Immaculate Heart Example

        It is the time of year for getting ready to do our lent traditions to clear our hearts and souls for the coming of our savoir Jesus Christ.  This is great!  Being the 100th anniversary of Fatima also lends some urgency down the hearts of many faithful, as one of the primary calls Mary made was to repent and do penance for our sins and those of the whole world.

    In a series of happy God driven coincidences, I opened a book my dear wife provided me for the first time (I just finished two others...she wants me to get spiritually smarter) The SPIRITUAL COMBAT and A TREATISE ON PEACE OF SOUL by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli.  This book is a guidebook for many a religious soul, and a few saints like St. Francis de Sales.  In just a few pages it roped me in, and started answering a few questions I've had.

    Recently several experiences begged me to look for answers to the the proper understanding of a rule based and spirit based path to heaven.  As a law and order type guy my whole life, simply following the rules is a very simple path for my little brain to follow.  Do X and receive Y.  The problem us law and order people have is this still leaves us short, because to obtain heaven we need nothing less than perfection in our souls as well as our actions!

   Rule based paths to heaven are also dangerous to many of us.  When we observe and judge people poorly because they are not as "observant," or will not practice the same extreme forms of asceticism we personally choose to do.  When we do this, we easily fall into sin because we are comparing and showing off our "holiness."  We become modern day Pharisees. 

    Instead we must carefully chose the form of self denials and rigor of our prayer life to draw us closer to the mysteries of Christ.  This type of introspection, combined with strengthening spiritual exercises makes us primed like an soldier for the great battle working in unison with God's commands .   We need all the strength possible for our daily battles with the prince of evil who seeks to turn us from the path of God to his by hook or crook.

    Our example in all of this can be our dear mother Mary.  In the Bible she says but a few words, but attends every major event with our Lord.  She faces every temptation and torture a mother can endure, but never gives in to sin  Mary also was compliant with the old Law she was born under, and the example of the new law of her son.  She silently witnesses and participates in the unfolding of salvation, but never brings the focus to herself.  Everything she does assists the Lord as he completes his mission for the world and all people in every age.  Her Immaculate Heart always complements, and never overshadows the Sacred Heart of her son and our Lord.

    As we go forward into Lent, Mary's Immaculate Heart example should guide us towards heaven.  Accept the hardships of the fallen world, but never waver from following the law of God.  We also will remember to seek greater understanding of God in all things we observe and do, and to bring God's graces to all those we meet.

-ehw

Be Not Afraid (of a Plus Size Family)

    Our current Western society praises itself on being rooted in control over nature through application of science and reason.  Nowhere is this more evident than through control and size of the family.  Embracing a large family is in fact the anti-thesis of control of nature.  Therefore any counter-cultural move away from strict family control sets off a firestorm of emotion, debate, and shunning to bring people back into the fold.

    The argument for a controlled size family is a logical outgrowth of the Enlightenment.  The penny sized description of this philosophy is:  If I can reason something out (logically order it through science) and I want to will it into being, the result I want to make can and should be as I want it to regardless of any historical or scientific obstacles.  While the goal of Enlightenment thinkers is good, to make the world a better place, it fails because it assumes all things are ordered according to a single person's will.  

    In a precisely ordered world replacement level children would not be bad...it would simply ensure a stable society with Mom and Dad being replaced by their little children.  It assumes there is no war, famine, enjoyment of bountiful years, divorce, recurrence of the Spanish Flu, accidents, control of passion by all people, natural spoiling of children, or change of political order.  When in history has this ever happened?  If I apply a scientific method to the review of history against any one of these factors, much less a combination of two, I can say never with confidence.

    A view of family across all traditional cultures shows having a large nuclear family is a reward and sign of prosperity.  Large families can take a loss, as tragic as it might be, and still survive to another generation.  Families with large families embrace passion and reap the rewards with a 99% stability rate (i.e. no divorce) when using Natural Family Planning.  In large families where parents have all the children help each other natural selflessness arises.  Even economic science shows growing populations increase GDP, while stable and declining populations result in a loss of economic power despite automation.

    Yet just saying have a large family is also a poor scientific argument as well.  Many large families fail because they may be open to life, but fail in another basic component of success.  One has to look into the why behind successful families everywhere, and its origins.  These reasons come from observations in natural law, not man's law.

