August 31: the feast day of Saint Raymond, priest and martyr - *

Saint Raymond was a priest in the 13th century. He preached tirelessly and suffered greatly as a result. He was arrested, imprisoned, and forced to run the gauntlet. Although sentenced to death by impalement, he was ultimately released in hopes of securing a ransom. But although he was released, steps were taken to ensure that he would not continue to preach the Gospel: his lips were pierced by a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock.

In light of all that he later suffered, these words from a letter he wrote seem quite fitting:

The preacher of God’s truth has told us that all who want to live righteously in Christ will suffer persecution. If he spoke the truth and did not lie, the only exception to this general statement is, I think, the person who either neglects, or does not know how, to live temperately, justly and righteously in this world.

May you never be numbered among those whose house is peaceful, quiet and free from care; those on whom the Lord’s chastisement does not descend; those who live out their days in prosperity, and in the twinkling of an eye will go down to hell.

When faced with adversity, may we be as courageous and faithful as Saint Raymond, and may we remember Jesus' words in Matthew 5: 10-11:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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In this year for priests, as we celebrate the life of St. Raymond, I found a wonderful prayer composed by Father Austin Fleming, A Concord Priest:

A Prayer for Priests

Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:

men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;

men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;

men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;

men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;

men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;

men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;

men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;

men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;

men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;

men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.

Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.

Amen.

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A survey

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Carrying the message

From the beginning, God has entrusted his people with a series of missions. In the beginning, he charged us with the task of caring for the earth (Genesis 1:28); prior to his ascension, Jesus instructed us to care for His people by teaching them about the good news:

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

- Matthew 28: 19-20

Clearly we need to get on the ball if we’re going to be successful with either charge. The state of our environment shows that we have failed with the first task so far. The state of our collective souls says a lot about our progress with the second – and most important – task.

This isn’t a job left to priests, but to the entire Church… to us. At times this may seem a task beyond our capabilities, but read this quote from St. Francis de Sales:

Go then, full of courage to do what you are called to do, but go in simplicity. If you are apprehensive, tell your soul that the Lord will provide. If awareness of your weakness wears on you, cast your hope in God and put your confidence in Him. The Apostles were fisherman and for the most part ignorant, uneducated fishermen. God made wise men of them to the degree needed for the tasks He would give them. Have confidence in Him, trust in providence and fear nothing. Do not say, “I have no talent for speaking well.” It does not matter, go without making a speech. God will give you what you need to say and do when the time is right. If you have no virtue or see no talent in yourself, do not be troubled because if you do it for the Glory of God, God will take care of you and will be obliged to give you the strength for all that is necessary.

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We have all the light we need.

Many years ago I heard of an old Dutchman and his young son. They had to walk home at night across the polders, the dried sea bottom where the water had been pumped out and held back by dikes. The little boy was afraid, for he knew there were still deep pockets of water and many patches of quicksand on the polders. All they had to give them light on the walk was a small kerosene lantern.

"Please, father," the boy begged, "don’t make me walk out there. It is so dark, and the lamp only gives enough light for one step at a time."

The father took his son’s hand in his own. "That’s right, but one step at a time is all the light we need. And if we walk in the light we have, we have enough light for the next step. However, if we stand still, waiting for enough light to see the entire way home, then even the light we have will burn out, and we will be left in the dark." And so they made their way home safely, one step at a time, walking in the light. Every obstacle, every frustration, can become an opportunity if we trust God and walk in the light we have.

– Corrie ten Boom.

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We’re being watched.

I ran into two quotes that are bothering me. One I found yesterday at Roman Catholic Cop’s blog. (Visit this site for Jamie’s reflection about this passage.) It’s a quote from Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi:

I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Basically, Gandhi is saying that our behavior doesn’t look like what he expected of a follower of Christ. When I read that quotation, it reminded me of another, a thought from Friedrich Nietzche:

Maybe I would have believed in a Redeemer if the Christians had looked more redeemed.

Gandhi, of course, was not Christian. Nietzche had been raised as a Lutheran, attended a prominent Protestant boarding school, studied theology at the University of Bonn, and became disillusioned with Christianity. So here we have two men from very different backgrounds – one practicing the Hindu faith throughout his life, the other a fallen-away Christian – both of whom object to Christianity on the basis of the behavior, actions, and appearance of Christians.

According to New Advent, hypocrisy is ”the pretension to qualities which one does not possess… or the putting forward of a false appearance of virtue or religion. Essentially its malice is identical with that of lying; in both cases there is discordance between what a man has in his mind and the simultaneous manifestation of himself”.

It’s so easy to delude ourselves, to think we’re living as Christians when in fact our behavior says otherwise to those around us. When we identify ourselves as followers of Jesus, we take on a tremendous responsibility. People will be watching us. We can’t just say we’re following Him. We must start doing so.

I’m not implying that we’ll follow Him without fumbling. Of course we’ll stumble and fall. But those who are watching us will pick up on the slightest bit of arrogance, defensiveness, or self-righteousness. And those who are watching are far more likely to respond favorably towards Christianity if they see us rise up with humility and set off once more toward Jesus.

