DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE SECRET?

I refer to this original source article in ParishWorld.net, "Tempted to Learn the Secret."

I can't help but to respond to this question. So many people live for the answer to this question. It seems as though there is something hardwired in the human being to find the answer to the "secret". From the first pages of the Bible we are confronted with our ancestors' thirst for the secret knowledge. "The serpent said to the woman, 'You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad." (Genesis, 3;4)
What a crock! She fell for it. We fall for it all the time. We know the difference between good and bad already. Eve knew it too. She knew that eating from that tree was bad because it went counter to God's command. She knew that God is good because He created her. He was taking care of her in the garden. He gave her human companionship. The only evil she had to confront was the fruit of that tree, and of course the wiles of Satan.

When it comes to good and evil, we too know the difference. We, like Adam and Eve have a very basic, kindergarten set of rules for our lives...the 10 Commandments. We know that acting against their direction or omitting their requirements from our lives is bad. Pretty easy, right? Hmmmmm?
Not so fast, says our buddy in the bottle, or the weed, or the revealing dress, or the pictures of Benjamin Franklin forgotten on the counter, or the spinning wheels behind the bright lights and even the 350 horses under the hood of our bright red Italian Import. We know what is bad, fundamentally. What is the secret to staying on the straight and narrow?

There is no secret. God doesn't hide anything from us. God's light of knowledge, emotion and conscience shines on all of us, "... if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John, 1:7) We are His children and He teaches us everything that will make us become more and more like Him every day of our lives. That is no secret. He has been teaching us about Himself from all eternity. What else is there to learn? Walk in the light. Is that a secret? Open your heart to God in meditation. Is that a secret? "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy, 6:5) and repeated in the Gospels. Now, that's no secret.

We Catholics, we Christians have an eternal advantage over everyone else. We don't have to go fishing for the "secrets" of ancient, pre-historic spiritualities. God Our Father has been hugging us in His loving arms for centuries. His Son came to assure us of this love and went so far as to be martyred for us. This is no secret. Our holy examples like Stephen, Peter, Paul, Ignatius, Cecilia, Perpetua, Felicity, Theresa (several), Elizabeth, Mary, Vincent, Isaac, Isaiah, Nathan, Abraham didn't waste their time looking for the answer to the "secret", they listened and gave their lives to Our Father so that we would see that there is NO secret.

Finally, stop looking for the secret to perfecting yourself so that you will resemble the divine more. Fall on your knees morning and night and recognize the One who created you and the One who died for you. While you're there, after your Ave Maria, Pater Noster, Credo and Act of Contrition, read one psalm before you start your day and when you end it. Spend fifteen minutes a day (and more when you can) in the dynamic silence of the presence of Our Loving God. Silence is important because that's where we get to hear what He wants to tell us.

What you have just read is not a secret. You knew it all along. Come home to Daddy, Brother and Spirit of Love and we'll all see one another around the table in Heaven.

Now that I have reminded you of Faith and Love 101, you know that Our Father doesn't like children of His crying at one another's' funeral...especially not mine.

MODESTY, MODESTY, WHEREFORE ART THOU?

MODESTY, MODESTY, WHEREFORE ART THOU?
"Likewise, for the glorious adornment of Aaron's sons (priests) you shall have tunics and sashes and turbans made. With these you shall clothe your brother Aaron and his sons. Anoint and ordain them, consecrating them as my priests. You must also make linen drawers for them, to cover their naked flesh from their loins to their thighs. Aaron and his sons shall wear them whenever they go into the meeting tent or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary, lest they incur guilt and die. This shall be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants." (Exodus 28;40 - 43)

Modesty is an orderly arrangement of clothes that does not hide the inner or spiritual side of people. Immodesty leads to lust and other sins. Faithful and knowledgeable Catolics do not wear some clothes in public: mini-shirts, sun-dresses, high-slit skirts, low-cut dresses, short-shorts, halter or tube tops, sheer blouses, tank-tops and other revealing clothing. Persistent immodesty is evidence of rebellion toward God, his Word, the Church, fathers, husbands and children.

Immodesty ruins the Catholic influence and impairs the effectiveness of the Gospel. We all have to remember that when we come to worship, it is the one opportunity that we have to share the inner faith in God that we practice with our fellow Catholics. This is our chance to practice our priesthood within the community. Please re-read the above paragraph about how priests should dress.

