Lasting Memories

A lifetime is filled with lasting memories. Some memories that last with us are of those moments we enjoyed, while other moments we would rather forget. Yet all lasting memories continue to form us and our outlook on life.

I find this most perplexing. How can memories of the past prepare us for the future when by their nature memories are of what is no longer? Yes, the memorable events of our pasts have shaped us into the persons we are becoming, and that is an odd relationship. We are always unfinished persons who seek an unknown future. Yet certain moments in our lives do have a lasting effect on the person we are in the present moment.

In this present moment, I stand still, more influenced by my past than by the unknown of what is yet to happen to me. This is fundamental to my human nature. I cannot live in the future, nor should I live in the past. Yet my past is the most memorable for me now.

And I think this past, present, and future aspect of the human condition influences one's belief system. 

The Jewish faith is rooted in passing on the past, for the sake of some promised, unfinished future. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (past) has promised to his Chosen People (of all time) the messiah (future) to fulfill the Covenant. This covenant relationship was established in the past and is constantly referred to as a relationship established in the past. Do not Jews remain presently incomplete in their relationship with God because they hold onto a God of the past? Are not Jews defining their lives by remaining in the past, by holding onto an unfulfilled promise from the past?

And then Christianity, a faith rooted in Judaism, has inherented a past that is said to be fulfilled. The messiah is Jesus. God has fulfilled his promise. The Covenant is complete. The Kingdon of God is at hand. Yet, the final chapter of the story is still unfolding. And so even Christianity lives in the past because somehow that past reminds us that there is more to come. That more is rather a big deal, but nonetheless connected to the past. We have lasting memories of a future we have yet to encounter. Weird. We recall what was proclaimed to help us live in the present as a path to gain eternal life with God in Heaven.

So our lasting memories are to help us live for the future, not remain in what once was. This is a mystery, not something natural to human beings. So how is this possible to believe in someone who is outside of time yet we remain in time?

I have fond memories of my life as a younger person. I am always younger in the past and so is everyone else in these lasting memories. And often, too often perhaps, I think of myself not as the person I am becoming, but as the person I once was. And the same holds true for those closest to me. Those fond, lasting memories of people whom I'm closest too are too often the images I have of them. If I can only know my past self, then I can only know the past of others. That is if knowledge is restricted by memories.

I find myself caught up in the past, not seeing life today, and even more so not seeing life tomorrow. And does not my Christians faith call me to live for the future?

As a Christian, this living in the past is a constant reminder, especially every Sunday during Mass when we recall the stories from the Bible. We can talk about the theology of God making present today what He fulfilled in the past, but we hear of the past. Even in Holy Communion, my encounter with the Real Presence of Christ is fleeting in experience and lasting only in a memory of what has already happened. I know Christ from memory, of mine and of others. Can I truly encounter the Real Presence of Christ in the present moment?

Those lasting memories handed down through oral and written traditions form us now and keep us rooted in the past, even though our Christian faith says to live for the future. To experience Christ in the future is not possible for us. To experience Him in the present moment is at best a memory of what has just happened. So perhaps we can only know Christ of the past, just like we can only know ourselves and others, of the past.

The future of yet another promise still to come is unknown to us. The only knowledge we have of Heaven is what is revealed to us from people of the past, even if they send us messages from Heaven. Even saints can only be known to us and declared by the Church according to past deeds done after they have died. Again wierd. To experience Heaven in our present state is not possible. We get only a glimpse in the now, and that at best becomes a lasting memory.

So it seems to me that we can only know lasting memories. The challenge is living for an unknown future.

The Purpose of Church

What is the fundamental purpose of Church? If we could strip away the centuries of development and understanding, what would be that core, essential, and fundamental purpose in the simplest of terms?

The Church is simply to be the sign to the world that God is with us.

To avoid diving into deep theological exhortations of biblical proportions, I will do my best to keep this simple.

The Church is made up of baptized Christians who are guided by God to be that sign to the world that God is with us.

The world needs to know, in fact, each person needs to know that God is with him or her. You are not alone because God is with you. Moreover, we know we are not alone because there are others like us in the world. The beauty is that when we look at others, we are to see God being with us. And that's where the Church comes in.

Each baptized member of the Church is christened as "priest, prophet, king" in the name of Christ. That means, each member of the Church has been given the presence of God to show the world that God dwells in this place of ours, that God speaks to the world, and that God is guiding our way.

And there is mystery here. That is, there is something we don't easily grasp, nor fully understand. We are capable of being that sign to world that God is with us because each person has dignity. That is, every person has been created in the image and likeness of God. We are reflections of God. Not God Himself, but reflections of God.

Often we can be reflecting God without knowing another sees that reflection of God in us. This is part of the beautiful mystery, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. Think of standing on the shoreline watching the glory of a sunrise off the horizon in which the heavenly light reflects off the waves of the water and the colorful bursts in the clouds. A majestic sight indeed. This is the kind of reflection we the Church are to make in the world.

