A man came up to the window to ask for money. I know there are those who do this as a scam. So what should you do?

This is a post I've been running occasionally for over a decade. 

Today I'm running it because it is perfect for reflection during Lent. As you can see below, St. John Vianney was a major influence in changing my heart and mind toward the poor. Not that I don't still struggle with the issue, but every time I come back to the quote I feature I am reminded of what matters. 

St. John Vianney, pray for us!

===================

When I was talking to my sister about this some time ago, she had the short answer. "Pull out your wallet and give them money."

I don't tend to have cash but I have begun carrying Subway gift cards for $15. Subway shops are everywhere and they can get at least couple of good meals with that. 

For the longer, more anecdotal version, and the answer to the question "what if it is a scam," just keep on readin' ...

Photo from Barcelona Photoblog

As my long-suffering husband well knows, from the fact that when he gave a handful of change to an Australian man sitting outside a London tube station years ago ... the man shouted after our family, "God bless you mate! Thank you!" My husband muttered, under his breath, "Don't thank me, thank her; I had nothing to do with it" as I gave him a thank you hug. This didn't compare to later on when he would be driving with three people in the car all urging him to roll down the window and hand out granola bars.

GIVING TO THE HOMELESS, FACE TO FACE

The first time I ever saw a beggar was in Paris, 18 years ago. She was across the street and Tom said, "Don't look at her." Of course, I did and she began screaming invective and shaking her fist at me. It's a good thing my French wasn't very fluent or I'm sure my ears would have burned. Everywhere we went there were beggars. It was deeply troubling for someone like me who had never seen such a thing before. Tom, whose family lived in London for several years, was more blasé. He taught me to ignore them and that they were making plenty of money off of the population at large. I did make him give to a couple of WWII veterans who were playing music for their coins but at least they had sacrificed something for their country ... they had done something to deserve our charity.

I wasn't Christian then; I wasn't even sure if God existed. Nothing other than popular thought occurred to me in those situations. That was saved for 15 years later in 2001 when we went back to Paris and London with the girls. I had converted by then, we attended Mass weekly, and they went to Catholic school with religion lessons every day. It was fairly common to see the homeless on street corners but we were insulated by the car and traffic flow. These up close encounters with beggars in Europe were different. Tom and I gave the standard "making money off the crowd" explanation but it didn't sit very well, especially with the Christian precepts that had taken hold by then.

Then, one evening, I read this quote.

There are those who say to the poor that they seem to look to be in such good health: "You are so lazy! You could work. You are young. You have strong arms."

You don't know that it is God's pleasure for this poor person to go to you and ask for a handout. You show yourself as speaking against the will of God.

There are some who say: "Oh, how badly he uses it!" May he do whatever he wants with it! The poor will be judged on the use they have made of their alms, and you will be judged on the very alms that you could have given but haven't.

St. John Vianney

You certainly couldn't get much clearer than those words. St. John Vianney covered pretty much every objection I ever thought of for giving to the poor. That was my wake-up call and the end of ignoring beggars. We were supplied with handfuls of coins that were distributed at large as we went through the subway stations.

When I got home I stocked the car with granola bars and bottles of water. I passed them out at every street corner we stopped at. I never have any cash on me and they almost always had signs saying "Will work for food" so it seemed a good match.

Then Dallas passed a law against any panhandling on street corners and, for the most part, the homeless disappeared from sight. I had gotten used to being on the lookout for people to give my granola bars to and now the corners seemed very empty.

About that time, I was the leader of a Catholic women's group that met weekly. One evening our discussion became a debate over two strategies of giving to the homeless. One group believed in giving to people as they were encountered. The other countered with stories of scam artists and believed in giving to organizations who would distribute goods and cash in the most beneficial way to the needy. Two things stuck with me after that meeting though. The first was that my friend, Rita, said she was troubled by those who didn't want to give face to face because "they don't know what blessings they may be depriving themselves of." Once again I remembered St. John Vianney's quote.

I also thought about the very day before when I encountered a homeless man, gave him some cash, and later was extremely glad that I did ... because I'm still not sure who it was that I gave that cash to.

The second thing occurred to me as I listened to the debate. Jesus never said anything about helping the poor by giving to the local temple or soup kitchen. He said:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me."

Then the righteous will answer him and say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?"

And the king will say to them in reply, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."

Matthew 25: 35-40

Tom and I do support organized charities and I know they reach farther than I ever could personally. This is not an argument against those organizations. However, I think that we cannot rest with those contributions. I believe that if we have a personal encounter with the needy it is because they have been sent to us for their good and our own. If we turn them away, then we are turning Christ Himself away and what blessings are we sending away with Him?

