catholic family faith

Father Augustus Tolton

Fr. Augustus Tolton is the first recognized Black American priest.  He was the son of a slave who devoted his life to God and the Church.  Read more about Fr. Augustus on these websites:

http://www.holyangels.com/FATHER-AUGUSTUS-TOLTON.HTM

http://www.africanamericans.com/BlackCatholics.htm

Black History Month: Day of National Prayer for the African American Family

The USCCB invites Catholics throughout our country to begin Black History Month with a National Day of Prayer for the African American Family.  Pray with and for African American families in our country on Sunday, February 1, 2009.  The theme of this year's National Day of Prayer is "We Belong to God and God Belongs to Us."  Check out the prayer and message from the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life:  http://www.blackcatholicsforlife.org/nbcalife/nbcalife_press_releases/NDOP-2009.htm

Love Letters

This morning in my Living Faith devotional (a quarterly devotional from Creative Communications for the Parish) I read Claire J. King's reflection on Psalm 37:4:  Take delight in the Lord, and he will grant you your heart's request.

King shared a wonderful idea she heard from a man.  "...He decided to trust that God had someone in mind for him to be his life's partner.  He just didn't know who that person was.  So, on those days when he felt most lonely, he wrote love letters to his future spouse.  On New Year's Even when he had no one to kiss, on Valentine's Day when he had no one to send him a card, he wrote love letters to 'his heart's desire,' and trusted that God would open his heart and his eyes to the right person.  On his wedding day, his gift to his bride was a box of love letters written to her when he didn't even know who she was."

I think this is a beautiful gesture.  We don't often trust God to give us our heart's desires, so we go out and take it upon ourselves to find what we think we want, including a spouse.  Yet God will provide our heart's true desire.  If we trust in God and wait for what God knows is best for us, we will be much more fulfilled than doing it ourselves.

In 2003, Joshua Harris published his book I Kissed Dating Goodbye.  Harris' book challenges the cultural expectations about dating and relationships and gives a biblical perspective on true love.  Harris says about his book, "The book points out the problems with today's recreational romance, but what I've heard most from readers is that ultimately dating isn't the point - the book is about who God is and what it means to trust him with our love lives."

My daughters and I often discuss the merits and drawbacks of dating.  I love these thoughts and challenges by King and Harris.  They provide a perspective about what dating is truly about:  Not just finding someone to spend time with, but finding out what God wants for you and then trusting God to grant your heart's desire.

You can subscribe to Living Faith through Creative Communications for the Parish, www.livingfaith.com.

I Kissed Dating Goodbye (ISBN-13: 9781590521359) is available in bookstores and libraries.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 1, 2009

The theme of this week's Scriptures seems to be authority.  Moses tells the people that God "will raise up for them a prophet like [him] from among their kin, and will put [God's] words in his mouth."  From the authority given to him by Jesus, St. Paul writes to the community in Corinth instructing them of how they can avoid some of the anxieties that keep them from focusing on the Lord.  Jesus taught with the authority inherent in his divinity.  Even the unclean spirits listened to and obeyed him.  We, too, listen to Jesus and follow his teachings and, in this way, show him respect.

There are people in our lives who have authority over us:  parents, teachers, Church leaders, and others who show us how to follow Jesus.  We need to show them respect, too, by listening to them.  If we respectfully listen to the people who have authority in our lives, we will be challendged and encouraged to grow in our faith in and relationship with Jesus.

Faith Chat Question:  How do you show respect for those who have authority in your life, such as parents, priests and Church leaders, teachers, and supervisors?  How has listening to people in authority helped you to grow in your faith?

Faith Response:  As a family, make a list of people who have positions of authority in your lives.  Pray together for these people, that they may be guided with Jesus' wisdom and leadership of love.

Pray:  Lord Jesus, you speak with authority, and we listen.  Help us to listen to all of those people whom you have put in our lives to lead us and challenge us to grow.  Amen.

Different Paths to God

As a result of recently reading The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson, I continue to reflect on the similarities and differences of religions, including Islam and Christianity.

Too often, people conflict over differences of belief.  Yet, at heart, we are all quite similar.  Christians are angered by and fear the jihad, the Muslim holy war, and yet Muslims are reacting to the atrocities waged against them by the Christians - the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the forcing out of all Moors from Spain in the name of Christianity.  Christians call Muslims "infidels," and Muslims call Christians "infidels."  It's all so crazy.

Christians, Muslims, and Jews believe in the same God, Allah, Yahweh, Who, in great love, created all of humanity and accepts all people from these differing paths.  Could it be that God provided these different paths knowing that people find God in different ways?

The Catholic Church believes that "the Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community.  This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God.  His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city...(Nostra Aetate, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, 1)."  (CCC, 842)

So what can we do to close the gap of misunderstanding?

