Notes for the next broadcast

Sitz im leben

Ordinary Time: Following Jesus

September 3

Z: draft.

• Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, the fourth father to be named one of the Doctors of the Church.

From e-mail and Facebook

• Dawn from e-mail: Our family went to a Mass on Sunday in which the priest gave his personal opinion from the pulpit regarding celibacy, "The Church needs to change!"...he charged.
• Kevin from Buffalo: I thought you might be interested in this petition to ask YouTube to remove eucharist desecration videos.

Last Week's Show

• MXM: One Facebook friend said that she likes Fr. Poblocki's no-nonsense approach to the show. Our motto might be: "All Nonsense, All The Time." The things that Fr. Ric exorcises from his show make a comeback here on Fridays.  :-O
• Mario's question about the filioque clause.
• Jason. Florida. I love incense. Can you explain the theological and liturgical significance of incense and why many churches today do not use incense very often? Thanks. God bless the rest of the show and have a great weekend.
• Princess: Should we start a Faithbook?
• John from California on Facebook: I am reading Father Spitzer SJ's book on the Faith and Reason/science topic. In your opinion in the world today what is the greatest challenge when explaining that faith is propelled by reason and that reason is grounded in faith? What are the roadblocks in society to get this concept?
• Maureen from Buffalo. Has a question about the role of women in the family, esp. in the modern day. Is there a cause-and-effect relationship between working outside the home and feminism?
• Erica from Williamsville. I've been reading how we can participate in making satisfaction for our sins through the Mass. Does that happen automatically by simply attending Mass, or do we have to intentionally participate for the sake of making satisfaction in order to make satisfaction? Does that even make sense?
• John from Webster: Regarding St. Monica and praying for wayward family members.

August 27

• Clock problem
• Mario from Facebook yesterday: "How would one begin to dialogue with our Orthodox brothers and sisters in regards to the filioque?"
• Memorial of Saint Monica (331-387 AD).
• Feast of St. Augustine (354-430 AD), father and doctor of the Church.
• The heart is the seat of wisdom. It is our heart that keeps our minds on track. Another name for the show: "Cor ad cor loquitur"--"Heart to Heart."

From e-mail and Facebook

Choosing the right good

Jason from Ohio who lives in Orlando said that I said: "The will of God for me is built into me, because God created me to be me."

Coping with wayward family members

Cindy from Facebook: One of her daughters has become a Lutheran; the other daughter, who is Catholic, has decided to cut off communication with her Lutheran sister. What can Cindy do to bring her Lutheran daughter back to the Church?

• I've had a lot of experience with the 12-step programs. The first step tells us that we are powerless over other people (see 2 Cor 12:10): "When [I know that] I am weak, then I am strong." Your children have a God and a Savior, and it's not you. You are of course correct that Lutheranism is a sadly diminished form of Catholicism, but if you could nag your daughter into coming home, you would not be talking to me--she would be back already.
• Let go and let God.
• Say the Serenity Prayer.
• Pray to St. Monica (today's saint).
• Pray in reparation for your own sins, then pray in reparation for the sins of your family.
• Pray the Infallible Prayer, "Thy will, not mine, be done."
• Recognize that "unsolicited advice is criticism." If we could nag people into good behavior, we wouldn't need a Savior.
• Pray that God will place someone else in their lives to convert them. Don't doubt God's power to save them, despite the deficiencies of the Lutheran tradition. We are not saved by our Church membership but by the love of God poured into our hearts through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He died to save them; He knows how to save them. Pray with St. Faustina, "Jesus, I trust in you."

Monogenism

Kevin from Buffalo: What are your thoughts on this article, particularly the points about monogenism?

• It dogmatizes science and relativizes dogma:

"Subsequent research into genomics, however, has settled this question against Pius. It's not that scientists cannot trace human ancestry back far enough to an Adam and Eve; it's that in principle, the level of genetic variation present in the species today rules out a founding population with fewer than several thousand individuals."

Where did that "founding population" come from? A miracle of mass mutation?

Etcetera

• Other unanswered questions.

