By Susan Fox
“I will rise and go to my father.” (The Prodigal Son, Lk 15:18)
Last week, I watched a rerun of the PBS series Inspector Morse. I wasn’t paying too close attention until Morse was standing at the altar of an Anglican Church begging a female character to forgive someone.
She responded, “I cannot forgive him. I want to be forgiven, but I cannot forgive him.”
My ears perked up. It was a sort of an anti-Our Father for in the prayer Jesus taught us, now called the “Our Father,” we pray “Forgive us our trespasses (sins) as we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us.”
I wonder how many times we recite that prayer without realizing the implications. We really can’t expect God to forgive us our sins if we are not willing to forgive our brother his sins.
And yet very often that is exactly what we expect.
Today’s Gospel readings were all about forgiveness, repentance and intercession.
One thing you learn in the Book of Revelation is that Satan and his evil spirits are accusers.
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night.” (Rev. 12:10)
Judging and accusing is a satanic activity. Satan literally spends his time before the throne of God trying to make God hate us because of our sins. He might as well save his breath because while we were still in our sins and unrepentant, God so loved the world, He sent His Only Son to die for us!
In today’s reading, Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14, Moses shows us the role of good Christians -- the saints. Our role is to intercede or plead for sinners. The Israelites have just made the golden calf and are worshiping it. God seems to want to destroy them. He asks Moses’ permission to go ahead and make a great nation of Moses and his children, but eliminate the rest of the Israelites.
"I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the LORD to Moses. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.
But Moses pleads instead for God’s mercy on the Israelites, reminding Him of his promises to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel to make of them a great nation. Saints try to think like God and that means when they are persecuted, they pray for their oppressors.
So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
That is always the role of the saints-- to pray for others, to pray for the dead, to pray for sinners, to pray for our enemies and friends! To pray, pray, pray with our hearts. The whole purpose of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is to pray for God’s mercy on the world – all peoples whether good, bad or indifferent. It doesn’t matter. When St. Faustina was given the chaplet to pray, she saw a terrible angel about to wreck destruction on the world. She prayed and prayed to God to spare the world, but her words accomplished nothing until she was given the words of the Divine Mercy Chaplet: “Eternal Father I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world!”
Suddenly, with those words the angel of destruction was turned back and unable to complete his mission. Why? Because Faustina was uniting her intentions to the intentions of the Holy Mass -- the intentions of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ on Mt. Calvary. Christ’s sacrifice on the altar of Calvary has infinite everlasting value!
At today’s Mass, we also read the story of the Prodigal Son, (Lk 15:1-32). The priest who gave the sermon on this Gospel reading urged us to be like the father in the story – to be waiting and watching for the repentant son and go out to meet him and welcome him. The father is the figure for God the Father Who so loved us He gave His only Son. He is the figure for the Christian warrior intercessor, who putting on the mind of Christ, prays for his enemies.
But the story of the Prodigal Son also gives us a clue as to how we can forgive our enemies. For it is not an easy thing to do especially when you are hurt. Put yourself in the place of the younger son. Having taken his inheritance and squandered it, he wakes up and remembers that the lowliest servant in his father’s house has more to eat than he does.
Coming to his senses, he says to himself: I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers." So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was moved to compassion. He embraced him and kissed him, killed the fatted calf and put a ring on his finger. Do you realize that God the Father welcomes you the same way every time you turn to him?
Even if you haven’t been wasting your inheritance on wine, women and song, God still welcomes you in the midst of your persecutions, trials and sufferings.
I remember once coming home to visit my mother, and my step father treated me like the dirt under the carpet. It was a very depressing experience. But while I was suffering through this, God the Father reminded me that when I came to His house, He would give me a fine coat, put a ring on my finger and kill the fatted calf for a nice meal. In short, I was welcome at my Father’s house! Suddenly, my step father became my brother, whom I could forgive, and God the Father became my true Father. And the Kingdom of God became my true home in this life and the next. I was standing in my brother’s house, not my Father’s house, and what a difference that realization made!
Understanding who we are in relation to God heals us so we can forgive. God the Father delights to be among men. “Your heaven, My creatures, is in paradise together with My chosen ones, because it is there that you will contemplate Me in an everlasting vision and will enjoy eternal glory. My heaven is on earth with you all, O men! Yes, it is on earth and in your souls that I look for My happiness and My joy.” (God the Father to Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio in an approved apparition of the Catholic Church).
