Davidson bulletin week of Feb 9

We act in faith, knowing that we see only dimly. But living in faith, we act anyway, choosing and doing the best we can. We act and live in confidence that someday we will see face to face, that we will live into the answers. For God's grace embraces our questions as well as our answers and our blindness as well as our vision, just as the sun shines steadily through the night, waiting to illumine the sky at dawn.

~from Wrestling till Dawn by Jean M. Blomquist

Have a great week. Contemplate what you’ll give up—and what you’ll take on—during the Lenten season. Try to move beyond chocolate, dessert, and carbs if you can… What is it that really keeps you from putting God and your neighbor at the center of your life? What false idols control you or influence you in unhealthy ways? How can you grow to be a more loving person? ‘

~ Karen

FAQs…                                  What are the Lenten disciplines?

Traditionally we talk about the three disciplines of Lent: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Why? The gospel reading for Ash Wednesday draws from the portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where he teaches about…fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Lent is a time of preparation, a time to break down walls and strip away bad habits, a time to re-focus ourselves and re-turn ourselves towards God, so that when we arrive at Easter, we can reclaim our baptism and sing alleluia with all our heart. So what do these Lenten disciplines mean, and how can they be meaningful for us today?

Fasting:

Currently in the Catholic Church we have only two formal fast days, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, we limit ourselves to one proper meal, two small meals and no snacking. We also abstain from meat on those two days, and on all the Fridays of Lent. We fast for different reasons: as a form of penance; to develop self-control and self-discipline; to be in solidarity with those who are hungry and suffering; to better understand what controls us and what we’re ‘addicted’ to; to become more perfect.

We traditionally also “give up” something for Lent. It’s the rare Catholic who didn’t give up chocolate as a kid! But when choosing what to give up, you should ask yourself why you’re choosing what you choose. Are you giving up chocolate just because it’s what you’ve always done? Because it makes you suffer? Or are you giving it up because you’re addicted to it? Perhaps you could give up a bad habit that’s potentially destructive human relationships, like gossiping. Or maybe give up sleeping late, and use some of that time for regular prayer. Maybe you could fast from texting, and push yourself to spend more face-to-face time with your friends, or even write a letter to someone who’s too far away to join you on a coffee date. Or maybe you give up fast food and focus on eating locally grown food instead.

Your fasting is never just for yourself—it should always be outward directed, toward your neighbor or toward God. What is it that keeps you from being a good friend? What is it that keeps you distant from God? What is it that contributes to the on-going suffering in the world? What prevents you from being a good steward of creation?

Almsgiving:

Alms traditionally consist of monetary donations, but they can also include giving your time and your talent and your focused attention. Maybe you can schedule yourself to do a little extra service work during Lent. Or write your Great-Aunt Matilda a letter, or visit someone in the Pines. I once read about a first-grader who gave up ice cream, and then donated that money to a fund in her school cafeteria that will allow kids who can’t afford to buy ice cream enjoy the treat.

The key here is that your giving doesn’t come out of what’s left-over. Like the poor widow in the gospel, our giving comes from all that we start with (money, time, talent)—not what’s left after we’ve spent it all on other more necessary or pleasurable things.

Prayer: 

Prayer ultimately is about being in mutual communication with God. You take your concerns, your thanksgivings, your sorrows, your joys to God—and you sit back in silence so that God’s concerns, sorrows, joys, and thanksgivings can fill you. Making time and embracing silence are difficult to do. That’s why prayer is a discipline. There are a multitude of opportunities on campus to help you with this, from Mass to walking the labyrinth to Taize services to bible studies to Thursday Night Worship to walking (iPod-free) on the cross-country trails.

___________________

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

Preparing for Lent

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which is the official start of the Lenten season.  Lent is a penitential season in the Church, which means it is a time when we collectively remind ourselves that Christ suffered on the cross to redeem us from our sins.  Our proper response to that is to repent of our sins, pick up our own cross, and follow Him.  Lent has traditionally been marked by an increase of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  In his Lenten message for 2015, Pope Francis encourages us to be "merciful, attentive, and generous."  We should be merciful in our relations with others, attentive to the Lenten call for prayer, and generous with our own time, treasure and talents.  