It is imperative that we realize that the church and its immediate surroundings are deserving of our modesty and simplicity of dress. There are so many passages in the Bible that remind us of this that it is rather surprising that so many flaunt their physical assets in these areas of spiritual relationships.

I quoted the passage from the Exodus because it states that the ordinance requiring modesty of dress on the altar and in the meeting tent is a "perpetual" ordinance. It is not something that has been changed because Peter or Paul or Timothy and anyone else in the New Testament had a vision that made it OK for men and women to present themselves to the altar in the same attire that they would employ on the job (Remember the story of Peter who jumped back into the water because he was naked in front of Jesus?), or in the bedroom.

I will state this with no fear of recrimination, it is not moral to participate in prayer services, devotional or sacramental, in dress that is immodest.

This goes for men as well as it does for women. Men do not have the moral right to participate in church services in shorts and undershirts. Women do not have the moral right to appear in immodest dress either.

Is it possible that men and women who dress provocatively in church think that because this is church others will protected from having lustful thoughts? further than that, what about respecting God? Does anyone remember the terrible uproar caused by the female students who wore flip-flops at an audience with president G.W, Bush? All they had showing were their toes!

Has anyone seen Condoleeza Rice dressed with her cleavage showing? Maybe Madaleine Albright? Laura Bush? Hilary Clinton? Diane Sawyer? Lesley Stahl? Katie Couric? These people aren't even going to church! Even the reporters of the gossip oriented TV news shows wear modest clothing while they are reporting about quasi denuded harlot actresses.

Yet, our churches are replete with low-cut styles every single Sunday. Why?

Why would a mother bring her child to church on Sunday while she has half her chest on for the world to admire? I suppose we are fortunate that it only happens rarely that we get insulted by the display of female glutei maximi at the offertory.

Let me remind you all, it is improper and sinful for Christians to dress immodestly in the worship assembly. Mini-skirts, hot-pants, sun-dresses, high-slit skirts and low-cut dresses have no place in public worship. Especially women should be careful to wear appropriate undergarments that contribute to modesty.

Let me remind you of what we read in the Gospel of Saint Matthew: "Hear our Lord on this matter. (Matt. 5:27) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

Why would any Christian want to give another person a reason to commit adultery in their heart? Yet many men and women of all ages who call themselves Christians `unclothe' themselves donning modern nightclub attire, that only the most worldly can possibly call modest, and mingle together without any apparent shame in God's house.

I want you all to know that I am assured in my heart that no pastor or preacher or writer can expose his views on the matter of modest apparel without being aware of opening himself up for criticism. Go ahead, criticize me. Tell me that I am conservative. Tell me that I am out of touch. Telol me that at my age I should mind my own business about this. Tell me that if I enjoy the female assets on display in church that I am a pervert. Tell me anything that you want with regards this topic.

I tell you that your opinion amounts to nothing at all apart from the direct command of God and his prophets and apostles to be modest. When God leaves no doubt concerning His feeling about modesty it would do all of the human race good to heed His word and do His will.

That is where I am putting my bet so that you will not have to cry at my funeral.

CLICK HERE to read the letter from a reader that got this tread going.

Talking Religion is NOT out-of-bounds at this party

I am here to tell you that it is possible to talk religion without losing control. ParishWorld.net is a very
good example of that statement. We talk religion here all the time and we are calm, cool and collected about it. We call ourselves the "Catholic Life Style Magazine". How nice. So what do the non-Catholics who have access to the Internet do about us? Do they just "walk-on by?" Do they control themselves and say, "Oh, that's not for me?" No way. They are right in there reading and thinking and commenting just like everyone else, sometimes more than the Catholics. It is a blessing that we can all get together around Christ's campfire and exchange faith convictions. It is a blessing that we do this in a respectful and religious tone. It means a lot when a faith exchange takes place and the positive aspects of the event leave both sides feeling blessed.

This spiritual brotherhood is a sign of the unity of Christianity. We all talk about Jesus Christ, we all talk
about His Mother Mary, we all talk about Church, we all talk about Scripture, not in a uniform way, but in a way that shows that our ideas come from the same primordial source. Our ideas are different in some aspects, but we thank God that they are all facets of His revelation. We provide our definitions of the great spiritual realities that we live without using them as bludgeons to submit one another into another religious point of view. I would like to expose a couple of examples.