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August 27: The Feast Day of Saint Monica

St. Monica was born in North Africa in 333. Although her parents were Christian, she married a pagan named Patritius as a young woman. Her husband was known for his violent temper, and Monica’s prayer life and almsgiving was a source of annoyance to him.

Monica and Patritius had three children: Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua. Patritius refused to allow her to have the children baptized. Augustine in particular was a source of worry for his mother, for he adopted a rather dissolute lifestyle. Augustine went abroad to receive an education, and his lifestyle deteriorated still further. For years, Monica continued to pray for the conversion of her husband. For years, she continued to pray that Augustine would leave his sinful lifestyle and join the Church. For years her prayers seemingly went unanswered. Monica received one consolation during this time, however, when her husband became a Christian. Shortly after he was received into the Church, Patritius died.

Still, her worries about Augustine were not over. While away at school, he had become a Manichean. Manichaeism was a heresy which aimed to synthesize all religious systems known in Augustine’s day, and contained elements of Babylonian folklore, Buddhism, Dualizm, and Zoroastrian Dualism along with a smattering of Christian beliefs tossed in to add to the confusion. When Augustine began pontificating to Monica about his beliefs, she sent him away, only to pursue him to Rome and Milan in order to ask him to return when a vision urged her to do so. Once they were united – after 17 years of steadfastly turning away from Christ – Augustine finally converted and was baptized in Milan. He went on to become one of the most respected theologians in Church history.

Not long after Augustine’s conversion and while still many long miles from their homeland, Monica told Augustine that she was at peace, and that she was convinced that her life’s task had been completed. Soon thereafter, she developed a fever and died two days later. Friends were concerned that Monica would grieve knowing she would die and be buried in a foreign country. She replied that she was sure God would remember where she was buried and raise her up.

In Monica, we see a wonderful example of faithful, persistent prayer and intercession on behalf of loved ones who seem lost.

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Clear as mud.

Earlier this week, I posted about a judicial decision in South Dakota that I could not quite fathom. (See I don’t quite get it, South Dakota.) I still don’t, but wanted to update you after someone found more information on Lexis about this ruling; he was able to access the full document on LEXIS. So here is some more information:

The original South Dakota law required physicians to make three sorts of disclosure (biological, relationship, and medical risk disclosures) to a woman contemplating abortion prior to her consent to the procedure. Planned Parenthood sued in hopes the statute would be ruled unconstitutional. Here is what the Court decided:

1. The biological disclosure requires that the patient be told that "the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." In the statute, "human being" is defined as "an individual living member of the species Homo sapiens, including the unborn human being during the entire embryonic and fetal ages from fertilization to full gestation."

The court held that this requirement was constitutional, since the physician was not prevented from explaining that the term "human being" is used in the statute "in a biological sense and not an ideological sense."

2. The relationship disclosure would require the physician to tell the patient that she "has an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protection under the United States Constitution and under the laws of South Dakota" and that "by having an abortion, her existing relationship and her existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated." In addition, the defendants stated that "relationship" is here being used in the legal sense, not the biological sense.

The court explained that a state can require a physician to provide "truthful, non-misleading information relevant to a patient's decision to have an abortion, even if that information might also encourage the patient to choose childbirth over abortion." Thus, Planned Parenthood bore the burden of showing that the disclosure was untruthful, misleading, or not relevant.

The court held that the relationship disclosure is unconstitutional, because a relationship, in the legal sense, requires two or more persons, and an embryo is not legal "person" under U.S. law (even though the embryo was described by the Court as “a whole, separate, unique, living human being”.

3. The medical-risk disclosures require the physician to provide the patient with a "description of all known medical risks of the procedure and statistically significant risk factors to which the pregnant woman would be subjected, including . . . (ii) Increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide."

Planned Parenthood argued that this requirement was unconstitutionally vague in what it required physicians to do in order not to break the law.

The court held that these disclosures are partly constitutional and partly unconstitutional. It is constitutional to require the physician to disclose all known medical risks, because long-standing law on informed consent shows that that is not impermissibly vague. However, it's not constitutional to require the disclosure of "risk factors to which the pregnant woman would be subjected," because that phrasing is so poorly drafted that it doesn't make sense. According to expert witnesses, a "risk factor" is something that exists before the procedure being discussed (e.g., hypertension). Thus, it makes no sense to require disclosure of "risk factors" that the patient "would be subjected to." Third, it's also not constitutional to require disclosure of suicide risk, because the weight of the evidence showed that there is no association between suicide and abortion.

4. Planned Parenthood also challenged the statute's medical-emergency exception to the disclosure requirements, on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally vague. The court held that the exception is constitutional.

South Dakota has a fetal-homicide statute, but it expressly exempts abortions in that the statute states the following:

§ 22-16-1.1. Fetal homicide -- Penalty
Homicide is fetal homicide if the person knew, or reasonably should have known, that a woman bearing an unborn child was pregnant and caused the death of the unborn child without lawful justification and if the person:
(1) Intended to cause the death of or do serious bodily injury to the pregnant woman or the unborn child; or

(2) Knew that the acts taken would cause death or serious bodily injury to the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or

(3) If perpetrated without any design to effect death by a person engaged in the commission of any felony.