This was reinforced for me during a retreat I attended later. Somehow the debate over how to give to the homeless came up along those old familiar lines, not just once but twice. Each time I trotted out my St. John Vianney quote. Then my friend, Mauri, said that when she looked at those unfortunates she saw people she knew. For instance, she has a schizophrenic nephew who doesn't want to take his meds so he has been found wandering only in his boxers in a Chicago suburb. A confused old lady at the bank reminded her of her mother and Mauri found a discreet way to help her while preserving her dignity. She reminded me of the worth and dignity of each of these people. She later sent me this story which is the perfect example of looking past the surface to the real person that is there in front of us.

Today at the post office I saw this man going through the garbage -- I think looking for food as he was going through a discarded fast food bag and picked out left over bun from the bag, emptied the bag of the other garbage, and then used the bag to neatly wrap up the left over bun and then placed it in his satchel. You could tell that he still had his pride as he looked well kept, although worn and a bit "dusty". He was not begging in any way. Just walking through the strip center where the post office was.

I wanted to help as I sensed that he was hungry, but he was not asking for help and he did not approach me in anyway. I was so worried to bruise his pride, but could not stand the thought of him only having the leftover bun for food. I got out of my car with $5 and asked him if he was hungry. He said he was fine but hesitantly. I gave him the money and told him that there were many times when I was hungry but didn't have the cash on me to go through McDonalds or grab a sandwich. I told him to take it for when he might need it. I don't think I hurt his pride. His eyes were so kind.

I only wish I had asked his name ... He looked like he might have been mid 60s. I should have given him more money. I can't get him out of my mind. He could have been someone's grandfather, father, etc.

I am so grateful to Mauri for bringing me to this phase in my awareness of the homeless. Each of them was some mother's baby, a tiny toddler learning to walk, a laughing boy or girl at school. We must remember that when we are looking at these people who can seem so frightening or strange or manipulative. I pray that someday I can look at these people and find my vision is perfect ... I hope that someday I can look at a homeless person and see Jesus Himself. In this quest I think we can not do better than to take the advice of someone who achieved perfect vision and sought out her beloved Jesus in the homeless.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Lent and Fasting From Meat on Fridays

Reposting this because, well, it's that time of year and we all need a little help with the fine points of what the Church means by "meatless!" 

Also the point about fasting from flesh is one that strikes me hard every time I think of it.

From the USCCB's Lent FAQ:

Abstinence laws consider that meat comes only from animals such as chickens, cows, sheep or pigs — all of which live on land. Birds are also considered meat. Abstinence does not include meat juices and liquid foods made from meat. Thus, such foods as chicken broth, consomme, soups cooked or flavored with meat, meat gravies or sauces, as well as seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are technically not forbidden. However, moral theologians have traditionally taught that we should abstain from all animal-derived products (except foods such as gelatin, butter, cheese and eggs, which do not have any meat taste). Fish are a different category of animal. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, (cold-blooded animals) and shellfish are permitted.

I'll mention here that moral theologians' teachings are not necessarily binding. We're bound to obedience to what the Church requires.

If someone wants to abstain from all animal derived products, that is their choice. However, it is not a sin for another person to have beef gravy or chicken broth if they want. 

In America, fasting from meat led to the fish fry as a
Lenten tradition. (Public domain photo.)

 

I was looking for this for another reason, actually, but it applied to the question our retreat group was asking about providing a Friday lunch including Tomato Basil Soup made with chicken broth.

I think the main reason, though I now have lost the place I originally read this, is that the original intent of fasting from meat is that we are fasting from ... flesh.

It is because Christ put on flesh to become man that we fast from it in penance for the bodily (flesh) sacrifice He offered on our behalf.

A lovely connection isn't it?

At least it is to me.

And to have to dig into each ingredient turns it into an exercise in scrupulosity for me. I like that they make it easy for us that way.

I've always cooked with those sorts of guidelines for Friday fast days (heck, every Friday is a fast from meat at our house). So it's nice to see it spelled out ... no need for any vestiges of guilt when I put a bit of lard in our refried beans for those nachos!

Catholic Basic Resources List

I'm stepping away from the blog for almost a couple of weeks while I go trekking about to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a niece's wedding and then on to Pittsburgh where I will finally meet a couple of friends face-to-face! Online friends, it is needless to say.

I'm greatly looking forward to all of this, not least of all the long car trip with Tom. We always find our conversations turning in ways we never could expect, sometimes prompted by our podcast or music listening, sometimes by the landscape around us, sometimes simply by our proximity and wandering thoughts. He drives and I knit. Or I drive and he often has to check email. But it is a closeness that is achieved no other way I know of today.

I'm also looking forward to unplugging as much as it is possible to do these days.

However, I'll leave you with something that will provide good reading for several days, at least.

I did a Catholic Basics list as part of our RCIA group's mystagogy  resources. Mystagogy is when you actually begin to learn how to live as a Catholic. The list has books, websites, comments on Bible translations, and that sort of thing.

I've been meaning to share it here section by section but never found the time.

Therefore, I have uploaded the pdf, which has live links if you're into that sort of thing, and you may download it to peruse at your leisure.

