What the Hell?

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire." - Mark 9:43

God who is infinitely good and very the source of goodness itself, is also and at the same time infinitely just. Nevertheless it may be said that it does not seem fitting that our punishment is for so long since it only took us a few moments to commit? However sin is neither measure by the duration (i.e. it only takes a few seconds to kill someone with yet for this, people are sentence to a life time in prison, that is their whole earthly life!) or by the number of times we commit it, but rather by the degree of the person offended which determines the gravity of the offense. A spiritual adviser and coworker once explained sin in this way to me: if a student takes a knife to school and throws it at a teacher, who is in a position of authority over the student, the punishment may be something like suspension. If the student throws the knife at the principal, who is in a position of authority over the school, the punishment would probably be expulsion. If the student were to throw that same knife at a police officer, who is in a position of authority over the city, the punishment may be imprisonment for a moderate amount of time. And if that student threw the same knife at the President of the United States, who is in authority over the nation, the punishment would be life in prison or even death. You see that as the authority or position of the person being offended gets greater, so does the punishment for that offense. This is simply because the offense is measure by the degree of the person offended. Now when we sin we offend God, who is infinite and so it is only just that the punishment be infinite. Further on the same note, this is the very reason why only Christ could save us and no other, since only He (God) is infinite and yet at the same time He had to be man [the incarnation (John 1) since it was man who committed the offense and thus it was Christ who bound us back to God in fact that is what the very word religion means]. However eternal torment is not only fitting but affirms well the greatness of God who is not only able to destroy the body as any human can do but is also able to send souls to Hell as their eternal punishment for offending an eternal King (Matt 10:28).

It has become a formality that everyone is automatically whisked to heaven. Purgatory is ignored and the chance that a departed soul might be in hell is no longer part of the equation. Only monsters such as Hitler and Stalin could possibly be suffering with the fallen angels. Thanks to ill-educated teachers many people have been convinced that Christ is tolerant of sin, non judgmental, and pluralistic in His view of salvation. People actually believe that Jesus would never allow anyone to be cast down into everlasting torment because He is a God of love. This idea is contrary to the Bible and Church teaching. It is true that Christ loves all of mankind even those in the pit of unquenchable fire. It is also true that He desires all to be saved and to embrace the truth, but the reality is some people because of their pride decide to reject Him and prefer the darkness of sin thus casting themselves into the bowels of hell. "And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil" (John 3:19). If people would just open up their Bibles and read, they would discover that the Jesus of the Gospels bears no resemblance to the fabrication created by the "feel good" ministers of our day. Christ forewarns us that there will not be universal salvation of mankind. "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth" (Matt 13: 41- 42). Christ's teachings are not ambiguous. The rejection of the free gift of salvation offered by Christ through sin or unbelief carries with it a clear a defined outcome.

One needs to understand the magnitude of importance Jesus placed on avoiding damnation. If you were to take a Bible where the words of Christ are highlighted in red, and go through it, one would discover that Jesus spent one third of His ministry on this unpleasant subject. The Catholic Church understanding the significance of this fact has always taught the reality of hell. As a matter of fact, the new Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, 'eternal fire.' The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs" (CCC 1035). Priests, deacons, and religious instructors that are faithful to Christ and the Church unashamedly preach about the doctrine of hell because they love their fellow man as themselves and want everyone to live in God's grace forever. On the other hand, those who remain silent on this subject or deny its existence have instilled a false sense of security and self confidence concerning salvation. This is quite evident in Christians that have foolishly subscribed to the religious concoction that a person cannot sin once they believe in Jesus and even if they would sin, no punishment will be due them because they are already saved. The Bible unquestionably denies this theology. "I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me" (1 Corinthians 4: 4).

The Church teaches and the bible confirms that Christ will bring the faithful to everlasting life through His instruments of justification and sanctification, the seven sacraments. In baptism, we are born again, cleansed from all sin, and permanently claimed as a child of God. The sacrament of confession is where Christ lovingly waits to forgive the repentant sinner. Confirmation completes the baptismal promises, places an indelible mark upon the soul, and gives one the strength to endure the struggles of this life. Holy Orders are God's unique channel of dispensing His sacraments to the faithful. Marriage builds up the kingdom of God through love and procreation. The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54). The Anointing of the Sick forgives sin, heals the body if it is God's will, and strengthens the soul for the journey home. This is the path of sanctification in the Catholic Church. Those who die in perfect communion with Christ through the sanctifying grace of His sacraments will be given the bliss of seeing God in the face, the beatific vision. People that pass on in a state of grace, but still have temporal punishment to atone for will enter heaven only after they have been cleansed in the fires of purgatory (see next week's blog). All Catholics must never forget that it would be a miracle for any invincible ignorant soul to be saved, because it is impossible to keep the whole moral law without Christ's grace bestowed through His sacraments. "For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God" (Roman 3:23). Therefore the conversion of the world to Jesus and His Church is paramount so all will have a true hope of salvation. Lastly, those who live an unrepentant life of sin and debauchery and the prideful that choose by their own freewill to reject either Christ will not like where they end up. "If anyone remains not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and burned" (John 15: 6).

If a person chooses not to believe in hell, it does not nullify its existence. The denial of this doctrine only calls God a liar and says that the crucifixion was a useless and vain sacrifice. So the next time you are confronted by a person that makes an absurd statement such as, there is no hell or that everyone goes to heaven because God would never allow anyone to suffer eternal damnation. Just read them Christ's own words and watch them squirm. "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13 -14). If you choose to turn away from God and find your own path in life, you may life well, but you will fall into the torment of Hell after death. Hell in and of itself is the absence of the presence of God. The bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death, not just physical death, but the death of the eternal soul of a person. Every time you sin, you pull yourself further and further for the grace of God. This is of course, an abbreviated, truncated, and paraphrase version of the Church's teaching on Hell. The Church describes Hell as a real place that is as eternal as God, where the damned seek not repentance and suffer true pains. If you long for disconnection of the true happiness God can give, then begin on a path of mortal sin and book your ticket to Hell.