Fetal homicide is a Class B felony.

This section does not apply to acts which cause the death of an unborn child if those acts were committed during any abortion, lawful or unlawful, to which the pregnant woman consented.

So we are left with a law that describes an unborn child as “a whole, separate, unique, living human being” and “an individual living member of the species Homo sapiens, including the unborn human being during the entire embryonic and fetal ages from fertilization to full gestation”, but the unborn child is not a person. And if that isn’t plenty enough gobbledegook, the portion of the statute relating to risk factors certainly qualifies. Furthermore, it’s illegal to deliberately kill an unborn child unless you’re having an abortion.

Does that clear things up?

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This week's contest

Can you think of a caption for this picture?

Use McLinky or Comments at the end of this post to submit your entry. A winner will be chosen in 1 week.

Good luck!

I don't quite get it, South Dakota.

According to an Associated Press article which you can find here, a federal judge has upheld the portion of a South Dakota law requiring that women be told that abortion ends the life of a “whole, separate, unique, living human being”. The ruling goes on to say that physicians “can provide more information than the language in the statute, including that the term can be used in a biological sense and not ideological”. Mimi Liu, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said, "We're relieved our doctors have the ability to use their best medical judgment to explain and make sure what women understand is biological and factual information and not an ideological mandate from the state."

I’m not quite sure what to make of the “biological sense and not ideological” part of the ruling. I don't know that I understand why Planned Parenthood considers that portion of the ruling to be a victory for them. And I absolutely cannot comprehend how the State of South Dakota can consider it to be anything less than murder to take the life of a “whole, separate, unique, living human being”. Maybe you can explain it to me?

August 25: Kiss and Make Up Day

According to an online calendar of holidays, today is "Kiss and Make Up Day". It's a shame that someone felt a need to declare a particular day for this purpose, because this should figure prominently in our lives not just today, but every day.

The following quote shows the importance of "kissing and making up" in one culture.

The Hawaiians have a practice called Ho’oponopono (HO-OH-POH-NO-POH-NO), which the New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary defines as: to correct, edit, revise, put to right; mental cleansing, as by family discussion. It is the last definition which is in common usage today, so that if one speaks of ho’oponopono, it is assumed that one means resolving a dispute by discussion, or making amends.

It is an important and profound custom, one which does indeed bring about a mental cleansing. Many families have the custom of making ho’oponopono each night (if needed), so that they never sleep under the same roof with unresolved disputes, holding onto hard feelings and developing grudges. It makes for a calm and peaceful life, one in which people remain clear with each other on a daily basis.

The practice teaches children from an early age that difficulties in human relationships arise, that there is no shame in this, and that the way to handle such problems is to address them openly and immediately. It teaches family members how to both seek and serve as mediators, and everyone learns how to forgive and be forgiven.

Along with the custom of ho’oponopono comes the belief, in this culture, that a pregnant woman who carries her baby to term without making ho’oponopono (if needed) will not have a successful delivery. Either the child will have problems, such as deformity, or the mother will be harmed during childbirth. In other words, carrying bad mana (energy) throughout the pregnancy will become manifest in some way during the birthing process.

There is a public health initiative here on the island which helps low-income mothers throughout their pregnancies, and guess what? A part of the intake screening is to determine whether the young mothers-to-be need to make ho’oponopono. If so, the program’s nurses provide whatever support is required to help expectant mothers accomplish this.

All of this makes a great deal of sense to me. . . It’s one of my New Year’s resolutions. I’m making a list of all those with whom I need to make ho’oponopono, and I’m DOING IT! And I’m finding it’s not so easy. As I began to search my heart, I found I had quite a few grudges lurking about. Some of them have been around for quite a while, too. So long, in fact, that they seem to be part of me.

Thus, my current task is to give up that part of me, to lose it to a higher purpose. Again, not an easy task. But necessary, I believe, to my psychological, spiritual, and, yes, to my physical health.

Aloha, Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year), and malama pono (take care).

– Anna Hollingsworth

The importance of forgiveness cannot be overemphasized. When Peter asked Jesus how often he must forgive, Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times." (Mt. 18:22) In Jesus' time, this meant we must forgive forever, continuously.

I heard a quote attributed to Malachy McCourt: "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." Indeed, holding on to old injuries serves as a spiritual poison. It damages our relationships with everyone, and particularly with God.

If need be, let us set aside some time on this "kiss and make up day" to start making ho’oponopono: to forgive others, to make amends to those we have harmed, to make things right.

The new Order of the Mass

We've been hearing about it for a while, and evidently it's getting closer... the change in the language of the Mass. The U.S. Bishops have a web site that explains the changes, including a *.pdf file under "Resources" that contains the new order of the Mass in its entirety. To visit the website, click here.

Here is the new version of the Nicene Creed, one example of the changes which are coming. The changes are in bold-face type.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake
he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection
of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.*

Take a few moments to look at the web site, and then come back and let me know what you think. I'll reserve my own opinion for now.

* Copyright © 2008 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

A song of thanksgiving

Join the gratitude community at Holy Experience...

...but before you go, enjoy this video of a song of praise:

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving

To God the Creator triumphantly raise!