Obviously it is far from complete and someday I may have that chance to post expanded sections here. However, in the meantime, better this than nothing at all.

I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I'm going to close comments while I'm gone just to avoid spamming problems.

Chick-fil-A and a Teachable Catholic Moment About Marriage and Homosexuality

Deacon Ken took yesterday's readings where people were hungry, added Chick-fil-A's incident of last week and gave us a fantastic homily that clarifies two very important points of Catholic teaching.

Please do carefully read the entire thing.

Or you may listen to it (or download it from the link), if you prefer, since he recorded it. (Mass scripture readings are here.)

Homily for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel story, thousands of people flocked to the place where Jesus was because they were hungry.  They had witnessed, or had heard about the event that took place in the part of the gospel that we read last week where Jesus had fed the 5000 men.  We don't know how many women and children there were but he fed a whole lot of people and they had their fill.  That food came from just a couple of fish and some loaves of bread.

Well, when they heard that Jesus had left, they tracked him down, they followed him, they found him and they showed up because they were hungry.  But Jesus pointed out to them rather quickly that they needed to strive for something more than food.

This past Wednesday, thousands of people flocked to Chick-fil-A restaurants all around the country to eat lunch or dinner.  And they were hungry too.  Some of them were just hungry for chicken and they didn't know about the events that were taking place and so they were quite surprised to see the thousands of people who were showing up in the restaurants all over this country.

The rest may have been hungry for food as well but their greater hunger was to make a statement of support for the president of the company who had, in an interview, witnessed to his Christian faith and had openly spoken his support for the traditional definition of marriage as being one between one man and one woman.

Others were there as a statement of support for his right to speak his principals without suffering the persecution that arose from some segments of our society.

Now if you've been following this you know that a firestorm arose around the country as his statements and his position were taken to be by some, rather than pro-marriage, they were taken to be anti-gay.  Boycotts were called for, even a couple of mayors of some large cities had proclaimed that they would do whatever they could to prevent Chick-fil-A from expanding in their cities.  So Wednesday's events were to counter those boycotts as well as to express their support.

So I thought that in the midst of this controversy which is making national news, that today might be the right time, a good time, without all of the emotion and all of the words being slung, to clearly outline two things.  To have a teachable moment.  To really outline two things about this subject as they relate to our Catholic faith. 

There's tons and tons of material out there.  You can read it, research yourself.  And hopefully very soon, this week, maybe even by the end of the day because he was here at an earlier mass, our webmaster will have posted links to the documents that I'm going to quote from today on our website.  And I just wanted to make this clear and concise which is why I'm up here today instead of down there and why I have notes.

First point, our US Bishops have made very clear that the Church's teaching is that marriage is, and must continue to be, defined as the union of one man and one woman.  This definition is not new.  This definition comes not from man, and not from government, it comes from God.  We see it in the beginning, the book of Genesis.  God created man in His image; in the divine image he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them saying to them: be fertile and multiply.  Fill the earth and subdue it.

In a pastoral letter the Unites States Conferences of Catholic Bishops that was issued in 2009 called Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan the Bishops state:

"We Bishops feel compelled to speak against all attempts to redefine marriage so that it would no longer be exclusively be the union of the man and the woman as God established and blessed it in the natural created order."

Further down they reiterate:

The Church has taught through the ages that marriage is an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman.  This union once validly entered and consummated gives rise to a bond that cannot be dissolved by the will of the spouses.  Marriage thus created is a faithful privileged sphere of intimacy between the spouses that lasts until death.

And so this profound, this beautiful document goes on and on to talk about the beauty of a sacramental marriage between a man and a woman. I encourage you to read this pastoral letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.  And our Bishops have been very vocal recently about supporting this definition of marriage and opposing any effort to change the definition of marriage.  So that's point number one.

Point number two. And I want to make this briefly but pointedly, is that this stance by the Church is not a hate filled action or statement against men and women who are gay.  That's what all the controversy was about in the Chic-fil-A event.  It's not an anti-gay action.  There is no place in our faith or in our church for hatred or discrimination.  Period. 

As Catholic Christians, we're called to listen and to embrace the words of the statement from a document entitled Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care for Homosexual Persons. And this was from the then Cardinal Ratzinger, better known now as Pope Benedict XVI. He was, in 1986, when this was published, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.  It says:

"It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action.  Such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastor wherever it occurs."

So hateful actions against someone who is gay has no place in our lives.  Furthermore I think it's important to make this point and I would venture a guess that not many of you have ever heard this.  And I'm summarizing here some statements in Ministering to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Being a homosexual is not a sin.

Being a homosexual is not a sin.  Entering into homosexual acts, that's a sin.

Just as entering into any intimate act of a man and a woman outside of the sacrament of marriage is a sin.

Therefore we, you and I, must help nurture our friendship with those who are gay.  We must nurture our friendship with God so that the virtue of chastity among all of us is both embraced and strengthened.