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

My birthday facts...

Born on this day…

1245 - King Philip III of France (d. 1285)
1553 - Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, queen of France (d. 1601)
1651 - Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French priest/theorist/saint
1662 - Queen Mary II of England (d. 1694)
1770 - David Thompson, English/Canadian explorer (Columbia River)
1858 - Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison, 1st lady (1889-1893)
1901 - Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian-born economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1985)
1909 - Juliana, Queen of Netherlands (1948-80)
1910 - Al Lewis, actor (Leo-Car 54, Grandpa-Munsters)
1912 - Eve Arden, actress (Connie-Our Miss Brooks)
1917 - Bea Wain, US singer/radio host (Lucky Strike Hit Parade)
1918 - W Donald McNeill, tennis champ (US Open-1940)
1925 - Johnny Horton, American musician (d. 1960)
1926 - Cloris Leachman, actress (Last Picture Show, Phyllis)
1931 - William L [Bill] Clay, (Rep-D-MO, 1969- )
1933 - Willie Nelson, Abbott Texas, country singer (On the Road Again)
1938 - Gary Collins, actor (6th Sense, Home Show)
1939 - Ellen Taafe Zwilich, (1st woman composer Pulitzer 1982)
1943 - Robert L Livingston, (Rep-R-Louisiana, 1977- )
1946 - Donald Schollander, swimmer (Olympic-4 gold-64)
1947 - Robert Scott, (Rep-D-Virginia)
1953 - Merrill Osmond, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie & Marie)
1957 - Duane G Carey, major USAF/astronaut
1957 - Aviva Chomsky, American historian, daughter of Noam Chomsky
1959 - Lauren Howe, LPGA golfer
1965 - Adrian Pasdar, actor (C Oliver Resor-Feds, Top Gun)
1973 - Akon, American R&B Singer
1975 - Elliott Sadler, American race car driver
1981 - Emma Pierson, British actress
1982 - Kirsten Dunst, actress (Interview with the Vampire)
1985 - Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American singer and call girl
1988 - Molloko, SD Zoo, 1st Californian condor chick conceived in captivity

On this day in history…

1789: George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.

1803: The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France.

1812: Louisiana became the 18th state.

1859: The novel "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens was first published in serial form in a literary magazine.

1900: Hawaii was organized as a U.S. territory.

1900: Train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers. (The event was immortalized in song.)

1926: “Brave Bessie” Coleman of Houston, TX, died when her plane failed to come out of a nosedive. She was the world’s first licensed black pilot.

1939: The New York World's Fair opened.

1945: Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker.

1970: President Richard Nixon announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia.

1993: Top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a man who ran onto the court during a match in Hamburg, Germany.

1997: ABC aired the "coming out" episode of the sitcom "Ellen," in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, admitted she is a lesbian.

2001: Chandra Levy, a federal government intern, went missing. Her remains were found more than a year later in a Washington, D.C., park.

2003: Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian prime minister. International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a "road map" to peace.

2003: The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.

2004: Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him. (He was later acquitted.)

2004: Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting.

2005: Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., originally claiming to have been abducted but then admitting she was a "runaway bride."

2007: A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets with bombs.

What Events Happened 1982

U.S.: All time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States; The largest cash robbery in History occurs in New York when $9,800,000 is stolen from an armored car; The First Issue of USA Today is published; Disney Futuristic Park EPCOT ( Experimental Community Of Tomorrow )is opened; Around 700,000 demonstrators gathered in New York City's Central Park protesting the proliferation of nuclear weapons; Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide kill 7 in Chicago September 29th; Doctors performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart designed by Robert Jarvik; Severe recession begins in the United States; The world's largest oil rig ( The Ocean Ranger ) sinks in the north Atlantic; The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC is dedicated
Argentina: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands / Maldives on 19th March, and the UK sends the Royal Navy, RAF and the Army and retakes possession of the Falkland Islands during the conflict the Nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano; Argentine Exocet missile sinks HMS Sheffield

UK: HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano; The Provisional IRA continues its bombing campaign in London and Mainland Britain; Laker Airways the first of the low cost airlines operating out of the UK Folds; Michael Fagan Brakes into The Queens Bedroom in Buckingham Palace; The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England is raised in the Solent on 11th October and taken to Portsmouth Dockyard where it is preserved and on show to the public; Channel 4 is launched in UK
Lebanon: Israeli forces invade Lebanon; Thousands of Palestinian refugees in refugee camps in West Beirut murdered by Lebanese militia

Egypt: Israeli returns Sinai to Egypt

Palestine: Yassar Arafat elected the President of the Palestinian National Council

Canada: The Serial killer Clifford Robert Olson is convicted and given 11 concurrent life sentences for the murder of 11 children in Canada

Russia: Leonid Brezhnev the General Secretary of the Communist Party dies of a heart attack while in office.

