2008 February archive at Being Frank

Archive for February, 2008

Feb

“I’m sorry. I can’t come in today. Religious holiday. The feast of… Maximum Occupancy.”

Categories: Being Frank...

I think one of the most amazing things God created has to be us. We are just such fantastic creations especially when you think about all the little things that make us tick. All the quirks and intricacies that make us truly unique. I noticed one of these little unique things today. I never really noticed this before but maybe most guys do it really without thinking? Or maybe it’s just me… well I’m unique. Anyway, I noticed that when I walk, or stand, I automatically suck my stomach in. Wow! I don’t even have to think to do it, it just happens! Now is it because of some inherent human need to hide things they aren’t proud of, or just some curious function of the body that just happens is not known to me. But I think it’s quite neat. And it makes my shirts fit better too.

I know Ash Wednesday has passed, but I’ve always wondered about the ashes on the forehead. Keeping the ashes on your forehead is a great way to witness to the world, and it was fine when you were at school or university. But now where I’m in a professional job where meeting clients is part of everyday work, what do I do with the ashes now? I have a duty to my employers to present a professional image to clients, but I also have a higher duty to God to proclaim Him to the world. It’s a tough question for me and one I usually avoid by going to evening Mass.

Wait I just saw on the news that the 8 new Indian Premier Cricket league teams just bid $40 million on ‘drafting’ various international players to their teams. Isn’t a lot of India in various states of poverty and disarray? I may be grossly misinformed but surely $40 million could go someway to improving conditions there. Well the masses have cricket so I guess they’re happy.

Feb

Trying something different…

By The Captain 35 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Right so. I sat in Mass last week and felt very deflated. I’d been surrounded for some of the week previous by some Proddy praise and worship, and young Proddy enthusiasm, and all of a sudden I was sitting in a very reverent, very traditional, very slow, very reflective Mass.

It was funny timing really, because as I sitting there thinking I had to buck up my attitude to Mass-going (I’m sorry, but sometimes it’s bloody hard work!) Cardinal Tom Williams finished his sermon with something along the lines of “it may not be fun, but it’s rich and rewarding”. He was referring to being a Catholic, more than the act of Mass, I think…

I felt like he was talking directly to me, and I appreciated the timing. But I wanted to say to him, and I want to say this to a number of people: Just because it’s not meant to be fun, does that mean it can’t be as well?

I’m sure I’ll get nowhere with this as a discussion point, because of the prevalent attitude on this blog towards more solemnity and “beauty” and reverence in the liturgy. And that’s fine. I do actually deeply love the heart of the Mass, and am bowled over by its awesomeness, but I need something more/different from my worship of my Lord.

So, I’m going to start doing a tour of Proddy churches on Sunday nights in Auckland. I’ll go to Mass, then head off to the local service of various churches. I want to feel and experience some of the amazing worship music they provide (I won’t be singing of course – I’m sure I’ve made it clear before how little I enjoy the act of doing so), and the light of the great many young people they attract.

Our Church is simply lacking in this area, and I don’t feel my needs are being met. Of course, it’s not the Church’s role to do so (can’t be all things to all people, and nor should it try), so I just hope it doesn’t mind when I go elsewhere for this portion of my Christian life.

Feb

’til death do us part…

By Tuppence 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Before I get into the meat of the post…Poorclear, big thanks for you comments on my post last week – very very useful…I’ll be chewing over your them for a while.

Anyway…

My Nana was widowed in October last year and the experience, for me, deepened immensely my understanding of the vocation of marriage. Watching their commitment and love for each other that had weathered the storms of life and had remained so strong affected me hugely. My grandfather was never a verbose man – he was solid, reliable, gentlemanly and very much given to a sense of fairness in all things. Those were the things I knew of him as I grew up. Through the musings of my Nana and the stories that she has told since his death, I have also begun to think about what an amazing husband he was to her – and I know if I’m called to marriage, I would hope for someone who possesses those kinds of qualities too.

Last week was their 50th wedding anniversary. I say â€˜was’, not â€˜would have been’ because my Nana and family celebrated it as if Grampy was still alive. My Nana wears her marriage on her fingers with all the rings that Grampy has gifted her for their anniversaries over the years. And so, their 50th was to be no different in that respect, as she felt Grampy telling her to go out and buy a beautiful bulging sapphire and diamond ring that was a worthy memory of such an occasion.