So please, I encourage you to be open to God's truth.  I encourage you to pray about this.  To embrace the Church's teachings about marriage.  To reject the worldly position that somehow embracing the traditional understanding of marriage, which has been that way since the very beginning, that somehow that's a hateful action against those who are homosexual. 

Knowing that for some this may be a bit challenging, I think we should now look back at the Gospel story for help in understanding how we can accomplish the works of God.

How we can grow closer to the Lord so that there is no place in our hearts for straying from the truth or rejecting the Church's teachings.  So there's no place in our hearts for having hatred or malice.  Remember in the Gospel the people said to Jesus, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"  And His response to them was, "This is the work of God.  That you believe in the one He sent."  There is the bottom line.  To believe in Jesus Christ.

Because you know what?  Just like the people in the Gospel, whether we know it or not, whether we accept it or admit it or not, you and I are hungry for more than just chicken.  We're hungry for the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  In our hearts.  Opening our hearts to God's message, opening our hearts to His Son, knowing the one He sent are so essential to us being the men and women that God calls us to be.

God, as we heard in that first reading, is the one who fed the Israelites in the desert with manna.  That same loving God sent His only son to be for us the Bread of Life.  Not just the food that feeds our worldly hunger, but the food that fills the God shaped vacuum that is within each one of us.  That God shaped vacuum that can only be satisfied and filled by the presence of Jesus Christ. 

He is the food that gives life, eternal life to those who believe.  He is the food that overcomes hatred with love.  He is the food that brings us closer to Him so that we constantly seek His will and not the will of the world.

I love this Catholic theology tip

The other fun part of 10,000 Gun Questions Night is keeping it strictly Catholic. I often hear a double complaint about the Church:

1. How can we possibly have a firm teaching on anything?
2. And if so, why don’t we have a firm teaching on everything?

As if it were somehow more logical to worship a god who gave out brains and then refused to let you use them. [Catholic moral theology tip: If God gives you something, He's got a plan for how it's supposed to be used. Thy body is not a knick knack.]

From Jennifer Fitz, Riparians at the Gate

The Catechism Demystified

This is a talk that I gave to our RCIA class last week. I'm sharing it here for anyone else who'd like a little help finding their way around the Catechism, which can be confusing but need not be.

I am not an expert on the Catechism, but I do know how to use it.

The Catechism can be a bit tricky to find your way around so I wanted to take just a couple of minutes to familiarize everyone with it.

Let’s start with what the word catechism means. A catechism is a summary of principles.

So, the Catholic Catechism is specifically designed as a reference guide. Some people call it the Catholic “rule book.” It is much more than that though.

“In the Catechism, we see the wealth of teaching that the Church has
received, safeguarded and proposed in her two thousand years of history. From Sacred Scripture to the Fathers of the Church, from theological masters to the saints across the centuries, the Catechism provides a permanent record of the many ways in which the Church has meditated on the faith and made progress in doctrine so as to offer certitude to believers in their lives of faith."

That is what Pope Benedict says about the Catechism ... and he should know.

The current Catechism was requested by Pope John Paul II and produced under Cardinal Ratzinger’s supervision. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.

This Catechism is the first systematic synthesis of faith issued since the Council of Trent in 1566. Between then and now there were catechisms that were issued locally as various people saw the need.

The English version of this catechism came out in 1994 and was revised in 1997, so this is really current.

Think of it as the sort of encyclopedia from the days when all we had were books ... when you would sit down to look up facts about the moon and get pulled into other sections because they were so fascinating.

Of course, when you have a two thousand year old institution whose goal is to help get us to Heaven, they don’t think quite the way we do about organization.

The Catechism is arranged in four main sections that are often called the “Four Pillars” of the Faith:

• The Profession of Faith (the Apostle’s Creed)
• The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (the Sacred Liturgy, especially the sacraments)
• Life in Christ (including The Ten Commandments in Catholic theology)
• Christian Prayer (including The Lord’s Prayer)

Numbering system:

Let’s look at a page. (get pdf of sample page here)

Every paragraph is numbered. (red circle) Those numbers are very important.

When you look up something in the index, the numbers it refers you to are
paragraph numbers, NOT page numbers. This can be confusing until you get used to it, but it does give us an idea of just how much information is packed into each paragraph.

The numbers in the margins (green square) are cross-references ... to other paragraphs in the Catechism that refer to the same subject and may shed more light.

The cross-reference paragraphs are a good reason to have the actual book. The Catechism is on-line in a lot of places (the Vatican’s web-site, the US Bishops’ website, etc.) and is super handy for searching. I use the online version all the time.

But those versions don’t have the cross-reference paragraphs ... and sometimes those lead you to just what you were looking for or for added depth you wouldn’t have found otherwise.

In Brief:

The writers of the Catechism know that this may be more information than you wanted. Maybe you were looking for a simple answer and didn’t need all the extra info.

Each chapter ends with an “In Brief” section that summarizes the main points of the chapter in one or two sentence paragraphs.

