Plgrimage: October 1st

Communion and Liberation invites everybody to join in a public pilgrimage on October 1st, in the desire to follow the Pope's invitation to rediscover the beauty of faith during this Year of Mercy. The procession will start from St Catherine of Siena at 1 pm, praying the rosary as we go, and head to the Cathedral via University Street and South Temple. We will pass through the Holy Door at the Cathedral and conclude with confessions and the Vigil Mass at 5pm. For more info contact Thomas Dunbar (thomasgwyndunbar@gmail.com).

Communion and LIberation

In Salt Lake City, the Communion and Liberation chapter meets at St Catherine of Sienna, in Cate's Cafe on the main floor, every Friday at 7:00pm.   Parishioners at St Ambrose are welcome to ask Thomas Dunbar for more info about our local chapter.
      For more info on CL, see:
    http://us.clonline.org/whatiscl/default.asp?id=518 (and links on right hand side of that page)

Here's one of those pages:

The Charism of CL

“Through Father Giussani,” Benedict XVI declared, “the Holy Spirit … raised in the Church a Movement, yours, that would witness to the beauty of being Christian…”

“Through Father Giussani,” Benedict XVI declared, “the Holy Spirit … raised in the Church a Movement, yours, that would witness tothe beauty of being Christian in an age when the opinion was spreading that Christianity is a difficult and oppressive way to live. Father Giussani then committed himself to awaken in youth the love for Christ, ‘Way, Truth and Life,’ repeating that only he is the way toward the fulfillment of the deepest desires of the human heart, and that Christ does not save us regardless of our humanity, but through it” (Address to the members of CL, March 24, 2007).

That “gift of the Spirit given to a person in a specific historical context, so that the person may begin an experience of faith that can be useful in some way to the Church’s life” is called “charism.” A charism, Father Giussani emphasized, has an “essential characteristic: it makes the Christian message handed down by apostolic tradition more convincing, more persuasive, and more ‘approchable.’ A charism is a final point of arrival for the Incarnation, that is, a particular way in which the fact of Jesus Christ, the God-man, reaches me, and through me can reach others.”
We can sum up the essence of CL’s charism in three factors:

1) the proclamation that God has become man (and the wonder, reasonableness, and enthusiasm of this announcement): “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us”;

2) the affirmation that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, dead and risen, is an event present in a sign of communion, that is, of the unity of a people, guided by a living person – the Pope, in the final analysis;

3) only within the life of the Church (which is Christ’s presence in the world) can man be more truly a man. Therefore, it is from His presence that morality and a passion for man’s salvation (mission) spring forth with certainty.

Father Giussani explained that a charism “begets a social factor, not as a project, but as a movement of people who are changed by an encounter, which tends to make the world, the areas and the circumstances they encounter, more human. Living the memory of Christ inevitably tends to beget a presence in society, apart from any planned outcome.” The fact that the Movement arose and grew without any plan or program was pointed out by Father Giussani in his letter to John Paul II on the fiftieth anniversary of CL: “Not only did I never intend to ‘found’ anything, but I maintain that the genius of the movement that I saw being born is that of having felt the urgency to proclaim the need to return to Christianity’s essential elements, that is, the passion for the Christian fact as such, in its original elements, and nothing more.”

And John Paul II, in his letter to Father Giussani on the twentieth anniversary of the Fraternity of CL, declared, “As I go back in memory over the life and works of the Fraternity and the Movement, the first aspect that strikes me is the commitment you have put into listening to the needs of today’s man... The Movement, therefore, has chosen and chooses to indicate not a road, but the road toward a solution to this existential drama. The road, as you have affirmed so many times, is Christ.”

In conclusion, we recall this witness of Professor Nikolaus Lobkowicz, founder of the Catholic University of Eichstätt, Germany: “This is perhaps the true secret of the charism of Father Giussani: he was able to communicate to us that the Judge of this world wants our good, that He is our brother and friend. It is not by chance that friendship is one of the virtues that the movement founded by Father Giussani exercises most joyfully.”