Mexico: Earthquake and a volcanic eruption at El Chichon in southern Mexico kill thousands

World: The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling


Cost of Living 1982
• Average Cost of new house: $82,200.00
• Average Income per year: $21,050.00
• Average Monthly Rent: $320.00
• Cost of a gallon of Gas: 91 cents
• New Car Average price: $7,983.00
• US Postage Stamp: 20 cents

Technological Advancements 1982
• First CD player sold in Japan
• The Weather Channel airs on cable television for the first time
• The Soviet Spaceship Vanera 13 lands on Venus and sends back color Photographs
• 20 million Elm Trees die in the UK through Dutch Elm Disease
• The First Commercial use of Genetic Engineering is Launched when human insulin produced by bacteria is marketed; Times man of The Year is THE COMPUTER

Popular Culture 1982
• Michael Jackson releases his second adult solo album, Thriller
• Graceland the home of Elvis Presley opens to the public
• The screen legend Grace Kelly / Princess Grace of Monaco dies on September 14th in car crash

Popular Films 1982
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Rocky III
• On Golden Pond
• Porky's
• An Officer and a Gentleman
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Poltergeist
• Annie
• Chariots of Fire
• Gandhi

Popular Musicians 1982
• Human League with " Don't You Want Me "
• Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder with " Ebony and Ivory "
• Olivia Newton-John
• Steve Miller band With " Abracadabra "
• Survivor with " Eye of The Tiger "
• Chicago with " Hard to Say I'm Sorry "
• Lionel Richie

Popular TV Programs 1982
• Magnum, P.I.
• Dynasty
• Falcon Crest
• Hill Street Blues
• Knight Rider

The No Immigration Destination

Forty-nine states in this country are in a tizzy over what the fiftieth did. On Friday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the toughest anti-immigration law in the nation, which is set to go into effect by the end of July. The measure has reignited national debate over illegal immigration. Opponents are calling for mass boycotts of Arizona, which seems absurd considering the people of the state didn’t pass that bill, but the government. Boycotting Arizona could put people’s lives at jeopardy due to something they had no part in. President Obama is holding up the law as a prime example of state governments' "irresponsibility" on the issue, but any time a state government passes a law during a Democratic administration they find some way to deride it. And by Arizona passes this law it has therefore spurred federal lawmakers to speed up federal immigration reform, something that should have come about before national healthcare, if you ask me. The president of Mexico is angry, protesters have taken to the streets in many extremes, and critics have denounced the law as a blow to constitutional rights and an invitation to racial profiling. So this prompted me to see what, exactly, all the fuss is about?

The law requires police to ask for immigration papers from anyone whom they have a "reasonable suspicion" might be in the country illegally. Law-enforcement officials are also empowered to detain anyone they hold in such suspicion. It's also a state crime under the new law for immigrants to be found without immigration papers; individual citizens, meanwhile, can file suit against state agencies that fail to enforce the law. Police can detain and demand papers from anyone they have "lawful contact" with, but since the law defines illegal immigrants as trespassing when in any part of the United States, this gives the police the freedom to question people who are otherwise not breaking the law or engaging in suspicious activity. Those found to be in the state illegally can be thrown in jail for six months and fined $2,500, a harsher penalty than the federal punishment of deportation.

The argument is that this is a license for law enforcement to start profiling. Since roughly 30 percent of Arizona is Hispanic and about 80 percent of illegal immigrants are also Hispanic, critics say the law basically mandates that police engage in racial profiling (apprehending people based on their appearance rather than on any evidence that they may be in violation of the law). After she signed the bill into law, the state's Republican governor discounted this view, saying that she had worked hard to amend the bill with language to prevent enforcement from "solely considering race, color, or national origin in implementing the requirements of this section." Critics have countered that the bill doesn't say what might be grounds for detention apart from race, color, or national origin. Marco Rubio, a Republican Senate candidate in Florida, said that requiring people to carry documentation is "not really something that Americans are comfortable with, the notion of a police state." Call me extreme, but I’ve carried documentation of my citizen since my fifteenth birthday, when I got my first job. I’ve never felt part of a police state, but I have nothing to fear.

Governor Brewer has sought to allay many such qualms by signing an executive order for law-enforcement officers to receive special training in the new law's implementation. Part of that training, she assured her constituents, will be a primer in what constitutes "reasonable suspicion." Brewer said in the statement, "As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration, I am EQUALLY committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this statute ever be misused to violate an individual's rights.” Other supporters of the law see no cause to soften any of its strictures. State Sen. Russell Pearce, who authored the bill, told CNN that with its passage, "we're going to take the handcuffs off law enforcement, we're gonna put them on the bad guy. 'Illegal' is not a race, it's a crime."

Though a Rasmussen poll says 60 percent of Americans favor provisions like those in the Arizona law, the measure has sparked passionate opposition and debate. This is where I really missed having my friend Fernando in town. Not only is he Hispanic, but he loves to boycott stuff. Detractors of the new law are already planning to hit Arizona where it hurts most: the state's coffers. The city of San Francisco submitted a resolution today calling for residents to cut all business ties with Arizona. Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona is calling for a boycott of all conventions in Arizona, a striking stand for a lawmaker to take in his home state. The board of governors of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has canceled its convention in Scottsdale. It's far too early to forecast what the impact of a national boycott might be on Arizona's tourist economy. But there is a recent precedent: In 1992, the state caved on its refusal to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day as a holiday after boycotts that culminated in the loss of a lucrative deal to host Super Bowl XXVII in Phoenix. But when you take actions like these, you are not only taking money away from the state, but also from its residents who survive on such money. So I ask, if this law is passed by the few who represent the state, then why boycott the entire state?