Footnotes:

Of course, there are are copious footnotes for both direct quotes in the text and also where they refer to sources of the teaching, in particular the Scriptures, the Church Fathers, and the Ecumenical Councils and other authoritative Catholic statements, such as those issued by recent Popes.

Compendium

Just finding your way to the correct “In Brief” answers may seem a bit daunting if you’re trying to find something quickly ... which is something I’ve experienced in our small group.

And the writers of the Catechism realized that too.

So, in 2005 they came out with the Compendium to the Catechism. (Download a sample page here.)

It is a more concise and conversational version of the Catechism.

Again the paragraphs are numbered. These paragraph numbers don’t have any relationship to the numbers in the Catechism.

However, these numbers in the margin (red circle) DO correspond to numbers in the actual Catechism so if you want to read more, it is easy to find.

EVEN EASIER

Say you need more explanation though, and the Catechism is a bit too confusing. I’ve been there. Here are three good books. (Links lead to my reviews.)

• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Catechism
• Catholicism for Dummies (I haven't formally reviewed this ... but will ... but these many posts with excerpts give ample evidence of the solid value of this book)
• Catholic Mass for Dummies

Surprised?

For one thing, how can we trust these books though to tell us the truth about Catholic teachings?

Two reasons.

First, they all use those same, all-important paragraph numbers from the Catechism so that you can go check what they’re saying against the Catechism itself.

There is a much easier way to be sure though.

I didn’t trust these books myself ... until I saw that each went to the trouble of getting the Catholic seal of approval.

Here’s what I mean by that.

Look on the copyright page for one or more of these phrases (below). These mean that the book has been submitted to Catholic authorities to be checked for accuracy.

If the author belongs to a religious order, the book is submitted to the order’s superior. If the author is just a regular writer, the book is usually submitted to local Catholic authorities, like the local diocese.

In either case, first the book is examined by an expert, called a censor. If the book is accurate, they issue:

Censor’s stamp: NIHIL OBSTAT (“nothing stands in the way”)

After the Nihil Obstat has been obtained, the manuscript will be submitted another person for checking.

In the case of a religious order, it is examined by the order’s religious superior ... in which case it receives the:

Religious Superior’s stamp: IMPRIMI POTEST (“it can be printed”)

I have only come across the Imprimi Potest once ... in The Catechism, which has Cardinal Ratzinger’s stamp of approval.

In the case of the regular book given to the diocese, the manuscript would go from the censor to the bishop to receive the:

Bishop’s stamp: IMPRIMATUR (“let it be printed”)

The religious superior may also go ahead and submit the manuscript they approved for an Imprimatur. So it is possible to have a book with all three seals of approval.

By the way, it is only necessary to put the Imprimi Potest or Imprimatur on the book. You can assume it has gotten a Nihil Obstat first if it made it to those two stages.

Caution:

A word of warning though ... if you see a book that only has a Nihil Obstat, be cautious. It may be in error. This happened in the 1960s a lot and some of those books contained incorrect material, even heretical material. You need the double-check system to be sure something didn’t slip by someone. That is why if one bishop gave the Nihil Obstat, another bishop has to give the Imprimatur.

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are often followed by this statement on the copyright page:

The “Nihil Obstat” and “Imprimatur” are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur agree with the content, opinions or statements expressed.

So if one of these authors has all theCatholic truths right but is using them to try to prove that we shouldn’t drink hot coffee because it’s the devil’s temperature ... we can’t blame the Catholic Church.

FINALLY

Remember those footnotes in the Catechism? The ones for materials that are simply referenced, where they might have summarized twelve pages of a Church Council document into two sentences?

If you ever wonder just what was summarized, there’s a book for that too.

The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ... which is a compendium of texts referred to in the book but not quoted there.

It has every word of the pertinent part of the originally referenced materials, in English, so you don’t have to go all over the place looking for something.

It is almost 1,000 pages long and is really fascinating and enlightening if you want to see it all from original sources.

Just imagine if all this material had been included in the Catechism.

That would’ve been a book no one would have wanted to open.

It makes the Catechism not look so big after all, does it?

Back to Basics: Sloth

The last of the seven deadly sins is sloth.

Sloth (sometimes called acedia) is laziness -- particularly when it concerns prayer and spiritual life. It centers on doing nothing or doing just trivial things. Sloth is always wanting to rest and relax, with no desire or intention of making a sacrifice or doing something for others. It's an aversion to work -- physical, mental, and spiritual. Sloth inevitably leads to lukewarmness and tepidity and then deteriorates into disinterest, discouragement, and finally despair. Sloth breeds indifference, which prevents joy from ever being experienced.

Spiritual laziness can only be overcome by practicing the virtue of diligence, which is the habit of keeping focused and paying attention to the work at hand -- be it the work of employment or the work of God. Diligent prayer and diligent worship can make you more reverent. Diligence in all things ensures that you don't become idle ...