Is it "compassion" or "killing"?

According to an August 22, 2009 Catholic News Agency article found here, there is a bill (Bill C-384) before the Canadian House of Commons which would allow assisted suicide and euthanasia for those with severe chronic mental or physical pain. If passed, anyone over age 18 could request assisted suicide, even if they had refused to receive appropriate treatment. No consultation with a mental health or palliative care professional would be required. The sole requirement would be for an individual to make two requests more than 10 days apart while “appearing lucid”. This bill is the third attempt by Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde to introduce such legislation; it is scheduled for debate in Parliament on September 29, 2009.

Winnipeg Archbishop James Weisgerber acknowledged the difference between refusing “excessively burdensome treatment” and euthanasia, and has called on Canadian Catholics to voice opposition to legislation such as Bill C-384. Weisgerber reiterated the position of the Catholic Church in explaining that “directly assisting someone in taking their own life is cooperation in an ‘objectively wrong’ action and is itself immoral”. The archbishop stated, “Euthanasia and assisted suicide are the antithesis to what should be at the heart of human civilization - trust, respect, concern and solidarity, based on reverence for all human life.” He asserted that killing is not “compassionate”, and that using the term “compassionate” in reference to assisted suicide is a “’misuse of language’ that can blind us to the killing of another human being”. (Of course such “misuse of language” has been used before to soften or disguise reality. For just a few examples, see The Language of Abortion: Using Euphemism for the Real Thing.)

Edmonton Archbishop Richard W. Smith, another strong pro-life voice, doesn’t need to resort to euphemisms to cloud the meaning of his words. He says, “True compassion calls us to stand with our suffering brothers and sisters and affirm that they are always a gift and never a burden; that their lives are at every moment worthwhile and never without meaning.”

Nor did Pope John Paul II mince words:

Today, the conflict is between a culture that affirms, cherished and celebrates the gift of life, and a culture that seeks to declare entire groups of human beings – the unborn, the terminally ill, the handicapped, and others considered “unuseful” – to be outside the boundaries of legal protection.

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's caption contest. I really enjoy reading them!

We'll have another contest soon!

I think I'll try having a contest regularly... say, every Wednesday. If anyone has a photo they would like to submit for use in an upcoming contest, please email it to this address:

acts17verse28 at bigstring dot com

Just replace at with @ and dot with a real, live dot. Sorry to do it this way, but it helps minimize spammers.

Thanks!

NCSue

Morality: a moving target?

I suppose it had to happen, and I should find nothing surprising about the newly-approved policy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. While their old policy said that marriage is “the appropriate place for sexual intercourse”, they’re backing away from their previous stance. They now say that, “Some cohabitation arrangements can be constructed in ways that are neither casual nor intrinsically unstable”.

Why should such backpedaling be surprising to me? After all, an assortment of denominations have softened their stance on what they once held to be a moral absolute. Over time, a variety of churches have had rather fluid views on a variety of topics, including abortion, the ordination of women, divorce, and war.

Pope Benedict XVI had this to say about that:

How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf Eph 4, 14). Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and “swept along by every wind of teaching”, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an “Adult” means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth.

I think it’s important that we look at our church in light of this discussion, asking a rather important question: Are the church’s positions shaped by an unchanging God, or does the church try to change God’s position on unchanging truths? This question also has important implications for us as individual Christians. We take a huge risk when we try to rewrite the law of God because we feel it is no longer relevant to our “modern” world. The consequences can be serious:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

- Jude 1:3-5

Learning from a caterpillar

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon, a man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly.

I asked for strength......... And God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom......... And God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity......... And God gave me a brain and brawn to work.
I asked for courage......... And God gave me danger to overcome.
I asked for love......... And God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favors......... And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted-- I received everything I needed.

- Source unknown, but Thanks Be To God!

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Is Jesus in my mirror?

We are called to be imitators of Christ, which always provides us with a challenge. Do I reflect Jesus to others?

In John 3:17, we read, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Obviously I cannot save – or condemn - the world in the same sense as Jesus did. But my actions can reflect Christ… or not. My words can tear others down… or build them up. My responses to others can be used to attract them to life in Christ… or they can push them away.

Which shall it be?

Mom was right when she said, "Watch your mouth!"

I've been cleaning up some old files I've saved on my hard drive for a while - funny things, inspirational things, things to think about, etc. Lots of these were emails I received years and years ago (like the post on Talmudic Laws for Children I put up yesterday). One of them is entitled "What is Love?" It's a collection of little words of wisdom from children who were asked to respond to the question "What does love mean?" (Note: let me know if you want me to post it; it's cute, but it's been around for a while.)

Anyway, I got to thinking about one of the responses, attributed to Billy, age 4:

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.

As one who professes to love God, His name should be “safe in my mouth”. It should be… but is it? I have been given the gift of speech and of language. How do I use it?

In the book of James, we are cautioned about the power of our words. After reading the quote from Billy, these words seem especially powerful.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

-James 3:3-6

Imperfections: mine and yours

It seems to me that you need to be a little more big-hearted about the imperfections of other people. I know you can’t help but see these imperfections when they come right before your eyes an neither can you prevent involuntary opinions about others from popping into your mind. And nobody will deny that the imperfections of others cause us a lot of inconvenience! But it will be enough if you are willing to be patient with imperfections, whether they be serious or not so serious.

