Sunday, October 26, 2014

Gospel For Today: 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

In today's gospel (Mt 22:34-40), Jesus is asked which commandment in the law is the greatest.  Jesus responds by quoting from two Old Testament passages.  The first is Deuteronomy 6:5: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength."  The second is from Leviticus 19:18: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Why these two passages, out of all the books of the law in the Hebrew scriptures?  Because, as Jesus tells us, "The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."  We can see what He means by this if we look at the Ten Commandments in particular.  The first three commandments instruct us how to best love God (having no other gods before Him, not taking His name in vain, and keeping holy His Sabbath), while the last six commandments instruct us in how to love our neighbor (do not steal, lie, commit adultery, murder, covet, etc.).  The fourth commandment serves as a type of hinge between the two: the command to honor your father and mother applies to your heavenly Father as well as your earthly parents.  If we truly strive in our hearts to love God and to love our neighbor, obedience to the other commandments follow naturally.  If we truly love our neighbor, we do not want to steal from him, murder him, lie to him, covet his wife or property, et al.  If we truly love God, we do not want to take his name in vain, worship false gods, etc.  

The problem is that we are flawed and fallen creatures, and do not know how to love perfectly on our own. So the law is there to help us learn how to love our neighbors and love God.  Jesus is pointing out that the command to love lies at the heart of the law, is the reason for the law, and highest goal of the law.  To grow in holiness is to grow in love.  Becoming more holy means learning to love God and neighbor with a more pure and perfect love.

But there is a third love mentioned in these commandments which we can sometimes miss; love of self.  We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. It only follows that if we do not love ourselves we cannot love our neighbors properly.  

This love of self can be problematic for some striving to grow in the Christian life.  Are we not called by Christ to give up ourselves?  Didn't Jesus teach us that the path to holiness involves self-sacrifice?  Didn't He show us that there is no greater love than to lay down your own life for a friend (Jn 15:13)?  Didn't John the Baptist say that "I must decrease" so that Christ may increase (Jn 3:30)?  Didn't St. Paul say that it is "no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20)?  Isn't the Christian life about become less selfish and more self-less?  The answer to all of these questions is, of course, yes.

Isn't self love contrary to the virtue of humility?  Isn't self love the enemy of the love of God and neighbor?  The answer to these questions is no -- at least not proper love of self.  Just as we can love others in a disordered way, we can also love ourselves in a disordered way, and therein lies the problem many of us deal with.  We do not love ourselves as we ought.  How do we love ourselves -- as Christ Himself says we have to do -- properly?  That is to say, how do we love ourselves without being self-centered, selfish, conceited and egotistical? 

Here's the key:  We must love ourselves as God loves us.  Proper self-love begins not by turning our hearts in on ourselves, but by turning our hearts outward to God.  We know and love God, and come to know that God loves us in return.  By doing so we come to know who we are in relation to God (which is, after all, who we truly are in reality).  We discover that God looks upon us and sees someone good; someone worth saving; someone, indeed, worth dying for.  God loves us with a pure, self-giving love.  God loves us with a creating and renewing love.  We can explain the reason for our existence in three simple words: God loves us.    

A proper love of self means loving ourselves not for our own sake, but for God's sake.  We should love ourselves because we are love-able.  This is why sin is so bad -- it tarnishes something that is precious to God and turns us into something less than what we were made to be.  Because God loves us, He wants us to be holy and happy people, the perfect version of ourselves that He holds in His mind as He creates us.   St. Thomas Aquinas, speaking of sin, said that we offend God only when we act against our own good.  Sin offends God because it hurts the people He loves, chiefly the one sinning.  

To love means to desire the good of the beloved.  To love ourselves means desiring our own good.  Our good consists in moving away from sin toward holiness and happiness.  We are creatures beloved by God, and worthy of being loved.  Only when we recognize ourselves as something good and lovable to God can we humbly offer that lovely gift back to Him -- all our heart, all our soul, all our mind -- our total self, made perfect by love.

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

CCM Bulletin week of October 20

God doesn't give people the Holy Spirit in order to let them enjoy the spiritual equivalent of a day at Disneyland…The point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen.
                ~ N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense

DIOCESAN COLLEGE RETREAT
Our annual fall retreat for Catholic college students in the diocese is November 21-23, in Black Mountain NC. Registration for the retreat is now open at this site: http://www.catholiconcampus.com/retreat. Registration closes on November 7th. Cost is $50. This year we are focusing on Pope Francis’ work called The Joy of the Gospel. We’ll have students from different campuses giving talks, and there will be opportunities for different kinds of prayer and for mass. This retreat fills up, so don’t wait too long to register!

