BIG C CATHOLICS

March 1, 2017  "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return." On Ash Wednesday, Catholics receive ashes in the shape of a cross traced on the forehead. The rite evokes Saint Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15: 21 - 22) Adam’s sin condemned man to sin and death. But the instrument of our salvation, the cross, reminds us that in Christ, man is redeemed and the gates of heaven are opened. The original injunction conferring ashes: "Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," contrasts with the words of the Nicene Creed concerning the Incarnation: "For us men and for our salvation, he [Jesus] came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man." In becoming man, Christ assumed our iniquities: offering

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) Pope Francis caused a bit of a stir when in a homily he suggested that everyone, even atheists, could be saved. This excited newspaper reporters all over the world to declare that according to the Pope everyone will be saved. Actually the news reporters got it wrong. Cooler heads realized that the Pope was simply stating what is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church . It is God’s desire that all men and women of good faith be saved. To that end His Son, Jesus Christ, suffered and died to redeem us, to bring us back to God our Father. Everyone has been, by Christ’s death and resurrection, redeemed. But that doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved. There is a huge distinction between being redeemed and being saved. In His Son, Jesus Christ, God has redeemed all of the children of Adam and Eve. He has breached the chasm between us and released us from the power of death. The word “rede

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