Last Week's Show

• Marybeth from Henrietta: "Has a friend who says that she believes in reincarnation. Marybeth said, 'Catholics don't believe in reincarnation.' Her friend replied, 'I do and I'm Catholic.' How do you answer?"
  • Her friend is a "Catholic but."
• FACEBOOK NO. 1. Jason. Florida. At the risk of sounding impatient, it seems to me that to grow in faith and become closer to God, you have to step out of the boat and try to walk on the water. By staying in the boat, you go nowhere and learn nothing. But I also believe it is important to learn to be content with the gifts and blessings you have received. To me, this implies staying in the boat. These two noble choices seem to contrast with one another. Am I just missing something here? Can you please explain how I can reconcile the two? Thanks.
• Mary from Rochester. Has a teenaged disabled son who received Baptism but no other Sacraments. Would it be advisable for her to have him Confirmed, have First Communion, etc.?
• John. Buffalo. Just finished a book, 'History of Anti-Christ.' by a gentleman with the last name of Huchede and was wondering if Father could expand on it.
• Carol. Hamburg. Has a son who lives out of town (43) who has leukemia reoccurring. He's going through new types of Chemo, but it's taking it's toll. He's in a state of depression, and she doesn't know how to help him from long distance.
• Joan. Buffalo. Happy Birthday to you Father Marty! You share a birthday w/ my eldest son. God Bless!
• Nancy from Buffalo: "What is the best way to go to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary?"
• Hobbit: I learned a lesson. Don't post anything to facebook else Father broadcasts it to the world. ;^)
  • MXM: "Everything you say will be taken down and used against you." :-P

The Treasury of Extra Questions and Second Thoughts

We have had many questions that either come too late in the show or that need research to answer. We often say, "Tune in next week and we'll deal with that in more depth"--but we haven't always kept our promise. The purpose of this page is to make a list of those questions for future reference. If we run low on callers or current questions, we can always dip into this reservoir to keep the conversation going.

I often think of better answers to questions after the show is over. This is called "l'esprit de l'escalier," (French: "the spirit of the staircase") because lawyers so often think of the best arguments to have made while walking down the staircase leading away from the courthouse.

Exegesis

• What do you think of [this essay], particularly its assertion that dogma is more certain than Scripture study?
  • Exegesis

Purgatory

• Justin from e-mail: I know that you also share a love for C.S. Lewis' writing and that you might have some light to shed on this subject. I've been reading his book, A Grief Observed, and he brings up the idea of the dead feeling the pains of separation, as the living do, and that this might be one of their purgatorial sufferings. He explains that this bereavement is an integral part of our experience of love, and that death is just another phase, not a truncation, of that experience/process. Was wondering what you think about this? I was fascinated with his intellectual reasoning, as I usually am.
  • Purgatory

Children of lesbians in Catholic school?

• Peter from Buffalo: How do you feel about the [Catholic school that allowed the child of two lesbians to enroll in it?]

Pitch for the Magnificat

• Matt from Colorado (e-mail): I love the show on podcast and also the Magnificat. I got a subscription to it and go through the Mass readings and prayers within it daily. I love it and hope you can pass along all about it to your listeners. If I won the lottery, I would buy a subscription for everyone I know and donate more subscriptions to churches everywhere. I first picked it up in the Adoration Chapel at my Church. It was laying there and I was really knocked off my feet by it. I ran home and subscribed immediately. I can totally tell the difference in my spirituality and closeness to God. I feel myself really craving getting to the Eucharist as often as I can. Great, great reading and very interesting too. I love the integration of the lives/stories of the Saints and Blesseds. I bought my Mom a subscription too.

The meaning of fiction

Matt from Colorado asked about (e-mail about The Shack). Second thoughts: interpreting fiction.

What about the prophecies about the Antichrist?

• John from Cheektowaga: "I wished I had stayed on the phone the other day to do a follow-up (I did not want to hog all the air-time). I wasn’t looking for a speculation of WHEN the end time will be – I know our Lord Jesus said that not even the angels or saints know, but only the Father knows the day and the hour."
  • MXM: The advantage of staying on the phone is that you get to rephrase your question as we go along. If we think you're hogging the air, we'll thank you for your call and hang up on you.  :-O
• I was just looking for comment on how really interwoven all of history is (past, present & future); all events detailed in prophesy. I thought that the little book “History of Antichrist” was extremely well presented. It listed each important prophet as indicated in Sacred Scripture, what various interpretations can their words possibly mean, which church fathers, saints, doctorens, traditions, commentators through to the med 1800’s (when the book was written), etc., to include conjectures as to meanings of their statements, and, how it relates to the antichrist. The book is not bad news, but it does say, when the antichrist does come it is going to be a terrible 3 ½ years before Jesus comes and put a stop to his deceit. Many will be swayed – think of the Jews who are still looking for the coming of the Messiah (all part of God’s grand mysterious plan).
  • MXM: The Church is completely agnostic about the sequence of events at the end of the world.

The book of Revelation and other apocalyptic passages were written to comfort people who were suffering for the sake of Jesus. The message is, "Hang on. Your sufferings will be rewarded. You will reign with Jesus in glory." That message was valid in the first century and in every age since wherever disciples suffer for Jesus.

In other words, the material is about the present, NOT the future.

• The world will be tricked unless one's faith is strong.
  • MXM: We don't need "strong" faith. Putting faith in the strength of our faith is a huge mistake. No act of faith is greater than the size of a mustard seed when compared to the glory of the one in whom we place our trust.

Johnny Cash and the End of the World

Kevin in Buffalo: What do you think of the Johnny Cash song, "The Man Comes Around"?