WHAT SOURCES DO YOU LEARN FROM?

I was asked this question the other day.  It came from a person whom I respect and so I know that it is not troll bait, or chum as it is sometimes called in the "trade."  
I must say that the question caught me by surprise.  I had to admit that I have but one final, do not pass "go" source, The Bible and the Intellectual and Spiritual Treasury of the Church.  From there I use the dept and breadth of the Internet to feed myself, and there through the use of print media as it appears electronically.  I am an habitual reader of
NBC
VOX
DAILY BEAST
WASHINGTON POST
HUFFINGTON POST
NEW YORK TIMES
LE MONDE
FIGARO
BBC
Those are for current events.
Customary research sources are
NEW ADVENT
VATICAN/HOLY SEE SITE
BIBLE

I am also accustomed to perusing the writings of the ancient Greek Philosophers, especially Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates.
I like William of Ockham and finally I admit that Karl Marx is someone whom I admire, especially his theory of material dialectic.

I am a free thinker and I do not identify myself as a liberal (leftist) or a conservative (rightist) and  do not align myself with any of the contemporary talkers and thinkers.  I allow myself to question the positions of those who have them and posit them in the public square.  I am convinced that my opinions and convictions are every bit as valid as anyone else's and I am not afraid to express them.  I do not align myself to  an existing political party or social movement.  

I do not consider myself a relativist but I strive to keep myself in the dynamic center of the truth.  I am convinced that it is in the center where the truth is in constant dynamic development toward its inevitable final absolute and eternal reality.  I identify that with the one real absolute in which I believe and to which I cling.  To wit, the transition from this life to the next and the effort that it takes to live up to the expectations of the Eternal God.  

Oh, and the last absolute, there is to be no crying at my funeral.

CHURCH IN ONE HAND, JESUS IN THE OTHER, THE WAY TO HEAVEN

R.C. PRIEST - HERE TODAY
GONE TOMORROW
SEE YOU IN HEAVEN

There comes a time in every Catholic diocese during the course of every year when the faithful congregants struggle with the meaning of the changing of the guard, so to speak.  

The world of the Catholic Church is one that is focused on the end times, the final judgment, the moment of truth, the hour of death, the arrival of the Bridegroom, the meeting of our Creator/Father.  There are many elements of Catholic life that prepare us for the moment when we leave the temporal dimension and enter into dimensionless eternity.  One such element of this preparation is the call and the promise to continuity and unity of purpose in the life of the Church.  It is the factual, flint hard, day to day renewal of our Faith in the presence of God in every facet of our lives.  Besides the call to stay faithful to our families, to our jobs, to our country, to our own personal relationship with our friends and neighbors and finally to God through His Church.  Yes, all of these commitments require dedicated perseverance.  They require that we keep our hearts, souls and minds focused on the final reality, the rest of eternity in the presence of God.

We are brought up in the faith that says that the Church is One, Holy, Catholic (Universal) and Apostolic.  The greatest of these is its Unity.  It is one through time, one in mind, heart and soul every day and everywhere.  It is in its Unity, Holiness, Catholicity and  Apostolicity that Jesus could promise that the gates of Hell would never prevail against it.  We know that this is true because every day we get the opportunity to talk to someone clear across the world who has been to Mass in the morning; we say "God be with you" as we part company with an acquaintance; we get a telephone call from our Presbyterian friend asking for Catholic prayers before submitting himself to surgery; we travel anywhere on the continent and go to Mass in any language and we can relate; we travel anywhere and we know that there will be a daily Mass somewhere in which we can participate either to begin or end our day; we also know that at that Mass there will be warm hearted brethren willing to spend a joyful moment with us.  The priest may even be one of those who approaches us lovingly. Yes, the priest.  Ah, the priest.

Where does he come from?  How long has he been here?  For how long will he be here?  Is he the pastor?  Maybe one of the vicars?  Maybe from across town?  Maybe even traveling like us and just happens to be here for a couple of days?  Oh, he's from Africa!  We take that for granted these days.  We don't give it a second thought but in these two paragraphs we are living moments of preparation for eternity with the One, Unchanging Creator Father.  Eternity will be dimensionless, remember.  No time.  No coming and going.  Just constant measureless, wonderfully awesome love of God.  Our life in the Church prepares us for that.