Do not allow yourself to turn away from people because of their imperfections. If there is one mark of perfection, it is simply that it can tolerate the imperfections of others. It is able to adjust. It becomes all things to all men. Sometimes we find the most surprising faults in otherwise good people. But we must not be surprised. It is best to let these faults alone and let God deal with them in His time. If we deal with them, we shall end up pulling up the wheat with the tares. I have found that God leaves, even in the most spiritual people, certain weaknesses which seem to be entirely out of place. This is true of all of us. And all of us need to be quick to recognize our own imperfections, letting God deal with them.

As for you, labor to be patient with the weaknesses of other people. You know from experience how bitterly it hurts to be corrected. So work hard to make it less bitter for others.

- Fenelon

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/16/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

TALMUDIC LAWS FOR CHILDREN

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Laws of Forbidden Places

Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese,you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are of bright color and unknown provenance you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of quiescently frozen dessert and of all frozen after-meal treats you may eat, but absolutely not in the living room.

Of the juices and other beverages, yes, even of those in sippy cups, you may drink, but not in the living room, neither may you carry such therein. Indeed, when you reach the place where the living room carpet begins, of any food or beverage there you may not eat, neither may you drink. But if you are sick, and are lying down and watching something, then may you eat in the living room.

Laws When at Table

And if you are seated in your high chair, or in a chair such as a greater person might use, keep your legs and feet below you as they were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination to me. Yes, even when you have an interesting bandage to show, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke.

Drink your milk as it is given you, neither use on it any utensils, nor fork, nor knife, nor spoon, for that is not what they are for; if you will dip your blocks in the milk, and lick it off, you will be sent away.

When you have drunk, let the empty cup then remain upon the table, and do not bite it upon its edge and by your teeth hold it to your face in order to make noises in it sounding like a duck: for you will be sent away. When you chew your food, keep your mouth closed until you have swallowed, and do not open it to show your brother or your sister what is within; I say to you, do not so, even if your brother or your sister has done the same to you.

Eat your food only; do not eat that which is not food; neither seize the table between your jaws, nor use the raiment of the table to wipe your lips. I say again to you, do not touch it, but leave it as it is.

And though your stick of carrot does indeed resemble a marker, draw not with it upon the table, even in pretend, for we do not do that, that is why. And though the pieces of broccoli are very like small trees, do not stand them upright to make a forest, because we do not do that, that is why.

Sit just as I have told you, and do not lean to one side or the other, nor slide down until you are nearly slid away. Heed me; for if you sit like that, your hair will go into the syrup. And now behold, even as I have said, it has come to pass.

Laws Pertaining to Dessert

For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert.

But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert.

But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof.

And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.

On Screaming

Do not scream; for it is as if you scream all the time. If you are given a plate on which two foods you do not wish to touch each other are touching each other, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point to the offense with the finger of your right hand; but I say to you, scream not, only remonstrate gently with the server, that the server may correct the fault.

Likewise if you receive a portion of fish from which every piece of herbal seasoning has not been scraped off, and the herbal seasoning is loathsome to you and steeped in vileness, again I say, refrain from screaming. Though the vileness overwhelm you, and cause you a faint unto death, make not that sound from within your throat, neither cover your face, nor press your fingers to your nose. For I have made the fish as it should be; behold, I eat it myself, yet do not die.

Concerning Face and Hands

Cast your countenance upward to the light, and lift your eyes to the hills, that I may more easily wash you off. For stains are upon you; even to the very back of your head, there is rice thereon.

And in the breast pocket of your garment, and upon the tie of your shoe, rice and other fragments are distributed in a manner wonderful to see. Only hold yourself still; hold still, I say. Give each finger in its turn for my examination thereof, and also each thumb. Lo, how iniquitous they appear. What I do is as it must be; and you shall not go hence until I have done.

Various Other Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances

Bite not, lest you be cast into quiet time. Neither drink of your own bath water, nor of the bath water of any kind; nor rub your feet on bread, even if it be in the package; nor rub yourself against cars, not against any building; nor eat sand.

Leave the cat alone, for what has the cat done, that you should so afflict it with tape? And hum not the humming in your nose as I read, nor stand between the light and the book. Indeed, you will drive me to madness. Nor forget what I said about the tape.

Burnt biscuits?

From today's email, source unknown...

When I was a little child, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Baby, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things . . . . . and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good,the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God . . . . Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker!

We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."

Following faithful footsteps

Often when we hear about the saints, we read a spit-shined version that makes them seem somehow immune to struggles, impervious to temptation, serene in all circumstances.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Those who have attained great holiness have arrived there only by remaining faithful in the midst of adversity. It's not necessary to look far to find evidence of this. St. John of the Cross experienced a "Dark Night of the Soul". A more contemporary example is Mother Teresa; in "Come Be My Light", published after her death, we read of many long years where she was unable to sense God's presence and was convinced that he did not love her.

One of my favorite saints, Jane de Chantal, is another case in point. Read this letter which she wrote to her spiritual advisor, Francis de Sales, in 1614, and see how she remains faithful despite a feeling of despair. And may we follow her example!

