Day 1: The Lenten Reboot begins.. 40 days of juicing

Meter test

Want to see something scary?

Get out two tests strips and your meter. Prick your finger and get the first reading. I got a 151. Then immediately pull out the strip and put in the new one. Squeeze a bit more blood out of the finger and test again. My second test was 175. 24+ increase. Same meter, same batch of strips, same finger and almost same time (okay, 30 second later).

Diabetic Data Mining (part 1)

Being a diabetic athlete means a dedication to trial and error. Every diabetic athlete I have ever met or read about is a meticulous record-keeper and is in his or her own way a scientist, continuously experimenting on his or her body to find the best combination of insulin, food, stress, exercise. The crazy thing is that the combination keeps changing and it is highly personalized, so there has to be a willingness to continuously revamp, re-evaluate, re-organize. Having diabetes and being committed to performance requires a degree of mental flexibility that deserves recognition and celebration. It is symbolic of what all of us as humans have to do to perform at high levels.

Mari Ruddy, from An Invitation to Ride

As diabetics, it is essential that we log certain data on a daily basis. We are all told this, usually immediately after we are told we have diabetes and we should stay away from sugar. The problem is that no one ever sits you down and explains the hows and whys of data processing and how they relate to your self-management. At best you show up at the doctors or your Certified Diabetic Educator (CDE) and hand them your log book, they (hopefully) look at it, make a few suggestions and book you for another appointment.

But the real person that should be reviewing the data is you, the end user. Not on a three month basis, but far more frequently than that be it a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. You need to learn how to perform diabetic data mining.

Data mining is the discovery of interesting, unexpected or valuable connections in a set of data. One can then focus on the "big picture" or macro view, where the purpose is to look at shapes, patterns or distributions. Or one can focus on the micro view, and detect conformity or anomalies and determine if they are real or chance occurrences.  When your doctor is reviewing your log, he or she is essentially taking the macro view. Their main purpose is to determine if your insulin levels, primarily the basal, is of a sufficient type and/or amount. They might consider whether or not to modify your insulin to carb ratio, for example, but they probably won't help you determine if you covered appropriately for the bagel you had during an afternoon snack. Or help you figure out what your temporary basal rate should be when you mow the lawn, how many glucose tabs you should take with you when you go for a run, or how much a latte will boost your blood sugar. These are issues best dealt with at the micro level--the personal level--is up to you to do. Too bad no one takes the time to show you how to do it. Until now.

 The Tri-Partite Division of Diabetic Data Mining

The three steps of Diabetic Data Mining are no different than any other form of datamining. You must first collect the data. Then you must accurately record it. Finally, you must analyze the data. Failure to adequately follow all of the three steps means that your analysis will most likely be faulty or insufficient.


Stage One: Diabetic Data Collection

The computer adage of "garbage in, garbage out" is equally applicable to Diabetic Data Mining. It is essential to obtain the most accurate data as possible. This means making sure that you test your blood sugar at the proper times and actually look up the carbohydrates in the foods you eat.

In order to collect your diabetic data, you need to have the proper tools for the job. Then you have to use them. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Regretfully, few diabetics are taught the proper use of their data collection tools or even which ones to have. At a minimum, you need the following:

a) A glucometer (and lancet and strips) for testing your blood sugar;
b) A place to record the data;
c) A means for looking up the carb count of foods you eat

I'm not going into the details of which meter to buy, etc, because that decision varies between people and often depends upon which company's strips your insurer will pay for. What is important, however, is that you always have your meter with you or within easy access regardless of where you are.

You need a place to record the data. Personally, I've found the best and most efficient method is to use a piece of paper. Meters have built-in memories, there are apps, people build spreadsheets. All work AS LONG AS YOU USE THEM. The best spreadsheet is worthless if you don't input the data. Apps are great, unless you don't input the data. Same goes for log books. Pick one (or, more likely, settle upon one) and use it.

Lastly, you need some method of determining the carbohydrates of foods you eat. That can be a special calorie "Food King" book, or an app or even the label on the box. Whichever it is, you need to be able to determine what the carbs and the insoluable fiber are. More on why in a moment.

It is best if you check your blood sugar at the following times:

• Immediately upon waking
• before you eat
• 2 hours after you eat
• before going to bed
• in the middle of the night

It is equally important to look up the carbohydrates in all the foods that you eat, preferably before you eat them. Guessing at the carbohydrate amounts means that you will either give yourself too much or too little insulin. More importantly for diabetic data mining purposes, you'll skew your data set which will weaken your subsequent data analysis.


Stage Two: Diabetic Data Recording and Stage Three: Diabetic Data Analysis will be posted soon!

10 juicing hints

(1) Vary your juices
(2) Sip, don't gulp
(3) Minimize fruit
(4) Don't put too many leafy greens in your juice (25% dark leafy green juice; dilute with rest)
(5) Get a juicer that's best for you
(6) Select freshest produce possible; prepare produce (wash, cut properly); rotate items going into the juice (between ingredients);
(7) keep juice recipes simple (best juicing recipe? see youtube vid)
(8) don't make more juice than you can drink in one setting
(9) always clean your juicer
(10) don't juice produce which is past prime

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

After the kids had gone to bed my wife and I were sitting in the family room. She was on the computer working on a powerpoint for work so I turned on Netflix and ran across a documentary whose title caught my eye: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Here's the trailer:

Not only was the subject close to home for me, but so was the locale. You see, I live in Iowa where not one but two of the people covered in the documentary reside as well. Not only that, but my wife's family is from Spirit Lake, Iowa, and we spend our vacations up there. I've shopped at the stores shown in the documentary and recognized places around town.