To quote Meghan McCain, “I think unless you are from a border state and have actually seen firsthand the effects illegal immigrants have on your community, you can't truly appreciate the complexities of the problem and how it should be litigated.” I’m not necessarily a fan of this law, despite some of the things I might have said today. Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration. The concept that a law-enforcement official can stop an individual when “reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien, who is unlawfully present in the United States” is essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic. But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place. Due to the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona’s borders, all US borders in fact, along with the rampant drug smuggling that has gotten increasingly worse over the years, emotions have been running high. Thus far, I think that both Arizona legislation and the national media have done a poor job articulating the real problems with illegal immigration. And like all things in this country, partisan politics is getting in the way of actually solving the problem in an effective manner. When a flawed law is magnified through the prism of extreme partisan politics, it only looks worse. With President Obama calling the law “misguided” and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position. And this is only the beginning…

Prayer as a focal point of Mass

After attending a sparsely populate Mass yesterday I came to the realization that if all the non-practicing Catholics out there starting coming to Mass on Sunday, it would be amazing. Mass would be going on non-stop all day, all around the world on any given Sunday. The churches would no longer have to beg for money during "pledge drives" and the various community and outreach ministries would not have to have fund raisers. The surge would be so overwhelming that you might actually see a decline in sin worldwide. Who knows? But, it is that type of big thinking that kept me working as a youth minister. All that pensiveness got me focused on the importance of the Mass as a Catholic tradition and so I decided I would write about it today. There are so many facets to the Mass that it would be hard to write about all of it in one setting, so I will cover the importance of prayer in Mass today. Next week, I may follow up with scripture in the Mass and the week after that I would like to write about Communion and the Eucharist as the focal point of the Mass. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

First, let us review what the Mass is briefly. Mass is the term used to describe celebration of the Eucharist in the Western liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church, Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some largely High Church Lutheran regions: in Scandinavian and Baltic countries the Lutheran Eucharistic service is also known as "the Mass". The term is derived from the late-Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: "Ite, missa est" ("Go, the dismissal is made"). The Council of Trent reaffirmed traditional Christian teaching that the Mass is the same Sacrifice of Calvary offered in an unbloody manner: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner... this sacrifice is truly propitiatory" (Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2). The Council declared that Jesus instituted the Mass at his Last Supper: "He offered up to God the Father His own body and blood under the species of bread and wine; and, under the symbols of those same things, He delivered (His own body and blood) to be received by His apostles, whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament; and by those words, Do this in commemoration of me, He commanded them and their successors in the priesthood, to offer (them); even as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught." The Roman Catholic Church sees the Mass as the most perfect way it has to offer latria (adoration) to God. It is also Catholic belief that in objective reality, not merely symbolically, the wheaten bread and grape wine are converted into Christ's body and blood, a conversion referred to as transubstantiation, so that the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the Eucharist (a.k.a. The Real Presence, which will be discussed at a later date). There are 5 parts of the Mass: Introductory Rites, The Liturgy of the Word, The Liturgy of the Eucharist, The Communion Rite, and Concluding Rite (some of which we will elaborate on in later weeks). Before the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII from 1951 to 1955, it was forbidden, except for Midnight Mass on Christmas night, to begin Mass more than one hour before dawn or more than one hour after midday. In the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus (1953) and the Motu Propio Sacram Communionem (1957) Pius XII permitted the celebration of Mass at other times. There are no longer any time limits. Furthermore, since the Second Vatican Council, the time for fulfilling the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation now begins on the evening of the day before (in theory, after First Vespers), and most parish churches do celebrate the Sunday Mass also on Saturday evening. By long tradition and liturgical law, Mass is not celebrated at any time on Good Friday (but Holy Communion is, since the reform of Pope Pius XII, distributed to those participating in the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord with hosts consecrated at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday) or on Holy Saturday before the beginning of the Easter Vigil. Okay, I will stop with the background on the Mass, but I hope this explains some things to you about the intricacy of it.

On to the topic at hand, prayer as the basis for the Mass. Some people ask, "Are Catholics a people of prayer? Don't the ritual and ceremony and liturgy of Mass get in the way of real prayer?" Some of the most important figures in the Catholic church led lives of reach prayer devotion outside of Mass, but I have no doubt that there moments of most intense prayer were during liturgy, at Mass, as they took Holy Communion. After all, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its source and goal." How can that be? Well, why don't we think a minute how we react to the liturgy? Do we turn towards heaven as we listen to the proclamation of the Gospel? Are we going forward in love to receive the Eucharist? Are we full of joy as we sing the Great Amen? Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that the liturgy, the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist are all prayers to God - moments of intimate communion and communication with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, the liturgical and ritual life of the Catholic Church is filled with prayers and is a prayer to God.

Entering the Presence of God

Perhaps the most natural, even unconscious, act of prayer for Catholics is the Sign of the Cross. Making the Sign of the Cross as we enter the church for Mass orients us. It reminds us to who we are - baptized Christians and children of God - and focuses us on what we are doing - approaching God our Father through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. As Christians, we have been "conformed to Christ's death" (Philippians 3:10) in baptism and we desire to be transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Praying to Christ is a recognition of the relationship we have with him and a commitment to grow ever deeper in that life-giving union. Therefore we spend the time immediately prior to Mass in quiet contemplation, stilling our souls, and removing distractions from our hearts and minds.

Praying for Forgiveness

At Mass, after the opening procession, the priest blesses the people: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." United in faith, we acknowledge our sins and failings. The Penitential Rite is a prayer of confession: "I confess to almighty God…" But we don't just admit our sins, we confess who God is - almighty, just, and holy - and who we are - sinful creatures loved by God and in need of his grace. This requires humility, which is always necessary for prayer. If we do not appreciate who God is and how reliant we are upon Him, we will not pray properly. Prayer is relationship and good relationships must be based in honesty and gratitude. Without our acknowledgement of the holiness and power of God, we cannot share in the love and mercy of God.