And because we are only reflections and not God Himself, we struggle to know and find that balance. We have the awesome potential to show the greatness of God in the world, yet we must recognize our limits. This is what free will is all about. Knowing our potential and limits. Humility helps us to keep that in balance.

At times the limits can seem like burdens that weigh us down. And we sometimes rebel in protest of not being God. Then at other times the potential can seem like too much is expected of us. And we sometimes coward in doubt or fear. The virtue of humilty helps us to keep our potential and limits in balance so we can authentically be that sign to the world that God is with us.

We also have many role models to show us the way to being that sign to the world that God is with us. Each woman can look to Mary the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God. There is the feminine genius that God has given each woman in being able to be that sign in a way only a woman can be. That genius is inward action, that is, a receptivity to love for life. Each man can look to Joseph, husband of Mary. There is the masculine genius that God has given each man in being able to be that sign in a way only a man can be. That genius is outward action, that is, a construction to love for life.

Yet both men and women are to complement one another in God's plan of life and love. We need both genders, unique and equal in dignity. Each genius comes from God the Creator who from the beginning established the means by which he would be known in and through the world--a communion. In the unity of the geniuses of the genders we have a profoud sign of God's presence in the world that is life giving, both in spirit and in flesh. The feminine inward action and the masculine outward action in their complementarity and reciprocity become one primordial sign of God's creativity. A sign of God's prescence that is second to the Real Presence. 

Together as a faith-filled community, men and women of the Church are to be that sign to the world that God is with us. That is the basic, simple purpose of Church.

Much Confusion about Sex, Part 1

We have entered a new phase in the culture wars. The battle of identity wages fiercely among those who profess to self-identify in their faith of narcissism and those who argue from rationality in near desperation for keeping objectivity alive. Some wonder, like David Byrne of Talking Heads fame: How did we get here?

The Church has had the weapons necessary to defend against the idolatry of gender identity.  Most importantly she has the medicine to cure all the illnesses that plague our society. Unfortunately too many within the Church have defected to cultures of earthly delights, instead of transforming our world for the sake of the kingdom. And that is where I believe a great scandal has occurred. There is much confusion about sex.

Consider the distinction between celibacy and chastity. Too many confuse the two, which has aided and abetted the sexual revolution. Celibacy is not a virtue, but does require virtuous living. Celibacy is simply not being married. But marriage today is a mess. If we adequately understood the nature of marriage and lived out its authenticity, then we would not be caught in our current quagmire. And celibacy would be honored and elevated to the sacrificial noble life known by Scripture. Again, celibacy is not a virtue. Chastity is.

Marriage, and every vocational state of life, requires chastity. But most people are confused about chastity too. Chastity is a virtue. Chastity is not about being celibate. Being celibate requires chaste living. Yet being married also requires chaste living. In fact, every human being in every vocational state of living needs to exercise chastity, like all virtues.

"Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.

The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift."

--CCC 2337

"Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is 'an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society.'¹³¹ Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life."

---CCC 2344

To live chastely means a person has integrity. To seek chaste living means I am honoring the person whom God created as well as honoring others whom God has placed in my life. This is not easy. Like all aspects of virtuous living, I need God's grace. 

We are waging these battles in our culture war because we do not honor others, we do not honor ourselves, and we do not honor God. Our weapon, be that offensive or defensive, must never be contrary to the integrity of the person. In fact those who profess to self-identify are seeking a personal integrity, however, they are looking through a distorted mirror and then gazing into our relativistic society. We in the Church must boldly proclaim the Gospel in and through our bodies. We must "put on Christ" if we have any hope of defeating this evil one.

Saint Michael, defend us in battle.

The Catholic Lifestyle

One of the signs of a shrinking Christianity is when the Church conforms to society. This is the case more today than yesterday. Sadly the Church is becoming less relevant in the lives of individuals.

People seek faith because of what faith has that cannot be found amongst men.

The Church must always exist in both worlds, that of belief and non-belief, else the Church can never be found by those who seek to believe.

Yet we in the Church must realize that those who find faith have sought what they couldn't find elsewhere. So we must not conform to what is elsewhere, but remain in the beyond, ever vigilant to the Spirit, and always abiding in the divine.

This is what having a Catholic lifestyle entails. Living in both worlds so we engage both the realm of believers and non-believers, else how are we to share the joy of the Gospel? We do not become non-believers, nor even appear to be like them in any meaningful way. Yes, we may have our dark nights and questions, but in those moments the light of faith must still shine brightly, though we might not see it. So we must live distinct lives from them.

Our way of life must invite by seeming familiar while also intriguing the non-believer to not just pass by but stay awhile. Our lives must be so compelling that others do find it hard to believe, BUT not impossible. Compelling because of grace (God's presence), not impossible because of merit (our virtuous efforts). We must be examples of the "unbelievable reality" that is the Catholic Church.