During the weeks of Lent, I will be suggesting ways in which you can participate in the call to pray, fast and give.  This week before Lent begins, I want to begin with a few thoughts on fasting to help us prepare in advance.  What is required and what is recommended?  

Required Fasting

The Church actually requires very little of us in the way of fasting.  There are only two days that Catholics are obliged to fast:  Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  On fasting days, Catholics are permitted to eat one full meal, and may take up to two small snacks which together don't add up to one full meal.  Liquids don't count as breaking the fast. For example, you could have a banana or yogurt in the morning to get you going, have a granola bar in the afternoon to sustain your strength, and enjoy a regular meal in the evening.  Since liquids don't count, you can have as much water, milk, coffee, etc as you like.  And use your common sense.  If your daily activities are very physical and require a lot of calories, or if you are diabetic or have other medical concerns, don't do anything that is going to negatively impact your health.  The Church does not want you passing out!  On the other hand, you do want to make it sacrificial.  If you are a relatively healthy young person, maybe you don't need that little snack in the afternoon.  Maybe you can offer up your hunger pains for the good of your soul, or for the benefit of others.  Use discernment and common sense.  Remember, too, that Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent are also days of abstinence, which means no meat.  For fasting purposes, the Church only counts the meat of warm blooded animals, so fish, reptiles, etc are permissible (good to keep in mind if the dining hall starts serving alligator).

Recommended Fasting

Most Catholics also choose additional ways to fast during Lent.  Usually this involves giving up food items, but not always.  This is strictly up to you, and self imposed.  So you can give up all sweets for Lent, or maybe just chocolate.  I have known people to give up all beverages except for water.  One traditional practice is to give up meat.  The trick is to avoid having Lent becoming a diet plan.  If you want to start a healthy diet, then start a healthy diet.  That's good!  But that's not what Lent is about.  Your Lenten sacrifice should be about doing penance and building discipline, the point of which is to help us avoid sin and turn toward Christ.  We discipline ourselves to say "no" to something we enjoy (like chocolate or coffee) so that when we are faced with sinful temptation, we can be stronger in our ability to resist it.  Meanwhile, the suffering we endure while building that discipline can be offered to Christ in reparation for our sins and/or the sins of others.  That means that we pray when we fast.  In the Church, fasting is always accompanied by prayer to ensure that our discipline does us spiritual good.

This week, think about what you can sacrifice this Lent.  What can you give up that will be a true sacrifice for you, but not an overwhelming burden?  Remember the point is not to beat yourself up.  This is a self-imposed sacrifice and you don't want to take on something too difficult which will only lead to failure and frustration.  For example, I wouldn't recommend going on bread and water all Lent without some serious consultation with a spiritual director (and a nutritionist)!  But maybe you can give up lunch two days a week and instead spend that time in prayer.  Maybe you can give up your daily Starbucks and instead give that money to someone in need, or a local charity.  

Your sacrifice does not need to involve food.  Think of other things in your life that you are allowing to have too high a place.  Perhaps you can give up make-up, Facebook, or limit your texting or video game time.  Ask a friend to make a Lenten fast with you, so you can support one another.  But remember to accompany your fast with prayer, or it will not be as effective.  Next week, we will discuss different ways to increase your prayer life this Lent.

Until then...

Pax Christi,

Matt

--

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

  

(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel For Today: 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

click here for readings

In today's gospel reading (Mk 1:29-39), we see a busy Jesus.  He cures Peter's mother-in-law from her illness, as well as multitudes of infirm and possessed people from the town.  Then the next morning (which was a Sunday, by the way), the gospel tells us that He rose early "and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed."  

This is a habit one sees Jesus engage in over and over again throughout the gospels.  He spends time in public, preaching, healing or performing other miracles and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  But then He always retreats to a quiet place to spend time with the Father in prayer.  Personal prayer was an integral and necessary part of Jesus' ministry.  To put it another way, even God Incarnate needed to spend time communing with God in heaven during His time on earth.

Why is prayer so important?  If our idea of prayer is simply asking God for things, then we may wonder why Jesus (who was God) needed to pray at all.  But prayer is much more than that.  The Syrian monk St. John Damascene called prayer "the raising of one's mind and heart to God."  More than merely asking God for things we want, as if He were a sort of celestial Santa Claus, prayer involves actively putting yourself into God's presence.  