The Prayer of Praise

Once we acknowledge our sin and frailty, we rejoice in prayer, praising God for who He is: "Glory to God in the highest! Peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory…" The God who is just is also merciful; He makes us a "holy and beloved" people (Colossians 3:12). The Gloria continues, of course, with praise for the Son and the Holy Spirit. All Christian prayer is Trinitarian, for each of the three Persons aid us in the life of prayer and our prayers are always oriented towards the Triune God. Notice that we ask of Christ: "Receive our prayer." As High Priest, Jesus intercedes before the Father in heaven on our behalf. Our prayer in the Mass is always joined to the prayer - the self-giving - of the Son to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hearing with Prayerful Ears

We don't usually think of prayer in the context of the Scripture reading, but we should. Hearing Scripture and praying are inseparable, especially within the Mass. Prayer requires openness to God's word and will; Scripture is God's Word and reveals His will for us, His children. The readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels ask for a response. In Scripture, as well as in the sacraments, it is God who initiates contact with us. "God thirsts that we may thirst for him." He desires to love us fully and to give Himself to us completely. Prayer is our "Yes" to the Triune God who is Love. St. Paul writes, "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God's thirst for us provides us the opportunity to know God and to experience His endless love. Our "Yes" to God opens the doors to prayer; it is prayer! Whether it is a cry of joy, exhaustion, or pain, prayer comes from the heart, so it doesn't need to be articulate or poetic - just honest and humble.

Faithful Prayer, Prayer of the Faithful

Is the Creed prayer? Certainly, for reciting it and contemplating it further establishes and deepens our relationship with God. Not simply a laundry list of beliefs, the Creed is a map of reality that tells us who God is and what the Catholic Faith is all about. In reciting the Creed we say to God, "We are yours - I believe these truths," and He responds by saying, "I am yours" in the Eucharist. The Creed is a prayer of faith, hope, and love: by faith we address God, in hope we look forward to our full communion with Him, and in love we live for His glory. The Creed articulates what we believe while shaping our minds and hearts. In the Prayer of the Faithful, we join together to pray for our world, our nation, our leaders, and for the Church. These are concrete expressions of our faith in God's work in the world. In humility we entreat, "Lord, hear our prayer," knowing that He faithfully answers those who call on His name.

Eucharistic Prayer

The Eucharist, the Catechism explains, "contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is 'the pure offering' of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and…it is the 'sacrifice of praise.'" The Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second half of the Mass, is a series of beautiful prayers full of praise, adoration, and joy. First, the priest prays over the bread and wine, acknowledging that these gifts will become for us "the bread of life" and "our spiritual drink." Then we join with the priest in asking God to accept "our sacrifice." What is that sacrifice? We joined to Christ and His perfect sacrifice! We are, St. Paul explains, "to present (our) bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).

The Eucharistic prayers are also full of praise. In them we thank God for his acts of salvation, especially the gift of "the Savior you sent to redeem us." These marvelous prayers contain the words of consecration and mark that moment when the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. No wonder the Eucharistic prayer ends with the Great Amen, our repeated expression of thanks and joy. Then, standing before our Lord, we pray as he taught us: "Our Father…" This is, St. Thomas Aquinas said, "the most perfect of prayers," for it summarizes the entire Gospel. It is also a prayer of unity, prayed together as the family of God, with the common hope of the coming Kingdom. The prayer of unity is then followed by the Sacrament of unity, the Eucharist. Our journey of prayer leads us home to the kingdom, to the intimate marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The Catholic Life is Prayer to God

To be Catholic is to pray. We pray at home, in our cars, at work, in silence, and out loud. But in the liturgy, at Mass, in hearing Scripture and partaking in the sacraments, our prayer life reaches its highest and most sublime point. There, kneeling before the altar, with a "cry of recognition and of love," we offer ourselves in prayer: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Amen.

Many, many awesome things

On that most exciting day when football, baseball, basketball, and hockey all collided, life was truly good. I’m talking about yesterday where the NFL Draft, postseason hockey, postseason basketball, and regular season baseball all happened to fall on the same glorious block of time between 6pm and 2am CST (thanks to the NFL moving the first round of the draft to prime time). And if only I really cared about the MLS, then it would have truly been a perfect storm, but alas professional soccer in the US is only a pale shadow of European soccer and who really care about that? Regardless, I had to literally juggle draft coverage, the Rangers game, and keeping up with the NHL and NBA postseason while still paying attention to my regular Thursday night TV selections. Not only this greatness…but the fact that the Rangers got off the schneid, brilliant! C.J. Wilson allowed just four hits over 6 2/3 scoreless frames, and the Rangers' offense, after being stymied for six innings by Clay Buchholz, broke through with three runs in the seventh to end Texas' losing streak. What the hell more could you want? A house, a dog, a career, and spending money would be nice, but enough about my problems. I was truly concerned that we would continue sliding down into the basement, but breaking out of the slump is a good thing as we head back home for a stretch. This was by far the most grueling road trip that we will have to face this season and the longest. I said we would have to come out of Boston with at least two to make up for the terrible showing in New York, but at this point, one will do. I am now looking forward to going to the game on Saturday with the free pregame concert and the Elvis Andrus bobble head. Nice.

Can’t remember when it was, that’s how bad my memory is, but I wrote recently about my love and admiration for PostSecret. Well, today I checked PostSecret and was directed to another random blog site full of useless information that somehow brightened my day (what I imagine my blog is like for ya’ll). 1000 Awesome Things (http://1000awesomethings.com/) is just a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things. Launched June, 2008 and updated every weekday. And it came out as 400-page hardcover The Book of Awesome this month. Consumer angst has turned western civilization into a morass of grumpy old men moaning about shoddy battery life of iPhones or the annoying omnipresence of accident claims adverts when you just want to watch a daytime quiz show. So sometimes, it’s nice to remind yourself of life’s sweeter side and the pleasures to be had from the small things…like peeling the thin plastic film off new electronic gadgets or sneaking your own cheap snacks into the cinemas. Not as deep and insightful as the soul searching that PostSecret brings, but perhaps a good way to go nonetheless. In fact Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret is quoted on the site as saying, “1000 Awesome Things is the #1 awesome website.” An endorsement like that is hard to ignore, and so are the topics of the 1000 awesome things.

