Now What?

As we finish the book, we are called to recollection of ourselves and out lives in Christ.  How, the author asks us, do we know when we are home?

His answer revolves around one of the expansively Catholic experiences, a birthday party for the Pope.  I had a similar experience when I was fortunate enough to go to the Papal mass in New York City, about a year after being received.  The experiences were similar--the crowds, the security, the sense of exhilaration in everyone.

We too had trouble getting to the venue and had to walk a couple of blocks to Yankee Stadium surrounded by throngs the likes of which I had never seen, our Catholic family at its diverse best.  Sisters in habits, sisters, without, seminarians in cassocks, priests in their clerical clothes, chasubles over their arms as they hurried in to to prepare to distribute mass to over 80,000 people.  People hawking t-shirts, a sign with the Blessed Virgin Mary on it that said “Call your Mother!”  Well dressed, and motley, young and old, of every nationality and color.  

The mass itself had an air of rock-concert around it.  I stood in a crowded (chest to back) line for over an hour to buy souvenirs--rosaries, magnets, shirts--and the folks were jubilant, conversing with those whose personal space they had invaded, praying rosaries, smiling and waiting in patience for the line to creep along.

Even back at my seat, it was a little unreal.  The crowd started a wave with the yellow and white napkins we were given as we came in, and chanted Benedicto! Benedicto!  It was, upon reflection the kind of exuberance we should have, if only internally, at every mass: something incredibly special, something transforming.  We would, indeed, see the Pope that day, Christ’s Vicar on Earth--but best to remember that we were there to receive Him, Himself.

Once the mass started, an air of solemnity descended, but no less joyful.  I cannot begin to put words to what it was like to celebrate mass in such a secular arena (literally) with over 80,000 of my closest relatives.  I was, indeed, home.

I think we sometimes forget that if we stay in our own little cottage, our parish church, we lose sight of the fact that we are, in fact, members of the Body of Christ, a much larger family.  For that reason it’s good to venture out.  Go to mass when traveling.  Go to a daily mass somewhere near your work.   Get to know your family and all their various forms and customs.

I think it’s also important to remember that it really IS important to be a member of this family, and the Catholic faith is just not one equally valid denomination among others.  We do have the fullness of Truth, we are the Church that Christ established and it does make a difference being here.  I had a friend once ask me, knowing that I go to daily mass whether I ever go to churches that are not Catholic  just for variety.

No, I answered.  What would be the point?  They don’t have Jesus in the Eucharist.  It’s a sentiment that sounds exclusive in today’s anything-goes world, but it’s true.  And if we understand that and respond to it, it opens our hearts and our horizons.  And it deepens our faith.

One young woman, who came into the church recently and who has suffered a good deal of persecution at the hands of her Protestant family, told me I really would die before I would go back.  It took me time to grow into appreciation of the Eucharist, but nothing and nobody could convince me to abandon it now.

I was humbled.  That’s the kind of faith we ought to be striving for, the faith we should be defending.  It isn’t necessary to be antagonistic to our Protestant friends, but we do need to stand for the truth that this IS Christ’s one, true, holy and apostolic church and Christians ought to be a part of it, not divided and diminished.  Period.

Allen Hunt provides some practical ideas for fostering that kind of deepening of our faith, and such deepening brings with it greater love and greater hunger for God and His will.

Take a One Day Retreat:  I’d suggest you consider going to the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta next June.  It’s an amazing experience, and it’s another of those grand, cosmic Catholic experiences.  You’ll be with 30,000 of your closest relatives, and you’ll see every kind of Catholic worship, from Aztec dancers preceding Our Lady of Guadelupe to the quiet Missionaries of Charity.  

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers and Ignatius House also offer retreats that are structured.  Look them up and as the Nike ad says: Just Do It.  Don’t complain that you have not time.   If you are too busy to make more room in your schedule for God, you are too busy.

But a retreat doesn’t require structure.  Take a weekend day sometime, and clear your schedule, then take a vow of silence for the day.  Pray the Liturgy of the Hours for one day.  Spend time in  prayer.  Go to adoration and mass, or just sit before the Tabernacle.  Read (prayerfully) that religious book that has been gathering dust.  You might even try making Sundays that kind of day: set aside a block of time in which NO other pursuits (no shopping, no cooking, no cleaning, no sports, no homework, no bill-paying, no eating out) are undertaken, and just be with God.  I have found that the more I try to do these things, the more I want to do them and the easier they are to arrange.  And what difference they make.