"I don't think the question is so much if God will deny anyone heaven because of their view of the leadership of the Catholic Church (or any church, for that matter). I rather think God will simply ask each of us: "What did YOU do with the illumination I gave you through the Holy Spirit?"

"A good friend of mine, Lutheran retired pastor, who must have been wounded by some of us "acting not like Christ." In his anti-Catholic way said "...those Catholics worship Mary ... she, she, she is just..."
My response to him"Be mindful, my friend, as a good little Jewish boy Jesus doesn't like anyone who treats his mother disrespectfully."

"So, being an evangelical, I would encourage Catholics to attend "non-catholic" Bible Study, but to do so with discretion and seek out an accepting environment. Do so with the notion that you will be challenged (not by other people necessarily, which I believe is a good thing)."

"Mr. Dion, are you saying Catholics who go to Protestant services need to go Confession? Didn't the Pope just attend a non-Catholic service in Turkey? How do we differentiate Ecumenism with sinning?"

These are just a few of the comments, some partial and some whole, that have been submitted to Parishworld.net over the past months. Please notice that these comments are not all 100% true to Catholic doctrine, but they are all from the Christian source of love and respect. ParishWorld.net publishes comments as they come in and the theology editor of the publication responds to them in a way that maintains the Catholic nature of the publication without attacking the contributor. We do this because we are convinced that the agglomeration of these sincere acts of faith adds to the strength of the loving relationship between the readers and God.

This is a kind of ecumenism that is within the reach of all Christians. It does not reach out to question or
impugn anyone's denominational identity; it does not want to wrestle the world into a uniform church. We look at it as simple spiritual communion which is born out of our common belief in The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Creator, Savior and Sanctifier. We seek to create a place where people can meet God and talk about their faith in Him according to their own conscience. It is our intent that this dialogue take place in mutual respect and in a prayerful willingness to seek understanding of one another in a Catholic space. We do not expect that our contributors will make unnecessary or inappropriate compromises in their understanding of their personal faith.

I, the theology editor of ParishWorld.net will not make such accommodating compromises away from Catholic doctrine.

Now that I have this off my chest, I am in peace and I remind you, that this Catholic boy is doing his best to
"walk with God, and then no longer be here, for God will have taken me." (Genesis, chapter 5, verse 24) I tell
you this because you will not cry at my funeral for fear that God would be offended.

BASEBALL PLAYERS SPEAKING OUT, NOT HOLDING OUT

Champions of Faith
Baseball Edition
Produced by Tom Allen

"Paul, you gotta see this film." That's my publisher telling me that I have to leave the comfort of my easy chair and actually go to a movie theatre. Not only that, I have to go see a story about professional athletes telling me that they are Catholic. How boring can that get? How can these jokers impress me about being Catholic? These same guys who tell me that they sat out a half season because they were looking for $12,000,000 more per year and were not happy are now telling me that they are devout Catholics? They might as well try to tell me that "It's not about the money." Ha Ha!

But, my publisher says something and I know that even though it's not an order, I'll go... even though I'm holding out for more money. I really worked hard at it too. I worked on my wife to accompany me. She's more Catholic than the Pope and she doesn't know third base from a base - on - balls, and could care less. I figure that I will follow my conscience and actually wait until after she and I have seen the film before giving you my opinion about it. What a concept!

So, after the Rosary Bowl(see PPS below) and my son's graduation I now agree to see Mike Piazza tell me that he is Catholic. The film is about 75 minutes long. It is a one camera, documentary style piece of art. The makers of this film got a break because there is perhaps more stock footage of professional athletic contests than of any other historical event in the world. The film is replete with spectacullar stock shots of important baseball games including some of the more well known personal confrontations and stand-offs between baseball personalities (a la Piazza/Clemens). That's the baseball fan part of it.