After we finished watching the show I realized that this might be the answer to my question. A vegetable and fruit juice fast could be the perfect thing for me, both in terms of losing weight and getting into better help because, let's face it, I eat like crap. And with Lent starting up next Wednesday, I'd have a perfect 40 day opportunity to put such a plan into action. Lent is a time to renew yourself, and the juice fast is a time to reboot yourself. To reset your bodily system and get back to what God intended rather than what man has made. I needed a Lenten Reboot, and this juice fast stuff just might be the thing to do it.

A picture is truly worth a 1,000 words...

It started with a single photo. A snapshot taken by my sister's phone, of me, receiving an award at a banquet. The event was held on Thursday evening, Feb. 27, 2014, and I received the photo this morning. Upon opening it, I was shocked to see... how fat I had gotten. It wasn't the smile on my face that caught my eye, it was the gut peaking out from under the bright yellow tie I was wearing.

Sometimes that is all it takes. A single glimpse of yourself as others see you. A reality check of how things really are as opposed to how you want them to be. Or wish they could be. Or trick yourself into ignoring. That photo was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Although, from the photo it appears that I was the one who had eaten the camel!

While looking at the photo I had a number thoughts running through my head. Part of me wanted to simply delete it. Another part was hearing my wife's voice tell me that I had reached the largest pant size available in the "normal" stores and if I kept getting bigger I'd have to shop at the big & tall men's store. Ouch. She wasn't passing judgment, just merely stating a truth. None of my suit pants fit right, I can't button my suit coats and either my neck has gotten thicker or the dry cleaner has been shrinking my dress shirts. Unfortunately, I think it was the former and not the latter.

I knew when I saw that picture that something simply had to change. I desperately needed to lose some weight. How much, I'm not sure. Frankly I'm not even sure how much I weigh at the moment. My best guess is above 230 lbs, which was a far cry from where I need to be.

The real question is not how much weight do I need to lose. It's how I'm going to actually do it.

Food tracking

Every diabetic knows that if you truly want to get control of your blood sugar, you need to know the carbohydrate makeup of the food that you eat. The best way to do this is to look up the carb amount, from either the label, a calorie counting book or using electronic database of one sort or another. At the same time, if you want to lose weight (which I do!) then it helps to know the calories that is actually going into your mouth. Every successful dieter knows this.

So, figuring out a successful food tracking system is going to have to be the first step in the process.


While I've used an actual book for this in the past (I recommend the Calorie King due to its size and contents), this days it is my preference to use an electronic version to look up the carbs. I needed one that I could carry or access on my various devices (iPad, Android phone and laptop) and have them all "synch" up so that an entry on one would appear on the others. Oh, and I would prefer that it was free. And one that was usable if I didn't have any internet access. It had to have realistic food choices with restaurants and food items that I actually eat/eat at. And it should have a way that I can download or review prior entries for data analysis. Whew, talk about high maintenence.

There are a lot of good programs out there if you are a single platform user. There are not too many that are cross-platform. After trying a number of them, I have found that myfinesspal.com is the one that seems to fit the need. There is a separate app for both the iPad and my Android phone, as well as web access (although I actually find the web access a bit slower than I would like. Fortunately, all of my input is via the other two.) I have been impressed by the database, and have yet to find it lacking. I think that is because every user of the service can input food into their database, so chances are whatever you want to eat is already there. The off-line access has been fine as well, for those times that my phone just can't get through. It's free, which is always nice.

My only complaint thus far is that there is no way to see the total dietary fiber in a meal without clicking on each one separately. When I select a food item I can see the fiber, but when I am done with my selections and look at the meal as a whole I can no longer see the fiber content (without clicking on each item). No doubt 99.5% of the other users have even noticed, but given that I factor in the fiber content when determining the carbs I need to bolus for, it is a minor annoyance. I just have to remember the fiber count and subtract. Again, a very minor annoyance in what is thus far a good solution to looking up carbs in advance and keeping a food log.

With regard to the latter aspect, initially I was disappointed to find that you cannot export your meals. Upon reflection, however, I realized that I would always have that data handy in the application itself when I needed to refer back to it. Generally speaking, for day-to-day use I just need the carb count. When doing my weekly review, then it is helpful to be able to see the specific items eaten. Again, possibly a minor annoyance but one I can work around.

It also features a ticker system that you can use to track weight lost, etc. I'm not sure where I'll put it on the blog but at least I can embed it here for you to see. I decided to take a realistic goal of reaching 225 lbs, trying to eat the elephant in bite sized pieces, so to speak. Lastly, there is a community feature so if you happen to join up as well, feel free to "friend" me.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

E-Reconciliation: How to use the iPhone Confession App

Contrary to popular sentiment, the Confession app for iPhone or iPod is not a complete waste of time. Used appropriately, it can be a useful tool in your preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

A brief overview of the Confession app….

The app runs $1.99 at the time of this writing. Multiple users can use the same app and each is encrypted with a different password. As will be discussed later, you can utilize this multi-user aspect to use the app for purposes other than those for which it was originally created.

The app walks you through a basic examination of conscience, based upon the 10 Commandments. Each Commandment has a submenu, from which you can check off the sins you’ll be confession during the sacrament. For example, here are the basic questions asked under the 2nd Commandment:

Once you have completed your examination, you click on the Confession button on the bottom and the app walks you through your Confession, calculating the date since it was last used:

The app then walks you through the sins that you had checked off during your examination of conscience so that you don’t forget them during your receipt of the Sacrament, which happens at least to me:

At the conclusion of the Sacrament, you are given a choice of a number of Acts of Contrition. Here’s the screenshot for one that I found perfect for a general confession (which is when you confess all the sins you have participated in during the duration of your life):

 

An other function…

In addition to the preprogrammed questions based on the Ten Commandments, there is also a custom area for adding your own questions. As noted by the Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Examination of Conscience:

The ordinary method followed in the examination for confession is to consider in succession the Ten Commandments of God, the Commandments of the Church, the Seven Capital Sins, the duties of one's state of life, the nine ways of partaking in the sin of others. For persons who have led uniform life it will often suffice to recall where they have been, the persons with whom they have dealt, the duties or pursuits in which they have been engaged; how they have behaved on ordinary occasions — as, for instance, when busied in their usual employment on working-days — and on unusual occasions, such as Sundays and holidays.