Seeing clearly

Recently I broke the screen on my phone.  I don’t mean a little crack; my screen was shattered.  As I waited for the new screen to come in, I had to deal with what I had.  I used clear fingernail polish to cover the many small cracks so I wouldn’t cut my fingers.  I learned to work around the cracks and use my phone as it was.

Our lives start with a brand new screen, like our phones.  When we sin our screen gets cracked and we have trouble seeing the world clearly. Sometimes we learn to work around the consequences of our sin, but the cracks are there to stay unless we turn to God.

When my screen came in, I took my phone to the store and waited all afternoon for the new screen to be put on the phone.  While I was waiting, I ran errands for work.  During this time, I missed phone calls, texts and emails.  Some of them were important, but there was nothing I could do until I had my phone back.

Just like with my phone, we have to repair our lives and our relationship with God when we sin.  This starts with acknowledging our sin and then confessing it. Sometimes correcting our lives can be painful and it can take time.  But if we let God work in our lives we will be blessed with a “new screen”.

Lord, I Believe; but Help Me in My Times of Unbelief!

From my spot at the kitchen sink, I watched a car pull up to the house.  My son hopped out, raced through the kitchen door and back towards his bedroom on some unidentified mission.  A few moments later he ran back up the hall and through the kitchen, grabbing a piece of pizza from the counter as he passed.

“Hold it!,” I yelled, “Don’t you go out there with that pizza unless you are going to bring enough for your friends!  You know our  rule!…you don’t eat in front of friends.  If there isn’t enough to go around, you don’t eat it either.”

He laughed, waved goodbye with the pizza, and sprinted out the door, leaving me to wonder how I had managed to raise such heathen children.

At that point, Travis, who had been observing, looked at me seriously and asked, “Mom, would you ever treat your friends like that?” then after a moment’s pause, ‘If you had any friends?”

Now, I had to stop for a moment and think about that.  Truthfully, I am not a complete wench.  I have relatively good manners, I almost always say “please” and “thank you,” I clean up nicely, and I’m usually not an embarrassment in public.  I like people, I’m a peace maker, and I’m trying to get better at returning my phone messages.  I tell you this so you can believe that I really do have friends.

It’s just that in order to simplify things on my end, we usually meet during the day while Travis is in school, or in the evening, after he has gone to bed.  Since he hasn’t really seen my friends, he assumed I didn’t have any.

That’s not an uncommon phenomenon.  Remember in the Bible when Thomas didn’t believe Jesus had risen because he hadn’t seen Him?  When he finally did see Jesus, of course he believed.  And Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” 

We have it even tougher than Thomas, because we’ve never had the opportunity to sit down at the dinner table and talk with Jesus face to face.  We must rely entirely on our faith .

But here’s the thing—  it’s easy to believe when life is good.  It’s when things get tough that we can begin to doubt God’s love, or our worthiness.  But remember, faith is a gift, it’s not a feeling.  Just because you’re not feeling God’s love at the moment, does not mean He’s isn’t  there loving you.  Just because you have doubts doesn’t mean you don’t have faith.  It means you need to nourish your faith so will you have strength during difficult times 

Jesus promised us that if we believe in Him even though we have not seen, we will be blessed.   Seems to me like a benefit that’s worth the fight.

So when you doubt, resist it.  Journal, write a letter to God, talk to your friends,  to your pastor, or to a spiritual director.  And pray.  As Mark says in his gospel,  “Lord, I believe; but help me in my times of unbelief!”

What do you do when you begin to feel doubts?

Spiritual defenses

The best defense is a good offense, and how we have a good offense is to be prepared and well-trained.  Nothing we do in life comes to us automatically.  We have to actively seek skills to achieve the goals we have, then find a way to obtain and master those skills.

This is not a new idea, but many people seem to think that their prayer life and spiritual life will come easily and automatically.  Sitting down and closing your eyes and waiting for the magic touch of God is not how we obtain the skills necessary for our spiritual defense.