CATHOLIC WOMEN! PRACTICING CATHOLIC OR NOT!
Campus Ministry at St. Mary’s College is inviting women to write a letter to Pope Francis addressing the challenges of faith for young Catholic women today. Follow this link to find out more about the project: https://www.saintmarys.edu/news-events/news-releases/voices-of-young-catholic-women-2014. This webpage also has a link to an interesting article in America  magazine about the number of Millennial women leaving the Church. Letters are due to St. Mary’s by November 1st. If you’re a man, can you write a letter as an ally? I don’t know, but why not! I’m sure the student leaders of St. Mary’s CCM would love to know of your support! Check with me if you have questions (and I should note, they’ve specifically asked that you NOT address the topic of women’s ordination in your letter).

___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Gospel For Today: 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

"Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."  Christ offers these words in today's gospel reading as a clever response to the Pharisees and Herodians (supporters of Roman rule) about whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.  The question was an attempt to trap Jesus.  If He opposed paying taxes, the Herodians would charge Him with treason.  If Jesus supported the taxes, the Pharisees would claim He was unfaithful to Judaism. 

Jesus refuses to be caught in their Catch-22.  Noting that the coins used to pay the taxes bear the image of Caesar, Christ says that we should give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's.  If the coin belongs to Caesar because it is made in his image, then we who are made in the image and likeness of God rightfully belong to God.  What Christ is saying is that we should fulfill our rightful civil responsibilities (such as paying taxes), but even more we should fulfill our responsibilities to God who made us, and whose image we bear.

I have occasionally heard this verse used to support a total separation between Church and State.  Understood properly, this concept is good and integral to the idea of religious freedom.  The Church cannot have the State (human government) dictating our religious beliefs and practices.  However, too often today people abuse this concept and suggest that the teachings of the Church, even extending to the moral consciences of believers, should in no way be allowed to influence state policy.  This is a misguided notion.

Let's not mince words.  When people say we should "keep religion out of politics" what they mean is that we should not attempt to legislate morality.  And what they mean by "morality" is sexual morality -- abortion, contraception, homosexuality, divorce, etc. The idea that governments should not legislate morality falls apart when examined.  We expect our government to legislate morality all the time.  We expect there to be laws against theft, murder, fraud, rape, child abuse, etc.  We consider these things crimes because they are grossly immoral.  Yet there are immoral actions that we do not consider crimes, such as telling white lies, being selfish, or gossiping.  If we recognize that government should legislate some moral issues, but not others, we cannot deny that morality plays a part in our political discourse.

Morality deals with human behavior.  Politics deal with the relationships of human beings living in society.  Morality obviously has a role to play in civil government.  And because religion has a great deal to do with morality, it follows that our religious principles will play a role in our political activities.  The question is which immoral actions should be legal and which should not be?  Where do we draw that line?  

St. Augustine makes the point in City of God that it would be a bad idea to make everything which is immoral also illegal.  We are weak creatures who all too often fail to live up to the moral law (we can each think of examples in our own lives).  Subjecting us to legal penalties every time virtue fails us would be placing us under a crushing burden.  On the other hand, St. Augustine recognizes that there are immoral acts which are so harmful to society that they must be forbidden with the force of law in order to protect the common good.  

St. Thomas Aquinas also writes very eloquently on the relationship between civil law and the moral law.  He points out that in order for the laws of man to be just laws they must correspond to the moral law (by which he means natural law).  If any law of man contradicts the moral (natural) law, it is an unjust law and therefore not truly a law at all.  Man is under no obligation to obey an unjust law.  This is because St. Thomas recognizes God as the author of the natural law.  (Another way of saying that with a less theistic bent is that the natural law corresponds to reality).  Unlike God, human beings are capable of making mistakes.  While we need human laws for the good of society, those in authority have a duty to ensure that our laws reflect the natural law.  Our laws should correspond to reality.

These are issues that anyone charged with care of the common good of society must grapple with; and the Church definitely has a role to play in this process.  In the Catholic Church, we have an infallible guide not only in matters of faith but also in morals.  The teachings of the Church help us to determine what is right or wrong.  Civil authorities have the grave responsibility of determining what immoral behavior can be tolerated by society and what immoral behavior is so disruptive to the common good that it must be outlawed.  We should be praying for our civil leaders that they make these decisions with prudence, and always with the love of God and neighbor in mind.

