BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) The gospel account we’ve just heard is part of St. Mark’s introduction of Jesus. It has to do with Jesus’ identity, as have the gospel accounts over the past few Sundays. From the Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord through the Sunday before Ash Wednesday St. Mark is presenting us with the question: “Who is this Jesus?” Mark’s answer? “The One who has come to bring outcasts back in.” He has come for the outcasts, the outsiders, the lepers, the sinners, and those we disdain. The great irony is that Jesus, the One who came for outcasts, Himself had to get out of town. Note that in several of these gospel accounts we’ve heard, St. Mark reports: “Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.” That’s true even today in our surrounding culture. It is not politically correct, we are told, to talk about Jesus in public. He has to be kept from wher

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) How often do you hear the cry “It isn’t fair?” It is, of course, a complaint you hear many times from children and teens. Students complain their teachers aren’t fair with their exams. Some adults and parents complain that giving grades on performance isn’t fair. How often do parents tell us that teachers aren’t fair? And what about university admissions policies, are they fair or unfair? The Hurricane Katrina disaster brought forth a host of concerns about fairness. So, too, in follow-ups from other natural disasters. Capitalism, we are told, isn’t fair. In the name of fairness, socialism and communism were tried and found not to be fair. The Church, we are often told, isn’t fair. The way it treats women isn’t fair, we are told. The way it appoints bishops isn’t fair. The way it treats victims of abuse isn’t fair, nor is the way it deals with priests who have broken the law and grievously sinned

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) In speaking with you about Pentecost I must speak of what cannot be fully explained. All we can do is reverently gaze into the mystery of God’s final movement toward us, the alienated and distant men and women who, with Adam and Eve, have broken off relations with God. Words cannot capture the enormity God’s merciful love for us; they buckle under the weight of it. So Scripture and the Church employ symbols to try to carry Pentecost’s meaning to us. Sometimes symbols are more effective than words in conveying the truth of stupendous events. Essentially Pentecost is the final movement of God’s journey toward us. The initial movement begins in Genesis with God in the Garden of Eden. Note that it is God who makes the move. It is God who initiates; God who offers; God who loves us first. He chooses us. We do not choose him. He chooses us first because He is the superior. If it were otherwise, and inde

Here is the third lesson in the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology 's Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. Follow along, and by the end of Lent, you'll understand the importance of Easter in light of God's plan for our salvation. Sign up to receive new video lessons [ here ] and buy related study materials. ________________________________________________________ In the first two lessons we looked at how to study the Bible. We talked about how Scripture tells the story of salvation history. It’s history from God’s perspective. It’s all about God’s plan to save us from our sin, and bring us back into his divine family. We also discussed how understanding God’s covenant with the human family is the key to understanding salvation history. If you don’t understand covenants you can’t really understand Scripture. In this lesson, we’re going to put what we’ve learned into practice. And appropriately, we’ll start at the very beginning of salvation histor

Fr. Charles Irvin  Senior Priest  Diocese of Lansing  ( Click here for today’s readings )  The gospel account we’ve just heard is part of St. Mark’s introduction of Jesus. It has to do with Jesus’ identity, as have the gospel accounts over the past few Sundays. From the Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord through the Sunday before Ash Wednesday St. Mark is presenting us with the question: “Who is this Jesus?” Mark’s answer? “The One who has come to bring outcasts back in.” He has come for the outcasts, the outsiders, the lepers, the sinners, and those we disdain. The great irony is that Jesus, the One who came for outcasts, Himself had to get out of town. Note that in several of these gospel accounts we’ve heard, St. Mark reports: “Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.” That’s true even today in our surrounding culture. It is not politically correct, we are told, to talk about Jesus in public. He

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) How often do you hear the cry “It isn’t fair?” It is, of course, a complaint you hear many times from children and teens. Students complain their teachers aren’t fair with their exams. Some adults and parents complain that giving grades on performance isn’t fair. How often do parents tell us that teachers aren’t fair? And what about university admissions policies, are they fair or unfair? The Hurricane Katrina disaster brought forth a host of concerns about fairness. So, too, in follow-ups from other natural disasters. Capitalism, we are told, isn’t fair. In the name of fairness, socialism and communism were tried and found not to be fair. The Church, we are often told, isn’t fair. The way it treats women isn’t fair, we are told. The way it appoints bishops isn’t fair. The way it treats victims of abuse isn’t fair, nor is the way it deals with priests who have broken the law and g

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10. Our Lord instructs the twelve apostles, "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matthew 10:26-28) The one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna is Satan the devil, king of demons, and of hell. He is the father of lies and a cruel deceiver of men. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask that God, "... lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§2851) states: “In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil ( dia-bolos ) is the one who 'thr

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) In speaking with you about Pentecost I must speak of what cannot be fully explained. All we can do is reverently gaze into the mystery of God’s final movement toward us, the alienated and distant men and women who, with Adam and Eve, have broken off relations with God. Words cannot capture the enormity God’s merciful love for us; they buckle under the weight of it. So Scripture and the Church employ symbols to try to carry Pentecost’s meaning to us. Sometimes symbols are more effective than words in conveying the truth of stupendous events. Essentially Pentecost is the final movement of God’s journey toward us. The initial movement begins in Genesis with God in the Garden of Eden. Note that it is God who makes the move. It is God who initiates; God who offers; God who loves us first. He chooses us. We do not choose him. He chooses us first because He is the superior. If it were other