    In Genesis we see man was not complete until he had a wife.  Together they were to be fruitful and multiply.  Proverbs tells us a man will have no fear to argue in the city gates when surrounded by his children.  Jesus tells men they must serve their families to the point of complete self sacrifice, and women must listen to their self sacrificing men.  (This addresses our greatest vices as men and women of power going to our heads, and sets the example for their children's future relationships) Time and time again we also read throughout the Bible we all must look for the Lord's direction, and build our world towards it.  Embracing these lessons points us towards successful family models.

    St John Paul II, in his masterful Theology of the Body, also reminds us men and women complete the other sex in marriage.  In the marital act we participate in renewing creation with God.  Acceptance and loving our resulting children then completes the family.  When viewed in its totality, this sets up an environment where family life can mimic the Biblical revelations of Natural Law.  This type of environment fosters good and minimize bad family effects we can see in the physical world around us, while moving from generation to generation.

    In the a few short words above I hope this lets you understand where I started on my journey towards embracing the title of this post: Be Not Afraid (of a Plus Sized Family) in today's world.  This decision does not come without challenges, doubts and trials.  It is emblematic of real life, needing a constant renewal.  Nothing worth doing ever came without cost...and never will.  So be not afraid to look at the reality of the world, and use its very nature to form a better future according to the will of God revealed through nature.  I promise the experience will really ENLIGHTEN you!

-ehw

P.S. Besides where would I get my cute photos of family life from without this many kids?

The Cheerio and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

   I cleaned up the mess of a 15 month old boy's self instruction in the art of eating, only to find an hour later I missed one more little crumb maker in a corner of the kitchen.  I used to get mad at messes like this, but over the last year I've chilled out a lot.  Somehow this cheerio made it into my rosary meditations last night.  Somehow this little cheerio, my reaction to it and the Sacred Heart of Jesus all came together.

    As I went through the Joyful Mysteries (Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation and Discovery in the Temple) I thought of the incredible trust Joseph and Mary had in God.  First you have two people who have a plan...got job, get married and live a nice little life in Nazareth with a few kids along the way.  Then an angel appears to each of them and says...God has a different and much greater plan for you!  Both gracefully accept their commission, and they became the gateway for our Lord Jesus to enter the the world and save our souls.  

   After meditating on the first four mysteries I found myself thinking about how each our arrival in our family changed our worldly plans.  Gone were the new cars, fancy house, and two people generating good steady incomes.  I thought of how we prayed over the decision to homeschool our children, and the lifestyle changes it brought on us.  I thought of our acceptance of being open to life in our marriage with the blessings of five children and five miscarriages it brought.  This brought me back to the Cheerio on the floor while Jesus was in the temple as a young man.

    I related to the panic Joseph and Mary had when they could not find Jesus.  I could only imagine the things they wanted to say when they found Jesus calmly going about his father's work in the temple.  In the moment of finding Jesus, Joseph and Mary each were able to view a mini-transfiguration.  Jesus foreshadowed to them his future mission, and how well he would perform it.  Joseph and Mary were able to put all their emotions and order, and enjoy a moment of clarity on what their entire lives were entirely ordered for.  Jesus' parent saw a glimpse of Jesus Sacred Heart on display.

   That cheerio on the floor, one of hundreds I am sure, is one of the many of sins I've committed against God's law in my lifetime.  Jesus may have used that cheerio  to have me peer into his Sacred Heart.  When I saw the cheerio, I quieted my mind and fury about why it was there.  I just accepted it was there.  

    Christ gives constant charity to me for my sins despite the wounds I place on his heart.  In turn I must continue mirroring his charity in my life despite all the changes and challenges the world and my choices put in the way.  This is what his parents did, and this is what I am called to do in living out the gospel through word and deed.

    Well time to go...little guy just finished his breakfast.   Low and behold!   There is a cheerio for me to pick up.

-ehw

Imagine the Love of God if...

    My daughter just finished a very special trip with her grandparents.  Ten days visiting Washington, D.C.; seeing godparents; enjoying some new clothes; but most of all enjoying a different vision of the world she lives in.  She learned a great deal about where she comes from on my side of the family.  My daughter lives a very virtuous life, and is a role model for me her Dad.  Her selflessness for living God's law is impressive.  While she was gone though, her absence let me think about how God's relationship with each of us in the story of the Prodigal Son.  This story is always about the tale of the two sons, but it also gives us a deep insight into the love of God for each of us.  

