If Thy (insert here) Causes Thee to Sin........

Whenever my wife thinks I'm spending too much time in Catholic forums, or answering facebook posts or engaging others on twitter about an array of topics regarding faith and morals, she simply says, "George Vogt, you can't save the world."

I know this to be true. Souls are saved only by Jesus, and although He does use us to cooperate with His Grace in saving others, what Kendra is really saying is, "You can't get through to everyone. Don't take it so personal."

In the Gospel from yesterdays readings at Mass, we hear Jesus say, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." In his homily, our priest talked about removing the things from our lives that are hindering us from conforming our lives to Christ and entering into a deeper relationship with God. He mentioned that many of the things we do, while not in and of themselves are bad, if misused or abused could be part of those hindrances.

While this message was not a new one for me, I can always use a little reminder or two you know. In a way, his message to me was the same as Kendra's. I have learned that no matter what you say or do, some people are just too stubborn to even consider changing their minds about some things.

Whenever I find myself frustrated by what I perceive to be close-mindedness towards God from others, I try to remind myself of the rich man who walked away from Jesus because the message was too hard. Jesus never ran after him. He let him go.

It's not always easy for me to let a stranger go like that. I have to remind myself that it's God's message, my job to deliver it, and the other's choice to receive or reject it. This is multiplied for me with friends and family. My control issues are another story though.

But this leads me to another point made by our priest yesterday. Sometimes there are people in our lives who just have to be cut off. What!? His point, and he's right, is that sometimes we have the right intentions and think that we are helping certain people. We think that if we just keep at it, we will have an impact upon their lives that leads them to God, or to a deeper relationship with Him. All the while though, our relationships with certain people may actually be more damaging to us than rewarding to them.

Perhaps it is time to really consider what relationships bear fruit, and which relationships need to be cut off.

Disclaimer: This post is not directed towards any particular individual nor group of individuals. The reader assumes all risks associated when contemplating this message. 

The Weighting Is The Hardest Part

I've been writing about examining all candidates with a prayerful and properly formed conscience and keeping faith and morals in the political discussions.

There can be such a will of some people to defeat a particular candidate that they don't even want to hear or read anything, and I mean anything, that might cause them or others to do anything but march on in a robotic trance, with blinders on their eyes and fingers in their ears.

As Christians, we have a greater responsibility and allegiance to God than to any politician, political party, and even to our country.  Of course our country is important, but as Christians we are responsible to cooperate with God in our witness to others first, hopefully transforming the country through God's Grace.

The most common responses I have received so far have been:

Romney "is pro-life".

-Well, there's more to being pro-life than being anti-abortion.  And Romney is not always anti-abortion. And even when he is, I do not see such conviction that I believe that he will actually do anything other than say he is pro-life. There's more on this, but you can do a little research on your own right? (Of course we know Obama is definitely pro-abortion and even pro-infanticide so do not misinterpret or distort what I am saying.)

What " if your vote results in dramatic worsening of the situation for pretty much everything you care about (a bigger evil staying in power)?" and "A vote for a third party candidate is a vote for Obama."

-That is part of the discernment that one needs to consider. But it's a part and needs to be taken to prayer and considered in the whole of the process. When our conscience is clear, we will proceed with assurance and peace, not fear. The Lord does not give us a Spirit of fear.

"I know Romney is not perfect. He was not my first nor second choice in the primaries but he he is better than Obama."
-My intention is to get people to think about the weight of their vote on their souls before the weight of politics. Honestly, it's not for me to judge someone who wrestles with the full grasp of facts and takes that (hopefully with prayer) into the voting booth.

I was going to rant on a bit more about this, but Lisa beat me to it.  (Ah, good for me and for you.)

No, it's not easy, but it is your responsibility.  And although Tom Petty's song "The Waiting" was definitely composed with a different end in mind, the chorus of that song reminds me of this process.  Here it is (with my changing of that one word <2x>):

The weighting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The weighting is the hardest part
(The Waiting, by Tom Petty - with editorial liberty)

So try not to get angry about any of this, just think and pray and discern until you truly feel at peace that you have taken into account all of the information. Soon, the weighting will be over.

The Voices In My Head - Part 1

How do I know if it is God speaking to me or if it is "all in my head"?

This is a great question, and one that should be especially considered by one who professes to be a Christian.  Let's face it.  There is no shortage of conflicting thoughts among Christians on just about anything, but especially with regards to faith and morals.

Today, our world is full of noise and "busyness".  Add in the fact that decades of media and political slants have been rather successful at diluting at best and manipulating at worse the "messages" we receive, and it is a little more clear why it has become more difficult for us to discern the "voice" of God in our "hearts".

This is a good place to start.  To be able to recognize God's "voice", we must first understand that He speaks to the "heart", the depths of one's being.  It is where God has already written His law.  (Romans 2:14-15)  It is in the heart that "conscience" must delve to seek out God's true voice.

For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them.  Romans 2:14-15

Conscience is the judgement or reason by which one weighs the moral merits of one's actions.  The Christian understands it as something more though.  Cardinal Newman described conscience as a "messenger" of God, which "speaks to us behind a veil".

[Conscience] is a messenger of him, who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ. John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Letter to the Duke of Norfolk," V, in Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching II (London: Longmans Green, 1885) 

So God speaks to us in our hearts where He has written His law and gives us conscience as a messenger to "interpret" for us so that we are equipped to always do right, right?  Equipped, yes, but owning (or being equipped with) high priced power tools doesn't make you a master carpenter.  There's training involved, lots and lots of training.

In fact, continuing with the carpentry theme, the Christian recognizes that while one's "skills" (or ability to recognize God's voice) increases, his or her stint as a "journeyman" is truly a lifelong apprenticeship.

Next time, I will begin to address this training of or the "formation" of conscience.