• Pray for peace and knowledge and understanding and wisdom.

• Learn about other cultures and religions.  Read books, including the Bible and the Qu'ran.

• Participate in seminars and events to learn about other cultures and religions and to get to know people of differing points of view.

• Listen with openness and respect to differing points of view.

The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

I just finished reading The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson (NY: Crown Publishers, 2008).  It is one of those books that I didn't want to end.  Filled with intrigue, religious and cultural conflict, and two women's search for meaning in their lives, I couldn't put it down and just sat for a few moments contemplating it after I closed the last chapter.

Julia Lovat has been having an affair with her best friend's husband for several years.  Then one night in a London restaurant, he gives her a parting gift, a simple book of embroidery, or so it seems.  When Julia opens the book, she notices small writing throughout the pages.  As she reads, she is taken in by the story of Cat, a woman who lived in seventeenth century Cornwall.  Cat wrote of her trials as she was captured by Barbary corsairs and taken to Morocco as a slave.  Captured by the story, Julia goes to Morocco to learn more about Cat's life and experiences.  In Morocco, both women find themselves and love.

Along with telling the parallel stories of Julia and Cat, Johnson deals with the conflicts between Eastern and Western cultures, Islam and Christianity that existed in the seventeenth century, and that still exist today in the twenty-first century. 

With vivid descriptions and winding paths, The Tenth Gift is beautifully written.  As this book was recommended to me by the staff of Kent District Library (as part of their Let It Snow! winter reading program), I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to lose themselves in a story of love and journey of faith.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul - January 25, 2009

  While this weekend is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church also celebrates the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  In June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI declared that July 2008 through June 2009 would be dedicated to St. Paul, the Apostle.  It is fitting, therefore, that the Church celebrates the feast of this momentous occasion.

We may not hear the voice of Jesus as explicitly as did St. Paul on the road to Damascus, but Jesus speaks to us nonetheless.  We hear Jesus' voice in our hearts, through our families and friends, and in the events of our days.  Paul responded, "What shall I do, sir?"  Through the encouragement of Ananias and others, Paul proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to people throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.  Through the encouragement of our families, we respond to Jesus' call in our hearts, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ through our words and our actions.

Faith Chat Question:  How have you heard Jesus' voice speaking to you?  Who encourages you to live and share the Good News of Jesus?

Faith Response:  Spend some time this week learning about St. Paul.  Look in your family Bible for maps of Paul's journeys.  Read about his journeys and ministry in Acts of the Apostles, chapters 13-28.  Read passages from his letters in the New Testament.  Search the Internet for information about "St. Paul, the Apostle."

Pray:  Lord Jesus, you called St. Paul to serve you, and he devoted his life to proclaiming your Good News.  Empower us with your Holy Spirit that we, too, may devote our lives to proclaiming your love through our words and our actions.  Amen.

"O Weary One, Come to Me"

Being in parish catechetical ministry, I often get lost in my schedule.  From the time I rise in the morning until I lie down at night, I can be moving, planning, meeting, researching activities, connecting with people, and on and on.  After several days, or weeks, of constant motion, I feel not only my body longing for rest, but my soul longs for rest.  I find my heart and soul yearning to just be quiet with the Lord.  During these times, I hear Jesus' words calling to me:  "Come to me, you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."  These words give me comfort, but more importantly, they remind me that I need to take time to rest with the Lord.  I need to spend at least a little time with God each day, and regularly schedule some significant time with the Source of my energy and life.

How often do you sit with God?  When is your favorite time to spend with God?

Featured Website - Year of St. Paul

In this year dedicated to St. Paul and as we prepare for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25th, take some time to check out this website and learn about St. Paul's life, journeys, and teachings:  http://www.osv.com/YearofStPaulNav/YearofStPaul/tabid/6133/Default.aspx 

Click on "Interactive Stories, Journey, and Quiz" for interactive activities to learn about St. Paul.

Lord's Day Faith Chat - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jan 18, 2009

The Lord calls us and moves in our lives, but we don't always recognize him.  We usually need someone to point out God's presence with us, as Eli instructed Samuel and as John pointed out Jesus to the two disciples.  We learn from our families how to recognize God in our lives through the simple every day conversations that help us to grow in our faith and through activities that encourage us to live our faith.

Faith Chat Question:  God speaks to us in many ways - through nature, people, music, events, silence, literature, the Bible, and more.  How have you experienced being called by God?  How have you responded to God's call in your life?

Question for Children:  What can you do this week to show that you are a follower of Jesus?

Faith Response:  Make "I am a Follower of Jesus" badges with each family member's name.  Have each person share what they can do this week to show that they are a follower of Jesus.

Pray:  Loving God, you have called us to be your own.  Holy Spirit, you move within us.  Lord Jesus, you show us the way.  Help us to follow you in all we say and do.  Amen.