    In the previous excursions of my children with grandparents I never had a child who was at the age to explore life away from the family.  This time though, my daughter took a trek to the outstanding Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia.  There she met one possible destiny.  She saw shelves and shelves of great books.  She sat in classes where she had more of the Shakespeare memorization complete then the students (recent homework at Regina Caeli), and also experienced a class knowing she was not yet ready for it.  When she was done she found a great college, and felt it could be a home away from home for her.

   My young lady left, and seriously contemplated the next phase of her life.  Thankfully for me, her description of why included the statement "They really try to live out our Catholic faith there dad."  In the story of the Prodigal son, however, the boy wanting to live in man's world chooses to live by his own rules.  He leaves the father, and the father knows he may never come home.   This faithful father also realizes the son may also forfeit a home in heaven for his soul, and this fate would trouble the father even more than a failure to return to the family home. 

    When the father sees his son coming home repenting of his sins, he rejoices. He hugs and adorns his child with all he can.  While the physical return home is good, the father knows a repentant son will be with him forever in the paradise of heaven.  Since tradition teaches us the father is symbolizing God the Father, we know the human joy and love we see pales to the love God has for us.

    So when my daughter returned I rejoiced in having my faithful and true daughter in my care once again.  I also thought of the Father in the Prodigal Son.  Here a son, who was dead to him, returned home.  The son showed repentance, and demonstrated his embrace of the Lord's ways.  If my joy was immense, I could only imagine the joy and love God poured forth into the moment when sinners come home.

    What an awesome God to believe in, and see reflected in natural law throughout history.

-ehw

Spunky

    At then end of a long day, when you just came inside from playing in the dirt with your brothers you just get SPUNKY!

    I love my kids....this is just all part of loving the moments on the high ground of life.

-ehw

Sunrise with the Lord

    Back in June I was able to get up to the mountains of North Georgia.  It was hot, but a good time to explore a little of more of the state.  One opportunity I received was the gift of an early rising to meet the sun.  Watching the earth go from black through its purples, reds, orange and full daylight was a simple pleasure. What a gift from God!!

-ehw

Points of Grace and Wisdom

    If we believe the Bible, God's Grace and Wisdom abound on this earth.  We also know God pronounced humanity good at our creation.  So what keeps us from finding these two tools needed to help us navigate the world in harmony with the Father's will if our nature is inherently good?  We all know it is the noise of the world preventing us from finding God in the silence of our own hearts and lives.

    Noise comes in many forms.  Lack of sleep, too much TV, too much Facebook, illness, threats to our livelihood and our families just to name a few.  The challenge to quiet the noise requires solutions unique to our individual identities.  For introverts prayer will come easy.  For sanguine temperaments simply standing still long enough for grace and wisdom settle in your life may be the challenge of a lifetime.  For melancholics not falling into despair when challenges smack your life may be the constantly renewed roadblock of a lifetime.    

   For each person there is a solution though.  It just takes the time and dedication to find it.  The examples of saintly and holy lives abound in history, and even in modern times.  We just have to look for them.  Then when found we have to take the next step and act to apply the lessons in our own lives.

   In the quiet of quite a few vacation timed desert morning walks, I was able to quiet my mind enough to get to church on a weekday for mass and confession.  It was wonderful.  The grace and wisdom revealed saved me once again from wrongheaded paths.  I know I will need to seek yet more grace and wisdom for many a coming storm, but it was reassuring as always a minor miracle appeared when needed.

   I hope you find your path to points of grace and wisdom today as well.

-ehw

I found Dad's Golden Toy Mine!

Mission Control this is John Paul.

JP - MC go ahead.

MC I have the toys in sight.  They are magnificent.  Two Fujifilm cameras, loads of lenses, batteries and HOLY BIRTHDAY CAKE the 56mm is here!  

JP you have permission to acquire the toys.

MC I have a problem...oh my it is a rigged flash...I'm on film...he caught me red handed.

JP Break Off! Break Off!  Go to ground!

MC will play baby no worries.  I'll get another chance...I know where the toy mine is now.

MC-JP Out

-ehw

Generation to Generation Toys

    If you ever get a chance to look at a list of the top ten toys history ever created...you will not find last year's Christmas craze on them.   You will instead find toy cars, soldiers, trains and digging supplies for boys.  For girls I am sure you will find dolls, stuffies and all their accessories.  I know there are exceptions out there, but the reality is you will not find many!  This is what kids play with!

