The Luminous Mysteries: The Who What Where How and Why of Christian Discipleship

There are questions at the forefront of every conscientious Christian's mind:  How can I live an actively Christian life? How can I reflect the face of Jesus to everyone I meet? How can I be like Christ? It sounds like a monumental task. It is. But Jesus made it easy for us by providing the example of His life in an instruction manual called the Bible.

The Luminous Mysteries hit the highlights of Jesus' ministry. They are like the crib notes of Christian living.  For those unfamiliar with the Luminous Mysteries, these are the Mysteries added to the Rosary by St. John Paul II to mark Jesus' ministry on earth.  When we pray the Rosary, we meditate upon each Mystery. How does it apply to me today?  What do I need to learn from it right now?What is Jesus showing me through this Mystery of His life?  Or we can simply soak it in.

The Luminous Mysteries spell out everything a Christian needs to know about how to live like Christ: Who What Where How and Why.  Those who pray the Rosary will notice I've taken liberties with the order of the Mysteries to make them fit the order of the questions, but I'm sure they will understand that the important part is the Mysteries themselves.

WHO

The Baptism at the Jordan.

"After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and [i]he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17 

WHO is called to live like Christ?  We are. Everyone who was baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  With our baptism, we become followers of Christ, with the Holy Spirit as our guide.

WHAT

The Preaching of the Gospel  

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Matthew 4: 17

Repent and Believe. This is What we're suppose to do. We repent of our sins so that God's grace can move more freely in us, and then we can embrace Christ's teachings more fully.

Repenting goes hand in hand with forgiving. "Forgive us our trespasses as You forgive us." You and I don't know what is in someone's heart, and you don't want to throw out Peter with the bathwater. Peter sinned BIG. He denied Christ. He tempted the Lord not to complete His mission on earth. He started avoiding uncircumcised Christians until Paul chastised him. Yes, Paul chastised the Church's first Pope. But it was done with love, and Paul didn't hold a grudge. Neither did Peter. We can't repent if we're not willing to forgive.



WHERE

The Wedding at Cana  

When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. John 2: 9-11

Jesus wasn't ready to begin his ministry, but at the urging of his mother, he performed His first miracle and changed water into wine.  He did this to save the newly married couple from big-time embarrassment.  He saved their dignity.

Anywhere we see human dignity being molested, whether through hunger or homelessness, cruelty, or unjust laws, that is were we need to reach out and show the world Christ's love. It isn't just about being nice. Some of the biggest sins are sins of omission--not speaking out against evil. Not performing your role as mother or father to your children.

G.K. Chesterton reminds us that it is easier to help those unknown, unnamed people far away than it is to have patience with that uncle with the irritating habit or be kind to the neighbor with the barking dog. (my examples) We need to be active in the bigger picture of things - helping missions and campaigning against abortion - but we also need to love our neighbor, the one right here.


HOW

The Institution of the Eucharist 

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”  Matthew 26:26

Christ gives us Himself - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.  He is the Word.  We need to read Scripture. We need to pray, not just listing off petitions, but forming an actual relationship with Him. We need to live in communion with Christ's teachings. To give us strength to do all of the above, he gave us Himself in the Eucharist. He gave us this amazing way to physically take Him into ourselves.  It's the most intimate and powerful support tool we have.  Don't settle for weekly Mass. Receive Jesus as often as you can at daily Mass.


WHY

The Transfiguration

And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.  Matthew 17: 2

Why?  Why should we follow His teachings?  Why should we make every effort to reflect His face to the world? Why does any of this matter?

Because Jesus is Lord.

Father, Help My Unbelief

Faith is a Gift. It's a grace from God. Our own faith may falter, and that's why the community of the Body of Christ is so important. It can carry us through those times we can't see that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

I have faith.  If I rated it on a scale of one to ten, sometimes it's at the top of the scale, and it sometimes drops to a four or a five.  The latter usually occurs because I've unconsciously put too much importance on my role as a believer instead of on the power and mercy of God.

I've prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament for many dire situations. When the hubby was in his accident, I had the faith of expectant prayer. I knew in my heart that my hubby would be healed, though I always submitted, "God's will be done," and I was prepared to accept His will, whatever He decided.  There have been other life-threatening situations that friends and family have experienced, and with many of them, I felt confident that my prayers for healing would be answered.  Note that I did NOT have a premonition, and I wasn't given the gift of Prophecy (which is being a mouthpiece for God's Word.) Just a sure faith that it was God's will that these people be healed.