To get a sense of why this matters, imagine a young engaged couple who, after their wedding, each take their own cars back to their separate apartments.  They don't move in together.  They don't see each other during the day.  They don't call or even text one another.  But once a week, on Sunday morning, they get together for an hour after breakfast just to check in.  The rest of the time they don't communicate at all.  Would anyone call this a good marriage?  Of course not.  

If we wouldn't expect a husband and wife to have a relationship like that, why do we think it's sufficient for a relationship with God?  I sometimes get students express frustration because they don't feel close to God.  When I ask them how often they pray, the answer is usually "never" or "not often."  With human friends and family members, relationships are fostered by spending time together.  Prayer allows us to foster our relationship with God by spending quality time with Him.  And that means more than just saying grace before meals or showing up for Mass (though those are good things to do).

St. Terese of Lisieux wrote in her dairy, "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."  When the scriptures speak of prayer, sometimes it is said to come from the soul or the spirit, but most often -- more than a thousand times -- the scriptures say prayer comes from the heart.  So when we pray, it must come from the heart.  "The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully... it is the place of encounter... it is the place of covenant" (CCC 2563).  

Lent is fast approaching (Ash Wednesday is Feb. 18), which is a time when the Church pays special attention to the practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I will be giving more suggestions in the coming weeks on ways to pray.  But the main thing is to simply start praying.  Prayer does not require adopting the right posture or having the correct words to recite.  Christian prayer is not about learning a special technique. The seventeenth century French monk, Brother Lawrence, said that there was no art or science needed to approach God, "but only a heart resolutely determined to apply itself to nothing but Him, or for His sake, and to love Him only."  

When we pray with our heart, it is our whole self that prays.  Turn your thoughts and your affections to God, and that is prayer.  That is something each of us can do today, and something which each of us can stand to do more.  With a heart directed to God, only then will the words of our prayer find meaning.  With a heart directed to God in prayer, only then will we begin to truly know His presence and love.  

--

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

  

(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Davidson CCM: bulletin week of Feb 2

Tomorrow is the Memorial of Paul Miki and 25 companions, martyred in Nagasaki, Japan in 1597 for their Christian faith. Christianity came to Japan in 1549 with St. Francis Xavier, who established a small community there. Other Jesuit missionaries followed, and by the end of the century there were tens of thousands of Catholics in Japan. However, the rapid growth of the faith made some of the rulers anxious about foreign colonialism and in 1587 all missionaries were expelled from the country. Not all complied, and in 1597 a young Japanese Jesuit named Paul Miki, who was a popular preacher, was condemned to death, along with six Franciscans and seventeen laymen. They were publically crucified. During the next century, persecution increased and thousands of Christians were executed . By the middle of the 1600s, Christianity had disappeared from Japan. When Westerners were allowed back into Japan in the late 1800s, a French missionary priest was approached by a group of Japanese men and women who revealed that the faith had persevered in secret. Over 10,000 Catholics had passed on the prayers, the rituals and the sacrament of Baptism despite not seeing a priest or any representative of the Church for 200 years!

This story of the faithfulness of our Catholic brothers and sisters in Japan amidst terrible suffering and terrible isolation. It’s a real challenge to the strength of our faith. Would we choose death over the desecration of holy images? Are we confident enough in our faith and traditions to ensure the survival of the Church even when there is no church to speak of? It’s definitely a call to be an active believer! ~ Karen

___________________

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

Weekly Update from CCM

Today is the feast of St. Blaise.  St. Blaise was an early fourth century bishop and martyr about whom very little is known.  But he has long been venerated in both the east and west for his miraculous healing abilities.  According to legend, even animals would come to him for healing (though they would never disturb him while he was at prayer).  After Blaise was arrested for his Christian faith, he continued to heal people while in prison, including a little boy who was choking on a fish bone.  For this reason, the intercession of St. Blaise has long been invoked for healing of all sorts of throat ailments.

Coming as it does the day after Candlemas (the popular name of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2, which includes a special procession and blessing of candles), the St. Blaise throat blessing is administered using two crossed candles placed at the throat. 

For more information on St. Blaise and the blessing of throats, click here

O glorious St. Blaise, who by your martyrdom left to the Church a precious witness to the Faith, obtain for us the grace to preserve within ourselves this divine gift, and to defend — without concern for human respect — both by word and example, the truth of that same Faith, which is so wickedly attacked and slandered in these our times. You miraculously restored a little child who was at the point of death because of an affliction of the throat.

