometimes the immediate benefit is lost on us
Faith is not just assenting or agreeing with the Creed and the Sacraments
FAITH HAS TO BE LIVED OUT!!
Now for justice, specifically social justice, which the Catechism talks about
How is the Catholic Church’s view of social justice and human solidarity different from what we hear in the culture when they talk about social justice?
Is there a difference?
Or is it kind of the same thing?
The Church’s understanding of social justice is always founded on the dignity of the human person
And then comes community
The world is always tempted to undervalue the dignity of the person
In certain forms of social justice, it becomes the collective over the individual
Like in Nazism or Communism
Individual rights are trampled on to the point of even torture and murder of huge populations of people
On the other hand, the world’s view of social justice can sometimes exalt the individual over the community
Like in the case of abortion
Or drag queen events that children are invited to
Completely devaluing the common good that the Lord has called us to
It is trampling upon or ignoring individual dignity of the person in favor of the collective
At the same time, in other areas, exalting to such a degree that people “live their truth”
The world’s view ignores our supernatural destiny
The fact that we are not made for this world
We are not citizens of this world
We belong to another kingdom and our destiny is to be with God forever
This life is a preparation for that
Any view of a state, community, or organization that radically discounts that is ultimately going to end up trampling on human rights
That makes sense because that becomes the idol and the goal of utopia on earth
However many eggs we have to crack to make this omelet, it doesn’t matter because that is the goal
Someone said, “Every civilization, every government, every movement, every educational system, every philosophy, all of them will end. But there is not one human being who has an end.”
Every human being will live forever
You will outlast this country
You will outlast anything that we build on this earth
You are of inestimably more value than the collective, than the culture, than the government
“Every single individual human person is the brother or sister for whom Christ died,” says St. Paul
The person who is worth the blood of the Son of God, it is impossible to exalt human dignity any higher than that
The Catechism says, “There is not one who has ever lived, is living, or ever will live for whom Jesus Christ did not shed His blood or did not die for them.”
Now for the Ten Commandments
The first three Commandments have to do with how we relate to God
How do we fulfill what Jesus called the Great Commandment?
Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength
It is not do whatever you want
The last seven Commandments are about how we relate to human beings
This is how we fulfill Jesus’ second command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Scripture says, “These Commandments were written with the finger of God.”
This is not said about anything else in Scripture
Therefore, they have a kind of supreme importance in terms of what God asks of us and what God calls us to
We should treat them very seriously
At the same time, we should remember that they set the floor for living the Christian life
They don’t set the ceiling
If you fully unpack each Commandment, there is a lot more to it than just the simple statement
For example, THOU SHALL NOT KILL
Well, you can kill somebody by destroying their reputation
That can be tantamount to murder
Each of these Commandments calls us higher to a way of radical self-giving love
This is the FLOOR
The CEILING is LOVE
It’s not just avoiding doing something wrong, but how do I actually live with the heart of God?
How do I live with the heart of Christ?
In this fallen world, it can be so dangerous to love others
BUT…
We are still called to do it
What about people who are struggling to love?
Ask God to give you His vision for the other person
We sometimes have this vision that this person does not like me or that person is annoying or that person is arrogant
Keep asking over time
You may be surprised and amazed at what you begin to see
“Oh she’s really wounded and that’s why she acts that way.”
“He’s got a hurt in his heart and that’s why he’s doing that.”
“He’s called to be this kind of person and I see what God wants him to become.”
“He’s not there right now, but I know God is calling him to that.”
Once you get God’s vision for the other person, it makes it so much easier to love them even when they can be really difficult to love
What is it to love?
The word LOVE has been mangled in our culture and totally redefined
“Love is love”
Often the underlying definition is having sexual relations
Or it means affirming whatever the person does, whatever choices they make
BUT…
This is not a Biblical understanding of love
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Love is to will the good of the other.”
Love is, in its nature, self-giving
Love is, in its nature, self-emptying
I DESIRE WHAT IS TRULY GOOD FOR THAT PERSON
In some cases, that may not be what the other person thinks is good at the moment
THEIR ACTUAL GOOD
Love is being willing to pay a price sometimes
That’s true of a mother’s love
That is true of a father’s love
That is true of spousal love
It is meant to be true of ALL LOVE
I AM WILLING TO PAY A COST
Love can hurt sometimes
St. Theresa of Calcutta taught that
LOVE UNTIL IT HURTS
There are three elements to what love is
To will…
To actually choose the good, not just what someone wants
But actually what is ultimately good for them
Not even what is good for ME
Love is outward-focused
LOVE IS A ONE-WAY STREET
Because if I love, I am willing the good of the other regardless of what they do
Love is meant to be reciprocated
Even if the other person is not loving me, I can choose to love them
That is even more God-like
Because that is what God does
These Commandments are oriented towards freedom even though it can feel restrictive
How can we change our vision of God’s Commandments from limits to power?