    So here we have Uncle Micheal's trucks out back one more time.  At home we have the matchbox and airplane toys from both myself and my brother...and even my uncle (or my kids Great Uncle).  These toy trucks and planes are universal hits.   When built American tough, like a child, they will last generations.

    It got me to wondering...if toys go from generation to generation why don't we look closer at lessons from the past.  I'm sure what God said 5,000 years ago or 2000 years ago really still has some staying power.  It might help us in our present circumstances!

-ehw

A Morning Swim

    Funny things happen in the desert.  Even though it will get to 95F before 9AM and a swim feels good, getting out will still send chills down your spine.  Kevin is adjusting to this reality like a champ.  He loves his morning swim, and now knows how to dry off in a flash.

-ehw

The First Cookie

    I bet you don't remember your first cookie...it must be a magical moment though.  Normally Momma does not let the kiddos get a cookie or serious sweet until they have their first birthday...but there is something to be said about being child number five!  Momma gives in to the magic of the moment a little more than with the first four!

   Oh he loved it!  What a joy to see!  Uncle Micheal thought he'd have these all to himself....not anymore!

Believe in the Unicorn

         With the news from Dallas and Tennessee today, one could rightly believe the world is up in flames.  The world is changing and there would appear to be no hope....but this is what Uncle Screwtape would have us all believe.  There is hope...more hope than we can imagine if we still believe unicorns can walk amongst us!

    I am being  a bit silly, but it is true.  Amongst all the terrors of the world, we have plenty of signs of natural law bringing joy and hope to people.  How can I say this?  Do you love your child?  Do you sacrifice your personal conveniences to help your spouse when they have a bad day?  Do you pray and give alms to the poor in some way?  Does any one of these items fail to let grace and mercy through you to others?  

   Amongst pain we see now, and know that is coming, we can still bring Christ's gospel through us in word and deed to the world.  It is this grace, flowing through us to others, which will provide the world the renewed church.  One which will conquer the evil at some point, and let God's plan unfold in ways new and unexpected to us mere mortal men.

   Oh..and the Unicorn water cannon my daughter has in her hand packs a heavy stream pounding. It made me believe in its power a few times in our water wars last night!

-ehw

Earned not Given: Lesson for the 4th

    This year the capstone challenge of my boys Blue Knight year was the annual board of review at Regina Caeli Academy.  (The full story of the event itself is here BOARD OF REVIEW) For the weeks leading up to the board I reinforced to the boys and their parents their awards were earned not given by saying:"When your friends ask about your awards you will be able to tell them in Blue Knights everything is earned not given."

    This is a hard task we all must learn, and one fathers must teach repeatedly.  In my case I had one boy who was able to discuss each question for five minutes each in great detail.  The other son took a pretest in the kitchen as we cleaned up from dinner, and smugly thought his 80% was enough to stop studying....ah not in my house.  After a very serious discussion on how the name Wojtkun was the only thing I would ever give him, and how he was not going to drag it into the gutter he go serious.  So he was on cloud nine when he scored a 100% at the review, and earned the rank of Sergeant for next year the next week.

    So what does this have to do with the 4th of July?  Well everything.

    In 1776 our Continental Army was in the field for over a year, dying for American Independence. The men in Philadelphia used the words of Thomas Jefferson to define what we stood for as a nation, knowing by doing so they signed their own death warrant.  After years of fighting (remember the war went on past Yorktown in 1781) the Founders created a document forming a government which used checks and balances to keep the worst human failings in check.  

    Despite all the Founders did did generations ago, Benjamin Franklin responded prophetically to the question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got-a Republic or a Monarchy?" with "A Republic if you can keep it."  Dr. Franklin knew human nature, and knew the lessons in his generation could not be passed on through our DNA.  A republic could only be passed on through teaching each generation the cold hard facts of our history, human nature, and the balancing grace of applying natural law.  Even with lessons learned, each generation must still earn a republic through application of those lessons to the events of their times.

    In today's world we have a tendency to throw away the ideas of the past, thinking modern science can solve all problems.  The news reports today show the natural tendency for people to crave the warm security blanket of authoritarian rulers (if they agree with us).  These trends are disturbing, for they show people discarding the philosophical lessons (probably never learned and many times purposefully corrupted) of the founders.