So turn to Him often. Make your soul a resting place for the Father -- where He can put up His feet, smoke a cigar and in fact find His delight with you. Then you will find the courage to forgive and intercede.
The world needs prayer not more accusation. After all, that is the devil’s job.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
St. Bernadette and the Immaculate Conception
by Lawrence Fox
While at work, I received a phone call from a concerned mother who confided that her child’s cognitive skills were
tested and the results were less than promising. “My child is several years behind a normal child of the same age and her condition may not improve,” she said.
What could I say? My response was honest: “Know that your child will never offend God the way I have offended God with all my intelligence.”
I then had the wits to say: “Give your child the Miraculous Medal and together develop a relationship with St. Bernadette, a young strong spirited girl who loved God with her whole heart, mind, and soul and whose obedience remains the instrument through which great comfort and healing are brought to many souls.”
Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we received from God. For Just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows (2 Corinthians 1:3-6).
St. Bernadette was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844. She was a deeply honest, strong spirited and hard working girl. Her father was a miller by trade but in order to remain employed worked at various odd jobs. Her mother worked doing laundry for neighbors and picking crops in order to manage additional support for the family of five children. As a very young girl, St. Bernadette cared for the smaller four children, and helped in their moral and religious training. St. Bernadette endured along with hard work, respiratory problems her whole life.
St. Bernadette as a young girl was gifted with several visions of "a “Beautiful Lady” as she relates in her memoirs at the rock of Massabeille beginning on February 11, 1858. St. Bernadette received persecutions and humiliations as a result of these visions. And as St. Margaret Mary of Alocoque explains: “In that great fear which I have always had of being deceived among the graces and favors I received from my sovereign Lord: here are the marks which He has given me whereby to know what comes from Him and comes from Satan, self-love or some other natural movement…these favors and particular graces will always be accompanied in me be some humiliation, contradiction or contempt from creatures.”
The servant is not above the master and St. Bernadette was misunderstood by neighbors and her family, who feared the local authorities: the impudent students of the French Revolution demanding “fraternity, liberty, & equality” for the atheistic masses but no room for God and His Catholic Church. St. Bernadette received a request from the "a “Beautiful Lady” to return to the rock of Massabeille every day for fifteen days.
During one of the visions, St. Bernadette requested from the “Beautiful Lady” – at the request of the Parish Priest Dean Peyramale – her name. The “Beautiful Lady” responded, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
This revelation was beyond the imagination of the young St. Bernadette, who never related to anyone that the “Beautiful Lady” was the Blessed Virgin Mary. It seems that the St. Bernadette was not sure who the “Beautiful Lady” was and the Blessed Virgin Mother never confided as much to her; instead allowed the Church judge the revelation to her.
Jesus prayed: “I thank you Heavenly Father for revealing these things to the little ones and keeping them from the wise and the learned.”
The Parish Priest Dean Peyramale, who was very skeptical of the authenticity and the holy origins of the visions, asked St. Bernadette if she understood the words or if she heard them from someone else in another conversation or alike. St. Bernadette responded with a negative on both counts: she did not know what they meant, and she had never heard the expression “Immaculate Conception.”
The priest’s doubts and resistance were removed and from that moment forward became her arch defender.
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 several years before the visions at Massabeille.
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege or almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human Race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin (Ineffabilis Deus).
The Blessed Virgin Mary waited for the Catholic Church to Proclaim the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Her actions are reminiscent of the disposition of St. John the Evangelist when running to the empty tomb of Jesus Christ - and although reaching it first - did not enter until Peter first entered.
John deferred to Peter out of Love for Jesus Christ the miracle of the resurrection and the empty tomb. John saw this deference in the Blessed Mother who sought to remain hidden within the Mystery and Glory of Her Son Jesus Christ. Now that the Bride of Christ (the Church) proclaimed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – the spouse of Mary – the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Mary asked for permission to comfort the Church with a special vision to St. Bernadette and a continuous sacramental of healing.
The location of the visions is well known in Catholic circles as the Grotto in Lourdes, France. There remains in Lourdes, a spring of flowing water which is a sacramental of healing – as evidenced by many written testimonies of healings and the crutches and wheel chairs left behind at the site.