The Catholic part of it is rather stunning. The makers started out with approximately the same attitude that I have. They never thought that they would find professional baseball players willing to talk about their religious practicies, and least of all, Catholics. How wrong they were. The screen becomes a tsunami of Catholic witness by 25 and 30 year old men who play a boys game for a living, talking like boys with the faith of men. They were all vying for screen time.
The impressive part of it is that the testimonies come across as true and sincere. A.J. Piercsynski says, "My mom calls me on Sunday and asks if I've been to Mass yet." One Cardinals pitcher (Jeff Suppan) says, "I saw Eck (David Ekstein)) at Mass one Sunday and we were both surprised that we are Catholic." There is a lot to see and hear in this movie that is
real. The third base coach who had drifted away from his religion and received a telephone call in the night from his 17 year old daughter. She told him that she had a brain tumor. Then there is the Kansas City Royals' star who waited five years before asking forgiveness from a pitcher whom he attacked from home plate. The pitcher was magnanimous in his forgiveness and the lives of the two have changed.

I don't think that it is possible to walk away from this film without being convinced that Catholicism is headed into the headlines from the positive direction. Catholics are awakening. Catholics are beginning to realize the power of personal public testimony. Catholics are starting to say, "I'm Catholic and I am happy in the grace of God that I am." Mike Piazza did not have a great speaking part in his corner of this film. The pictures of him at the altar were pretty much his entire story.

The startling effect that this movie had on me, the cynic who lost respect a long time ago for professional athletes, is surprising. It takes a lot of conviction for a person to give witness to God in public. It has to go beyond the Hollywood saying, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." It has to be serious trust in God and zeal for the Catholic reality.

Technically the movie is a success. Creatively, it is a success. The creators put together a good presentation. Morally the movie is a success. It drives home some truths that can move the viewer to slide over closer to God. I never thought I would say that after seeing professional athletes talk about God. If they were acting, you can't prove it by me.

P.S. I think that God was talking to me. My wife told me that she knows that because she heard Him talking to her all during the movie.

P.P.S. The "Rosary Bowl" usher who showed us to our seats is named "John Carney". This is the name of the very talented NFL place kicker who graduated from Notre Dame University. I mentioned it jokingly to this man. He responded by saying that the kicker was a member of his parish while playing in San Diego for the Chargers. He said that the NFL player was very active in the parish and was a respected spiritual example for one and all.

After all of this, aren't you convinced that you had better not cry at my funeral?

Catholic Influence in the Arts

Last May 25, 2007 I attended the graduation of my son Jo-El in San Francisco, California. He was sent into the "real world" from the Academy of Art University where he had spent four and one-half years studying cinematography with an emphasis on editing.
The room was filled to capacity with students and parents. By quickly counting the chairs, row and column it became very clear that 700 people were going to be honored in this ceremony. This was only about forty percent of the total number of graduates from this prestigious arts school.
A quick scan of the printed program showed that the beginning of the program would be graced by an opening prayer led by a Catholic priest. It also showed that the same Catholic priest would be closing the program with a blessing on the graduates. I was impressed. This is certainly not usual for a private, secular university. I wasn't complaining, just deeply impressed.
Furthermore I discovered that two of the people who were being presented with doctorates Honoris Causa are also Catholics.
I've been a Catholic all my life. When I was younger I remember people looking for information that would indicate whether or not a certain movie star was Catholic. I remember feeling proud when it would become known that a famous baseball player was Catholic. If he was a member of the Boston Braves, it was all the better.
Please remember that the most famous Catholic movie star was Bing Crosby. The most famous media star was Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. These two people were the extent of the Catholic influence on and in the media. We live in a different age. These days we have the Internet filling the world with the Catholic presence. We have many other Catholic web sites. There are Catholic "life style" magazines online, like ParishWorld.net, for example. There is a very strong Catholic presence in Hollywood. Catholic Family Theatre owned and operated by the Holy Cross Fathers is a famous "player" in Hollywood. Every year there is an exhibit of Catholic short films at the Anaheim Convention for Religious Education. Even the Holy See has its own web site. It is very comforting to be Catholic and to realize that the Church has a very real and very influential position in the world of communications and entertainment.
It is very rewarding to be an electronic evangelizer. It is very rewarding to see a Catholic executive of a secular arts school include Catholic prayer in the commencement ritual. I am glad to say that my son graduated from such a school. Now all he has to do is to find an editing job! Maybe the final blessing from the Catholic priest will help!

God bless you all.