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

I have to say that, upon finishing this little review of these seven core sins I was surprised to find definite identification with two of them specifically. For the moment at least that has resulted in an identification of them in my daily life and an effort to move away from them through practicing the virtue prescribed as a remedy. Perhaps this is a sign to myself that whenever I feel too complacent it is time again to read through the list of sins and virtues to see what else I find.

Back to Basics: Greed

The sixth of the seven deadly sins is greed.

Greed is the inordinate love of and desire for earthly possessions. Things are cherished above people and relationships. Amassing a fortune and foolishly trying to accumulate the most stuff is greed, which is sometimes called avarice. Next to anger, envy, and lust, more crimes have been committed due to greed than any other deadly sin. "It's never enough. I've got to have more." That's the battle cry for greed.

Greed is also a sign of mistrust. "I doubt that God will take care of me, so I try to gather as much as possible now in case no more is left later." ...

Generosity, however, is the best weapon against greed. Freely giving some of your possessions away, especially to those less fortunate, is considered the perfect antithesis to greed and avarice. Generosity promotes detachment from material things that come and go...

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up, the last one in our list of seven deadly sins ... Sloth.

Back to Basics: Gluttony

The fifth of the seven deadly sins is gluttony.

Like lust, gluttony focuses on pleasure and finds it in food and drink... Both enslave the soul to the body, even though the soul -- being superior to the body -- should be in charge. Gluttons don't eat out of necessity or for social reasons, but merely to consume and experience the pleasure of taste...

Legitimate eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, aren't gluttony. They're medical conditions that require treatment and care. The sin of gluttony is freely choosing to over-consume. Gluttony is voluntary and merely requires self-control and moderation...

Periodic fasting, restricting the amount of food you eat, and abstinence, avoiding meat for some favorite food, are the best defenses against gluttony. Unlike dieting where the goal is to lose weight, fasting and abstinence are to purify the soul by controlling the desires of the body...

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Downward and onward ... Greed will be up next.

Back to Basics: Anger

The fourth of the seven deadly sins is anger. This is one that I think our society has let get out of control in the name of healthy self-expression.

You have no control over what angers you, but you do have control over what you do after you become angry. The deadly sin of anger is the sudden outburst of emotion -- namely hostility -- and sustaining thoughts about the desire for revenge...

Patience, the virtue that allows you to adapt and endure evil without harboring any destructive feelings, is the best countermeasure for anger. When you give yourself the time and opportunity to cool off, anger dissipates and more practical concerns come to the front line.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

And on we will go next to Gluttony.

Back to Basics: Lust

The third of the seven deadly sins is lust.

The Catholic Church believes that it's normal and healthy to be attracted to and appreciate the opposite sex. That's not lust, and it's not considered a sin.

Lust is looking at, imagining, and even treating others as mere sex objects to serve your own physical pleasures, rather than as individuals made in the image and likeness of God. Lust is having someone become something merely to please you, in fantasy or reality.

The Church says that lust depersonalizes the other person and the one having the lustful thoughts. It makes both parties nothing more than instruments of enjoyment instead of enabling them to focus on the unique gift of personhood. And it seeks to separate, divide, and isolate what God intended to be united -- love and life, the unitive and procreative dimensions of marriage...

Chastity, the virtue that moderates sexual desire, is the best remedy for lust. Chastity falls under temperance and can help to keep physical pleasure in moderation.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up ... Anger.

Back to Basics: Envy

The second of the seven deadly sins is envy.

Envy, another deadly sin, is the resentment of another person's good fortune or joy. Catholicism distinguishes between two kinds of envy.

• Material envy is when you resent others who have more money, talent, strength, beauty, friends, and so on, than you do.
• Spiritual envy is resenting others who progress in holiness, preferring that they stay at or below your level instead of being joyful and happy that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. Spiritual envy is far worse and more evil than material envy.

Note that some spiritual writers and moralists make a distinction between envy and jealousy. They maintain that envy is the resentment of what others have, such as possessions, talent, fame, and so one, whereas jealousy is the fear of losing what you already have... Jealousy is considered to be as much a sin as envy, because it resembles that deadly sin a whole bunch...

The Church maintains that meekness or kindness can counter envy.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up ... Lust.

Back to Basics: Pride

The first of the seven deadly sins is pride. It also is the mother, the author, of all other sins. This was a new concept for me when I first came across it but so very obvious upon reflection. In the end it all comes down to a distortion of truth, does it not? How important am I? How much better am I than others? Easy to see and understand, yet this is so very hard to keep in check ... because it can manifest itself in any and every aspect of one's life.

The sin of pride is an inordinate love of self -- a super-confidence and high esteem in your own abilities. It's also known as vanity. It exaggerates your abilities, gifts, and talents, and ignores your weaknesses, frailties, and imperfections.