What has fascinated me is how much it seems he is communicating to her in his death. Of course I can’t know exactly where he is, but I pray for his soul that he makes it quickly to God. I’m no fan of the â€˜Sensing Murder’ sort of â€˜making contact’ with the dead, and my Nana is certainly not particularly superstitious.

But there have been too many little things that have happened for her to feel they are mere coincidence.

So I thought I’d try and find out what the Church has to say on that kind of thing. I know of course that dabbling in the occult is dangerous and just plain ol’ silly, but what if you feel that someone close to you is still very close, even in death? What if you are not seeking out those unusual moments but things simply happen? I looked in the Catechism but I couldn’t find much…maybe I was searching in the wrong place…anyone got any ideas?

Is it at all similar to the kind of relationship we have with the saints?

Feb

Prayer and ministry

By James the Least 2 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

(Prelude: Shameless plug – the latest episode of The 15th Station is available for free download right now. Go and check it out and while it’s downloading you can read the rest of my post. :) )

I gave a talk last week to a group of young people who were being trained for the various ministries that they were going to be serving in throughout the upcoming year and beyond. So there I was, talking to a group of around fifty (50!) Year…13 (I think – Form 7 in the old country ;) ) students from a couple of leading Catholic colleges on the North Shore (Rosmini represent!)

Anywho, I spoke to them of my experience in the various ministries I have been involved in over the years and what each one taught me. Let me summarise for those who are interested:

Being a minister of the Word taught me to listen – to listen to God’s Word being proclaimed, and to spend more time getting to know it so that a) you don’t get surprised with the “begat” reading one day (those who have know what I mean!) and b) so that you’re tuned to what God has to say to you.
Being an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist taught me responsibility and respect – literally there is nothing more precious that I can hold in my (unworthy) hands than Christ Himself. Into my hands He is placing His spirit – if that aint enough to wake you from your routine, nothing will!
Being involved in music ministry taught me humility – because I’m not as good as I think I am, and because playing music in Mass is still praying…as opposed to being a performance where it’s all about me.
Being involved in youth ministry taught me that I wasn’t alone – that there are tens (if not hundreds) of millions of young Catholics out there just like me – struggling like me, asking like me, falling like me. And that’s comforting in itself.

I left them with a message from the Pope exhorting us to pray more as doing so keeps us open to others.

Prayer “is the primary and foremost ‘weapon’ with which to ‘face the struggle against the spirit of evil,’” the Pontiff affirmed. He contended that “without the element of prayer, the human ‘I’ ends up by closing in on itself and the conscience, which should be the echo of the voice of God, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self. In the same way, interior dialogue becomes a monologue that gives rise to many forms of self-justification.”

Powerful stuff. Even as I was printing it out to read to them, I got to thinking, just how “open” am I to others – and to God? And then I read this bit:

“It is not, in fact, the presence of God that alienates man, but his absence. Without the true God, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, hope turns into an illusion that induces us to evade reality.”

So let me ask you this – how present is God in your life right now? Is He just there for you on Sundays when you’re at Mass? Is He present at your workplace or at home? Is He present in your car? When you eat meals?

Can I suggest that you take some time today to find ways to re-introduce God into your life in some new way? Whether that’s through meditating on today’s Gospel over lunch, listening to something different on the way home, or just stopping and saying a prayer for someone who you know you should or for someone less fortunate than you.

Just an idea anyway.

Feb

Fortitude

By eyeWitness Closed

Categories: Being Frank...

One of the evidences we have that the apostles must have completely believed in Jesus and his teaching was that they died brutal deaths for what they believed. Who would do that for something they weren’t too sure about? What gave those people the courage and the grace to live like that and give up their once comfortable lives?

I had a glass of wine with a beautiful elderly woman the other day. She started the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child in New Zealand with her husband back in the sixties when abortion was a new thing. She got called a bitch in the street. Politicians hated here. People graffitied explicit messages on her house. Police even had to guard her house to protect her and her family at times. It must have been really hard.

But she stood up for something she believed in. Do we have the same guts?

I think the first step is knowing what you believe in. It’s hard to be strong for something you don’t know if you believe in. Why do you believe in God? Why are you Christian anyway? Why are you Catholic? Do you care that thousands of tiny babies are killed in the womb or are you ok with that?

Within our Church which crosses different cultures, ages, and tastes in music, I don’t think you have to feel strongly about every cause, because you probably won’t. You can discern your cause.

“there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.“1 Corinthians 12

Life is confusing. Life can be unpredictable. People can be downright annoying. The book of Esdras (which parallels Chronicles and Nehemiah) talks about suffering, as do many of the Gospel stories, and in such stories life is often described as a narrow and often treacherous path to the entrance of heaven. Even the natural and simple fact that every single one of us has loved ones who will die means suffering and struggle has to be a part of life.