   So today we must again decide if we want to continue earning our Republic, or throw it away and again come under authoritarian rule...from inside or outside our nation.  The threat is real, and only the willfully ignorant can't see it.  

   Time to go pray for our nation and its people...that the light of freedom ignite in our souls once more.

-ehw 

The 18th Anniversary

    Time flies and it lies. 

    It seems like yesterday I went out for an easy five mile run with my cousin David, showered up and put on my blues ensured these rings were tucked in with my brother Karl and we went off to the church to meet two priests (who are like brothers to me) to get married before God and family.  I remember the door swinging open and my soon to be Father-in-Law smirking at me saying "I loved her first." The whirlwind day of photos, holding hands, being the focus of attention wore my bride and I out.  I remember thinking of the marriage being about the two of us, swearing fidelity to each other before God.  

    Today I started with rescuing John Paul (child number five) from his crib at 4:55AM, resting a few more minutes and then going for a laborious 2.9 mile run (every tenth counts now).  On coming home I see three boys doing chores and enjoying each other's company.  Two girls and a momma fast asleep...and I think...wow a lot happened in eighteen years.  Soon we'll make a doctor's visit and I'll be off to work for the rest of the day.

    Nothing could symbolize the massive change and frozen time better than our wedding bands.  Nicked, bumped, worn smoother, worn 24/7 and still as strong as when new.  If possible, they might even defy the laws of physics and be stronger now than ever before.  It is almost like the rings adapted with us to experience, trial by fire, success, failures, responsibilities and the love of children we're blessed with.

    I love my Carrie Anne, and I truly think no one else in the world would put up with me like she does.  Her wisdom is sound, and heart warm.  This warm heart powers our family, and keeps us on track.  The self sacrificing love Carrie displays with each child she carries is simply heroic.  The nine month sickness and long recovery she fights through each time has to count for something good when see meets our Lord one day!  She is pretty cute too!

   More than loving her alone, I love the "us" our marriage creates.  Our constant lessons of agape love, brought by the opportunity to be a family, allow us to bring Christ into our family everyday.  Mastering these lessons provides the spark I see in couples married and happy at 25, 40 and 50 years.  This is the love which should inspire us all to holy matrimony for life, grows healthy families, and shows us how to claw our way towards heaven through better and worse a fallen world provides.

    I know we have so much more to face in our lives.  The world is right now in a tremendous crisis of faith, and needs Christ more than ever.  I write this not to boast, but to help others see the way to heaven through Holy Matrimony and its foretaste of heaven.  I had a friend who said he was surrounded by friends with failed marriages, and was scared to become married out of fear generated by those failures.  

    I told him what I now know is true...seek out those who succeeded.  Learn the lessons of the happy 40-50 year marriages, and put them into your heart.  Learn sacrificial love, and seek one who wants to give of themselves without limit as your partner.  Pray over everything, and keep Christ front and center in your family life...he will guide you through the tough times which will come.

    So today pray for us, pray for your marriages, and pray for those who need to find peace in self to make either a vocational commitment to marriage or holy orders.  It is the best gift we could give the world!

Capturing the Glory of our Spiritual Dawn

    When I saw this windmill I could see the outline, but not the details.  The vast contrast between the bright rising sun and the shadow side of the windmill also deprived my eyes of fine color detail.  My brain knew what was before me, but my senses could not grasp all the details as the wind gently started moving the blades and changing the scene.  

    I looked into the scene and then began to think of our spiritual lives.  We first know the world as it exists around us with natural light and law.  When God's light falls on the land the contrast between the right and wrong becomes distinct.  What we thought before of our environment will radically change if we embrace God's law as our spiritual dawn arises.

    This is the key moment in the transition between dawn to day in our spiritual lives.  If we accept God's law over us, the light will continue to grow into full day.  If we decide to follow man's law alone, we'll need to wait for the street lamps to come on to make sense of the world.  Street lamps are no substitute for God's light.

    Even with embracing God's Law bringing on our spiritual day, our earthly minds will never see the world as clearly as God sees it.  We will, however, be gifted with the knowledge and graces needed to avoid pitfalls if we ask for them with heart, mind and soul.  If we grasp the offered graces, sacraments, and penance we have a better chance to stay on the path to heaven.  

    If we obtain the prize of heaven through the gift of God's mercy, we will one day see as God sees.  The outlines will suddenly become full of detail, the high contrast will yield brilliant color, and the slightest breeze will be noticed and appreciated.  