In Catholicism, sinful pride is the deviation or distortion of the legitimate need of self-affirmation. Liking yourself isn't sinful. In fact, it's healthy and necessary, but when the self-perception no longer conforms to reality, and you begin to think that you're more important than you actually are, the sin of pride is rearing its ugly head...

Pride is the key to all other sins, because after you believe that you're more important than you actually are, you compensate for it when others don't agree with your judgment. You rationalize your behavior and make excuses for lying, cheating, stealing, insulting, ignoring, and such, because no one understands you like you do. In your mind, you're underestimated by the world.

That's the extreme expression of pride. A subtler example is when you refuse to accept the authority of someone else over you, be it a parent, teacher, employer, pastor, bishop or pope. Most resentment toward those in authority has nothing to do with the occasional instances of abuse of power in the course of human history. Rather anti-authoritarianism is rooted in pride: "No one is going to tell me what to do." ...

Pride also prevents you from seeking, listening to, or applying advice from others. It fools the mind into thinking that it alone has or can discover all the answers without help from anyone...

The Catholic Church teaches that humility is the best remedy for pride. It's not a false self-deprecation ... It's not denying the truth ...

In other words, although acknowledging your talents is good, humility should remind you that your talents come from God. Pride fools you into thinking that you're the source of your own greatness.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up: Envy.

Back to Basics: The Seven Deadly Sins

The opposite of the cardinal virtues are the seven deadly sins. We'll be going through these one by one, as well as the virtues that remedy each, in future posts.

As you may have guessed, along with cultivating good habits, some bad habits need to be avoided. The Church maintains that seven vices in particular lead to breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments. These particular bad habits are called the seven deadly sins because, according to Catholicism, they're mortal sins -- sins that kill the life of sanctifying grace. The Church believe that if you commit a mortal sin, you forfeit heaven and opt for hell by your own free will and actions.

A mortal sin is any act or thought of a human being that turns away from God and which turns toward a created thing instead. In other words, mortal sin is the complete turning away from God and embracing something else in place... Three conditions are necessary for moral sin to exist.

• Grave Matter: the act itself is intrinsically evil and immoral. For example, murder, rape, incest, perjury, adultery, and so on are grave matter.
• Full Knowledge: The person must know that what they're doing or planning to do is evil and immoral...
• Deliberate Consent: The person must freely choose to commit the act or plan to do it. Someone forced against his will doesn't commit a mortal sin...

Venial sins are any sins that only meet one or two of the conditions needed for a mortal sin but do not fulfill all three at the same time, or they're minor violations of the moral law, such as giving an obscene gesture to another driver while in traffic. Venial sin is less serious than mortal sin...[they] aren't deadly to the life of grace, but like minor infections in the body, if casually ignored and left untended, may deteriorate into a more serious condition...

The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, lust, anger, gluttony, greed, and sloth and Pope Gregory the Great made up the list in the 6th century.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up: Deadly Sin #1.

Heavenly Habits: Fortitude

The last but not the least of the cardinal virtues.

Fortitude is the ability to persevere in times of trial and tribulation -- the ability to hang in there when the going gets tough. It's courage to do the right thing no matter what the cost.

It's not enough to be fair, use self-control, and be prudent and know what, when, and how to do something. The virtue gives you the strength to fulfill your commitments to God, family,and friends...

When practiced faithfully and consistently, fortitude empowers people to remain courageous and overcome even the fear of death in order to help others and/or do the right thing for the right reason.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next, we'll look at the seven deadly sins, including how the virtues counteract them.

Heavenly Habits: Temperance

Continuing our look at the cardinal virtues with number three up close and personal.

Temperance is the virtue by which a person uses balance. It's the good habit that allows a person to relax and have fun without crossing the line and committing sin.

The Catholic Church believes that human beings are permitted to participate in legitimate pleasures but that, often, society and culture lures people into excesses in the direction of either extreme...

... practicing temperance means knowing when to say when. It's knowing your limits and keeping them. For example, a kiss and a hug don't have to end in passionate sex, and an argument doesn't have to deteriorate into a fist fight. Temperance is establishing, respecting, and enforcing boundaries. Self-control is the key. Having a good time without it becoming an occasion of sin or a sinful act is what temperance is all about.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Recommended reading: Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. He examines the virtues in depth and also looks specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins. Not a new concept but one that he writes about superbly (as always).

Next up: Fortitude.

Heavenly Habits: Cardinal Virtues

I'm going to rerun this look at the virtues mostly for myself, but also for anyone else interested. I see that I had two separate series which ran in 2006 and 2008. Yes, it's time to get back to basics on these.

Despite God’s help and our best intentions we often fall. We often turn down the wrong road, whether accidentally or deliberately. There is, however, a frequently overlooked way that we can strengthen ourselves and increase our odds of success in following Jesus. Of course, we cannot do this without God’s grace, but just as athletes train for both strength and muscle-memory, we can do the same for our souls. We can train ourselves by striving to acquire the virtues.

