theROCK

Joyful Witness

Our VISION: To be a spiritual home that radiates the love of God, overflows with the power of the Holy Spirit, and joyfully leads others to Christ.

“Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow Him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties. To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives and to discover that this is itself a source of greater joy. To be Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for His people.” ~ Pope Francis

Does this quote from Pope Francis enlighten your understanding of the last part of our vision statement?

The Body of Christ, the Church grows through witness; a particular kind of witness – one that is joyful and also authentic. It is this type of witness to Jesus that will lead other people to seek, know, and become Christ.

Fr. Ben J. Cameron, C.P.M. in his article, “Joyful Witness to Christ or Proselytism?” shared what his idea of witness includes: 

• Evangelization: bringing the Gospel to those who have not received or accepted it yet.
• New Evangelization: bringing the Gospel again to those persons and societies that had once embraced it, but have essentially lost the Faith.
• Catechesis: education and formation of those who have the Faith so that they grasp it more deeply and live it more authentically.
• Apologetics: being ready “to give reasons for the hope that is within you” (I Peter 3:15), which can be a powerful way of bringing people to Christ and our Catholic Faith.
• Christian Charity: a life which is truly based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church should be attractive to others, and lead them to Christ.
• Martyrdom: the martyrs are the ultimate witnesses to Our Lord Jesus Christ; the word “martyr” means “witness,” and the willingness to die for Christ has led many, many souls to embrace our Catholic Faith – “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians,” as Tertullian said in the second century.

Pope Francis has called each and every one of us to live and witness to Christ much more authentically and joyfully. And this joyful witness to Christ will attract other people to the Church. In the 17th century, St. Francis de Sales said that you “attract more flies with a teaspoon of honey than with a whole barrel of vinegar.” A true joyful witness will attract many persons to the truth, beauty, and goodness of our Catholic Faith.

May we all be such joyful witnesses, leading other to Christ!

Pray for the Dead

Praying for the dead has long been a tradition of the Church, but recent times suggest we may have fallen out of practice of this beautiful and necessary act of charity.

It is a strange thing to do, to pray for the dead. After all, what are we actually praying for the dead to obtain? The answer to this is based on the reality of Purgatory. Purgatory, another tradition not spoken of much today, is real. But what exactly is it?

To understand this we need to be aware that purgatory is not a necessarily a place but a process. Even here on earth, we are called to live a life of purgatory. The word purgatory means to purify, or in everyday language, to achieve the holiness necessary to enter into heaven. In other words, purgatory is a process which prepares us for heaven. 

When understood this way, purgatory is not just something for those who have died, but for all us living as well. All of us can be striving to prepare ourselves for heaven. However, as we know in our own life, we do not always take advantage of the time given to us here on earth. In fact, I can spend very little time preparing for heaven and rather spend a lot of time preparing for life on earth.

Purgatory is the opportunity given by God to prepare for heaven if we need it. That said, we might be tempted to ask why do we need to prepare for heaven at all?

If I were to die right now and go straight to heaven, I would immediately feel as if I do not belong because there are many things I am still attached to here on earth. Even if I am free from sin, there are still sins I have the desire to commit. I would feel as if I was unworthy as I stood among all the saints who completely entrusted their life to God. If we are honest, we know that even our loved ones who have died were not perfect. To account for this, God gives us the process of purgatory.

Purgatory prepares us for a place in heaven. When we pray for the dead, we are praying that this process may go quick. That they may purify and prepare themselves for heaven as fast as possible. We are encouraging and helping them.

When thought of in this way, purgatory does not seem all that bad or scary, in fact it is a great thing, for it allows us to experience the full joy of heaven.   

Faith. Hope. Perseverence.

On August 27, we celebrate the feast of St. Monica. I “met” St. Monica a few years ago. While I knew of her, I took the time to learn more about her in order to establish a friendship. I now call upon her daily as I try to live with and understand the changing nature of my role as mother, now that my children are adults. This is a struggle for me; the balancing act between continuing to teach but doing it in a way that will not be seen as too pushy. The life of St. Monica sheds some light on how to navigate this tenuous terrain. After all, I only want the best for my children, all children, and that is a life rooted in Jesus Christ. 

St. Monica was married to a pagan man who respected her beliefs but was unwilling to have their three children baptized. Their children were Augustine, Navigus, and Perpetua.  Monica would pray fervently for her husband’s conversion, and one year prior to his death, he was converted. In that time, Navigus and Perpetua entered into religious life, but Augustine was nothing but lazy and uncouth. Worried, Monica sent him away to Carthage for an education. Unfortunately, Augustine established an appreciation for a philosophy of life that was not Christian. Upon returning home and telling his mother, she kicked him out of the house. Feeling remorse, she reconciled with her son and pursued a different approach. She sought counsel from many people and  eventually forged a relationship with St. Ambrose. Augustine was eventually brought to conversion after seventeen years of persistence. Augustine went on to become St. Augustine.  (www.catholic.org).

What was the secret? Faith. Hope.  Perseverance in prayer. St. Monica found every avenue to teach in subtle and not so subtle ways. She called upon the Saints. She asked for help.  She sought support. She relied upon the Mass and making sacrifices. Her story demonstrates how even when you don’t think your children/next generation isn’t paying attention or listening, they most certainly are. If you read Confessions by St. Augustine, you will definitely see that St. Monica’s actions had more of an impact than her words. She never gave up on her son, because God never gives up on us. 

St. Monica,
I need your prayers. You know exactly how I'm feeling because you once felt it yourself. I'm hurting, hopeless, and in despair. I desperately want my child to return to Christ in his Church but I can't do it alone. I need God's help. Please join me in begging the Lord's powerful grace to flow into my child's life. Ask the Lord Jesus to soften his heart, prepare a path for his conversion, and activate the Holy Spirit in his life. Amen.