Lumen Fidei #20: Courage to Love

From #52: Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and undertakings, a plan which sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love.

We've kind of messed up as a society in our views of marriage. On one hand, we take it so seriously that a lot of young people are scared to take the plunge. They think it's safer and less complicated to just live with someone without getting married. On the other hand, we've lost any sense of permanency. We talk about trial marriages. It's not so much until death do us part, but until we can't stand each other anymore.

It takes a lot of courage to get married. It's not something to do half-heartedly or without thoughtful consideration. In getting married, you are not only changing your own life, but that of another human being. A person that you'll get to spend the rest of your life getting to know and love.

But there is a bit of recklessness involved to. It is called "taking the plunge." After all the thought and prayer, you eventually have to do it. Courage doesn't mean not feeling fear, it's not letting that fear control you. One antonym of fear is faith.

To get married, you have to have faith in a bigger picture. This bigger picture might not be exactly what you think you want. But we have to believe that this bigger picture is what is best, that the Person in charge of the bigger picture only wants the best for us. Marriage is never easy. It will require sacrifice. It will require change.

But all of that sacrifice and change is making you into a better, holier person. The main job of a spouse is to make sure their beloved makes it to heaven. That's one heck of a responsibility and one heck of a reward.

This is part of a series of reflections on quotes from Pope Francis' first encyclical. To read more, visit here.

Lumen Fidei #19: Let Us Build A House

From #50: That faith is not only presented as a journey, but also as a process of building, the preparing of a place in which human beings can dwell together with one another. 

As much as we want to cram religion into the personal sphere, religion cannot be simply personal. If you are close to God, you want to share Him. You want to reach out to other people who are also getting close to God. Something so big cannot be contained. A journey as important as faith cannot be done alone.

When you are baptized, among other things, you are baptized into a community. When my son was baptized, it was important for me that it happened as part of a regular Sunday Mass. We don't have any family in Syracuse and not many friends, but I wanted to share this event with others. I liked the symbolism of having it as part of the Mass, my only regret being that the baptismal font was at the back of the church so most people couldn't see it.

Although my son will never appreciate it, the people who were at that Mass certainly did. We still get stopped after Mass by people who comment on how good he is and how much he's grown. I think sharing that moment with our family helped other people in the parish to adopt our son. He's a part of the parish community in a way that my husband and I will never be. He's had the opportunity to grow up with them and they with him.

If you want to read more about his baptism: How My Son's Baptism Helped Me Heal From My C-Section

This is part of a series of reflections on Pope Francis' first encyclical. To read more visit here.

Lumen Fidei #17: Sacramental Reality

From #40: The sacraments communicate an incarnate memory, linked to the times and places of our lives, linked to all our senses; in them the whole person is engaged as a member of a living subject and part of a network of communitarian relationship.

A while back I reviewed The Catholic Imagination, by Andrew Greeley. I remember overall appreciating the book although he did perpetuate some half-truths about Catholic teaching. The main point of the book is that people who are raised Catholic, even if they later leave the faith, have a very distinctive mindset.

The Mass and all of the other Sacraments bring the divine into everyday life. That should permeate our whole lives. Encountering the divine in the Sacraments helps us to recognize the divine in the ordinary. Not in the same way, but just as real, Christ is present in the Mass and in our neighbors.

Moreover, the Sacraments connect us not only to God, but to all believers at all times. As this quote points out, it highlights all of the major events in our lives: birth, marriage, birth of our children, death...

And the Sacraments are multisensory experiences. You witness the priest at the altar. You smell the incense. If you go to confession seated across from the priest, you feel his hands on your head as he says the words of absolution. You hear music, the prayers, and the readings.

Growing up with these experiences leaves a permanent mark on cradle Catholics. Those I know who have fallen away still have a deep appreciation for social justice causes, still has a grasp for how interwoven we all are. Many of the ex-Catholics I know fall squarely into the "spiritual but not religious" category as they see God everywhere. I pray that they find the Sacraments again and come back.

If you want to read more of this series of posts reflecting on Pope Francis' first encyclical, visit here.