 

It is this custom function that also allows the app to be used for more than an examination of conscience prior to receiving the sacrament, but also for a St. Ignatius examination of conscience as per his Spiritual Exercises. St. Ignatius is considered by many to be the creator of a “system” for the examination of conscience on a daily—or more often—basis.

St. Ignatius divided his daily examination into two types: the general and the particular.

A general examination is a good method of focusing upon the identification and corrections of all kinds of faults. St. Ignatius used a five point plan:

1.  Give thanks to God our Lord for the favors received
2.  Ask for the grace to know your sins
3.  Examine how you have lived this day
4.  Ask forgiveness for any faults
5.  Resolve to amend with the grace of  God

A particular examination, on the other hand, focuses upon the avoidance of a specific fault or the acquisition of a particular virtue. In short:

• on rising in the morning you resolve to avoid a certain fault during the day, or to perform certain acts of particular virtue.
• around noon you consider how often you have committed that fault, or practiced that virtue, marking the number in a booklet prepared for the purpose, and renewing our resolution for the rest of the day.
• at night you examine and mark again, and make your resolutions for the following day.

The idea being that you act like a careful businessmen who routinely watches his company’s transactions to see where losses come in or where greater profit may be had. St. Ignatius further suggested that you impose upon yourself some penance for every one of the faults committed and that you compare the numbers marked each time with those of the preceding day, the total sum at the end of the week with that of the preceding week, etc. The whole idea is to see how you are improving.

To use the app for a St. Ignatius style examination, I found it easiest to create a separate account so as to not confuse the two:

I then added a series of questions using the custom addition of the app:

The questions I added came from the following, taken from Examination of Conscience by Fr. John Hardon, S.J.:

Faith

1. Do I make an honest effort to grow in the virtue of faith by daily mental prayer on the mysteries of the faith as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ?
2. Do I make at least a short act of faith every day?
3. Do I pray daily for an increase of faith?
4. Do I ever tempt God by relying on my own strength to cope with the trials in my life?
5. Do I unnecessarily read or listen to those who oppose or belittle what I know are truths of my Catholic faith?
6. What have I done today to externally profess my faith?
7. Have I allowed human respect to keep me from giving expression to my faith?
8. Do I make a serious effort to resolve difficulties that may arise about my faith?
9. Do I ever defend my faith, prudently and charitably, when someone says something contrary to what I know is to be believed?
10. Have I helped someone overcome a difficulty against the faith?

Hope

1. Do I immediately say a short prayer when I find myself getting discouraged?
2. Do I daily say a short act of hope?
3. Do I dwell on my worries instead of dismissing them from my mind?
4. Do I fail in the virtue of hope by my attachment to the things of this world?
5. Do I try to see God's providence in everything that "happens" in my life?
6. Do I try to see everything from the viewpoint of eternity?
7. Am I confident that, with God's grace, I will be saved?
8. Do I allow myself to worry about my past life and thus weaken my hope in God's mercy?
9. Do I try to combine every fully deliberate action with at least a momentary prayer for divine help?
10. How often today have I complained, even internally?

Charity

1. Have I told God today that I love Him?
2. Do I tell Jesus that I love Him with my whole heart?
3. Do I take the occasion to tell God that I love Him whenever I experience something I naturally dislike?
4. Have I capitalized on the difficulties today to tell God that I love Him just because He sent me the trial or misunderstanding?
5. Do I see God's love for me in allowing me to prove my love for Him in the crosses He sent me today?
6. Have I seen God's grace to prove my love for Him in every person whom I met today?
7. Have I failed in charity by speaking unkindly about others?
8. Have I dwelt on what I considered someone's unkindness toward me today?
9. Is there someone that I consciously avoid because I dislike the person?
10. Did I try to carry on a conversation today with someone who is difficult to talk to?
11. Have I been stubborn in asserting my own will?
12. How thoughtful have I been today in doing some small favor for someone?
13. Have I allowed my mood to prevent me from being thoughtful of others today?
14. Am I given to dwelling on other people's weaknesses or faults?
15. Have I been cheerful today in my dealings with others?
16. Do I control my uncharitable thoughts as soon as they arise in my mind?
17. Did I pray for others today?
18. Have I written any letters today?
19. Have I controlled my emotions when someone irritated me?
20. Have I performed any sacrifice today for someone?

I’ll report back as to how things are progressing. While the program doesn’t allow for a counting mechanism as is strictly set forth in the Spiritual Exercises, it at least gives me the opportunity to do an examination on a routine basis—and get the most bang for my $1.99!

The New Testament... in a picture

Thus far, the above is my favorite creation that I've made using the Word of God. I used a text version of the New Testament and the application called Tagxedo, which is a souped up version of Wordle. One thing that is neat about Tagxedo is that you can put your cursor over each word and it will jump out. You can also purchase the above on a t-shirt. Very cool.

I deleted a handful of words from the New Testament, most notably "unto" and "shall".

http://www.tagxedo.com/art/a232e3ec330d442b

http://www.tagxedo.com/image/a232e3ec330d442b

what is mercy

Early Christianity defined itself in terms of mercy. In his wonderful work The Rise of Christianity, religious sociologist Rodney Stark argues that contrary to romanticized notions about the early flourishing of Christianity, the new religion was an urban movement.