To St. Francis de Sales.
Vive Jesus !

ANNECY, 1614.

I write because I cannot refrain from doing so; for this morning I am more wearisome to myself than usual. My interior state is so gravely defective that, in anguish of spirit, I see myself giving way on every side. Assuredly, my good Father, I am almost overwhelmed by this abyss of misery. The presence of God, which was formerly such a delight to me, now makes me tremble all over and shudder with fear. I bethink myself that the divine eye of Him whom I adore, with entire submission, pierces right through my soul looking with indignation upon all my thoughts, words and works. Death itself, it seems to me, would be less painful to bear than the distress of mind which this occasions, and I feel as if all things had power to harm me. I am afraid of everything; I live in dread, not because of harm to myself, but because I fear to displease God. Oh, how far away His help seems ! thinking of this I spent last night in great bitterness and could utter no other words than these, " My God, my God, alas ! why hast Thou forsaken me." At daybreak God gave me a little light in the highest part of my soul, yet only there; but it was almost imperceptible; nor did the rest of my soul and its faculties share the enjoyment, which lasted only about the time of half a Hail Mary, then, trouble rushed back upon me with a mighty force, and all was darkness. Not withstanding the weariness of this dereliction, I said, though in utter dryness, " Do, Lord, whatever is pleasing to Thee, I wish it. Annihilate me, I am content. Overwhelm me, I most sincerely desire it. Tear out, cut, burn, do just as Thou pleasest, I am Thine." God has shown me that He does not make much account of faith that comes of sentiment and emotions. This is why, though against my inclination, I never wish for sensible devotion. I do not desire it. God is enough for me. Notwithstanding my absolute misery I hope in Him, and I trust He will continue to support me so that His will may be accomplished in me. Take my feeble heart into your hands, my true Father and Lord, and do what you see to be wisest with it.

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/16/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

The article “Fruits of Forgiveness” from the August 16 issue of Our Sunday Visitor tells about the murder of Gerald Gase, an 84-year-old man from Meadville, Pennsylvania. Two people made plans to rob him. Gase opened the door to them and allowed one of the would-be robbers, Roger Proctor, to go to the kitchen, ostensibly for a glass of water. Proctor retrieved a pair of scissors and stabbed his victim repeatedly. Proctor ripped Gase’s wallet from his pants pocket and left him dying. He was later sentenced to death; his accomplice was given a life sentence.

Some years later, Gase’s surviving relatives received an invitation from the State of Pennsylvania; they were invited to attend Proctor’s execution. The invitation helpfully included tips about places to stay and what to wear to the execution. “It read like an invitation to a family wedding or a first Communion.”

Gase’s family, devout Catholics, found the letter to be disturbing. Their response may surprise you. Rather than making plans to attend Proctor’s execution, they contacted him and offered forgiveness, then contacted his attorney and offered their assistance. As a result, his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Over the years, they maintained contact with Proctor, and actually became closer to Proctor than his own family had been. He became a model prisoner and was described by one acquaintance as being a “good and gentle man”. The guards described him as a "good guy" to the end. Proctor “completed his sentence” recently, dying a few weeks ago of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57.

What a transformation – a merciless murderer described as a “good and gentle man”!

As I read the Our Sunday Visitor article, I realized that there will be many good people who find it impossible to conceive of forgiving someone who viciously murdered another. I can hear them say, “He doesn’t deserve forgiveness. He doesn’t deserve mercy.” I can almost hear the cries for vengeance, and I know that these voices would drown out those calling for forgiveness.

What about you? How would you respond? Would you be one of those who forgive, or one of those who say, “He doesn't deserve it.”

As I think about this, I wonder: Do I “deserve” forgiveness? Do I “deserve” mercy?

Do any of us?

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/16/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

This week's contest

Feedback from the last contest was positive, and I loved reading the creative suggestions. So here’s another opportunity!

Can you come up with a caption for this picture? Use the McLinky option or the comments below to leave your suggestions. I'll choose a winner in 1 week. The winner will receive an e-book, unless you post as "anonymous". In that case, I won't know who you are!

Good luck, and God bless you!

Paying to pray?

According to an article in the August 17, 2009 issue of Our Sunday Visitor, the Turkish government will continue to maintain the only church in Tarsus as a government museum. Tarsus is the city where St. Paul was born, and the Church of St. Paul was built there in the 1800's. The Turkish government seized the church in 1943. It is now used as an army depot-turned-museum. Although the government permitted pilgrims to use the church for prayer services during the Year of St. Paul in 2008-2009, those wishing to pray in the church will now have to purchase tickets in advance.

Imagine having to pay to enter a church for prayer.

I am assuming that most readers of this blog are able to attend religious services and talk freely about their faith. And perhaps, like me, you sometimes take this for granted.

There are times when I wonder what it would be like to live in a country where freedom of religion is severely restricted or nonexistent. But the fact of the matter is that I have freedom to practice my faith... or not... Imagine how Turkish Christians would treasure this freedom!

As I thought about - and did a bit of research on - religious freedom, I found some rather strange information.