Jesus' words are not an injunction against our faith having any role in our public lives or civil societies.  Far from it.  Rather they are a reminder that we are "in the world," and therefore must respect civil authorities, contribute to society, and do our best to facilitate the common good.  But while doing so we must always keep in mind that we are not "of the world."  We do not belong to this world.  We belong to God.  In following the laws of man we must always keep the law of God in mind.  Obedience to that law is our first duty.  We are made in God's image; it is right that we be rendered back to Him.

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

CCM Bulletin Part 2

This email contains a FAQ about the Liturgy of the Hours, a traditional form of prayer in the Church. If you are interested in experiencing the Liturgy of the Hours, you can join Morning Prayer in the Oasis, Mon-Thurs at 9am. The Episcopal version of Morning Prayer is being used, but it is similar to what you’d find in a Catholic prayer book. ~ Karen


FAQ… What is Evening Prayer? Morning Prayer? The Liturgy of the Hours?

  • First of all, what is prayer? Prayer is the conscious, deliberate act of opening ourselves to the presence of God. It takes many forms. There is no one right way to pray. Every action we perform that expresses our relationship before God and our relationship with God can be an act of prayer if we have that intention.
  • One type of prayer is liturgical prayer. Liturgy is the official public worship of the Church. It is the summit of the Church’s activity and the fountain from which all its power flows. It includes the Mass, the sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours, and other public Church rites like the dedication of a church. (Liturgical prayer would not include praying the rosary, Taizé services, or Centering Prayer, for example; they are excellent ways to pray and worship, but they are not official ordered public prayers of the Church.)
  • Liturgy and liturgical prayer recognize the sacramentality of the world: particular objects, actions, or events can reveal God’s presence and saving action in our lives. Time too can be sacramental and certain liturgical prayers and concepts highlight this.
  • Scripture tells us “Pray without ceasing.” The early Christian communities developed a sequence of prayers throughout the day to sanctify the daily round. This evolved into the Liturgy of the Hours which consecrates and offers to God the cycle of day and night and the whole range of human activity that fills them. The traditional cycle of prayers includes Morning Prayers (formerly known as Lauds and Matins), three daytime moments of prayer (Terce, Sext, None), Evening Prayer (Vespers), and Night Prayer (Compline).
  • Although at one time praying the Hours came to be limited to clergy and religious, it was always meant to be the prayer of the whole Church, and since Vatican II it is once again the privilege and the duty of all the baptized. Because it is prayed by the whole Church across the world, echoing the worship of the heavenly host, the Hours is public prayer even when prayed by an individual alone in a room. 
  • The two most important prayers (and the minimal hours to be prayed) are Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, the “hinges of the day.” Morning Prayer dedicates the day to the service of God. As the light dawns, it celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the “sun of justice,” who enlightens the world. Evening Prayer is a time to give thanks for the day and its events. As we offer an “evening sacrifice of prayer” we remember the redemptive work of Jesus Christ through his passion and death, and pray for forgiveness for our sins and the needs of the world.
  • The psalms are central to the Liturgy of the Hours. Songs of praise, petition, lamentation, and thanksgiving, they reflect the breadth of human experience and offer it up to God. Even if we cannot resonate with a particular psalm being prayed, we pray as the Body of Christ, rejoicing with those who rejoice and sorrowing with those who sorrow.
  • There are two major forms of the Liturgy of the Hours. The Monastic Hours originated with the desert monks who prayed all day long. It involved prayer seven times a day, use of all 150 psalms (which monks often knew by heart), and a lot of scripture and writings of the Church Fathers and saints. Cathedral Hours were developed in the early churches to be prayed by the community every morning and evening. Fewer psalms were used and shorter readings. Today one can pray the Hours in either format; the monastic pattern (the breviary, which comprises several volumes), or one of the simplified single-volume versions.
___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Davidson CCM: Bulletin week of Oct 13

However quietly we speak, God is so near that he will hear us; we need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon God present within us.

Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.[
~St. Teresa of Avila

Today is the feast day of St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582). She was an amazing woman: mystic, religious reformer, founder of 17 convents, author of four books, and a major figure in Christian spirituality. In 1970 she was named the first female Doctor of the Church (the Doctor of Prayer). She had an outgoing personality and fit in well in the sociable, wealthy, and somewhat frivolous convent she had joined, but later in life she has a spiritual conversion. She formed a new branch of Carmelites, the Discalced (shoeless) Carmelites (who actually wore plain sandals) who were very austere, strictly cloistered, and self-supported through work and alms. Teresa was gifted with intense mystical visions which she recorded in her autobiography, and is considered the Catholic expositor of contemplative prayer.
Have a great week and find time to spend some quiet moments with God! ~Karen



___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Gospel For Today: 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)
click here for readings

Once again today Jesus uses a parable to teach us about the Kingdom of God.  In our gospel reading today (Mt 22:1-14), Jesus describes a king (God) who throws a wedding feast for His Son (Jesus).  He sends His servants (the prophets) to summon the invited guests (the people of Israel), but they refuse to come.  Some mistreat or even kill the servants, while others just ignore them.  So the king destroys their city (Jerusalem), and sends other servants (the Apostles) out to invite whomever they may find (Jews and Gentiles, people of all nations).  Those who come to the feast unprepared (without a wedding garment) are cast out into the darkness "where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth" (a reference to hell).  

Jesus ends this parable by telling us, "Many are invited, but few are chosen."  In other words, while we are all invited, we have to accept the invitation.  We must also prepare ourselves for the feast by clothing ourselves properly -- in the righteousness, justice, and mercy found in Christ.  Living a life in Christ seems difficult and it certainly has its challenges.  After all, didn't Christ say those who desire to follow Him must take up their cross daily (Lk 9:23)?  But we must remember that Christ also said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Mt 11:30).  There are struggles in living a life of Christian virtue, but the Lord is there with us to help us in those struggles.  This is why St. Paul can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13).

In a way, the most difficult part about living a life in Christ is actually deciding to do it.  The crucial moment is deciding to trust in God and accept the invitation to come to His feast.  You have to decide that this is something you want to do.  How many fail to do just that? I think it is telling that in Jesus' parable there are two groups of people who refuse the invitation.  There are those who respond violently and attack the prophets (the king's messengers).  We certainly have those today.  We all can think of people who react angrily to the Christian message.  But that's not most people.

What should worry us more are those who refuse the invitation simply because they were too busy.  "Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business" (Mt 22:5).  Note that the text does not say they "refused" the invitation, only that they "ignored" it.  But the end result is the same.  They are excluded from the banquet.  

Why would someone ignore such a privileged invitation from a king?  When a friend sends you a wedding invitation, you make it a priority.  You arrange your busy schedule so that you can attend, maybe even cancelling something else you planned on doing, because you recognize this is important.  You want to celebrate with your friend.  So why ignore God's invitation?  It's a matter of setting priorities.  Yes, sure, a wedding feast sounds nice, but there are crops in the field that need harvesting.  I have a business to run, and my money is not going to count itself.  I have a test to study for.  I have a project to complete.  I have soccer practice.  I have this other party to go to.  My favorite show is on that night.  I have better things to do.

Is this you and I?  Are we ignoring God's invitation?  What else in our lives is so important that we push God aside?  These don't necessarily have to be bad things (though sinful activity does separate us from God and if we are engaged in it, we ought to repent, with God's help).  Working on the farm, managing a business, doing homework, and even spending time relaxing with your friends are all good things that need doing.  So God is not saying we should not do those things.  But we need to have our priorities straight.  We can become so focused on doing good things that we forget about the best thing.  We forget that God is not only the best thing, but in the end, the only thing.  We forget that our worldly cares are all temporary.  They are all passing away.  They seem so pressing to us now, and heaven, by contrast, seems like a retirement home.  We think of heaven as a place of eternal rest.  Eternal rest sounds nice, but it can wait.  We are not ready for that yet, and so we put God on the back burner.  Our faith is something we tell ourselves we'll "get to later," when we "have more time."

But heaven is not a retirement home.  It's certainly not boring.  If anything, it's a party!  Jesus describes heaven as a feast -- and the most celebratory kind of feast, a wedding feast.  "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast!" (Mt 22:4).  Our reading today from Isaiah describes heaven as "a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines" (Is 25:6).  The RSV translation calls this "a feast of fat things... of fat things full of marrow."  