Think of surfing
This applies to the moral life
You have to practice a lot to get up on the board and stand up
You have to be willing to fall
BUT…
Get up and keep doing it again
Once you actually start to surf, you are being carried by this wave that is more powerful than you
You are not in control
The wave is in control and it is pushing you
The wind is pushing you
BUT…
You are not passive
You are using all your energy to focus, to balance, and to go with the wave
When you finally get into it, it’s what some call the Green Cathedral
When the wave is over you and you are going with the wave and it is sheer joy
That is what the moral life is meant to be
The Holy Spirit is the wave
The Holy Spirit is the wind that is moving you
The surfboard is the Commandments that are upholding you
You have to keep getting up on that board
But the Holy Spirit wants to be the Power that is moving you
As you keep seeking to move with Him, you get into the flow
It becomes this life of JOY
You are experiencing the Holy Spirit carrying you along as God intended for us as His children
So many people think the moral life is the paddling out to the wave
The paddling can be very tiring
You are riding the surfboard of God’s Commandments
You are riding that wave
You are going to try and you are going to fall
How do we deal with discouragement?
Welcome to the club
The simple answer is to look into the eyes of Jesus AGAIN and stand up AGAIN
Let Jesus take your hand
Jesus says, “Don’t be discouraged. You know what? This is not news to me. You failed. It’s actually not news to me, only to you. And it’s actually good for your pride that you see that you cannot do this.”
Ultimately, the moral life is God calling us to the impossible
BUT…
What is IMPOSSIBLE for men is POSSIBLE for God
When we fall, we have to look into His eyes again and realize this is the Savior who loves to save
THE SAVIOR WHO LOVES TO SAVE
Not the Savior who looks at us and says, “Look, get your act together. Shape up. And then I will come and bless you.”
NO!!!
He is the Savior who says, “I love caring for my wounded sheep, my lost sheep, bringing them home on my shoulders. It’s why I came. It’s why I died for you. I need you to need me because I poured out my blood for you.”
Jesus is not discouraged
So we have to get His perspective and not be discouraged ourselves because every time we fall and then get up, it is a victory
It’s another victory for the Kingdom
We could be saying YES to a cross
How do we prepare for that?
“Whoever wants to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”
It is part of the Christian life
There is something painful about denying what the flesh wants
BUT…
What we often do not realize is that it is the way to JOY
Jesus asks us to pick up our cross because it is the way to the Resurrection
It is the way to life
The Resurrection is not something that begins millenia down the road when we get to Heaven
It begins NOW
We are meant to live in a newness of life that is completely different from the BC (Before Christ) life
We are meant to live a life that is completely different from the secular culture around us
It is painful to take it up at the beginning
BUT…
Gradually, over time, as we are carrying the cross, it becomes sweet
It becomes His easy yoke, His light burden
It’s not that we don’t still have crosses
BUT…
The joy outweighs the cross
The fullness of life outweighs the sacrifices and the self-denial
What about people who don’t want to tell others to pick up their cross?
Don’t start out by telling somebody what they're doing wrong or how they need to get their act together
We need to bring people into an encounter with Jesus FIRST
They need to know Him FIRST
They need to recognize His individual, personal love for them
Then there is the call to repent
“Repent and believe the Good News.”
BUT…
It has to begin with that relationship with Him
We also have to recognize we do nobody any favors by soft pedaling and diluting and downplaying what God reveals about how we are to live
The area of sexual morality is probably the area where people are most tempted to do that because it is so contrary to the culture
BUT…
We are doing people no favors at all if we are just blessing the darkness that they are living in, or the bondage that they are living in
It is our calling and our privilege to proclaim the full truth, the undiluted truth, of the Good News
Part of the Good News is kind of the bad news
You are separated from God by your sins
If you don’t repent, they will separate you from God forever
BUT…
You are invited to communion with God
You are invited back into friendship with Him
It’s so simple
Just repent and believe
He does not stop calling us
GO ALL IN FOR JESUS!!
DO NOT HOLD BACK!!
KEEP GOING!!
This is probably going to be the hardest part of the Catechism for people
Because it gets down to concrete reality of our daily choices
KEEP GOING!!
DON’T BE A HALF BAKED CHRISTIAN!!
DON’T BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WITH ONE FOOT IN THE WORLD AND ONE FOOT IN THE KINGDOM
BE ALL IN!!
Because it is a complete adventure
It is the best decision you could ever make to decide you are all in for Jesus and His Kingdom
It will radically change your life over time
It will give you the most amazing fulfillment beyond anything you could have expected or imagined
GO ALL IN!!
St. Thérèse said, “You cannot be half a Saint. You must be a whole Saint or no Saint at all.” 🤯 🤯 🤯
WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE SAINTS!!
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!