St. Bernadette entered the order of the Sisters of Charity, where she hoped to remain hidden from curious attention. St. Bernadette -- so it seems -- received the gift of prophecy and used this gift to encourage her fellow sisters. The Lord continued to prune and protect St. Bernadette through those He brought into her path, including those strict members of the order. Suffering and humiliation preserved St. Bernadette from the sin of pride - due to her many revelations - and increased in her the virtue of a single hearted love of God and neighbor – the whole of the Law.
To keep me from being conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 7-9).
St. Bernadette died on April 16, 1879. Her body placed in a casket, and buried near the chapel of St. Joseph in the convent grounds. When the casket was unearthed in 1908 as a result of a commission responsible for the examination of Bernadette's life and character, it was found to be intact and
uncorrupted. Pope Pius X conferred the title of Venerable upon her on August, 1913. Her beatification was completed on June 1925. Today, the un-corrupted body of St. Bernadette lies in a glass coffin within the convent Chapel.
St. Bernadette’s life and un-corrupted remains are God’s visible mark and declaration to the sanctity of the little saint, the historicity of the vision, and the infallibility of the Dogma concerning Mary’s Immaculate Conception.
St. Bernadette’s love of God and obedience to the requests of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are the instrument through which great comfort and healing are brought to many souls.
This brings me to another story as told by a Mr. Noah Lett on the Journey Home program on EWTN. In his story, Mr. Lett related how as a young child he was lead to a belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ. He advanced in grace and eventually became a clergyman within the Lutheran Church, and related that one day while entering through the doors of his rectory; he was translated to the tomb of St. Bernadette. Mr. Lett knew nothing about St. Bernadette. Standing before the un-corrupted body in the glass coffin in the convent chapel, he heard a voice ask the following question three times, “Noah what do you see?” Noah attempted to answer logically on two (2) occasions but remembers that on the 3rd count through a gift of knowledge responded: “I see that the sacraments of the Catholic Church give what they promise.” Mr. Noah Lett is now a Catholic and to hear him speak is a treasure to say the least.
My wife stood by the incorrupt body of St. Bernadette on one of her pilgrimages, and all she could think about was this was the place that Noah Lett had stood when he was bi-located from his Lutheran rectory to France.
Going back to the episode of the mother’s young child, we know that through Baptism, confession, and reception of Holy Communion her child lives as a temple of God’s Holy Spirit, a precious stone in the edifice which Almighty God is erecting upon the foundation of the Apostles, with Jesus being the corner stone.
The sacraments of the Catholic Church give what they promise for they were instituted by Jesus Christ and administered by the Catholic Church His Bride, which shares with all her children the Promises of Jesus Christ.
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you and know that I am with you always to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28: 19-20).
And Jesus breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit, the sins you forgive are forgiven and the sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22).
“Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6: 54).
We see as in a mirror darkly, the mind of God who reveals His providence, His justice, mercy, and goodness over all of creation at every moment in time and eternity. God in his infinite Wisdom deigns to dwell in such little souls - which the Worldly Wise can only measure, quantify, and then categorize. “God confuses the proud in their deepest thoughts,” said Mary to Elizabeth.
We know that God bring all things to good for those who love him. This truth is born out in the lives of the saints, which all of us by God’s grace regardless of our physical capabilities or limitations are called to imitate.
The story of St. Bernadette is beautifully presented by three (3) movies that I am aware of:
• Song of Bernadette
• Bernadette distributed by Ignatius Press
• Passion of Bernadette distributed by Ignatius Press
Rent and enjoy them and see that God is truly glorified in His saints.
While at work, I received a phone call from a concerned mother who confided that her child’s cognitive skills were
 |
| St. Bernadette |
What could I say? My response was honest: “Know that your child will never offend God the way I have offended God with all my intelligence.”
I then had the wits to say: “Give your child the Miraculous Medal and together develop a relationship with St. Bernadette, a young strong spirited girl who loved God with her whole heart, mind, and soul and whose obedience remains the instrument through which great comfort and healing are brought to many souls.”
Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we received from God. For Just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows (2 Corinthians 1:3-6).
St. Bernadette was born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844. She was a deeply honest, strong spirited and hard working girl. Her father was a miller by trade but in order to remain employed worked at various odd jobs. Her mother worked doing laundry for neighbors and picking crops in order to manage additional support for the family of five children. As a very young girl, St. Bernadette cared for the smaller four children, and helped in their moral and religious training. St. Bernadette endured along with hard work, respiratory problems her whole life.