Given the hectic nature of our lives, it’s easy to overlook the little things that make it all worthwhile. Thank goodness we’ve got this site to remind us of life’s small pleasures. I came upon today’s #521, but I’ve already identified a few favorites including that pile of assorted beers left in your fridge after a party, locking people out of the car and pretending to drive away, and finding money you didn’t even know you lost. Sleeping in your own bed after a long trip, being able to carry all the groceries from the car in one swoop, that miracle of science when the amount of toilet paper left on the toll is the exact amount you need…these are just some of the quietly awesome things in life. From the surprising (Thinking it’s Thursday when it’s really Friday) to the simply satisfying (Letting go of the gas pump at just the right moment), the pain-relieving (Getting the eyelash out of your eye) to small victories (Getting the armrest at the movies), the site features new awesomeness every day. It reminds you that not everything is ridiculous and hard to deal with. Sometimes it’s just awesome. That’s when you smile to yourself and think, “Hell yeah, I can get through this.”

Today’s (#521) was…Calling a mulligan on the day. So, I’m going to do that and head back to bed.

Mulligan!

AWESOME.

And I just found you can sign up to have them just come to your email inbox. So easy.

AWESOME.

Just more reasons why Texas is great

Argh! I am so frustrated with my Texas Rangers that I can hardly stand it. Seriously, how many leads do you have to blow before you realize you need to start working on your defense? I can’t get too upset since it is so early in the season, but really…these are the basics. I will reserve the bulk of my angry Rangers rant for later in the season when the defense gets better and our offense starts falling off (it is inevitable, because we can’t have all parts of our game working properly). But there is something going right in Texas pretty much all the time…being great. Yes, the former independent nation now great state of Texas has been superior in many ways over the years. From our simply better than everyone else’s micro-brewed beers to our extremely more attractive than everyone else’s women, we are the last bastion of the American dream. Here we are, seemingly skirting the economic downturn while the rest of the country wallows in their own stupidity (and the result of it). Now now…I am not saying we are smarter or better than the rest of the country. I am just saying that we’re smarter and better than every other state.

Once a separate nation, Texas has recently been behaving more like an independent economic republic than a regular state. While it hasn't been immune to the problems plaguing the nation, the Texas housing market, employment rate, and overall economic growth are relatively strong. This can be attributed to our excellent geology and stunning geography. But Texan prosperity also reflects the conscious efforts of a once-parochial place to embrace globalization. If you took a business class in the last twenty years then you have heard this buzz word of economic growth. Globalization describes a process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and trade. And if you paid any attention in those business classes you know that countries that have embraced globalization have grown by leaps and bounds compared to countries with relatively closed economic/social policies. This is true of Texas and is indicated by several measures of economic stress. The state unemployment rate is 8.2 percent…high, but still one many states would envy (California's is 12.5 percent; Michigan's is 14.1 percent). It entered recession later than the rest of the country (Texas was adding jobs through August 2008) and started slowly adding jobs again last fall, thanks mostly to its great position in the largely recession-proof energy industry.

Are there any distressed homeowners in my readership? By far the housing slump and mortgage crisis hit many Americans pretty hard. My theory about all that is…if you couldn’t afford it, then why the hell did you buy it. Take a second to think about this. Did you read your mortgage agreement? Did you seriously think that magically, all of the sudden; you could afford a home when you hadn’t been able to up until that point? Come on, quit begging the government to bail you out and think for a minute who really put you in the place that you’re in. Then, wish and hope and pray that you had only lived in Texas when this all happened. The Texas housing market has fared better than many. The mortgage delinquency rate (the portion of borrowers three months behind on payments) is 5.78 percent, compared with 8.78 nationwide, according to First American CoreLogic. That's partly because relaxed zoning codes and abundant land kept both price appreciation and speculation down. "House prices didn't experience a bubble in the same way as the rest of the nation," said Anil Kumar, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (who I met while pursuing my Economics degree at SMU). But it's also because of two attributes not commonly associated with the Longhorn State: financial restraint and comparatively strong regulation. Unlike many of its neighbors, Texas has state laws that prohibited consumers from using home-equity lines of credit to increase borrowing to more than 80 percent of the value of their homes. The upshot: Dallas housing prices have fallen only 7 percent from their 2007 peak, according to the Case-Shiller index.

As it has for decades, energy is driving Texas' economy. But it's not because the state's wells are gushing crude. Though it doesn’t seem right that the state that gained its fame through a television show about a modern oil dynasty (Dallas), Texas is leading the way in alternative energy sources. Sure, we’re still pumping the black gold out of the fields of West Texas. In November 2009, Texas wells produced 1.08 million barrels per day, about half as much as they did in the late 1980s. In recent years, natural gas has been undergoing a renaissance. That renaissance happened right in my backyard…or I guess you would say it’s my neighbor’s backyard. The Barnett Shale is a geological formation underlies the city of Fort Worth and underlies 5,000 square miles and at least 17 counties. Some experts have suggested the Barnett Shale may have the largest producible reserves of any onshore natural gas field in the United States. The state's production rose about 35 percent between 2004 and 2008, partly due to this find and the resulting wells that sprang up from it. While traveling out to the ballpark last year to see the Rangers play you could make out the crowns of the wells behind sound-dampening walls along the highway. And Texas has received a big boost from a different, renewable source of energy: wind.