Stark’s explanation, which follows, helps us to understand mercy’s link to Christianity. The early Church prospered in the cities because those urban areas were dreadful. Stark describes the conditions of these urban areas as “social chaos and chronic urban misery.”

Sheer population density exacerbated the situation. At the end of the first century, Antioch’s population was 150,000 within the city walls— 117 persons per acre. New York City today has a density of 37 persons per acre overall. Manhattan, with its high-rise apartments, registers 100 persons per acre.

Contrary to early assumptions, these cities were not settled places, made up of inhabitants descending from previous generations. Given high infant mortality and short life expectancy, these cities required a constant, substantial stream of newcomers simply to maintain population levels.

As a result, the cities were composed of strangers. These strangers were well treated by Christians who, again contrary to some modern assumptions, were certainly not universally poor. Through a variety of ways, financially secure Christians welcomed the newly arrived immigrants.

On top of this, Christianity was new. While ethical demands were imposed by the gods of the pagan religions, these demands were substantially ritualistic. They were not directed at one’s neighbor. Yes, pagan Romans knew generosity, but that generosity did not stem from any divine command.

For example, a nurse who cared for a victim of an epidemic knew that her life might be lost. If she was a pagan, there was no expectation of divine reward for her generosity. If she was a Christian, however, this life was but a prelude to the next, where the generous were united with God.

Although the Romans practiced generosity, they did not promote mercy or pity. Since mercy implied “unearned help or relief,” it was considered contradictory to justice. Mercy was seen by Roman philosophers as a defect of character, belonging to the uneducated and the naïve. Stark concludes:

"This was the moral climate in which Christianity taught that a merciful God requires humans to be merciful, indeed that mercy is one of the primary virtues. The Christian understanding is this: Because God loves humanity, Christians may not please God unless they love one another. That was an entirely new understanding."

"Perhaps even more revolutionary was the principle that Christian love and charity must extend beyond the boundaries of family and tribe, that it must extend to 'all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 1:2). This was revolutionary stuff. Indeed, it was the cultural basis for the revitalization of a Roman world groaning under a host of miseries."

http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=237

St. Augustine on when life begins....

While doing some research on the corporal works of mercy, I stumbled upon was led by the Holy Spirit, to this interesting work of St. Augustine's, The Enchiridion, or Handbook, which St. Augustine wrote sometime after 420 AD. St. Augustine himself called the book "On Faith, Hope and Love."

Chapter 86. If They Have Ever Lived, They Must of Course Have Died, and Therefore Shall Have a Share in the Resurrection of the Dead:

And therefore the following question may be very carefully inquired into and discussed by learned men, though I do not know whether it is in man's power to resolve it: At what time the infant begins to live in the womb: whether life exists in a latent form before it manifests itself in the motions of the living being. To deny that the young who are cut out limb by limb from the womb, lest if they were left there dead the mother should die too, have never been alive, seems too audacious. Now, from the time that a man begins to live, from that time it is possible for him to die. And if he die, wheresoever death may overtake him, I cannot discover on what principle he can be denied an interest in the resurrection of the dead.

Mt 2:13-15, 19-23
Gospel

Gospel

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.

The Nativity of the Lord: The Magi

Today’s reading is from Matthew 2:1-12 and is not one of the specific readings heard in any of the Christmas Vigil or Christmas Day Masses, but I thought it fitting as tomorrow’s reading picks up right when the Magi depart:

 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:

'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."

After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

Matthew is the only gospel that references the Magi. Most interesting is the fact that there is no specific number of Magi given. This is one of the situations (similar to Adam and Eve eating an apple in the Garden of Eden) where popular belief is different from what is actually written. As noted in the Catholic Encyclopedia, since there are three gifts presented, it would seem to imply there were three wise men. However, in the Orient the belief is there were twelve wise men. Christian art throughout the ages has varied from one to eight.

The names of the Magi are also uncertain. The names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar are commonly referenced in the Latin rite. From the above Gospel passage, it appears they all came from "the east".

Being a 3 hour Catholic

I was reading a blog this morning (Telling the Truth by Time and Money) about how little time and money we, as Catholics, actually give to the Lord. There were a number of comments concerning the issue, most of which focused on money. This prompted the author to post a comment, noting that “everyone so far has spoken about money and almost nothing has been said about time.”

That got me wondering if there were any passages in Scripture which indicate how much time we should spend each day focused upon our faith and God. Since Scripture asks us to tithe 10% of our financial income, then I don’t think it is unreasonable for us to also tithe 10% of our temporal income. So, at 24 hours per day, that means that we owe the Lord 2.4 hours per day, which for ease of reference I’ll round up to 2 1/2 hours per day.

That leaves me to spend the remaining 21.5 hours as I see fit. Assuming I sleep 8 hours, eat 3 hours, and bathe/hygiene 1 hour, I still have 9.5 hours to spend. I usually work an 8 hour day, which means I still have 1.5 hours to spend doing other things, such as exercise (1 hour) and spend time with my children (30 min). Hmm, I’m all out of time and still haven’t even watched any TV or cleaned the house, let alone mowed the lawn, fixed the car or attended one of my kids’ sports activities….