St. Bernadette as a young girl was gifted with several visions of "a “Beautiful Lady” as she relates in her memoirs at the rock of Massabeille beginning on February 11, 1858. St. Bernadette received persecutions and humiliations as a result of these visions. And as St. Margaret Mary of Alocoque explains: “In that great fear which I have always had of being deceived among the graces and favors I received from my sovereign Lord: here are the marks which He has given me whereby to know what comes from Him and comes from Satan, self-love or some other natural movement…these favors and particular graces will always be accompanied in me be some humiliation, contradiction or contempt from creatures.”
The servant is not above the master and St. Bernadette was misunderstood by neighbors and her family, who feared the local authorities: the impudent students of the French Revolution demanding “fraternity, liberty, & equality” for the atheistic masses but no room for God and His Catholic Church. St. Bernadette received a request from the "a “Beautiful Lady” to return to the rock of Massabeille every day for fifteen days.
During one of the visions, St. Bernadette requested from the “Beautiful Lady” – at the request of the Parish Priest Dean Peyramale – her name. The “Beautiful Lady” responded, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
This revelation was beyond the imagination of the young St. Bernadette, who never related to anyone that the “Beautiful Lady” was the Blessed Virgin Mary. It seems that the St. Bernadette was not sure who the “Beautiful Lady” was and the Blessed Virgin Mother never confided as much to her; instead allowed the Church judge the revelation to her.
Jesus prayed: “I thank you Heavenly Father for revealing these things to the little ones and keeping them from the wise and the learned.”
The Parish Priest Dean Peyramale, who was very skeptical of the authenticity and the holy origins of the visions, asked St. Bernadette if she understood the words or if she heard them from someone else in another conversation or alike. St. Bernadette responded with a negative on both counts: she did not know what they meant, and she had never heard the expression “Immaculate Conception.”
The priest’s doubts and resistance were removed and from that moment forward became her arch defender.
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 several years before the visions at Massabeille.
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege or almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human Race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin (Ineffabilis Deus).
The Blessed Virgin Mary waited for the Catholic Church to Proclaim the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Her actions are reminiscent of the disposition of St. John the Evangelist when running to the empty tomb of Jesus Christ - and although reaching it first - did not enter until Peter first entered.
John deferred to Peter out of Love for Jesus Christ the miracle of the resurrection and the empty tomb. John saw this deference in the Blessed Mother who sought to remain hidden within the Mystery and Glory of Her Son Jesus Christ. Now that the Bride of Christ (the Church) proclaimed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – the spouse of Mary – the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Mary asked for permission to comfort the Church with a special vision to St. Bernadette and a continuous sacramental of healing.
The location of the visions is well known in Catholic circles as the Grotto in Lourdes, France. There remains in Lourdes, a spring of flowing water which is a sacramental of healing – as evidenced by many written testimonies of healings and the crutches and wheel chairs left behind at the site.
St. Bernadette entered the order of the Sisters of Charity, where she hoped to remain hidden from curious attention. St. Bernadette -- so it seems -- received the gift of prophecy and used this gift to encourage her fellow sisters. The Lord continued to prune and protect St. Bernadette through those He brought into her path, including those strict members of the order. Suffering and humiliation preserved St. Bernadette from the sin of pride - due to her many revelations - and increased in her the virtue of a single hearted love of God and neighbor – the whole of the Law.
To keep me from being conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 7-9).
St. Bernadette died on April 16, 1879. Her body placed in a casket, and buried near the chapel of St. Joseph in the convent grounds. When the casket was unearthed in 1908 as a result of a commission responsible for the examination of Bernadette's life and character, it was found to be intact and
St. Bernadette’s life and un-corrupted remains are God’s visible mark and declaration to the sanctity of the little saint, the historicity of the vision, and the infallibility of the Dogma concerning Mary’s Immaculate Conception.
St. Bernadette’s love of God and obedience to the requests of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are the instrument through which great comfort and healing are brought to many souls.