Wind power in Texas consists of many wind farms with a total installed nameplate capacity of 9,410 MW from over 40 different projects. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state, followed by Iowa with 3,670 MW. Several forces are working to the advantage of wind power in Texas: the wind resource in many areas of the state is very large, large projects are relatively easy to site and the market price for electricity is relatively high because it is set by natural gas prices. In this area, Texas' size and history of independence has enabled it to jump-start a new industry. The state has its own electricity grid, which is not connected to neighboring states. That has allowed it to move swiftly and decisively in deregulating power markets, building new transmission lines, and pursuing alternative sources. "We can build transmission lines without federal jurisdiction and without consulting other states," said Paul Sadler, executive director of the Austin-based Wind Coalition. Ramping up wind power nationally would require connecting energy fields—the windswept, sparsely populated plains—to population centers on the coasts and in the Midwest. Texas' grid already connects the plains of West Texas with consumers in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Texas recently surpassed 10,000 megawatts of capacity, the most by far of any state and enough to power 3 million homes, Sadler says. Wind energy is also powering employment—creating more than 10,000 jobs so far. And it and has attracted foreign companies, including Danish turbine maker Vestas, Spanish renewable-energy giant Iberdrola, and Shell.

Texas today is more suburban engineer than urban cowboy, more Michael Dell than J.R. Ewing. Austin, home to the University of Texas, the state government, and Dell Computer, has a 7 percent unemployment rate. Yes, ExxonMobil is based in Irving. But the state's energy complex is increasingly focused more on services and technology than on intuition and wildcatting. And it is selling those services into the global oil patch. Russian, Persian Gulf, and African oil developers now come to Houston for equipment, engineering, and software. Ever since the discovery of oil at Spindletop, energy has been a dominant force politically and economically within the state. According to the Energy Information Administration, Texans consume the most energy in the nation per capita and as a whole. Unlike the rest of the nation, most of Texas is on its own alternating current power grid, the Texas Interconnection. Despite the California electricity crisis, Texas still has a deregulated electric service. Along with rich petroleum and natural gas reserves the Energy Information Administration states that the Texas' large agriculture and forestry industries could give Texas an enormous amount biomass for use in biofuels. The state also has the highest solar power potential for development in the nation. The oilman and the alternative fuel hippie can sit down for a frank discussion about the future of energy in Houston while the rest of the United States squabbles over heating oil.

While its political leaders may occasionally flirt with secession, Texas thrives on connection. It surpassed California several years ago as the nation's largest exporting state. Manufactured goods like electronics, chemicals, and machinery account for a bigger chunk of Texas' exports than petroleum does. In the first two months of 2010, exports of stuff made in Texas rose 24.3 percent, to $29 billion, from 2009. That's about 10 percent of the nation's total exports. There are more than 700,000 Texan jobs geared to manufacturing goods for export, according to Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. "A lot of it is capital goods that the Asian, Latin American, and African [countries] are using to build their economies." As of 2008, Texas had a gross state product (GSP) of $1.224 trillion, the second highest in the U.S. Its GSP is comparable to the GDP of India or Canada which are ranked 12th and 11th worldwide. Texas's economy is the third largest in the world of country subdivisions. Texas's large population, abundance of natural resources, and diverse population and geography have led to a large and diverse economy. According to the Tax Foundation, Texans' state and local tax burdens rank among the lowest in the nation, 7th lowest nationally; state and local taxes cost $3,580 per capita, or 8.7% of resident incomes. Texas is one of six states that lack a state income tax. Texas has the most farms and the highest acreage in the United States. Texas leads the nation livestock production. Cattle is the state's most valuable agricultural product, and the state leads nationally in production of sheep and goat products. Texas leads the nation in production of cotton. The state grows significant amounts of cereal crops and produce. Texas has a large commercial fishing industry. With large universities systems coupled with initiatives like the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a wide array of different high tech industries have developed in Texas. The Austin area is nicknamed the "Silicon Hills" and the north Dallas area the "Silicon Prairie".

Thanks to that embrace of globalization, the Texas turnaround may help lead the nation in its economic turnaround. Texans have always had the ability to think big. Now that their state has become a player in the global economy, we can expect a new kind of swagger.

Bringing back old traditions

When I was blogging full time all those years ago I had a regular weekly entry I called the “Catholic Answer Series”. It started from being questioned time and time again about what we do as Catholics. Well, I enjoyed doing that because it pushed me to look for the answers to those questions myself and to broaden my understanding. I’ve never been outside myself when it came to things concerning Catholicism, but researching and answering everyone’s Catholic questions made me more resolute in my knowledge. So, without so many more words, I have decided to bring this back without so much formality. Every Monday, well maybe not every Monday, I’ll be trying to address specific actions, traditions, and rituals that are a part of the Catholic faith. Today we’ll be looking into the topic of the Saints.

Praying to the Saints

One of the main practices which are often greatly misunderstood is the custom of praying to the saints and angels for intercession. We believe that the angels and saints in Heaven not only pray with us, but also for us. The saints in Heaven have the ability to offer up to God the prayers of the faithful on earth. People who have a problem with Catholics giving honor to and praying for intercession from the angels and saints usually mention one passage to support their position: 1 Timothy 2:5 in which Jesus is mentioned as the only Mediator between man and God. This verse is very true, Jesus is the sole Mediator, but this does not mean that we are restricted from asking our fellow Christians to pray both for us and with us. This would include our fellow Christians in heaven and in Purgatory, who are all a part of the body of Christ: the Church. Let us think about it this way: If your mother was very ill, would you come to me and ask me to join you in prayer for her? If you would come to me, a mere person, a sinning human being, and ask me to intercede in prayer for your intention, why not ask of a saint in heaven who is already purified and perfected and sees the face of God? Our brothers and sisters in Heaven have already been sanctified, so why not ask for them to pray for our specific intentions?