According to polls, approximately 40% of Americans report regular attendance at religious services. But when actual attendance is measured by performing a physical count of those who attend services, it seems that only 20% of Americans actually attend services regularly. Similarly, 17% of American adults say that they tithe, but only 3% actually do. The reason for the discrepency is thought to be a "social desirability bias". Or, to say it less prettily, we lie to "look good". (See here for additional information.)

How sad to misuse our religious freedom in this way when we live in a world where others are suffering due to a lack of it.

Go ahead. Laugh a little

This has nothing to do with faith, and lots to do with "funny".

Enjoy!

Rise again

Should you fall even fifty times a day, never on any account should that surprise or worry you. Instead, ever so gently set your heart back in the right direction and practice the opposite virtue, all the time speaking words of love and trust to our Lord after you have committed a thousand faults, as much as if you had committed only one.

Once we have humbled ourselves for the faults God allows us to become aware of in ourselves, we must forget them and go forward.

- St. Jane de Chantal

Sometimes in the course of our walk with God, we tend to become frustrated. Rather than allowing ourselves to become discouraged with our lack of progress, we need to take the focus off of ourselves and, instead, place our focus back on God, "speaking words of love and trust to our Lord".

What is "the real vocation crisis"?

In a recent interview with the Catholic News Agency, Archbishop Timothy Dolan identified four major challenges facing the Church today: the vocation to marriage, the state of Catholic parishes and schools, the great number of lapsed Catholics and finally the difficulties in a culture desperate to keep the Church and morals out of the public square. I found it interesting to note that the archbishop didn't mention the shortage of priests. His reasoning is interesting: he states, "That’s where we have the real vocation crisis; only 50% of our Catholic young people are getting married. We have a vocation crisis to life-long, life-giving, loving, faithful marriage. If we take care of that one, we’ll have all the priests and nuns we need for the church.”

I would like to hear the archbishop explain his thinking further on this, and I'd like to hear what you think, as well.

Does strengthening the family result in a stronger Church? Will the number of people entering religious vocations increase as a result of an increase in marriages such as Dolan describes here... marriages which are life-long, life-giving, loving, and faithful?

Read more about what Archbishop Dolan had to say here. And let me know what you think as well.

The secret of sanctity

Every day for some moments... close your eyes to the things of sense and your ears to the noises of the world, in order to enter into yourself. There, in the sanctity of your baptized soul, the temple of the Holy Spirit, say: "O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me... Let me know your will." If you do this, your life will flow serenely, even in the midst of trials. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of sanctity.

- Cardinal Desire Mercier

Healing spiritual blindness

God is seen by those who have the capacity to see Him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.

A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.
But if you will you can be healed. Hand yourself over to the doctor, and He will open the eyes of your mind and heart. Who is to be the doctor? It is God, who heals and gives life through His Word and wisdom. Through His Word and wisdom He created the universe, for by His Word the heavens were established, and by His Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He arranged the heavens, by His knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew.

If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God. But, before all, faith and the fear of God must take the first place in your heart, and then you will understand all this. When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in Him now.

—Saint Theophilus

A time of preparation

The present time is very precious. Now are the safe days. Now is the acceptable time. But how sad that you do not spend this time well while you have strength to gather the merit which will allow you to live forever! The time will come when you will wish for one day or one hour for changing your ways, and I do not know whether you will get it. . . . Learn now to place Christ at the center of your life, that then you may begin to live your life with Christ. Learn now to let go of all things that stand between you and Christ . . . . Do, do now, dear friend, whatever you can do, because you do not know when you will die, nor do you know what will happen to you afterwards. Gather everlasting riches while you have time. Think of nothing except your eternal well-being. Care only for the things of God. . . . Keep your heart free and lifted up to God, for this world is not your permanent home . . . .

- Thomas a Kempis

You guys made it tough to choose a winner!

9 readers submitted captions for this picture in the contest posted last week. And man, oh man, you guys are creative - it was hard to choose a single winner. So I finally decided to choose several winners, and will be sending an e-book to each.

Thanks so much for playing along. I think we'll try something like this again soon, okay?

Here are the winners:

Loyal Friend & Visitor Award

One of my favorite bloggers, Anne, who posts at Imprisoned In My Bones: Releasing My Inner Jeremiah, was kind enough to give me this award today. Anne, I truly appreciate it.

I would like to pass this on to some of the "encouragers" in my life... people who inspire me in one way or another

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the loyal picture above and post it on your blog.
2. Pass it on to who you think who is/are deserving.
3. Leave a message to them
4. Pass as many as you want.
5. Message back or leave a comment to the owner.

To Dave, my husband and my closest friend
To Cathy at A Bit of the Blarney, a faithful reader whose kind comments brighten my mornings
To Kansas Bob at An Eye for Redemption, my first friend in the blogging world
To Ann Voskamp at Holy Experience , whose posts have pulled me deeper into prayer
To Jill at Altered , for teaching me about courage and honesty as she shares her experience in facing ALS
To the women in my Facebook faith community, Marion, Penny, JoAnn, Sharon, Anita, Cheryl, Theresa, and Mary.