Clearly there has to be a way of spending time with the Lord that will allow me to multitask, so I can spend that 2.5 hours of faith-oriented time and still get my laundry done. That got me thinking as to whether or not I could figure out ways to “sneak in” God-time while doing other things. That’s how I came up with the 3-hour Catholic plan. Here’s what I’ve come up with thus far:

1. Upon waking, say my morning prayers and read that day’s readings, contemplating them whilst taking a shower and getting dressed for work. Time spent: 45 minutes.
2. While commuting to and from work, listening to the local Catholic radio station (love Catholic Answers Live!). Time spent: 40 minutes (20 min. each way).
3. While running on the treadmill, listening to a Catholic podcast or CD. Time spent: 1 hour.
4. Over the noon hour, saying a rosary before or after eating lunch. Time spent: 15 minutes.
5. Putting kids to bed: read and discuss a Bible story and say prayers. Time spent: 15 minutes.
6. Before bed: say a Novena prayer with my wife. Time spent: 5 minutes.

I was surprised to find that without much effort at all (other than remembering to do it!), I quickly figured out how to spend 3 hours of my day working towards improving my prayer life and increasing my knowledge of my faith without taking any more time out of my daily life nor interrupting things that I already do. That also opened up the extra 2.5 hours for me to do other things!

Once I got to thinking about it, I realized that you could quite easily add another half hour attending daily Mass over lunch (perhaps even keeping the noon-rosary and skipping lunch altogether for a bit of simple fasting), not too mention add some additional time on reading a good book on theology or Catholic issues or watching a bit of EWTN to unwind. One could relatively quickly get 4 or even 5 hours of faith-based living accomplished each day just by what we choose to do each hour and figuring out a way to bring God into the picture….

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Jesus' Step-Dad

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

The Gospel this week essentially repeats that of last week’s Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, but the focus is upon St. Joseph rather than Mary. It also requires a bit of knowledge about the Jewish marriage process.

Under Jewish tradition (i.e. the Talmud), marriage occurs in two distinct stages: kiddushin (what we refer to as betrothal) and nisuin (full-fledged marriage). Kiddushin occurs when the woman agrees to marry her prospective husband, which she does by accepting an offering of money, accepting a marriage proposal or having sexual relations with him. According to those more knowledgeable in these things than I, the word "kiddushin" is derived from the root word Qof-Dalet-Shin, which means "sanctified” and thus reflects the sanctity of the marital relation. However, the root word also connotes something that is set aside for a specific (sacred) purpose, and the ritual of kiddushin sets aside the woman to be the wife of a particular man and no other.

Kiddushin is much more than an merely an engagement as we understand the term in modern English; once kiddushin is complete, the woman is legally the wife of the man. The relationship created by kiddushin can only be dissolved by death or divorce. However, the spouses do not live together at the time of the kiddushin, and the mutual obligations created by the marital relationship do not take effect until the second part of the marriage process, nisuin, is complete.


The nisuin (derived from a word meaning "elevation") completes the process of marriage. The husband brings the wife into his home and they begin their married life together. While today the ceremonies of kidduishin and nisuin are usually performed together, in the past they would occur as much as a year apart. During that time, the husband would prepare a home for the new family. Of course, during this period of time there was always a chance that the woman would discover that she wanted to marry another man, or the man would disappear, leaving the woman in the awkward state of being married but without a husband.

This was the context, then, that Joseph found himself in when he realized Mary was pregnant. Having completed kiddushin, Mary was considered his betrothed and was legally his wife even though they did not yet reside together. She was pregnant and they had not had sexual relations. She had committed adultery, the punishment being death in accordance with Deuteronomy 22:23-24:  

If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

This is what created the dilemma for Joseph. If he did nothing, then he was concealing Mary’s sin and acting against the law of the Lord. But if he said something, and he was wrong about what had happened, her innocent blood would be upon him. Joseph decided to take the middle road and would divorce her quietly, without giving a reason. He then went to sleep and was visited by an angel who explained that Mary was telling the truth and was in God’s grace. Upon waking, Joseph gave glory to God and told Mary he believed her.

Scripture does not identify the angel who visited Joseph that night. We know that the Archangel Gabriel visited Zacharias to announce the pregnancy of Elizabeth (Luke 1:19) and visited Mary during the Annunciation (Luke 1:26), but Matthew is silent as to the name, other than “the Angel of the Lord.” As noted in the Catholic Encyclopedia, it is not unreasonable to suppose with Christian tradition that it was Gabriel  who appeared to St. Joseph and to the shepherds. The non-canonical The History of Joseph the Carpenter has Jesus himself claiming it was the angel Gabriel.

Joseph is somewhat an enigmatic figure in the Gospels. Other than the infancy narrative, the only other time he is referenced is in the Finding of Jesus in the temple. The primary non-canonical work is the aforementioned History of Joseph the Carpenter.

The History of Joseph was purportedly written by James, the brother of Jesus, who recounts a presentation Jesus made on the Mount of Olives. Jesus explains that Joseph came from Bethlehem was a carpenter and a priest in the temple. He was single for 40 years, then he married and had four sons, Judas, Justus, James and Simon, and two daughters, Assia and Lydia. After 49 years of marriage, his wife died.

A year later, Joseph was chosen by lot to took Mary home since she could no longer reside in the temple as she had reached the age of 12. There, she encountered the young James who was heart-broken over the loss of his mother, so Mary comforted him and assumed the role of his mother. She was there two years before the Annunciation occurred, which would make her 14 years old and Joseph 92 years old when today’s reading occurred. Mary gave birth when she was 15, which made Joseph 93 years old when Jesus was born.

After the death of King Herod the Great, Joseph returned from Egypt and resumed his work as a carpenter and undertook the raising of Jesus and his own children. Joseph lived to be 111 years old and suffered no ill effects of old age. That would place Jesus at 18 years old and Mary 33 years old when Joseph died. According to Luke 3:23, Jesus was "about 30" when he began his ministry, which would make Mary around 45 years old.