Spiritual defenses take time to build and a willingness to work every day on our armor.  Read the bible every day.  Meditate on the passage you just read.  How is God speaking to you through it?  Take time to prayer for your family, friends, the world and include your failures and how you would like to improve.  Ask for God’s help in these areas.  Every day.  We sin every day and need to acknowledge those sins so we can ask for help to become the people God knows we are.  Perfect Sons and Daughters of God.

This daily spiritual food is just the beginning.  This nutrition is necessary to build our strength to fight the spiritual battles we will encounter.  The enemy is sneaky, a liar, will seek to deceive you and will hit you with everything he has.  Every day we go into the world and engage in battle.  It’s a battle for your soul, your everlasting life.  Be ready.  Seek the Lord and keep his name ever on your lips.  To do anything less is to give your life over to the enemy.

Can You See Me Now?

On the way to the grocery store the other day I pulled in to the parking lot just ahead of a black luxury sedan driven by a large, middle aged man with dark hair.  I had seen him once before in our quiet neighborhood; when he commented on my driving technique by using an Italian hand gesture foretelling my impending death.  Quite frankly, he terrified me.

Pulling over to the curb so he could pass, I watched as he turned into a space, cut short, and hit a new family-style van, crunching the rear quarter panel.  He straightened out, pulled through, and parked one row in front of the van.  I eased down the aisle, parked one row behind the van, and crouched behind my steering wheel, waiting to see what he would do next.

He exited his sedan wearing a dark overcoat, $600 shoes, and a tailored suit.  As he walked around the front of his car, he glanced at his fender, and continued towards the store.

What!  He was supposed to carefully examine the other vehicle.  He was supposed to write a little note and stick it under the windshield wiper, claiming responsibility and giving his personal and insurance information.  He was supposed to, well… care.

I went to Catholic school, and let me tell you those nuns taught us to follow the rules and always tell the truth.  So my first reaction was horror.  Did he not realize the eternal consequences to his soul?  Even worse, did he just not care?

 My second reaction was outrage.  Who did he think he was, after all?  What right did he have to just waltz away from his responsibility and leave someone else holding the bag?  Finally, I got around to indignity and self-righteousness.  Why, I would never do something like that!  And then practicality hit, and I sucked in my breath sharply as the truth hit me full strength.  Because what if I did something wrong and someone saw me?  They could turn me in, or gossip about me, and everyone in the world would know!  

But here’s the thing.  Someone did see. Someone always sees.  Our All-Knowing and All-Loving God.  Who is, by the way, much more humbling than some brutish Mafioso.  And I’m willing to bet He has a much better sense of humor about a botched left turn.

So what about you?  How do you decide what to do in questionable situations?   Do you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do?  Or do you do it because you are afraid you will get caught?

July 10, 2016-15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Reflection-C

This Sunday we are reminded to live the gospel message in our daily lives, and that we bring Christ to everyone we meet.  This is a heavy charge given to us.  First we must live in the way Christ taught us by living the commandments and gospel message.  We must keep the commandments and be living examples of the joy Christ brings to our lives when we live as we should.  We must live a moral life, without tolerating sin in our lives.  Then we need to love those around us where they are. 

We must also be good neighbors to everyone around us.  Loving the sinner means bringing Christ to them.  We heal their wounds, meet their physical needs, and help when and where we can.  But then we are asked to meet their spiritual needs.  We cannot stop with just the body, but we need to bring the message of Christ and his healing power to their souls as well.  Sin needs to be acknowledged so it can be forgiven.  Christ always forgave the sins of those he healed.  Usually before he healed them he forgave their sins, because that was more important.  “Your sins are forgiven, now go and sin no more”, was a phrase often heard by Jesus.  So now the charge for us: Go and live the gospel message, healing body and soul of those you encounter, to bring all to Christ to live with him in his eternal kingdom.