Tag Archives: Catholic Church

Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom which has been its heritage. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on our president and all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor.

(Taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.)

I am constantly being drawn to examine what is biblical and what is worldly. This is not in terms of how they may be separate, more as to how they complement each other. What I find compelling about this prayer taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is first we bring our gratitude and our thankfulness and then we ask for mercy appealing to God through Mary for His grace. For me this is the formula, the way our prayers should be structured. Now, look through this formula and see what we find. There is a great appeal to the biblical to grant us fruitfulness of spirit grounded in justice and charity along with worldly success centered on capital, industry, labor and prosperity.

 Notice how different these two aspects appear to be. In the worldly, we would expect great struggle and great risk to lead to great rewards. Rightfully so, in the world, a healthy psychological equation would demand that great risk would have an equal or greater reward. Biblically, we find great love doesn’t lead to great gain, benefits or rewards; great love leads to great suffering. Bishop Barron tells us love is willing the good of the other for the sake of the other. This necessarily means giving of ourselves in self-giving love. Nothing says this better than the Cross and the lives of Mary and the martyrs. In our lives, this aspect means giving of ourselves without being in the equation, not expecting and demanding a return on our investment. There is also the painfulness of giving yourself for the sake of this unconditional love. In our ego driven world, the realization of giving up some of our own aspirations, time and energy for the sake of others can lead to some very undesirable responses, bitterness, feeling unappreciated or resentment come to mind. For the believer, the focus remains in the moment. The love is the reward, standing alone, its own merit. The love has no need of the worldly, of joy postponed, of expectations to be met. The love biblically blossoms into compassion, kindness, empathy and hope. Pope Francis tells us optimism can be disappointing; hope is eternal, never changing, always faithful.   

The Hour Glass Revisited

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As an explanation of the Form and Content of our beautiful and beloved Catholicism; the Holy Spirit gives us the hour glass as a working model. What does this mean?

Consider the hour glass, unmistakable in its form, design and purpose. It’s immediately recognizable; in its symmetry, its functionality and in its simplicity, no other structure is like it, no other structure can take its place. It is the Form. It is the way that it is, because it is the only way it can be. This is the Church.

The sand; each grain is exquisitely unique.  Distinctively faceted, a shade apart from the rest, fashioned by God and honed by nature. This is the Content. Bathed in paradox, because the only element each grain truly shares is that each is different. Yet taken in their entirety, each is uniform, locked in perfect harmony with the rest. This is the Body.

We realize the Form can not be changed, rearranged or altered in any way. And nothing can be added or taken away from the content. Not even the most beautiful diamond among the sand, for nothing else belongs there. There can be no substitutes; there are no equivalents, for only a genuine and measured amount will work.

Simply put, the “Hour Glass” provides the best example of the Church. Without the Form the Content fulfills no purpose.  Without the Content the Form has no function.

Collaboration

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Collaboration is a state of mind; artful and expressive of the beauty and goodness of love and compassion; nothing less. An ideal whose edicts are those of the Church and every other shared theology which understands the principle of “love your neighbor”. Theory transitions into practice through a shift in the paradigm;

God, Family, Community, Career leads to…..global civilization

Global civilization depends on…..co-operation replacing competition

I’m not overstating my position; our world cannot spend the next 30 years preparing for war and feed 9 billion hungry people at the same time. We can apply what we are learning to the Church and its effectiveness; the real test will be to broadcast this shift in the paradigm to a waiting world, a world of great need.

The Hour Glass

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The turmoil, troubles and falling away which the Catholic Church has experienced in recent years maybe solved by making the past the path into the future. Through the rediscovery of our perfected precepts, the Body of Christ through our Catholic Faith and our continuing conversion of the heart will recreate the cornerstone and construct Jesus’ Church. As it was, as the Holy Spirit makes it and as it will be.  Through right thinking, evangelization flows naturally from one idea to the next.  Solutions found by reestablishing the harmony in the “Form and Content” of our Church. What does this mean?

Take the hour glass, unmistakable in its form, design and purpose. It’s immediately recognizable; in its symmetry, its functionality and in its simplicity, no other structure is like it, no other structure can take its place. It is the Form. It is the way that it is, because it is the only way it can be. This is the Church.

The sand; each grain is exquisitely unique.  Distinctively faceted, a shade apart from the rest, fashioned by God and honed by nature. This is the Content. Bathed in paradox, because the only element they truly share is that each is different. Yet taken in their entirety, each is uniform, locked in perfect harmony with the rest. This is the Body.

We realize the Form can not be changed, rearranged or altered in any way. And nothing can be added or taken away from the content. Not even the most beautiful diamond among the sand, for nothing else belongs there. There can be no substitutes; there are no equivalents, for only a genuine and measured amount will work.

Simply put, the “Hour Glass” provides the best example of the Catholic Church. Without the Form the Content fulfills no purpose.  Without the Content the Form has no function.