On Souls, Reincarnation, and Journey of Souls, Part 3 Christianity tells the story of a journey. So does Michael Newton in books like Journey of Souls, where he presents what he learns about souls from clients under hypnosis. The Christian story is a good one. I’ll explain in Part One what I mean by that and how the Journey of Souls story doesn’t measure up. The Christian journey is through Earth’s time and space. This is a setting with its... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 10 I was walking through the vestibule of a local Lutheran church and peering into the sanctuary. (The word “sanctuary” means interestingly different things for Lutherans and Catholics; but see below for that.) As I was saying, I was walking, along with the church’s pastor, and peering, and I noticed a lighted sanctuary lamp. In Catholic churches that lamp signals the real presence of Christ in the tabernacle. I wondered... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 9 We live in a world of grace. We are always in God’s presence, and this presence, this grace, is always pushing us to celebrate, especially through the sacraments. But God’s grace leads us to do many things. How important for us is our participation the sacraments? Celebrating together Imagine a family getting together at Grandmother’s house or a community getting together for a fireworks display. We celebrate because of... Read more
Yesterday, July 28, was the first feast day of Blessed Stanley Rother (ROW-ther). Fr. Rother, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, served in the diocese’s mission in Guatemala during the dangerous years of gorilla uprising and government oppression. He was killed for speaking out for the poor and for his parishioners, who were being tortured and killed by government forces. My pastor at St. Ray’s Church, Springfield, MN, also served in a mission parish in Guatemala. He informed... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 8 Does religion turn people away from this world in search of some better place, like maybe heaven? Some atheists assume so, and some Christians give that impression. But Jesus had little or nothing to say about that distant heaven. His words and actions were very down-to-earth. Matter shows up prominently in the signs of the sacraments, more prominently since the liturgical reforms. Water flows more abundantly, oil is more... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 7 Sacraments are celebrations. That seemed like a new idea after the Council. Actually, the idea was there before but far in the background, behind more practical descriptions of Catholic worship like “service” and “spiritual food.” Now it seems to me that “celebration” describes sacraments perfectly. Formerly, if I thought about celebrating at all, I might have thought: Jesus, who died for me, is alive and comes to me in... Read more
On Souls, Reincarnation, and Journey of Souls, Part 2 Journey of Souls by David Newton chronicles the experiences of souls not as much in past lives as in their lives between incarnations. These souls can recount in detail their experiences in a world of spirits, but they have very little to say about God. The traditional picture of God as a person, they say, is too limiting. Rather than even use the word “God,” they speak, but rarely, of the... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 6 I have lived through a time of renewal in the Church and in her understanding of sacraments. The renewal of my own understanding of sacraments had its own timetable and path. Throughout it was the special nature of the sacramental signs that fascinated me. The starting point for the Catholic understanding of sacramental signs is that they effect, they bring about, what they signify. When I went to church,... Read more
Celebrations of Grace: The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Part 5 Catholics through the ages have loved the sacraments, loved the grace, the closeness to God, they find in church. Other things that happen in our everyday lives, however, bring out in us more various and down-to-earth emotions. We enjoy things, we suffer them, we endure them, we get wild about them, we feel bound by them, or we freely commit ourselves to them. When you look close enough, all... Read more
I got my churches mixed up while visiting a daughter in Madison, Wisconsin, and came to Mass in the Middle of the homily. The brand new priest was giving a moving account of the round-about path to his ordination. A central piece of the homily was his experience of the sacraments, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation. The young priest concluded with a thought about our goal—to spend eternity with God in heaven. That’s something we all want to do, but it’s... Read more
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