Third Sunday in Advent: The Question of John the Baptist

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

Jesus said to them in reply,“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

The question that John the Baptist had his disciples ask was not an insignificant one. But why did John the Baptist have his disciples ask it? Did it mean that John the Baptist had doubt that Jesus was who he said he was? Or did he somehow forget that Jesus was the same person he had baptized not long before?

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me? Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. Matthew 3:13-15.

To answer the question of why John had his disciples act in such a manner, one first needs to understand the situation which was taking place at the time. John had already been imprisoned by Herod Antipas (Tetrarch--"ruler of a quarter"--of Galilee and son of the infamous King Herod the Great who ordered the slaughter of the Holy Innocents). Antipas had imprisoned John because John had denounced Antipas' marriage to Herodias, who had previously been married to Antipas' half-brother, Herod Philip. John's denouncing of Antipas' marriage to Herodias struck a chord with the Jewish population, not only because the marriage was seen as being contrary to Jewish law but also because there were signs of God's displeasure with the union.

Antipas' first wife, Phasaelis, was the daughter of King Aretas. Antipas and Phasaelis had been married for a number of years when Antipas when to Rome and stayed with his half-brother Philip. While Antipas was there, he fell in love with Philip's wife, Herodias. Herodias agreed to divorce Philip, leave Rome and marry Antipas only if he agreed to divorce Phasaelis.

Antipas returned home but unbeknownst to him, his wife Phasaelis had learned of his plan to divorce her. Upon his return, Phasaelis convinced Antipas to let her go to Machaerus, a fortified hilltop palace Antipas had built on the edge of the Dead Sea and on the border of territory of Antipas and her father Aretas. Once she had left, she instead went directly to her father and told him what Antipas was planning to do, which caused Aretas to raise his army and began a war with Antipas. Ultimately, Antipas' army was destroyed. Adding insult to injury, much of the reason for the loss was due to the assistance of individuals sympathetic to his half-brother Philip. This prompted Antipas to write and complaint to Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, who in turn wrote to his general in Syria to destroy Aretas' army and either capture him alive or send Tiberius Areta's head.

As noted by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in Chapter 5 of The Antiquities of the Jews:

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to
righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body;
supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness.

Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, [for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,] thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.

It was during this time of his imprisonment at Machaerus, that John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him the question. "When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”"

A footnote to the verse in the New American Bible explains that the question probably expresses a doubt of the Baptist that Jesus is the one who is to come because his mission has not been one of fiery judgment as John had expected. Even Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, in Life of Christ (p. 128) remarks that:

For months John was kept in the dark dungeon of Machaerus. Did this enforced inactivity cause him to doubt the Messiah and Lamb of God of Whom he had spoken? Did his faith waver a little in the darkness of the dungeon? Perhaps he was impatiently longing for God to punish those who had refused to receive His message.

I think that John had his disciples ask Jesus the question not for his own benefit, but for their own. This is evident in the second part of the question:  or should we look for another? As disciples, their very nature is to follow someone. They were following John, who himself was insistent that the one who is coming after him is mightier than he was. (See last Sunday's gospel). Even shortly before his death, John continued to carry out his mission by pointing to the coming of the Lord.

Holy Day: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX issued Ineffabilis Deus, which set forth the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

Hence, if anyone shall dare -- which God forbid! -- to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment; that he has suffered shipwreck in the faith; that he has separated from the unity of the Church; and that, furthermore, by his own action he incurs the penalties established by law if he should are to express in words or writing or by any other outward means the errors he think in his heart. Ineffabilis Deus.

An-in-depth treatment of the doctrine and its history may be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the Immaculate Conception.

There is little information in the Gospels about Mary prior to the Annunciation (when the angel Gabriel first speaks with Mary), which is undoubtedly why the passage from Luke had to be used today. Most information about Mary before the passage from Luke is found in or taken from the Protoevangelium of James.  Written in approximately 150AD, it appears to be the earliest work referencing the conception, birth and pre-Annunciation life of Mary. Given that it is a non-canonical work, it obviously could not be read during Mass.

However, that doesn’t mean that the work must be shunned or ignored. As noted by the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Gospels themselves are silent about long stretches of the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. They often give but a tantalizing glimpse of some episode which many of us wish would be explained in more detail. Early Christians were no different, and the need for more detail was soon quenched by a deluge of “pretend Gospels full of romantic fables and fantastic and striking details, their fabrications were eagerly read and largely accepted as true by common folk who were devoid of any critical faculty and who were predisposed to believe what so luxuriously fed their pious curiosity.” Thus, the information set forth in the Protoevangelium of James should not be considered…gospel.

The story of Mary begins with her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne (derivative of Hannah.) Joachim was extremely wealthy and, being a extremely pious man, brought twice the required amount of offering to the temple. He was denied the opportunity to be the first to bring his offerings to God, however, as he had not sired any children. Troubled, he retreated alone to the desert for a forty-day fast and prayer. Meanwhile, his wife Anna herself was mourning the lack of a child and was praying earnestly herself to God. Their prayers were heard by God and angels were sent to inform them that Anna would conceive a child that would be spoken of in all the world. Anna replied that regardless of whether the child was a male or a female, it would be pledged to God. Nine months later, Mary was born.

Because of her pledge, Anna kept Mary close to her and ensured that she remained in conformity with the strict dietary rules of Judaism and received the blessings of the priests and scribes. When Mary was three years old, Joachim and Anna brought Mary to the temple of the Lord where she took up residence, living there with the priests and scribes until she reached the age of twelve. At that time, a council of the priests was held to figure out what to do with Mary since she could no longer dwell in the temple of the Lord. A decision was made to have the high priest, Zacharias, pray at the alter of the Lord for guidance as to what to do. Zacharias would later become the father of John the Baptist.