We don't go to participate in the Mass because Father Mack is the celebrant.  We don't go to Mass at the cross-town church for the sake of the cross-town church.
We don't go to Mass where there are cushioned kneelers and pews for our comfort.  We don't have to worry about which priest will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism next Sunday.  We don't worry about which priest is going to come to our death bed.  We know that if we are in our own country or a country far away, when we are there we are also in church, prayers and sacraments, tabernacles and sanctuary lights, pictures (icons) and statues, tabernacles and Stations of the Cross as well as incense and holy water.  It doesn't matter whether it is Bethlehem in Palestine or Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, it's all the same.

Finally, and to the point of all this, when the jolly merry-go-round of clergy changes happens every year, one priest leaves and one comes in behind him.  The Church doesn't move, they do.  You and I move too, but the Church doesn't move, we do.The Church is our heaven here below. It doesn't change.  The Church is the beginning of Heaven.  The Church is the bride of Jesus.  We hold Her hand and side by side with Her we hold His hand along the Way to heaven.  On the way to heaven we have to have the Church in one hand and Jesus in the other.  The occasional do-si-do of the clergy is nothing but the confirmation that the Church remains the Church and the rest is God's plan of using his human creatures as His collaborators along the way to Eternity.

We find the foundation of our faith in the Church in the mystery of Pentecost.  Jesus promised us the Advocate, the Counselor, the Comforter, the fire carrier who infuses our hearts and souls with the zeal for God's house.  The Holy Spirit showed the disciples the way of courage, penance, prayer and zeal.  We are in that same boat. The Ark that did not sink; the boat where the apostles were sleeping did not sink; the boat that we are in will not sink per the promise mentioned above.  This is a journey in a boat that leads to the Eternal Harbor of boundless, dimensionless love.  We know that because even in our short lives we see it weather so many storms.  Our contribution as faithful members of the Church is to keep our hearts and souls locked in to the eternal Light that never wavers because it is not human.  That is what the Church teaches us by its very existence.  

I firmly believe that and because I do, I am telling you, never cry at the transfer of the clergy because we don't own them, and do not even get tempted to cry at my funeral.

Amen.

LAST JUDGMENT QUESTION -- WHY DID I NOT KNOW?

Can you just give me some insight as to the significance of being a sheep?

So far I understand this:

Jesus is a sacrificial lamb (therefore making him a sign of humility, meekness, and kindness)

Sheep always need to be led

Sheep are somewhat ignorant, but in a way that makes them humble/obedient

Sheep have a strong presence in scripture due to the cultural significance

Why a goat? Other parts of the bible use a wolf, but this passage uses a goat, is there significance to that?

Here in this passage, the sheep on the right of Jesus have obviously been saved because of their life 
actions (what seem very similar to the corporal works of mercy). However they deny knowing that they 
acted in this way, “Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you…”

The same goes for the ones on the left (the goats). The goats are being condemned (for their inactions) 
but they also are asking “Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty…”

It seems that the sheep are ignorant of their good actions, and the same can be said for the goats 
(ignorant of their inaction), so why are the sheep good and the goats bad?

It is obvious that the sheep are good because of their behavior (practicing the corporal works of mercy, 
loving one another), but yet they do not know that they are doing good deeds.

We practice these behaviors today because Jesus has revealed them through his ongoing revelation, 
but we do these actions in his name, there is no denying that. I think I would find myself saying “yes, 
Lord, I clothed the naked because I Love You and I love my neighbor.” I would definitely not say “well 
when did I feed you, when did I clothe you?”

It just seems confusing to me because both the righteous and the evil are being judged for something 
they are ignorant of.

How can someone not know if they are doing something good?

I hope I am explaining myself…

Thank you for your question.  In reading your explanation a couple things
come to mind.

1. The question from the audience is a post resurrection universal gathering
of all the souls who ever existed.

2. They ask the question "When did we ever  see YOU...?  Jesus answers,
"Remember the street corner panhandler to whom you gave a bottle of water?"

3. Jesus knows that much of the good that we do, we do not go beyond the
wretch for whom we do it, but the Shepherd receives every good that we share whether we are conscious of His presence or not.

4. Jesus knows the good that the jungle dweller does and He receives it with
pleasure even though the jungle dweller has no idea.  But the jungle dweller
will be there at the fateful hour and he will discover that his desire and activity
for the benefit of the world around him was received by the creator in love.