This brings me to another story as told by a Mr. Noah Lett on the Journey Home program on EWTN. In his story, Mr. Lett related how as a young child he was lead to a belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ. He advanced in grace and eventually became a clergyman within the Lutheran Church, and related that one day while entering through the doors of his rectory; he was translated to the tomb of St. Bernadette. Mr. Lett knew nothing about St. Bernadette. Standing before the un-corrupted body in the glass coffin in the convent chapel, he heard a voice ask the following question three times, “Noah what do you see?” Noah attempted to answer logically on two (2) occasions but remembers that on the 3rd count through a gift of knowledge responded: “I see that the sacraments of the Catholic Church give what they promise.” Mr. Noah Lett is now a Catholic and to hear him speak is a treasure to say the least.
My wife stood by the incorrupt body of St. Bernadette on one of her pilgrimages, and all she could think about was this was the place that Noah Lett had stood when he was bi-located from his Lutheran rectory to France.
Going back to the episode of the mother’s young child, we know that through Baptism, confession, and reception of Holy Communion her child lives as a temple of God’s Holy Spirit, a precious stone in the edifice which Almighty God is erecting upon the foundation of the Apostles, with Jesus being the corner stone.
The sacraments of the Catholic Church give what they promise for they were instituted by Jesus Christ and administered by the Catholic Church His Bride, which shares with all her children the Promises of Jesus Christ.
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you and know that I am with you always to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28: 19-20).
And Jesus breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit, the sins you forgive are forgiven and the sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22).
“Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6: 54).
We see as in a mirror darkly, the mind of God who reveals His providence, His justice, mercy, and goodness over all of creation at every moment in time and eternity. God in his infinite Wisdom deigns to dwell in such little souls - which the Worldly Wise can only measure, quantify, and then categorize. “God confuses the proud in their deepest thoughts,” said Mary to Elizabeth.
We know that God bring all things to good for those who love him. This truth is born out in the lives of the saints, which all of us by God’s grace regardless of our physical capabilities or limitations are called to imitate.
The story of St. Bernadette is beautifully presented by three (3) movies that I am aware of:
• Song of Bernadette
• Bernadette distributed by Ignatius Press
• Passion of Bernadette distributed by Ignatius Press
Rent and enjoy them and see that God is truly glorified in His saints.
Beautiful comment on this piece:
by "Grace:"
I was very surprised recently when a friend, whom I know to be very devoted to Mary, told me that she doesn’t care much about apparitions. Even allowing that she may have overstated, it still shocked me that a serious Catholic might not have some attention to spare for all the earthly visitations that Our Blessed Mother has been making during the long centuries since she was assumed into Heaven. Is it because my friend is a cradle Catholic? Perhaps. Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe---these were part of the air one breathed growing up, at least for older Catholics. Apparitions, for them, might seem ordinary, nothing to get excited about. But that was not the case for me. As a little Protestant girl growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s, I heard no rumor of these amazing appearances of the Mother of Jesus, except for one--Lourdes. The father of a friend of mine had built a small Lourdes grotto for his daughter in their back yard, and she had ornamented it in a lovely fashion with flowers and moss and shells. I was enchanted by it, and secretly envious, wishing that my church was one that encouraged backyard construction projects. Not long afterwards I saw a movie about Lourdes on TV—the Song of Bernadette—and learned a little about the event that had inspired the miniature grotto. But apart from the movie I never heard anyone talk about Lourdes or its meaning, and was not entirely sure what to think about the matter. I was aware that Hollywood often exaggerated things, or distorted them; perhaps the whole thing had been made up. I heard little more about Marian apparitions until I became a Catholic at the age of 23.
At last I was free to learn about our Blessed Mother and take full delight in every Marian shrine I came across, free to cherish a devotion to her as Our Lady of Lourdes, free to honor her under any or all of her many titles. My childhood instincts had been right on the money; it was entirely appropriate to be envious of my little Catholic friend. In addition to a very cool yard ornament, she had had access to a wealth of spiritual riches such as I had never dreamed of. Among them was the knowledge that the Mother of Jesus had been coming to earth to visit her children and to instruct them in the paths of holiness. Of course, not everyone got to see her, but enough people encountered the visible proofs of her manifestations so as to leave no reasonable doubt. The spring at Lourdes has provided miraculous cures for untold numbers of people, the miraculous tilma of Juan Diego may still be seen in Mexico, and over 70,000 people, atheists and skeptics included, saw the miracle of the sun at Fatima in 1917. I learned that the list of apparitions goes on and on, showing her great love for us as our spiritual mother. This is all part of the Evangelium. God is our Father, Jesus is our brother, and He gave us Mary to be our spiritual mother as He was dying on the cross, which means the Church is really one big family, and we are all the adopted children of God. Spectacularly good news.