However, there was one woman who had a serious illness. When I would pray for her, I usually felt nothing, and when I did experience a sensation, it was doubt mixed with fear.  I cannot see into the heart of another, but from her choice of church, it seemed she didn't believe in Jesus. And I knew that her painful journey had led her into Pantheistic practices.

I worried that Jesus would not be able to work his miracle without her cooperation.

Mark 6:  Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Jesus couldn't work His deeds of power because the people didn't believe.  He could  have cured them all if He wished. He's God. But He wanted them to cooperate with His grace. And this was my worry.

By Spc. Lindsey Schulte [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What I had failed to recall was the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2.  Jesus was in Capernaum, and there were so many around Him that four men who had brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing couldn't reach Him. So they cut a hole in the roof of the house where He was staying and lowered their friend down to Him.

The passage never mentions the faith of the paralytic.  His friends  had faith, and through their faith, Jesus healed the man.

This woman had many people offering prayers for her. Many Rosaries were said for her healing. I forgot the power of the prayers of the community. I forgot the power of our  faith, and so, when the woman was healed, I felt joyful surprise.  I also felt shame.

I had faith in my prayers, but didn't have faith in the prayers of the community. I isolated my belief and made it dependent on my interpretation of circumstances, as if there were criteria to be met before Jesus would act.  Spiritual Pride.

We have The Prayers of the Faithful at every Mass where we come together as a community to offer our intentions.  This is a good reminder that the many can pray for the one, and that the one doesn't have to be in a good mood, or grateful, or even believe in order for the prayers of the many to reach God's ears. They believe, and that's enough.

Are You Clever or Kind?

We've all been there. That annoying situation, that in-your-face confrontation, that awkward moment that left you feeling like a fool.  It's the scenario that we replay in our heads thinking I wish I had said (insert clever comment here.)

We receive our training from movies and television, where even the five-year-old has something smart (and not the good kind of smart) to say to Dad. People spend oodles of time on Facebook and YouTube trying to win accolades for their clever put downs. 

But is clever always the best response? 

Here are two examples from my experience.

I was in a state capitol with a woman of Asian descent. We were wandering aimlessly when a security guard, who might have thought we were lost, said, "Your tour group went that way."  There had been a group of Japanese people taking a guided tour of the building, and he made the assumption that we belonged with them. This wasn't exactly a hub of international visitors, so he probably wasn't exposed to much ethnic variety.  He was trying to be helpful.

My friend assumed her most stereotypical Asian accent and said, "I not with them. I married to American doctor." She whispered the last with many nods and smiles as if it were a great accomplishment. 

She could have said, in perfect English, "Thank you, but we're not with them.'' That would have been nice. Instead, and I could clearly see this from the man's expression, she had embarrassed him. No, she took it a step farther. She rubbed his nose in it and humiliated him by making fun of him. I'm sure she felt very clever as we walked away. 

Backtrack to grade school.  I grew up in a largely white European and Hispanic neighborhood, but we did have a few black students at our Catholic grade school. One, whose name I can't recall, I assumed was a member of a foreign royal family.  He had rich, dark skin and a delicate bone structure, stood tall and slim and always carried himself with something more than dignity. He rarely condescended to talk to the rest of us. For some reason, this meant royalty to my 11-year-old mind. I probably associated it with an order to the young prince not to mingle with the peasants.  

John was the complete opposite. He was short, friendly, and very funny. Not class clown funny, but he often made us laugh with his wry comments and his celebrity imitations. One day, he told me that over summer vacation he planned to lay out and get a tan. I laughed my head off, assuming this was another joke. Then I noticed he wasn't laughing. He said, "What's so funny?" And in my wisdom, I replied, "Black people don't tan."  

John had a choice. He could have made me feel like an even bigger idiot than I already did, once I realized my error. It would have been difficult, as I was already searching for a rock to crawl under, but he could have. John chose to be nice. He simply explained that, yes, black people do tan.  He left me with something to think about. He opened my mind to question future assumptions.  And he left me in his debt for not raking me over the coals, for not assigning ill will where none existed. From that day forward, John ruled, as far as I was concerned.

The problem with clever, at least in the form that is worshiped by our modern society, is that it comes at someone else's expense.  We decide they deserve to be mocked for that comment or action and that we, in all our blamelessness, should be the ones to do it. We're looking for a rush--all those pats on the back from those who agree with us, the likes on Facebook, the re-posts. We assume we know their motives, their intent, and their entire life philosophy, and we never give them a break for misspeaking or simply having an off day.  

There have been many, many comments made by people I know and sometimes even like and respect that have been so off base, so ludicrous, that a clever response is almost made-to-order. And often theirs is a response to something I've written, so to hold back my clever comment means I may let them think that they were right. It takes humility, but I've managed to choose Nice so far, with God's help. 