   Sounds good to me...

-ehw

Photo Essay: Connecting to the Christ Child's Heart

    At the center of the plaza in front of the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament is the statue of the Child Jesus extending his Sacred Heart towards us.  The heart of a child, broken of it's innate narcism, recognizes the blessings Christ brings to us in some moment of silence.  For most of us, those childhood moments form the closest and purest connections to God we will ever have.  it is the closest we will ever come to touching the Sacred Heart of our Lord.  

    The reason is once we leave the narcism free window of youth, our lives get busy.  Our lives fill with noise and competition needed survive in the adult world.  The moments of peace needed to connect to God in the manger, at the Sermon on the Mount, on his cross, or arising from the dead in his glorious triumph over death get crowded out on the clock.  The devil uses our fallen world to challenge your attempts at connection to Christ using trials to us at work, his mocking us when our children go astray, or physical ailments used fogging our mind and blocking reception of God's treasures bestowed on us.

    We should not lament on this spiritual torment.  We must accept it, and revel in the few moments of childlike joy we do get when our hearts open to the Lord.  We must treasure those moments as a triumph over the forces of Satan, and know this constant spiritual battle is the one the Lord encourages us to have.  A heart constantly striving for the Lord is one which never leaves faith or hope aside, and provides a path where charity can flower.

    See the striving heart, the one cutting through the distractions of the world, is a mature heart seeking Jesus Sacred Heart.  The striving heart completes the circle of spiritual life for those blessed with a childhood connection to the Lord.  See if charity flows through your heart to others, you again stripped yourself of narcism like you did as a child.  In the charitable acts you will build not just a moment of joy, but the potential for an eternity of heavenly joy with Christ.

-ehw

P.S. Thanks to Mom for the inspiration for this blog post!

Photo Essay: Will You Pray for Me?

        Contrary to most descriptions, a Roman scourging was a vicious affair.  It usually killed a person at forty lashes or greater because of blood loss from exposed internal organs.  The entire purpose of a public lashing is to scare away people from either supporting the victim's cause or preventing certain crimes.   It should come as no surprise there were very few of Jesus public supporters and apostles at the foot of his cross when he died.    That was the entire idea behind a cruxifixction.

    So approaching the Shrine, on the southern portico we have this cross at the end.  With a single kneeler just begging you to come and pray with and for our Lord in his suffering.  A suffering which continues today in this world.  Jesus' persecution continues today with attacks on the people of his church around the world.  Jesus' church on this earth needs our prayers as much now as ever!

    So the lonely kneeler begs the question from Jesus: Will you pray for me?

-ehw

A Father's Love

    I started the day with prayer at this statue showing us how much God loved us...through the sacrifice of his only son on a cross.  Below the statue were the graves of two aborted and five miscarried babies.  As a father of four miscarried babies, my first thought was of mercy God provides these innocents by bringing them immediately into heaven.  My second thought came back to praying the men and women who facilitated the abortions come home into God's graces.

    I am a blessed man to have a father (and father-in-law) who taught me the meaning of devotion to family over self, to wife over self, to accept responsibility for my actions, and to honor God's commandments as a way of life.  I know he picked me up, and kicked me along through hundreds of mistakes during my life.  I also know he rejoiced in my successes when lessons applied finally yielded results.  

    As I labored for a living and travelled the world the last 27 years away from home, I came to realize this is not an experience all children receive.   In fact report after report shows the lack of principled fatherhood is the primary factor for increased crime rates, lack of transmitted faith in God, disrespecting women in a hook up culture, and disengagement of boys with constructive endeavors and careers.  

    The only way to correct this problem in the future, is for a slow and steady conversion of hearts towards Christ.  Christ provides the example of selfless love absent in much of our culture today.  Christ provides the example of the stern, forgiving, task mastering, self sacrificing man needed to be a good father to children.  Christ also demonstrates a humble reliance on God the Father, and subordination of his will to the master designer of all time and space needed to be a good husband to a wife.

    If we look to Christ for answers, there would be no more abortions.  We would never allow evil to come to our children if we were truly disciples of the word made flesh.  From that simple beginning, so much more good would flow.  Once we accept our fatherly call to teach, sacrifice and lead our families to heaven we never stop seeking a truth greater than we ourselves can understand alone.  