Why, then, do we so seldom hear about apparitions at church? Yes, I know they are “optional” and add nothing to the deposit of faith, but they help demonstrate it. How better to demonstrate the Communion of the Saints, one of the articles of the Apostle’s Creed, than by having Our Blessed Mother come to earth and beg us to turn to her Son for our salvation?
And yet the Church’s ministers rarely talk about the apparitions, and few people outside the church know about them anymore. This is a tragedy. I think the apparitions have a great, untapped potential to bring people to Jesus Christ, which is, after all, Our Lady’s aim in visiting us. So, if we want to take part in the New Evangelization, we should talk more about the Marian apparitions, not attempt to downplay them, as some people have done, with the mistaken idea that we shouldn’t “offend” people by mentioning the Blessed Virgin. That is why I am so grateful to Lawrence Fox for his fine piece on Bernadette and Lourdes, which I have read several times. Lay Catholics can accomplish a lot of good by using the social media to increase knowledge of Marian apparitions, not for their own sake, but because they have been the conduit of God’s grace for so many people. From Lawrence I learned about Noah Lett, another Protestant who was converted by an encounter with St. Bernadette and the miracle of Lourdes. Thank you, Lawrence!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Adam was a White Man from Baltimore
by Lawrence Fox
People come to me from time to time with stories of woes within their relationships.
When God brought the Woman to Adam, he responded: “THIS IS NOW BONE OF MY BONE AND FLESH OF MY FLESH. I SHALL CALL HER WOMAN FOR SHE CAME FORTH FROM MAN.”
Well, that was the situation before they both put their hands to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• Adam: “Eve, this marriage thing is wonderful.”
• Eve: “Honey, look at the tree in the center of the garden!”
• Adam: “What tree, my love?”
• Eve: “Oh the one that the talking snake is pointing out?”
• Adam: “Talking snake? I named all the animals in the garden and I do not remember a talking snake.”
• Eve: “Well then, you missed one.”
• Eve: “He is hissing something about being equal with God.”
• Adam: “I don’t know. I came out of the dirt, but your origins are more nobler.”
• Eve: “Thank you for the compliment, but don’t you want to know good from evil?”
• Adam: “This talking snake sounds like trouble and good for nothing.”
• Eve: “Sigh, sigh, sigh”
• Adam: “Okay, I will listen to what it has to say.”
• Adam: “Speak up, snake.”
• Snake: “I already gave the woman the skinny. The deal is that you put your hand to the tree and you will be like God.”
• Adam: “Sounds too easy. Besides I have to work this garden, and God seems to have to work everything else. Not sure I want more work.”
• Snake: “I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record.”
• Adam: “Decisions, decisions. Honey, what do you want?”
• Eve: “Oh! Oh! I want the red one over there!”
• Adam: “Too high!”
• Eve: “Okay the green one down below!”
• Adam” “Got it and here you go!”
• Eve: Bite. “Hmm, I feel strange.”
• Adam: Bite. "Hmm . . . You look really great!”
• Eve: “Adam you are looking at me kind of funny.”
• Adam: “.” “.”
• Adam: “Sorry, must be the start of a mid-life crisis.”
After the tree and fruit incident, Adam and Eve start to forage and decide to open a clothier store.
• Eve: “These fig leaves are kind of ruff to work with and not much color variation.”
• Adam: “Well it is a little awkward for me too. Besides you already have six outfits hanging on the branch over there.”
• Adam: “Where is that snake anyway, it would make a great necktie.”
• Eve: “How’s this look?”
• Adam: “I thought the first one looked great!”
• Eve: “I did not like the way it made my hips bulge.”
• Adam: “Oh.”
• Eve: “What about this one.”
• Adam: “Hmm, too green”
• Eve: “They are all green.”
• Adam: “Oh.”
• Adam: “I am hungry.”
• Eve: “We just ate a little while ago.”
• Adam: “I forgot, not much of a meal. The effects were okay.”
• Eve: “Adam, you are just a white man from Baltimore.”
• Adam: “I hear company -- someone calling our names in the cool of the evening.”