In other words, heaven is not just a party -- it's a feast of abundance, full of the best of everything you can imagine.  Isn't that worth paying attention to?  Isn't that worth making God a priority in life?  We prioritize the things that are important to us.  But are we prioritizing the good and neglecting the best?  Your faith should be your top priority now.  It does not have to be something you "get to later."   Because God's invitation is now.  His wedding feast is now.  It's not some future promise of pie in the sky.  The table is set.  The wine is being poured.  There is a seat reserved for you.  At every Mass we celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:9), the Eucharist, our heavenly meal of the Body and Blood of Christ (Jn 6:53-58).  And by participating in our liturgical wedding feast now, we prepare ourselves to participate in the feast eternally at the end of time, in unending union with God and all of the saints in heaven.  That's a party I want to be at.  That is an invitation worth accepting.


--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Davidson CCM Bulletin: week of Oct 6

For all you folks who couldn’t remember the prayer to your guardian angel last week…
Angel of God, my guardian dear
To whom God’s love entrusts me here
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard
To rule and guide.

Have a wonderful fall break—safe travels to all!~ Karen




___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Gospel For Today: 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This week's Scripture readings once more involve vineyard metaphors.  The first reading from Isaiah 5:1-7 tells of a vineyard that was planted and well cared for.  But when it did not produce the desired fruit, it was allowed to be trampled and grazed upon by animals, making it into a ruin.  Our gospel reading from Matthew 21:33-43 tells of another vineyard that a landowner left to the care of tenants.  When he sent his servants, and later on his very own son, to obtain the produce from the vineyard, the tenants responded by killing them.  

What are the scriptures telling us with these stories?  In the first reading from Isaiah, we are told that the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. This helps us to understand the gospel reading.  The landowner is God, and the servants he sends to check on his vineyard are the prophets, who were rejected by His people.  Finally God even sends His only begotten Son to them, and they kill Him.  And so in our gospel reading, Jesus tells the chief priests and elders of Israel that "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."  

God prepared the people of Israel from the beginning to be the ones to bring salvation into the world.  If you examine the Old Testament, you see God working with His people to make His will -- and His love -- known.  From Adam, through Noah and Abraham, and later Moses and David and Solomon and beyond, the Jewish people were "being prepped," as it were, to receive the Messiah.  And why?  Was it all done just for Israel's benefit?  Is God a Father who shows favoritism?  No, God's plans are much larger than one family, one tribe, one race or even one nation.  God's plans are for an eternal and everlasting Kingdom that would encompass all of creation.

Throughout the history of the Jewish people, we see foreshadowing of Christ.  I'll give just one example.  In Exodus, we find the exciting story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, liberating them from slavery.  You'd think they would be grateful for that.  However, they soon began to grumble and complain.  It was hot out in the desert, they were hungry, and it was starting to appear to some that Moses didn't really know where he was going.  They doubted him.  And they doubted God.  So they rebuked God and began worshiping a different false god, in the golden calf.  After this, Moses was called to mediate between God and the Isaelites to restore their covenant relationship. And from Israel came the Christ, the ultimate mediator between God and all mankind.  

With Christ, God's covenant family, and His Kingdom, is extended to the entire world, even though it sprang from the covenant with Israel.  But not all in Israel would accept the Messiah when He came.  The tenants of the vineyard rejected and killed the Son of the master.  Thus the vineyard is allowed to fall into ruin, and the Kingdom of God is "given to a people that will produce fruit."  That people includes Gentiles and Jews, slave and free, rich and poor, you and I.  That Kingdom today subsists in the Catholic Church (Lumen Gentium 8, Vatican II).  The citizens of that Kingdom are assured of their King's faithfulness and everlasting love for them.

Thus we come to my message for you today.  Allow yourselves to rely on Christ.  St. Paul writes in today's second reading (Phil 4:6-9), "Have no anxiety at all..."  What a message for college students to hear, especially as we move into the second half of the semester with exams, projects, and due dates looming!  What a message for freshmen to hear who are still getting used to life away from home and who may now be feeling the consequences of poor decisions made in the early exhilaration of independence!  What a message for seniors to hear who may have no idea whether a job will be waiting for them after graduation!  What a message for all of us to hear who feel weighed down by today's responsibilities and have no assurance of what tomorrow may bring!

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God."  God has always promised to take care of His people.  Mankind has always struggled to rely on that promise.  The fall of man began with Adam's failure to trust in God's promise to take care of them by ignoring God's instructions to not eat of the tree of knowledge.  Adam caved in to his anxiety, remaining silent and inactive as the serpent tempted his wife and led them to rebellion.  There is not one mention in scripture of Adam asking God for help in his time of need.  Likewise, after Moses freed the Isrealites from Egypt, the people grew anxious and uncertain and they, too, rebelled against God.  They worshiped false idols.  They did not rely on God.  