    So on this Father's Day I will pray graces flow, and men accept the call to be father's in the model of Jesus.  It would simply make the world a much better place for the born and unborn alike.

-ehw

What a Child Teaches about Ad Orientum Worship

        Robert Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Worship of the Catholic Church, recently pleaded with bishops around the world to resume worship Ad Orientum.  Ad Orientum, or facing the liturgical east, for the entire congregation to include the priest was how the Catholic Church worshiped until Vatican II.  The local changes made to have priests face the congregation, and turn their back on the tabernacle is a matter of great controversy.

    In the traditional Catholic Solemn High Mass the priest always says mass Ad Orientum.   Priests may also offer mass Ad Orientum under the Norvos Ordo (or Vatican II mass).  Vatican II documents never explicitly directed bishops to have priests face the congregation during mass.  This liturgical change it happened "on its own" along with a whole host of other changes.  The controversy around this is very rich, and I am only beginning to understand the various historical positions.

    I've heard many compelling theological arguments supporting Ad Orientum, however I wanted to reduce this to the lowest level of natural law I could in my head.  So I looked at the behavior of a child to see what would our natural inclinations be in this situation.  I used the example of my five children as infants to see if I could discern a pattern of some sort.

    When a child awakes from a nap, wherever they are, they call for their parents.  The child will have at least one or more needs after walking: cleaning, hunger, loneliness, being too cold or hot.  The child will cry out.  First as a whimper, then as a scream until they get some attention.  When you come to "rescue" the child, they will almost always be looking our direction.  Standing, sitting, climbing it will not matter.  They will be looking for you as they call out.

    In a way, Ad Orientum worship is not much different than a child awakening.   When we go to church we all need cleansing, nourishment, companionship and comfort to continue on our journey to heaven.  The priest, the servers, the laity are all just children in the eyes of God.  So when we call out to the Father in prayer we should all be looking in the direction he is coming from. This is what Ad Orientum means, looking towards the spiritual east the direction which God will come.

    It does not sound like such a bad idea.

-ehw

God's Path in the World

    As three of us (Carrie, John Paul and I) walked up the trail to Anna Ruby Falls I could not help but think of my son Kevin.  Almost every time we are out in the woods he says,"God made nature, and I like it."  Kevin, at the tender age of nine, recognizes God imprinted his law on us through natural law.  He "gets it" better than most of us much older folks.  I just wish the politicians would go back and read the Declaration of Independence, and learn the founders state all laws must conform to natural law (or nature's God) to be just.

    Many people today, afraid to be labeled religious or tied to a group, call themselves "spiritual."  They find their way on their own through the forrest of life.  If they are attentive to natural law, and heed it, they have great potential to make good choices in their moral lives.  The problem with just finding your "own way" though the forrest, is your experiences are very narrow.  So the chance for misinterpreting a sign is higher than if you had advice on reading the signs as you approach a rattlesnake habitat.  If you stumble and the snake strikes, no one will be there to hear your cry.  There is also nothing supernatural to sustain your body and soul in this earthly journey if you go it alone.

    In this photo I purposefully left the trail in the shot.  I did this because as I thought of Kevin's statement, I was also thinking of the peace which comes from growing ever more into a Catholic life.  The trail stood out in my viewfinder.  With each glance I found a reminder of how God also gave us so much more than natural law.  He gave us a path of safety through the dangerous forrest of life, and a means to walk it.  All we need to do is use the path and his grace to avoid the greatest dangers of the forrest.

    I revel in the knowledge I do not have to be Solomon, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila or John Paul II to survive in the forrest.  I just have to turn to the collective wisdom imparted over almost 6,000 years through revelation and illumination of God's laws to my church and the world!   Being the thinker I am, I fall more in love with the Catholic magisterium as each new lesson clicks into place like custom made Lego blocks in a slick design.  I know this magisterium is stronger than the efforts of fallible men who may try to twist it to their own political designs.

    Not only do we Catholics have the lessons, but we can receive supernatural graces pouring forth from sacraments.  God cleanses in baptism, restores with mercy in confession, nourishes at communion, sanctifies matrimony and holy orders, and comforts in anointing of the sick.  So not only do I get a path to follow, but a complete pit crew as well for my life journey using supernatural grace.  This allows God to be with me in every place, in my body, and in my most important earthly relationships.

    So God's path through the forrest is the one I chose.  I pray after reflection, you may chose to investigate the strongest and safest path through the woods to heaven.