• God: “Adam, why are you mulling around in the vines?”
• Adam: “I noticed I was missing some accouterments. You did not tell me about cover.”
• God to Adam: “What accouterments? You put your hand to the tree which I forbade you to touch?”
• Adam: “That woman you placed in the garden tempted me.”
• Eve: “So that is it, Adam, you are playing the blame game.”
• God to Eve: “I see you have six green outfits. What is your excuse?”
• Eve: “The slithering necktie over there tempted me!”
• God to snake: “For that you are going to crawl on your belly and eat dirt and someday the woman is going to smash your head.”
• Snake: “I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record, ‘If you give me 3 steps, give me 3 steps Mister and you won’t see me no more.’”
• God: “Here is some leather outfits just fitted for the both of you. Free of charge.”
• Eve: Squealing, “And they are not green!”
• God: “Well you are going to have to leave the garden and rough it outside.”
• Adam: “Sounds terrible, where are we going to live?”
• God: “Well there is an HOA a couple of miles down the road. The dirt is no good, only produces weeds.”
• Adam: “Please don’t tell me a bunch of talking snakes operate the place?”
Adam and Eve are now parents, gardeners, and sheep herders.
• Adam: “Looks as if we will be having another wedding to attend down the road.”
• Eve: “Yes, our third daughter is finally leaving home in search of another brother.”
• Adam: “What is it with Cain and Abel -- they never seem to get along?”
• Eve: “Ever since I taught Able how to barbecue, Cain has been really jealous. All he does is burn portions of his crops.”
• Adam: “He needs anger management classes.”
• Eve: “If you just laid down the law around here, he would listen better."
• Adam: “Sorry, I'm not very good at the law thing. All I do all day long is sweat from my brow.”
• Eve: “Here he comes now, say something to him.”
• Adam: “Look if you would just be nicer to your younger brother Abel, I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record.”
• Cain: “Where’s the flint and stubble, I have something to burn.”
• Abel: “Hello everyone!! Well I just barbecued another unblemished goat and the smoke is rising very very high!!”
• Cain: “UGGGGG. I cannot take this anymore.”
Adam and Eve Living in Retirement
• Adam: “Well, life has sure had its ups and downs and some very sad moments.”
• Eve: “Yes, some decisions did not turn out so well.”
• Adam: “Eve, I am sorry for all my shortcomings. Do you forgive me?”
• Eve: “I do and that is okay. We both have them.”
• Eve: “Besides, we know there will be a great, great, great, grand daughter who is going to smash that necktie of a snake.”
• Adam: “What is your greatest memory?”
• Eve: “When God introduced me to you, Adam, and you reacted with such enthusiasm.”
• Eve: “What is your greatest memory?”
• Adam: “Yes, that was great moment. I suppose the other great moment was just after I ate the fruit from the Tree and you looked so…..”
• Eve: “Adam, you will never change. You will always be my White Man from Baltimore.”
People come to me from time to time with stories of woes within their relationships.
When God brought the Woman to Adam, he responded: “THIS IS NOW BONE OF MY BONE AND FLESH OF MY FLESH. I SHALL CALL HER WOMAN FOR SHE CAME FORTH FROM MAN.”
Well, that was the situation before they both put their hands to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• Adam: “Eve, this marriage thing is wonderful.”
• Eve: “Honey, look at the tree in the center of the garden!”
• Adam: “What tree, my love?”
• Eve: “Oh the one that the talking snake is pointing out?”
• Adam: “Talking snake? I named all the animals in the garden and I do not remember a talking snake.”
• Eve: “Well then, you missed one.”
• Eve: “He is hissing something about being equal with God.”
• Adam: “I don’t know. I came out of the dirt, but your origins are more nobler.”
• Eve: “Thank you for the compliment, but don’t you want to know good from evil?”
• Adam: “This talking snake sounds like trouble and good for nothing.”
• Eve: “Sigh, sigh, sigh”
• Adam: “Okay, I will listen to what it has to say.”
• Adam: “Speak up, snake.”
• Snake: “I already gave the woman the skinny. The deal is that you put your hand to the tree and you will be like God.”
• Adam: “Sounds too easy. Besides I have to work this garden, and God seems to have to work everything else. Not sure I want more work.”
• Snake: “I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record.”
• Adam: “Decisions, decisions. Honey, what do you want?”