Maybe they were repeating something without checking the facts. Maybe they are having a bad day. But even if they meant exactly what they said, I've kept the lines of communication open for future discussion, because I didn't embarrass them with my cleverness.

It could be as simple as the person who left the comment did not know that black people do tan. 

A Gentle Plea to Catholics: Stop Burying St. Joseph!

 I love St. Joseph. He is the patron saint of the worker, the Patron of the Universal Church, and a good guy to get to know. (Anyone known as The Terror of Demons is someone I want on my side. And that terror is caused not by Buffy the Vampire-like powers, but by his humility.)

And I love having statues or paintings of saints around the house. They are a reminder of the example set by these people--an example of how to live like Christ.

And, being Catholic, I believe in the intercession of saints, both those with a capital "S" and those friends and relatives who have passed on.  And with the popular book and movie "Heaven is for Real",  maybe Protestants will even believe. After all, one of the things that Colton does in heaven is pray for his father.

Finally, I understand that certain saints are the patrons of professions or situations, because in life, they either worked in these industries, worked miracles in Jesus' name for certain people, or received a certain miracle themselves.

St. Peregrine is the patron saint of those with cancer, because he was miraculously cured from cancer.

St. Genesius is the patron saint of actors. He was an actor, and legend has it that during a performance of a play that he wrote to mock Christians, (appropriately enough, during a baptism scene), he converted to Christianity. It cost him his life.

St. Monica is the patron saint of alcoholics. Her son, St. Augustine, embraced an immoral life, and she prayed for him for many years until his conversion.

Image from Amazon.com

I get it. These stories are inspiring, and people keep up these devotions because they've seen results.

And then we have the  "St. Joseph Home Seller Kit".

The practice is to bury a St. Joseph statue underground in order to sell your house.  Burying a statue is weird enough, but there is something particularly disturbing about burying it upside down.

I can even understand why people think of St. Joseph as an intercessor when they need to move. He uprooted the Holy Family and took them into Egypt and back again at the advice of a messenger of God, which was a difficult task.

And I want to be clear:  I'm not questioning the intentions of people who bury the St. Joseph statue.  I just don't believe they've thought through what there actually doing.

Here is an example:

My mother wants me to visit her, so she buries a Jackie doll in her backyard to get me to come.

First off, I would be flattered that I had my own doll. Then I would be incensed that Mom would bury it in the backyard. I mean, why not just ask me?

And there it is in a nutshell. It's all about relationship, whether your talking to Jesus or Joseph.  Neither Christ nor his saints (including His mother) are at our beck and call. Performing rituals to get something out of them is a bit impersonal, insulting, and, dare I say it, pagan.

Does this mean you shouldn't ask St. Joseph for his help?

Not at all, but have a conversation with him! Tell St. Joseph your need, and ask him to intercede for you. You would ask family members to pray for you, and St. Joseph is a member of that big, extended family--the Body of Christ, also know as the Universal Church.

I know that many Catholics look on this practice as a harmless old wive's tale, but I think that it demeans both the importance of St. Joseph's role in Jesus' life and the relationship that should exist in prayer, whether you are praying to Jesus or asking for the intercession of a saint.

You can be confident in your prayer, knowing that God answers all prayers, but have the humility to understand that it will be according to His plan and His will.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in asking St. Joseph for his intercession, but please do it in a respectful manner!

Divine Mercy Saved My Sanity

Where to start. Probably with how I was losing my sanity.

My husband had been in a terrible work accident. He had to undergo emergency brain surgery, and they were keeping him sedated, so I had no idea how he would come out of it.  There were side issues, but I think that's enough of a cause to push a wife to the brink, don't you think?

Now, for an explanation of Divine Mercy. 

Sister Faustina, a Polish nun, had mystical experiences where Jesus appeared to her over a period of time. To sum it up in my own words, He said that His Sacred Heart hurt because it was overflowing with Mercy, but people weren't coming to Him for His Mercy. That's the short version. You can read Sister (now Saint) Faustina's diary Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska for more information, and I recommend that you do. This was a private revelation, so Catholics can make up their own minds whether or not they believe it, but it was vetted by the Church to make sure nothing conflicted with Scripture or the teachings of the Church, and it received their approval. And it's so important!

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

The chaplet is said while gazing on an image of Jesus with red and white rays coming from his Heart. At the bottom are the words "Jesus, I Trust in You". 

The original Kazimirowski painting.

Here is an excerpt from the Diary that explains the meaning of the rays: 

During prayer I heard these words within me: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the water that makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls ...