Grant us your mighty protection in similar misfortunes. And, above all, obtain for us the grace of Christian mortification, together with faithful observance of the precepts of the Church, which keep us from offending almighty God. Amen.

--

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

  

(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Gospel for Today: 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

click here for readings

​A big part of the reason why I am Catholic today has to do with the matter of authority.  Our gospel reading for today deals with Jesus' authority to teach and to cast out demons (Mk 1:21-28).  This is certainly impressive, but why is it important to us?

As an old English Lit major, I notice that the word authority contains the word author.  Much of what I did in college involved expositing on the ideas contained in various works of literature.  Naturally, many of my classmates and I had different notions about the meaning of certain works.  If the author of the text we were studying had been in the classroom with us he could have told us definitely what he had in mind while writing.  Can you imagine taking a class on Shakespeare taught by the Bard himself?

  

An author has ownership over his story, because he or she is the creator of that story.  In a sense, all of creation is a story -- a divine story told by a Divine Author who continues to write us all into existence.  Just as Shakespeare is the ultimate authority on his own plays, God is the ultimate Authority over the universe.  Just as my English major colleagues and I were trying to get close to the mind the author of the works we studied, the aim of religion and philosophy is to get close to the mind of the Author of us all.  

This is why the episode in today's gospel is such a shock to the people in the synagogue.  The teachers and prophets of the Jewish faith were those to whom God revealed certain truths, and who therefore could speak with the authority of God.  But Jesus was not speaking on behalf of one with authority.  He possessed that authority in His own person.  "The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes."  In Christ, the Author has entered into the story.  It is no wonder people found His words astonishing.

Jesus further demonstrates His authority by showing command of the spirit world.  A demon was possessing a man in the synagogue. Jesus cast the evil spirit out with the simple command, "Quiet! Come out of him!"  Jesus elsewhere tells us, "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Mt 12:26, 28).  By demonstrating command even over unclean spirits, Jesus is both showing His divine authority and inaugurating the kingdom of God.  When we find true authority, we desire to submit to it.  We want to be citizens of that kingdom.  The question for us then becomes, can this kingdom still be found today?

The answer is yes.  Jesus used His authority to establish a Church to share in that authority.  To His apostles he said, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19).  After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His apostles. "He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20:22-23).  The specific authority to forgive sins is key to the central mission of the Church, which is to reconcile human beings to God -- to lead us back to the Author who created us.  Jesus possessed God's authority to forgive and bring sinners back into union with Him (Mk 2:1-12).  Jesus passed that very authority on to the Church.

The early history of the Church, found in the book of Acts, the various epistles contained in the New Testament, and in extra-biblical writings from the first, second and third centuries show us examples of a Church exercising the authority of Jesus.  After Jesus ascended, decisions had to be made.  What is the role of gentiles in the Church?  Do gentiles have to obey the Jewish laws?  How are disputes within the Church settled?  How do we identify true or false teaching?  What happens with someone denies the faith, but then repents?  Can we accept such a person back?  Many questions that we take for granted today, such as what books are in the Bible and the definition of the Trinity, had to be discussed and settled by the early Church.  When these questions arose, rather than everyone "doing their own thing," the Church looked to the successors of the Apostles, the bishops ordained by them for leadership, to settle these matters with authority.

We still look to the bishops, the Apostolic successors, for that authority today.  We still come to the Church for reconciliation with God.  Why is this important?  Because we want a Church that will be right when we are wrong.  We want a Church that can challenge and correct us.  We want a Church we can trust to speak the authentic Truth, not just what we want to hear.  We want a Church that can lead us to the Author of us all.  

Those who heard Jesus teach in the synagogue recognized His divine authority.  May we recognize that same voice of authority in the teaching, love, and forgiveness found in the Catholic Church today.

--

WCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister

www.WCUCatholic.org

  

(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Join our FACEBOOK Group!

Davidson CCM bulletin week of Jan 26

All prayers, no matter what the words are, are really one of five prayers:

Thank you!—Lord, have mercy!—God damn it!—Help!—and, Wow!

                                ~ Nancy Mairs, paraphrasing Dorothy Day

               

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.

~St. Teresa of Avila

               

___________________

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