I have heard this argument too many times, too. The "I don't pray to dead people" argument, as I like to refer to it. The Church doesn't think heaven is a "dead" place. Catholics believe people in heaven are alive. The Church thinks heaven is a lively place with lots of singing and stuff. Requests for intercession of saints are as old as Christianity itself. It is not a construct of the middle ages. My parents recently visited the Catacombs, just outside of Rome. The told me all about it. It was an amazing experience. They felt a strong connection with the early Christians who left a written record on the walls of the Catacombs as a testimony of their beliefs. Mom took a picture of a wall of hundreds of inscriptions asking the martyred Peter and Paul to pray for them. My father told me that he was much moved. The Catholic teaching is that there is a communion of saints who are praying for us and we can join them in prayer the same way as we would join in prayer with our friends at a prayer meeting. Scripture says we were "all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). Christians are one body which is not divided by death or anything else (Rom 8:38-39). Christians in heaven are still members of that body of Christ.

The Church believes in giving honor to the communion of saints, in heaven. One way, aside from directly praying to them is by wearing medals with their images and displaying statues and pictures of them in our homes. Again, we do these things as visual reminders of these wonderful saints who are just waiting for us to call upon them and their powerful intercession. Any types of pictures or images of the saints, angels, Blessed Mother or Christ serve as ways to bring our hearts, minds and thoughts to God and godly things. There are so many distractions in our world today; we all need something visual during the course of our day to bring us back to God now and again. That is the purpose of having images and statues of the angels and saints. There are people who may use the argument that having such images constitutes 'worshipping false idols,' but once again, this is a great misunderstanding. We do not worship the actual stone from which the statue is made from, not the actual paper and frame from which a picture is made. Just as most of us have pictures of family members and loved ones around our homes, we have them as visual reminders of those we love. We do not actually worship the picture itself, but love and honor the friend or relative which the picture represents.

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalms 103, we pray, "Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!" (Ps. 103:20-21). Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren't just angels, but humans as well. The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

Aren't All Christians Saints

When Catholics say the word “saint”, they are usually talking about a specific kind of saint, a canonized saint. Catholics should probably be more explicit so as not to cause confusion. The Church recognizes some Christians (saints) that have endured, entered Heaven and won the crown, and have proved to be serious prayer warriors for us on earth. The Church must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the saint is in heaven. This is why they go through so much scrutiny over each and every saint. When they canonize someone they are really saying: "Hey, this person had a very cool relationship to the Lord while on earth and now they are in heaven and are really praying hard for us." I think anyone could look at people who have been canonized by the Catholic Church and say, "yeah, that person is in heaven." I encourage everyone, Catholic or not, to pick up a book about the lives of the saints or look up a saint that you know of and read about them. You will find that the saints were people who did all they could to live their lives as Jesus did. Take up the challenge and let me know what you think.

Let's try the university analogy for the saints. Try to compare this saint thing to a university. Saints are sort of like graduates. I recently graduated from the Southern Methodist University (well, not recently). Now that I've graduated, I am an Alumnus. That means I'm still active with the university but in a different capacity. I am there to support the university now. I could sit on councils and contribute in many ways. There is an obligation to help in some way. I'm not a director. I don't make decisions. I'm not the Dean. I'm just a graduate - an Alumnus. Now think about Christians in heaven as alumni to the Church. They pray for it. They help out. They help where they can. They don't make decisions for God. They are not the "Dean" of heaven. They are just servants who've successfully graduated this school of life. They successfully abandoned themselves to Jesus and helped many others do that too. And now they can help us graduate through their prayer and their example.

Isn't Jesus Powerful Enough to give us Salvation without Saints

I have heard this offered as an argument before when talking to a non-Catholic friend about the saints. If there was ever a more insulting thing to say to a Christian, than I don't know what it is. Questioning my belief in the power of Jesus is like questioning my belief in the power of God…that is ridiculous. How can someone think that the Catholic Church is saying that Jesus needs saints to do His work for Him? They actually accuse us of saying that Jesus is inadequate to do the job Himself. I believe, as every Christian should/does, that God is complete. It is not out of Jesus' incompleteness that he has called angels and saints to join him in ministry. It is not because he is not strong enough and needs help. He could easily snap his fingers and the entire population of the world would suddenly see God and know He exists. He does not need Mary, angels, or saints. Nor does he need you or me. It is not out of his incompleteness that he has invited Mary, the angels, the saints and you and me to join in his ministry. It is out of his overabundance of graces and love. Catholics think it is because of his generosity, his desire to share his graces, his overflowing goodness, and his great love for us that he asks people to help him. He is overflowing with graces that he shares with his angels and all his children. If he loves you and me so much as to invite us to join in his ministry, I don't think it is hard to imagine that he would invite his disciples who are in heaven to join in his ministry. I think the fact that all Christians agree that angels are helping us shows that we understand that Jesus invites helpers in heaven to join Him; Catholics believe those helpers include faithful Christians who are in heaven.

Christ is the Center

The Catholic Church is clear about the centrality of Jesus. There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray "in the name" of Jesus... to invoke him (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2665-2666). The Saints are simply "alumni" who are there to help Jesus in the same way the angels help. Pope John Paul II wrote in his Message to World Youth Day 2000 the following: "The Cross, which seems to rise up from the earth, in actual fact reaches down from heaven, enfolding the universe in a divine embrace. The Cross reveals itself to be the center, meaning and goal of all history and every human life."