Category Archives: Musings

Worthiness Continues

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So, there you have it. Worthy is a psychological term, not a spiritual one. Look for worthy in the subject index of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, you won’t find it. Try the Modern Catholic Dictionary, not listed there. Worthy is a nomenclature we apply to ourselves in our self-imposed construct which describes who we are as we see ourselves. From my point of view, worthy doesn’t belong in the spiritual discussion, it’s too subjective and doesn’t broadcast well into His realm of the divine. Ask yourself, what has been forgotten and what has been lost? Would Christ Jesus have died for us on the cross if we weren’t worthy of His Grace, Mercy and Love? Did He stop and count our sins to see if we measured up? Did He ask us what we thought? See what I mean, it’s never about us, it’s always about Him.

I offer you this, worthiness was written to an audience in need of a sum zero equation in ancient times as the Church moved in the development of doctrine, and as the laity moved in its development of understanding. Go to Job, the message is clear, karma doesn’t belong in the Teachings; it’s not about what you did, it’s about what He did for us. Worthiness appears numerous times in the march forward, as each generation struggles with its own conversion.  In times of indulgences when sin becomes quantified or in the present era, as people fall away from the Church in a reversal of the paradigm believing the Church is not worthy. The message has been clear from the beginning; it’s not about our personal relationship with Jesus, it’s about us in our covenant relationship with Him, Creator and the created. I see paradox in play, one realm of infinite existence, the other in a finite world of being. Both using language to try and capture what is outside the parameters of language. Consider this, Jesus teaches the second greatest commandment, so the world would not fall into fundamentalism, He said, love your neighbor as you love yourself. The conclusion is this: God is approachable but unattainable, loving your neighbor is both approachable and attainable. Jesus came into the world to set it on fire, to flip the world head over heels, He came to hope the ones who need the most help.

What Lens

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What lens are you looking through…a worldview based on your experiences, how you connect the dots, that smorgasbord of frames of references which points in many directions reflected through the facets of your life? Or is it more psychological, more pragmatic with a certain strategy and some reason and logic, calculated and goal oriented, schedule driven to desired results? How about more spiritual, relying on the right motivation, doing the right thing and being a good person, loving the world for all its beauty and helping out where you can? Or do you have your eye on the divine, dare I say, realizing freedom is being free from the freedom of choice, willfully surrendering to the greatest power and purpose in the universe, seeking, doing and at those moments of true inspiration being God’s will. Accepting the Presence of the Lord as authentic, more meaningful than any worldly experience and allowing those cherished gifts given as charisms or through scripture or the doctrine of the Church to plot your course and guide your actions.

Dr. Gregory Bottaro

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“God provides assurance that we don’t need to doubt. Trusting him is the antidote to doubt, and trust is the foundation of our faith.”
Dr. Gregory Bottaro
The Mindful Catholic

Very well said Dr. Gregory……my question is what’s the application and what’s the implementation? We are practicing Catholics, which for me implies that we are doing something in the world, in a practical world of practicing Catholics. So, whatever we are doing, whatever needs done, is this the application? And showing up is this the implementation? I suggest God’s Providence is God’s Grace. He will give us what we need, when we need it….all we have to do is show up. The hitch in this giddy-up, is we are often looking for a particular answer, or a situation we have envisioned as the solution. So, trusting becomes the answer to all our questions. Here I am Lord, what’s next?

Social Justice

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   I am continually amazed, how one moment in faith leads to the next. Thank you, Lord for all your gifts and all your blessings.

   From the Church’s point of view, one aspect of these moments are Charisms; an extraordinary power/gift/insight given a Christian by the Holy Spirit for the good of the church. I am thinking about this in response to the two-day conversation I’m having with my son about social justice. My point of view is this, social justice is a condition. A condition of the psyche, of mind/intellect, of spiritual maturity, of lots of spheres of influence, all the way to “where it’s at”, if you get my drift. So, thinking along this line, one conclusion could be; social justice is not a construct, not an economic system or political point of view, not something that grows out of a particular system/structure but more the effect of “right thinking”. If we follow Matthew Kelly’s idea, which is, constant learning and the establishment of best practices, then social justice can be the result of any social organization. Obviously, some systems are more suited in promoting social justice than others, on the other hand we have to start somewhere.