A virtue is a habit that perfects the powers of the soul and disposes you to do good. Catholics believe that divine grace is offered to the soul, because without God's help, humans can't do good on their own. Grace, which is God's intervention, bolsters a person's soul. providing the necessary oomph to do the right thing, that is, if the recipient recognizes its value. Catholics believe that virtues prepare and dispose people so that when the grace is offered, people readily recognize, accept, and cooperate with it. In other words, God's grace is necessary, but virtues make it easier to work with.

Traditionally, the cardinal virtues number four ... The root meaning of cardinal is cardio, which is Latin for hinge. These four virtues are the hinges on which the rest of the moral life swings:

• Prudence
• Justice
• Temperance
• Fortitude

The four cardinal virtues are also called moral virtues to distinguish them from the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love (charity), which are given to the soul at Baptism.

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Now there's a way of looking at it that isn't common, at least to me. What habits can I cultivate to make it easier for me to recognize and receive God's grace? I like that.

A great book to read on this subject, and on that I should reread is Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. Along with talking about virtues, Kreeft lines up specific virtues and Beatitudes as antidotes to each of the seven deadly sins.

Next we'll look at the four virtues separately. First up: Prudence.

On the Sunday Obligation to Attend Mass

Riparians at the Gate states this in a beautifully short and simple, yet comprehensive way. My favorite bits are below, but go read it all.

... There isn’t a secret calendar showing weeks when you can skip [Mass] based on a flimsy excuse, and other weeks when you have to show no matter what. Likewise, there isn’t a cosmic attendance policy giving you so many unexcused absences and then you fail the course.

You either can come, and therefore you must. Or you cannot come, and therefore, well, you cannot.

Much simpler than people fear. The Church is not out to get you. Well, okay, she is out to get you. But in a good way: She is out to get your soul into Heaven. And she knows that under ordinary circumstances, attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is what your soul needs. So go if you possibly can.

Italics are mine and that's what's going into my quote journal.

Those who would like more specifics on the why's and wherefore's may find it in the Catechism, beautifully stated as is the norm there.

Why You Need to Know Your Faith

This in particular is about Hannah going yesterday for a checkup and being given a lecture by a young lady doctor about What Catholics Believe And Why It Is Wrong about contraception and other related teachings.

Hannah was able to say, "No" ..."Wrong." ... "The priest that said that was wrong." ... "Those deacons were wrong too." And so forth, without being yanked into this doctor's stream of misinformation.

In particular, if you are a doctor I am sure that ladies of any religious persuasion would appreciate you understanding what you are talking about if you decide to undertake a lecture upon what their faith teaches. If not, then please just keep it to the basics.

To do otherwise conveys not only your own lack of education but also gives the unflattering impression that you believe your patient lives with a sack over her head and has just removed it to step into your office. If you do this in a condescending tone, then you also are making yourself obnoxious to your patient who is at your mercy at that point. Is this really what you took the Hippocratic oath to do?

The "if you have any questions or change your mind about that then let me know ... " speech has never gone amiss.

If you are the patient, then "buyer beware."

If you know your faith then you can sort through what you are told "everyone knows" as well as avoiding being led into error by well intentioned doctors. Or indeed by anyone. (Yes, we are going to say "well-intentioned" because we are practicing charity in not attempting to read any obnoxious doctors' minds.)

For those interested, the basic answers about the issues upon which Hannah was being "instructed" are in the Catechism.

My Top 2 Blogging and Podcasting Tips

I've been blogging for six years and podcasting for three. My goodness, where does the time go?

During that time, I have been asked by others for tips on both blogging and podcasting. The tips for both are the same as I rarely focus on the mechanics of getting the thing done.

Tip #1
Be yourself. Follow your passion.

There are tons of bloggers out there. But there is no one like you, so let us meet the real you.

Enthusiasm waxes and wanes over time for any activity. If it isn't one that you truly care about then your blog will fade steadily away as other matters come along and it gets shoved to one side. Sharing something you truly care about keeps both you and your audience interested. Nothing can replace true enthusiasm and you can't fake it.

Tip #2
Be a good neighbor.

Link back, acknowledge contributions from others, and don't ask for favors that you aren't willing to do for someone in return. If you aren't sure if someone will mind you showing their stuff, then ask for permission (this applies to artwork more than anything else, but some writers will show a copyright on their pages ... notably authors and food blogs.)

This is a no-brainer, right? Like holding the door open for someone or saying, "please" and "thank you."

You'd think so, but there are some folks out there ... some very big name folks, surprisingly ... who don't do this. When you're blogging, you are part of a community. No matter where the community, including cyberspace, manners still count. Especially if you are part of the Catholic blogosphere. And people do notice, believe me.

I know this because I have many very good neighbors, both Catholic and not. A very few of those who provide very good examples for us all include:

• The Anchoress
• The Curt Jester
• The Deacon's Bench
  
• SFFaudio
• Momentary Taste of Being