These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when my agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. (Diary, 299).

On the Our Father beads, you pray the words, "Eternal Father, I offer you the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world."

On each Hail Mary bead, you pray the words, "For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

On Wednesday evenings, I would go to the chapel and pray the Divine Mercy chaplet. We would sing it, which added a dimension to our prayer. I also prayed it over my husband, and I prayed it at the hospital with his mother.  

I received such consolation from Him and a feeling of peace--that everything would be alright, and He would be with me through all of it. 

I received His Mercy.

It pains me that so many have turned away from Jesus, or that they think they don't need Him any longer, even if they believe. He died for us and rose again to open the gates of Heaven, that we might be with him for eternity. He made it possible. He issued the invitation.

We need to cooperate with that Grace every day. We sin, which separates us from God. We undergo trials. More Christians have been martyred over the past century than all the previous centuries combined, and it's on the rise. We still desperately need His Mercy, and so it it necessary to say: 

"Father have Mercy on us, and on the Whole World."

"My Life with the Saints" by James Martin, SJ, is an Easy Way to Discover Some Saints

Many people turn to Saints in times of trouble, for example, or for intercession. It's like having an older brother or sister who faced the same situation you're going through, one you can  turn to for inspiration or advice. They are our cheerleaders, leading us to Christ through their examples.

There are Patron Saints for various illnesses, professions, and attributes. St. Peregrine, who was cured of cancer, is the Patron Saint of those suffering from the disease. St. Therese of Lisieux, also know as The Little Flower for her little steps to Jesus, is the Patron Saint of depression. I think Blessed Mother Teresa will probably be the Patron Saint of the marginalized.

I would like to learn more about Saint Jerome, because it sounds like he had the same difficulty I have with playing nice. His biting sarcasm made him enemies, even in the Church. Like when he snarked about some Roman clergy,  "All their anxiety is about their clothes.... You would take them for bridegrooms rather than for clerics; all they think about is knowing the names and houses and doings of rich ladies." Ouch.

Have you ever wanted to meet a few Saints but you just didn't have time to delve into their lives detail? Or maybe you weren't sure which Saint might speak to you -- who you might relate to -- and you didn't want to pick through several books.

"My Life with the Saints" is one book that contains stories of many saints.  Written by James Martin, SJ, (that would be Society of Jesus, which makes him a Jesuit) Father Martin introduces several Saints he met during his journey as a priest. Told in an easy-to-read conversational style, the book relates how Father discovered each holy person and what he learned from their example.

Saints he covers include Joan of Arc, Therese of Lisieux, Ignatius of Loyola, Thomas Merton, the Ugandan Martyrs, and Mother Teresa. You can see from the list that not all are canonized Saints and not all are individuals, but  all of these people lived their faith with conviction (and sometimes died for it,) and their example can bring us closer to Jesus.

Winner of the Christopher Award, which salutes media that  "affirm the highest values of the human spirit."

Was Miley Cyrus Sexually Abused? Why Isn't Anyone Asking?

From this

To This

We see her onstage imitating fellatio, simulating sex with older men, and masturbating with a giant hand. We giggle or gasp or frown. Feminists say it's just a woman expressing herself and are pleased. Those with solid moral standards dismiss her behavior as slutty.  Some men (especially father's with daughters) are shocked; some men, those who appreciate a chance to objectify women, are gratified.

Why isn't anyone asking the obvious question? Is Miley Cyrus' behavior a result of having been sexually abused?

Sexually abused girls, with their lowered sense of self worth and their skewed view of sexuality, tend to act out. They sleep around. They use sex for attention, or as a means to be loved. They have so little sense of worth that they believe how others view their body defines their value. Or they act out as a means of having control. Sound familiar?

You can hear the stories of those who have been abused from Oprah or Johnnette Benkovic. Or check out support groups for those who were victims of sexual predators. They all say the same thing: Their abuse resulted in promiscuity, which reinforced their low view of themselves.

Miley might have given us a clue when she labeled her congregation as hypocrites. Was her abuser someone she trusted? A youth minister? A member everyone else viewed as especially holy?

She also got into drugs. Sexually abused minors often turn to drugs to numb the pain and humiliation of what they've gone through.

There are so many clues pointing to this young woman's possible abuse, but our culture is so fixed on objectifying women that we're ignoring the obvious. From the media's emphasis on women as sexual objects to our politicians' push for sexually active minors, we're making it easier for abuser. Abortions for 12-year-olds without parental notification? A predator's dream come true. No awkward questions. No proof.

Is this young woman really enjoying herself? Or is she crying out for help?

We don't know, because no one has asked the question.