“In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33)

Lent is the time to reflect on how we’re doing. We carry around a toolbox to help us that many of us don’t even know about; the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Fortitude is both a virtue and a gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit remains with us to guide us and help us.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. (Rom 8:14,17.)

The virtues work together to be the tools in our lives that keep us going. Fortitude or bravery is needed to carry out every virtuous act. Fortitude helps us resist all the temptations we face, and to stand up for what we think is right. It conquers our fear. It ensures we don’t just run away from difficult situations we face. Prudence also assists fortitude in knowing when courage and a strong voice are needed.

The Catechism says:

1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defence of a just cause.

In a way I feel like talking about fortitude sounds depressing. Who wants to struggle? But really it’s quite cool that the bible contemplates that life won’t be always easy, and God gives us all the courage and all the strength we need to achieve anything.

Feb

Women and Work

By Filia Day 23 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Well this year is the twentieth anniversary of Mulieris Dignitatem. If you don’t know, it was the letter written by JPII on the Dignity of Women. So, to celebrate his fantastic anthropological and theological work, there is a bit conference being held on the Dignity and vocation of women at the moment – if you’ve been following Zenit, there have been a few articles following the conference.

This week I have been thinking a little about women and work, particularly within the context of marriage. At the moment, I’m not married so I hadn’t really thought too deeply about the implications for my career if I got married (implications is a rather crude way of putting it, but I’m sure you get what I mean). Being a Catholic woman and all, one could safely assume that children are a real possibility if I were to get married and that it would have some impact on my career. In my case, I have vowed that, if I were to have children, then I would avoid working at all costs while my children were under the age of 5. Thus my professional career would come to a holt if I were to have children. Within this particular historical moment, a woman who gives up her career for children is often viewed as making a sacrifice (or rather negatively deemed as oppressed by the professional glass ceiling). While I can understand the former mentality (motherhood as a sacrifice) I can’t really understand the latter – why is the work of a stay at home mother viewed with such negativity? In my viewed motherhood is well up there with the best of professions.

I think perhaps the root cause within our society is that motherhood doesn’t generate any form of income and our society has lost a sense of the value of sacrifice. I was talking to my flatmate while writing this blog and she suggested that children are often unconsciously viewed as objects. For example, I have my car, house and all the other material goods I need, the last thing on my list is a child. Then, in order to maintain the same standard of living (prior to having children) it becomes necessary for both parents to go out to work. I realised that not every secular person thinks this way, but one has to admit this mentality is becoming more common these days.

I remember a friend, who came from a large family, saying to me that, although there were many material sacrifices made in their family so her mother could stay at home, she would never have give up her mother being there when she arrived home for school. This was truly awe inspiring and I think is indicative of the real value of stay at home mums.

Feb

“Tute on son, tute on!”

By Methuselah's Beard 21 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Driving in the rain is quite stressful I find. Like today for example. The rain wasn’t heavy enough for employment of a full speed swipe. However the intermittent wipe wasn’t quite achieving full windscreen clarity. Now the car has several speed settings for the intermittent swipe, however these were either too slow, or with crazy pauses between wipes that I wasn’t used to, which was really bothering me. The craziness!!

As some of you may remember, I’ve begun reading non-fiction books in order to increase my knowledge of our world and history. You never know when this kind of information will come in handy. Now if someone asks at a dinner party how they first measured the distance of the Earth to the Sun, I can clear my throat, sit back smugly, and entrance my audience with obscure facts (by the way, don’t ask me this now as I still don’t know).

It’s amazing re-learning stuff about science etc that I presume I must have found out about in school. For example, the stars we see at night could have been dead for several centuries but we still see that light as it takes so long to reach Earth. Now I presume I knew about this because I didn’t react as if this was the most incredible news I’d ever heard. I’m a little older now and it’s easier to appreciate all the little subtleties in our world and how God’s work can really be seen in everything around us.

In fact, I might be so moved by all this new profound knowledge that I take up tutoring of some sort. Except I remember what a horrible tutor-ee I was and how I tormented tutors in my youth. No ‘dog ate my homework’ stories here. I had the more creative ‘my books disappeared down the elevator shaft’ sob story, or the equally brilliant I-erased-all-evidence-of-the-work-you-left-me-by-erasing-your-penciled-ticks move. It’s truly amazing what the human mind is capable of.