While praying, Zacharias was visited by an angel who told him to invite all the widowers of the people of God and have then convene in assembly so that a sign could be given. All of the widowed men from Judea arrived at the temple and each gave his wooden walking stick to Zacharias, who brought them into the temple. When Zacharias returned the walking sticks to their owners, a dove flew out and landed on Joseph’s head. Zacharias told Joseph that he had been chosen to take Mary into his keeping, but Joseph refused because he already had children, he was an old man and she was a young girl. After Zacharias reminded Joseph of what happened to those that refused to do the will of God, Joseph relented and brought Mary into his household to live while he departed to undertake some carpentry.

The time came for the making of a veil for the temple of the Lord and a call went out for all the undefiled virgins of the family of David. By this time, Zacharias had been rendered mute by his disbelief that his wife, Elizabeth, would conceive a child in her advanced age, and Samuel had taken over as the high priest. Seven virgins were found and then Samuel remembered that Mary was of the family of David as well, so she was summoned. Mary was chosen by lot to spin the true purple and scarlet parts of the temple veil.  She was sixteen at this time.

It was during this work that Mary was visited by the angel as set forth in Luke as set forth in today's reading.  After issuing her fiat, Mary completed her weaving of the purple and the scarlet and took them to the temple, where she received a blessing from the priest. She then went to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth, where she remained for three months before returning home. Joseph was not there as he was elsewhere building as was his occupation.

Joseph returned when Mary was six months pregnant and was shocked and horrified at what he found. He blamed himself for not keeping a better watch over her and allowing her to be defiled. He questioned Mary as to how she, raised in the temple and pledged to God, could have forgotten her love of God and been defiled. In tears, Mary claimed her innocence and stated that she was still a virgin. Joseph, troubled, wrestled with what to do. If he did nothing, then he was concealing her sin and acting against the law of the Lord. But if he said something, and he was wrong, her innocent blood would be upon him. After deciding that he would send her away quietly, Joseph went to sleep and was visited by an angel who explained that Mary was telling the truth and was in God’s grace. Upon waking, Joseph gave glory to God and told Mary he believed her.

Later that day, Annas the scribe came to Joseph’s home and inquired as to why Joseph had not come to the assembly the day of his arrival as was the custom. Joseph tried to explain that he was tired from his journey and needed rest but Annas caught sight of the pregnant Mary and quickly ran off to tell the high priest that Joseph had committed a grievous crime by defiling Mary and marrying her in stealth. Officers were sent and Joseph and Mary were brought before the tribunal. The priest chastised a weeping Mary for her infidelity to God, particularly in light of her residing at the temple for so long. Once again, Mary insisted that she was still pure and was not defiled. The high priest turned to Joseph, challenging him to speak the truth and confess what he had done to Mary. Joseph refused, and the high priest gave both Joseph and Mary a test of the water of the ordeal of the Lord which they passed.

Shortly thereafter, the order was issued by the Emperor Augustus that all should return to their home villages to be counted. As Joseph and his two sons prepared for the trip, Joseph debated as to what to do with Mary, whether he should claim Mary as his wife or as his daughter? Joseph, the boys and Mary began their trip to Bethleham, arriving just as Mary was about to give birth.

Second Sunday in Advent: Be a Good Tree

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, in Greek the term repent (metanoein) used here  connotates a "change of mind" while the Hebrew term ( s̆ûb) means "to (re)turn" (away from sin and toward God.) While I have read this passage a number of times over the years, what caught my eye (and ear) in particular were the lines I have placed in bold: Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance and Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. It is quite evident that St. John the Baptist does not believe that faith alone is sufficient for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Nor is repentence. Good fruit is needed. Good works that go beyond the good intentions of repentance are the follow-through. New Jerome, p.637, 1990 ed. This, of course, is a foreshadowing of the words of Jesus himself in Matthew 12:33:

Either make the tree good and its fruit good: or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is known.

and in Matthew 7:15-20:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.

What I found interesting is that the Gospel account of this incident in Matthew is slightly different than that found in the beginning of Luke 3:10-14. In particular, after John makes the pronouncement that "every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire," the crowds listening to him ask him what they should do:

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"

He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."

Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."

So, evidence of your return to God consist in sharing your extra clothing with those that have no clothing and sharing your food with those that have none. Not taking more than you are entitled to, not taking that which doesn't belong to you and not lying. Oh, and you should also be satisfied with what you have. Hmm... sounds somewhat suspiciously like the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

But here is the catch: doing these things in and of themselves is not sufficient. What is important is why you are doing them. John says, produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance, not produce good fruit to earn your repentance.  St. Augustine, in his Sermon 22 on the New Testament, had this to say on the matter:

The Lord Jesus has admonished us, that we be good trees, and that so we may be able to bear good fruits. For He says, Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. When He says, Make the tree good, and his fruit good; this of course is not an admonition, but a wholesome precept, to which obedience is necessary. But when He says, Make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; this is not a precept that you should do it; but an admonition, that you should beware of it. For He spoke against those, who thought that although they were evil, they could speak good things or have good works. This the Lord Jesus says is impossible. For the man himself must first be changed, in order that his works may be changed. For if a man abide in his evil state, he cannot have good works; if he abide in his good state, he cannot have evil works.

St. Augustine tells us to root out desire and plant in charity: "For as desire is the root of all evil, so is charity the root of all good." Do not think that you can bear good fruit if you remain a corrupt tree. Change your heart, and your work will be changed. Be a good tree.

First Sunday in Advent: Are Your Bags Packed?

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Today is the beginning of Advent, the beginning of the new ecclesiastical year. The word Advent comes from the Latin ad-venio, to come to, and as Catholics we are to use this time to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, be it a celebration of his nativity or as described in today's Gospel, his return.