But Moses interceded for them and so Christ now intercedes for us.  By prayer and petition and thanksgiving, make your requests known to Him.  Give your needs over to Him.  And then trust in Him.  I'm not saying a simple prayer will guarantee you an A on an exam, or fix your boyfriend or girlfriend problems, or solve your roommate issues.  God's plan for you does not always look like you expect it to.  But it's always what is best for you.  And you need to trust in that. You are a citizen of His Kingdom, a member of His family.  He will take care of you.

And so have no anxiety at all.  Easier said than done, right?  How can you keep away those anxious thoughts?  You rebuke them, for they do not come from God.  Focus instead on His blessings.  St. Paul instructs us, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, whatever is excellent, whatever is worthy of praise... think about these things."  Don't worry. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and seen in Christ, in the Church, in the holy men and women God has placed in your lives.  Then the God of peace will be with you.  Then you will rest in your place in His Kingdom.


--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Davidson CCM: Bulletin week of Sep 29

Today is the feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the patron saint of St. Therese Church in Mooresville. Therese was born in Lisieux, France in 1873. At the age of 15 she received dispensation to join the Discalced Carmelite community where her two older sisters were already nuns. Therese was only 24 when she died in 1897 of tuberculosis, but her fame spread quickly with the posthumous publication of her memoir (which her superior directed her to write), called The Story of a Soul. She was canonized in 1925, less than three decades after her death. In 1997, she was declared a Doctor of the Church.

Therese’s enduring contribution to the Church,  was what she called “the Little Way,” a simple and practical way of understanding the path to sanctity in which every ordinary act of daily life is an act of God’s love, and every suffering, from the petty insults of daily to life to terminal illness, an opportunity to join in Christ’s redemptive work of the salvation of souls. She believed that the Little Way could transform the most ordinary life into an arena of holiness, and by causing a small ripple could transform the world. Many miracles have been attributed to her, and she once said “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven in doing good upon the earth.”


Happy Birthday, Pope Francis!
At the end of this bulletin, you’ll find a FAQ from our first Catholicism 101 session, about liturgy.
~ Karen



FAQ…. What is “liturgy”?

  • The word liturgy comes from Greek, leitourgia; laos means people, and ergon means work. Leitourgia referred to a public work performed by the people and for the people, generally as a sign of piety (eg, building a hospital to honor Aescepulus). When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the same word was used to refer to Jewish worship, and was also applied by the early Christian community to its own worship.
  • In Sacrosanctum Concilium (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), one of the documents of Vatican II, we are reminded that “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the foundation from which all her power flows” (no. 10). Our Catholic faith is grounded in this belief that liturgy is the source and summit of our lives. This same document also calls for full, conscious active participation in the liturgy (SC 14).
  • Furthermore, theologians from the earliest centuries of Christianity have understood that liturgy, how we pray as a community, is what grounds our theology, what we believe as a community. This is traditionally expressed as lex orandi, lex credendi, or the rule of praying establishes the rule of believing; that is, what we say about God and the Church flows out of how the Church prays to God (and vice versa). 
  • The study of liturgy became a serious endeavor in the early 20th century as scholars engaged in ressourcement, or a rediscovery of early Church historical and textual sources. Two important consequences of their inquiry was the understanding that the Church’s liturgy has changed over time, and that it has looked quite different in different cultures.
  • Starting from this definition of people + work, we can say a number of things about liturgy, that distinguish it from other ways of praying.
  • It is the people’s work, not simply the priests’
  • It is public, not private (watching mass on TV is not participating in liturgy)
  • It is relational and not individualistic—it’s about the community gathered together, not “me and Jesus”
  • It is directed to God and initiated by God, so it’s not simply a human endeavor
  • It is ecclesial, meaning “of the official Church” and not an independent group’s prayers
  • It is a human activity and is therefore situated in a particular time and culture
  • It is planned and formal, not ad hoc
  • It is active, not passive—it’s work—and it is an action, not a thing and certainly not words written in a book (rubrics)
  • We are most familiar with “liturgy” in the context of mass—the Liturgy of the Mass, with its subdivisions of the “liturgy of the Word” and the “liturgy of the Eucharist.” But the Church also has the Liturgy of the Hours, the cycle of daily prayers of the church.


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Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423