Top: Christ descends into Hell to bring His salvation to the righteous. Bottom: Adam & Eve eat of the forbidden fruit; and Paradise is lost. "The sin that was wrought through the tree was undone by the obedience of the tree, obedience to God whereby the Son of man was nailed to the tree, destroying the knowledge of evil, and bringing in and conferring the knowledge of good; and evil is disobedience to God, as obedience to God is good. And therefore the Word says through Isaiah the prophet, foretelling what was to come to pass in the future—for it was because they told the future that they were "prophets"—the Word says through him as follows: I refuse not, and do not gainsay, my back have I delivered to blows and my cheeks to buffets, and I have not turned away my face from the contumely of them that spat. [Is. 50, 6] So by obedience, whereby He obeyed unto death, hanging on the tree, He undid the old disobedience wrought in the tree. And because He is Himsel

Consider the following: Our original state of grace was forfeited when our first parents rejected God's love in favor of the Devil's lies. God loves us so much that even if you were the only person to have ever lived, Christ would have suffered and died just for you. We cannot deny God's love, but we can deny, ignore and perpetuate our own sinfulness. The former is inscrutable. The later, undeniable. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1836) and C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) were not collegial contemporaries save for a brief period when their respective philosophies illuminated (to varying degrees) the firmament of modern Christian apologetics. Reputedly, when  The Times  (of London) sent out an inquiry to famous authors inquiring, "What is wrong with the world today?", Chesterton honestly replied: Dear Sirs, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton Regarding our fallen nature and propensity to sin, C. S. Lewis was equally candid. His essay. " The problem with X... " discu

"The phrase admirabile commercium , current in the theology and spirituality of the Nativity, is used to describe this ‘admirable exchange between the divine and the human... The first act of that exchange comes about in Christ’s own humanity. The Word assumed our humanity and, in exchange, human nature was raised to divine dignity. The second act of the exchange consists in our real and intimate involvement in the divine nature of the Word... Thus Christmas is the feast in which God comes so close to man as to share the very act of being born, showing men and women their most profound dignity: that of being children of God. Humanity’s dream which began in the Garden of Eden – we want to be like God – is realized in an unexpected way, not through the greatness of man, who cannot make himself God, but through the humility of God Who came down among us in His humility, raising us to the true greatness of His being.'" — Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, January 4, 2

Editor's note: Each Tuesday we will feature posts discussing Saint John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body; his reflection on our nature and life as persons made in the image and likeness of God, conjugal love, the meaning of celibacy, and the eternal beatitude to which every human being is called.  ____________________________ In Genesis, when Adam awakes from the divine sleep, God presents him with Eve. Immediately, Adam exclaims, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Adam's response is an expression of love. Adam recognizes in Eve a person, equal in dignity to himself. Eve beholds in Adam a person like her. This was the moment that original solitude was overcome. The loneliness and longing that each felt for the other was wondrously fulfilled in their covenantal union. With original unity, Adam was a gift to Eve, and Eve a gift to Adam. Their very bodies spoke a language of intimacy and trust — enabling them to view each other

Pop Psychology vs. Catholic Theology The book Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus tries to explain male/female relationships by examining the differing emotional needs and perceptions of spouses. The Church teaches and Sacred Scripture affirms that men and women were both from Eden before sin and selfishness replaced love and selflessness. When our first parents turned away from God, the source of life, goodness, truth and beauty, it altered every aspect of our existence. Love, courtship and marriage are difficult under the best of circumstances. One thing is clear, men and women, though equal in dignity are fundamentally different so as to complement each other. Some call this a stereotype. Others refute it as chauvinism. Such views dismiss the design of Providence as arbitrary and fallible. In making us male and female, God is telling us things otherwise unknowable about human beings and Himself. Saint John Paul II observed that in "the beginning," man and woman v

Pop Psychology vs. Catholic Theology The book Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus tries to explain male/female relationships by examining the differing emotional needs and perceptions of spouses. The Church teaches and Sacred Scripture testifies that men and women were both from Eden before sin and selfishness replaced love and selflessness. When our first parents turned away from God, the source of life, goodness, truth and beauty, it altered every aspect of existence. Love, courtship and marriage are difficult under the best of circumstances. One thing is clear, men and women, though equal in dignity are fundamentally different so as to complement each other. Some call this a stereotype. Others dismiss it as chauvinism. Our Creator said, " Viva la difference ." In making us male and female, God is telling us things otherwise unknowable, about human beings and Himself. Saint John Paul II observed that in "the beginning," man and woman viewed each other &q

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit is the embodiment of evil. His chance encounter with a Georgia family culminates in the execution of the grandmother after she reaches out to touch him. O’Connor uses the Misfit to show how grace and salvation are available to both saint and sinner alike. Whether we accept these is another matter. The Misfit exercises his free will to do evil. Instead of sparing an old woman, he brutally murders her. Rejecting the grandmother’s kindness, he chooses violence over virtue – symbolizing our fallen humanity. Despite being a cold-blooded killer the Misfit by his own words has contemplated Jesus’ resurrection and power over death. The Misfit has asked the same questions many Christians pose. His curiosity about Jesus and ultimate rejection of Judeo-Christian morality (that rooted in the natural law and the teachings of Christ), mirror the view of religious skeptics and others for whom religion has little value. I