5. There's a teaching in this chapter that is little known because the homilists
don't have time to bring it home.  It is not their fault.  The entire chapter is
not read at one crack during any liturgy.

Your question touches on precisely that lesson.  The story of the ten maidens
and the story of talents talk about people who should know better.  In the
first case, simple human nature, common sense precautions.  In the case of 
the talents, knowledge of the BOSS and his attitude towards the help is ignored 
at the servant's peril.  
In the final wrap-up, everyone is there and so the language indicates.

6. When we do Acts of Mercy we never see Christ except in faith - Post
resurrection faith which is the grace that clarifies the Bible story for us +
2,000 years of grace-filled growth of understanding.

Despite that, I can tell you that we do corporal acts of mercy at moments
that we don't know about.  Now that you are in the public eye, I can assure
you that you do not know 100% of the good that you do in your daily life.

It happened to me last night, again.  A man that I don't know approached me as though I am a saint.  I don't know him from a bar of soap!  But He knows
Jesus Christ through me!  He told me so.  We talked for about 15 solid minutes
about some heavy duty stuff because He sees Christ in me.

T..., get ready for it.  When we work directly in the Church, we have to
 be ready to accept the fact that God's people see Him through us.  

In your meditations to those preparing for Confirmation, please tell them that
they have to live in such a way that others will see Christ through them.
Their life is going to be the sermon that they preach to the world.  Yes, all
of them just as all of us, will do good without seeing Christ in the recipient
of their actions, but Christ will accept it anyway.

Confirmation is a great blessing for us.  We, the teachers, get to talk to them,
the disciples, directly, not to their parents.  We somehow have to reach them
in the depths of their beings and hope that they will accept the fire of the
Pentecost and carry it forward to the coming of the JUDGE.

Bottom line, Stay ready, live clean or fry.

ONCE A CATHOLIC, ALWAYS A CATHOLIC

Let me start by saying that I thought the title was original.  It is not. It was first written by a British novelist named Angus Wilson, born in 1913...Same year as my father, EFR Dion.  I decided that I would not change the title, but feel obliged to give credit where credit is due.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I was in a conversation this morning that went like this, practically word for word.  It was on the telephone and we were conducting business about other matters.  The telephone call was in response to an email that I had sent to the business man who was calling.  My email signature at the bottom is an invitation to a pilgrimage in the Holy Land.    
I will spare you the introductory comments and cut to the chase...
He: So your Catholic?
I:    Yes, I am.
He: I'm Christian. 
I:    OK
He: I was Catholic, Baptized and all.  My wife was too.  
      we're both Christian now.
I:    No, you're still Catholic.  You're Catholic forever.  All your life.
He: Really?
I:    Yes.  95% of Christians who speak to me say exactly
      what you just  said, "I was Catholic..."  
      meaning to say that you still are, otherwise you would 
      not make that comment.
He:  Really?
I:     Yes.  Really.  A Catholic is a Catholic forever.  
        (The silence was deafening.)
It was then time to return to business.  What remained unsaid was that the rest of the congregation seated in the pews around this person and his loving spouse is certainly in the range of 75 to 80% "ex" Catholics.  The reason why they are so assiduous in their church attendance is because they are still Catholic.  The true blue, 100% dyed-in-the-wool Bible only, Faith only Protestant (Yes, we are all Christian and they are Protestant) is out playing golf.  In fact there is at least a 60 to 70% probability that the preacher at the church frequented by this person is also an "ex" Catholic.
You see, dear reader, Jesus Christ doesn't let go.  His Father taught Him well.  He, God the Father, never lets go.  How many centuries has God kept His Israelite/Hebrew/Jewish people under His wing?  Frankly, brothers and sisters, at that rate, Jesus Christ is just beginning.  He has much more patience and forebearance than His people do.  Even those who escape from the Catholic Church cannot escape from the doctrinal spirituality of the Bride of Christ.  The CHURCH is a mother that never lets go.  Catholics always remember who their mother is...no matter where they wander off to.  
The person to whom I was speaking this morning is not close to me.  In fact I am still wondering whether to trust him or not.  We are working on a serious project, so I pray that all will go well.  Now that I have told him that no matter what he does, he and his spouse are Catholic forever, I wonder what he will do with that idea.

It is easy for me to say things like that to people.  I am a Catholic forever; I am baptized forever; I am confirmed forever; and I am ordained forever.  With all of those "forevers" going for me, don't you dare cry at my funeral.