There are so many more people whose friendship and support and prayers sustain me. If your name isn't listed above, blame my droopy eyes and sleepy brain, and know that you mean much to me.

Good night, and God bless you!
Thank you all so much for your faithfulness!

A refiner and purifier of silver

Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

- Author unknown

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/5/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

Shine through us

O God, we believe you are here.

We adore and love You with our whole heart

and because You are most worthy of all our love.

We desire to love You as the Blessed do in heaven.

We adore all the designs of Your divine Providence,

resigning ourselves entirely to Your Will.

We also love our neighbor for Your sake as we love ourselves.

We sincerely forgive all who have injured us,

and ask pardon of those whom we have injured.

Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly

that our lives may be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through us,

and be so in us,

that every soul we come in contact with

may feel Your presence in our souls.

Let them look up and see no longer us,

but only Jesus!

Stay with us,

and then we shall begin to shine as You shine;

so to shine as to be a light to others.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from You;

none of it will be ours.

It will be You,

shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise You in the way You love best,

by shining on those around us.

Let us preach You without preaching,

not by words,

but by our example,

by the catching force,

the sympathetic influence of what we do,

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.

Amen

- Attributed to Mother Teresa

What a jerk!

Have you ever met a jerk?

Have you ever been one?

The truth of the matter is, we've all "been there, got the shirt".

Next time I run into someone I know to be a jerk based on past history, though, I hope to remember these words:

We die to each other daily. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. And they have changed since then. To pretend that they and we are the same is a useful and convenient social convention which must sometimes be broken. We must also remember that at every meeting we are meeting a stranger.”

- T.S. Eliot

All of us are a work in progress. I know I've got lots of rough edges, I've made many mistakes, and I've hurt or angered more people than I ever hoped to. But I hope when you meet me again, you'll give me a second chance. And I hope to do the same for you.

It strikes me that this is a large part of what forgiveness is all about.

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/5/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

The River

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/5/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

Noah and the Ark: A Sermon

Ending his sermon, a preacher announced that he would preach on Noah and the Ark on the following Sunday, and gave the scriptural reference for the congregation to read ahead of time.

A couple of boys noticed something interesting about the placement of the story in the Bible. They slipped into the church and glued two pages of the pulpit Bible together.

The next Sunday, the preacher got up to read his text. "Noah took unto himself a wife," he began, "and she was" - he turned the page to continue - "three hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high."

He paused, scratched his head, turned the page back, read it silently, and turned the page again.

Then he looked up at his congregation and said, "I've been reading this old Bible for near fifty years, but there are some things in it that still amaze me."

Indeed, there are many amazing things to be found in God's word!

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/5/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.

The Word behind the wall

In an article found here, the Catholic News Agency tells of a northern Virginia jail which has heavily censored letters sent by a Christian woman to her son, who is an inmate at the prison. Jail authorities did so, they say, because the letters were “too religious”. The letters, heavily peppered with passages from the Bible, were censored so heavily that, “On at least one occasion, all that was left of a three-page letter was its salutation, its first paragraph, and its signature ‘Love, Mom.’”

A number of civil and religious liberty groups have protested to the jail, saying, “Such censorship destroyed the religious messages Ms. Williams sought to convey to her son and reduced her letters to something resembling Swiss cheese. Using scissors or a hobby knife, Jail officials literally cut the religious portions out of Ms. Williams’ letters and delivered only the snippets that did not quote the Bible.”

Eric Rassbach, who serves as National Litigation director at the Becket Fund for Religious liberty, said, “The citizens of Rappahannock County should be alarmed that their government has decided to join North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in treating the Bible as dangerous contraband… In censoring this mother's letters, the prison violated the First Amendment rights of both the prisoner and his mother.”

Although prison authorities may – and do – have a legitimate right to censor writings affecting the security of the prison, U.S. courts have ruled that inmates may have access to religious materials.

Now on to a related topic...

Last week I posted about some opportunities to participate in some form of prison ministry. (That post can be found here.) One of the opportunities mentioned is donating books of a religious nature to Catholic inmates. A number of people responded favorably to this post, and I thank you.

I posted something about this post on several online bulletin boards I visit on occasion… boards whose purpose is to be a place for faith-sharing. I was disappointed to read the following from one individual. I will quote verbatim:

What could help if people were given the option to selectively choose the type of inmates which their gifts/ books go to. Many do not rightfully wish to give to paedophiles, rapists and serial killers… people have a right to select who their books go to, in order to aid reform. True repentance and reformation is not dependant on other people’s forgiveness or judgement of ones previous bad actions or fallen state. A case for temporal punishment can also be made for raping molesting and serial murdering inmates who don't have Catholic books donated to them… I'd happily donate Catholic books to a person who robbed, say, Goldman Sachs.

I wonder if the Virginia prison authorities that so heavily censored Biblical passages share the viewpoint of the person who wrote that? Perhaps they think that some folks really shouldn't have the opportunity for redemption?

Bringing it closer to home, I recognize something in this person's comments that I need to watch for myself: a tendency to think that my own sins are somehow "better" than someone else's.

Bottom line?

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:22-24

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Don't forget to enter the contest posted on 8/5/09, and win an e-book written by my favorite saint! The contest can be found by clicking here.