• Eve: “Oh! Oh! I want the red one over there!”
• Adam: “Too high!”
• Eve: “Okay the green one down below!”
• Adam” “Got it and here you go!”
• Eve: Bite. “Hmm, I feel strange.”
• Adam: Bite. "Hmm . . . You look really great!”
• Eve: “Adam you are looking at me kind of funny.”
• Adam: “.” “.”
• Adam: “Sorry, must be the start of a mid-life crisis.”
After the tree and fruit incident, Adam and Eve start to forage and decide to open a clothier store.
• Eve: “These fig leaves are kind of ruff to work with and not much color variation.”
• Adam: “Well it is a little awkward for me too. Besides you already have six outfits hanging on the branch over there.”
• Adam: “Where is that snake anyway, it would make a great necktie.”
• Eve: “How’s this look?”
• Adam: “I thought the first one looked great!”
• Eve: “I did not like the way it made my hips bulge.”
• Adam: “Oh.”
• Eve: “What about this one.”
• Adam: “Hmm, too green”
• Eve: “They are all green.”
• Adam: “Oh.”
• Adam: “I am hungry.”
• Eve: “We just ate a little while ago.”
• Adam: “I forgot, not much of a meal. The effects were okay.”
• Eve: “Adam, you are just a white man from Baltimore.”
• Adam: “I hear company -- someone calling our names in the cool of the evening.”
• God: “Adam, why are you mulling around in the vines?”
• Adam: “I noticed I was missing some accouterments. You did not tell me about cover.”
• God to Adam: “What accouterments? You put your hand to the tree which I forbade you to touch?”
• Adam: “That woman you placed in the garden tempted me.”
• Eve: “So that is it, Adam, you are playing the blame game.”
• God to Eve: “I see you have six green outfits. What is your excuse?”
• Eve: “The slithering necktie over there tempted me!”
• God to snake: “For that you are going to crawl on your belly and eat dirt and someday the woman is going to smash your head.”
• Snake: “I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record, ‘If you give me 3 steps, give me 3 steps Mister and you won’t see me no more.’”
• God: “Here is some leather outfits just fitted for the both of you. Free of charge.”
• Eve: Squealing, “And they are not green!”
• God: “Well you are going to have to leave the garden and rough it outside.”
• Adam: “Sounds terrible, where are we going to live?”
• God: “Well there is an HOA a couple of miles down the road. The dirt is no good, only produces weeds.”
• Adam: “Please don’t tell me a bunch of talking snakes operate the place?”
Adam and Eve are now parents, gardeners, and sheep herders.
• Adam: “Looks as if we will be having another wedding to attend down the road.”
• Eve: “Yes, our third daughter is finally leaving home in search of another brother.”
• Adam: “What is it with Cain and Abel -- they never seem to get along?”
• Eve: “Ever since I taught Able how to barbecue, Cain has been really jealous. All he does is burn portions of his crops.”
• Adam: “He needs anger management classes.”
• Eve: “If you just laid down the law around here, he would listen better."
• Adam: “Sorry, I'm not very good at the law thing. All I do all day long is sweat from my brow.”
• Eve: “Here he comes now, say something to him.”
• Adam: “Look if you would just be nicer to your younger brother Abel, I will throw in an AC/DC and Black Sabbath record.”
• Cain: “Where’s the flint and stubble, I have something to burn.”
• Abel: “Hello everyone!! Well I just barbecued another unblemished goat and the smoke is rising very very high!!”
• Cain: “UGGGGG. I cannot take this anymore.”
Adam and Eve Living in Retirement
• Adam: “Well, life has sure had its ups and downs and some very sad moments.”
• Eve: “Yes, some decisions did not turn out so well.”
• Adam: “Eve, I am sorry for all my shortcomings. Do you forgive me?”
• Eve: “I do and that is okay. We both have them.”
• Eve: “Besides, we know there will be a great, great, great, grand daughter who is going to smash that necktie of a snake.”
• Adam: “What is your greatest memory?”
• Eve: “When God introduced me to you, Adam, and you reacted with such enthusiasm.”
• Eve: “What is your greatest memory?”
• Adam: “Yes, that was great moment. I suppose the other great moment was just after I ate the fruit from the Tree and you looked so…..”
• Eve: “Adam, you will never change. You will always be my White Man from Baltimore.”
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