This is a good day to remember that before we know it, we shall be dead. We know not the hour, or the day, of our death, but we know that like the proverbial thief mentioned by Jesus, he will come when we are least prepared.

A friend of mine, Milo, was fond of asking people if their bags were packed. Are your bags packed? Are you ready to die? I like the analogy Milo used because we can all relate to it. All of us have a piece of luggage or two in our basement or in a closet, and we've all had the experience of running around the night before our departure on a vacation hastily throwing items into our suitcase. We've also all had that experience of living out of a suitcase for a while. At first everything is nice and neatly packed, then as the days progress our clothing and personal items leave the suitcase and wind up in the closet, the dresser, the bathroom counter, the floor....


When I receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I often feel like I've just gotten everything packed up in my suitcase. I'm ready to go. More than once I've walked out of the Church and half-wished that I would be struck dead right then and there, right after I've been brought back in union with God and before I falter once more and sin. As the day and week go on, I try to keep my bags packed, but a venial sin here and a venial sin there... and before I realize it my luggage is empty, bedroom a mess and I'm in need of reconcilation once more.

The Lord will come when we least expect it. Your death will happen when you least expect it. You may or may not have the opportunity to make amends, ask forgiveness or tell those whom you love how they mean to you. Take some time this Advent and do some packing.

Healing Mysteries of the Rosary

On meditating upon the mysteries of the Rosary the other day, I noted that none of them deal with Jesus’ healing–despite the importance of healing in the Gospels. After some reflection, meditation and study, I’ve come up with a set that I thought might fill this void. Here are the  applicable scriptural references, a memorable passage and proposed fruit of each mystery:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Healing Mystery: The Paralytic
(Luke 5:17-26; Mark 2:1-12)

Fruit of the Mystery: Forgiveness of Sins

One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set (him) in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.

When he saw their faith, he said, "As for you, your sins are forgiven." Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?"

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, "What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins''--he said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."

He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, "We have seen incredible things today."

But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy): I say to thee: Arise. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Second Healing Mystery: The Centurion’s Servant
(Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)
Fruit of the Mystery: Submission to God’s will

When [Jesus] had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum.  A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."

And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof;
but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Third Healing Mystery: The Woman with a Hemorrhage
(Luke 8:42b-48; Mark 5:24-34)
Fruit of the Mystery: Certainty

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.

She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."

Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

As he looked around to see who had done it the woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."

Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go thy way in peace

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fourth Healing Mystery: The Blind Beggar
(Luke 18: 35-43)
Fruit of the Mystery: Tenacity

Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!"

Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?

He replied, "Lord, please let me see."

Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."

He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

Son of David, have mercy on me!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fifth Healing Mystery: The Raising of Lazarus
(John 11:1-45)
Fruit of the Mystery: Promise of Eternal Life

Jesus said to the disciples, "Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him." So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise."

Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day."

Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here and is asking for you."

As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled,and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?"

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."

Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days."

Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him

Did not I say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?

**************************************

The Beatitudes

One of the best known Gospel reading is Matthew 5:1-12a.  The passage from Matthew marks the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, the first of Jesus' sermons in Matthew. This part of the Sermon on the Mount is known as the Beatitudes.  A beatitude is an exclamation of congratulations that recognizes an existing state of happiness. See The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p.620.

The importance of the Beatitudes cannot be overlooked. Bishop Fulton Sheen, in Life of Christ, takes the position that no one can truly understand the Mount of Calvery without understanding the Mount of the Beatitudes:

He who climbed the first to preach the Beatitudes must necessarily climb the second to practice what He preached. The unthinking often say the Sermon on the Mount constitutes the "essence of Christianity." But let any man put these Beatitudes into practice in his own life, and he too will draw down upon himself the wrath of the world. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be separated from His Crucifixion, any more than day can be separated from night. The day Our Lord taught the Beatitudes, He signed His own death warrant. The sound of nails and hammers digging through human flesh were the echoes thrown back from the mountainsides where He told men how to be happy or blessed. Everybody wants to be happy; but His ways were the very opposite of the ways of the world. (p.114)

The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the Beatitudes echoes this that:

the eight conditions [the Beatitudes] required constitute the fundamental law of the kingdom, the very pith and marrow of Christian perfection. For its depth and breadth of thought, and its practical bearing on Christian life, the passage may be put on a level with the Decalogue in the Old, and the Lord's Prayer in the New Testament, and it surpassed both in its poetical beauty of structure.

There are two versions of the Beatitudes in the New Testament. The reading from Matthew is:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,  for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

The Beatitudes are also shown in Luke (6:22-26), although there is a reduction number of "blessings" and the contrast of what are known as the "four woes":

And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

Many people have difficulty in understanding the first beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. What exactly does that mean, to be poor in spirit?

As noted in the readings set forth above, the words in spirit are found in Matthew's version but not Luke's. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary make the following observation on this addition:

Matthew's editorial additions may be seen in several places. First he adds "justice" in vv 6 and 10, both as a formal divider and as one of the great themes of his Gospel. To "blessed are the poor" he adds "in spirit." The poor are the needy ones of Israel, ... who prefer the divine service to financial advantage. Their poverty is real and economic, but with a spiritual dimension. In Matt the addition of "in spirit" changes the emphasis from social-economic to personal-moral: humility, detachment from wealth, voluntary poverty. In the Bible economic destitution is an evil to be corrected (Deut 15:11), and wealth is not an evil in itself; indeed, it is a necessity for the well-being of the kingdom, but it risks neglect of God and of the poor. God's first priority is the care of the poor.

The other beatitude which often causes confusion is the second one,  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.  Confusion here arises because few people take the time to look up the meaning of the word "meek" and operate under the presumption that it means being a shy or reserved person. Instead, "meek" means to endure injury with patience and without resentment.