Attend Mass 7 Days in a row:  If this is beyond you, try this:  Block off the time of the Triduum.  Starting with the Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, refrain from work and set the time aside for reflection and prayer (yes, I mean take the day off).  Pray the Stations of the Cross.  Watch The Passion of the Christ, if you are able.  Sit before the Reserved Sacrament in the chapel.  At 3, go to hear what Holy Mother Church has to say to you about the death of Our Savior.  Go to all the services, and act between times as though you are still in church, for the Liturgy is not yet finished until the Great Vigil of Easter.  Go to that and don’t complain about how long it is, either!  If you are properly prepared, it will be a joyous end to a long three days.

And pretty much everyone can do this:  If you can’t get to daily mass, make a commitment to watch (engaged and prayerful) mass on EWTN for seven days in a row and make a spiritual communion.  It’s on at 7.  No excuses....

Read John Paul the Great:  Or any other spiritual biography that suits you and your life at present.  If you aren’t reading something that helps you in your spiritual life, start, and do it every day even if even for only 10 minutes.

Meditate on the statuary in the parish:  Our parish has some beautiful imagery, use it!  And begin to surround yourself at home and at your workplace, with the saints that matter to you.  St. Martha and Saint Paschal oversee my kitchen, St. Patrick is by my sofa, and the family prayer nook is full of images that have meaning in our journey.  My office similarly has prayer cards, a holy water font (how I start my day, in prayer), and a small crucifix just below my computer screen.  They remind me to take a minute throughout the day to check in with my family, and to connect with God.

Enjoy the life of St. John and St. Rita:  Or any other saint.  I’d add St. Patrick, St. John Vianney, and St. Camillus de Leyles  Just pick a saint and start reading.  While you are at it, learn a little something about the saints listed in the Litany of Saints....  

Make a spiritual family tree:  ‘Nuff said.  If nothing else this demonstrates in a very concrete way how beholden we are to the service of others--and how we are ourselves to serve....

Make a Pilgrimage:  No need to head for exotic places.  Go to mass at the Cathedral in Atlanta or the Shrine of Immaculate Conception or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart or Our Lady of Lourdes, founded by St. Katherine Drexel, in Atlanta.  Go on pilgrimage to EWTN in Alabama.  Go to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit and stay for Vespers.  But wherever you go, go prayerfully and thoughtfully and ask that the experience make you grow.

Read The Incorruptibles:  Great book.  I'd add to the list a book on Eucharistic miracles, or the diary of St. Faustina, or Dark Night of the Soul  Or take a look at the bigger picture: Read the Big Book of Christian Mysticism.  

Fast for 24 Hours:  No better suggestion than this.  But in addition, try mini fasts in your ordinary days.  Fast from taking the elevator.  Fast from coffee, or the extra piece of toast or from dessert.  Or fast from making snide internal comments about others--and when you do, say an act of contrition.  When we make fasting a part of our lives, it teaches us great lessons.  And while you are at it, go to confession!

Read the Catechism:  The big, green one, not a summary--it is not beyond the ability of an ordinary Catholic in the pew to read and understand the Catechism or even the Papal encyclicals--they are written for the faithful.  It's a good idea to listen to what the Church wishes to teach us!.  You will be amazed at the depth and stunned by the beauty of it all....


There's also a daily devotional guide, Day by Day with the Catechism.  Or listen to Fr. Corapi’s series (running perpetually on EWTN at 8 PM Sunday nights, and available on CD).  I make it a Lenten Discipline to listen to the series (48 hours, plus extra if you listen to the questions and answers) every year for Lent--it’s what I listen to in the car.  Every year, it is familiar, every year different and every year it makes me grow  And it’s a good way to prepare for my Lenten confession, the ultimate examination of conscience.

Share in a class:  Don’t wait to be asked--volunteer to help.   And then  start looking at the plethora of Catholic teaching on the web at least as often as you listen to the news or your favorite TV show.  The world of podcasts is vast and wonderful.  Go for it. The more you learn, the more you want to know and the more there is to explore....

Work at a soup kitchen:  Don’t just give of your money, give of yourself and do it regularly.  I’ve found it helps me if I do something I am not attracted to, for it makes me grow.  If we are not participating in ministry---we are not working in the Kingdom.  And remember, St. Paul said that hose who do not work ought not eat.  That applies to the Eucharist as well as to our breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Everyone can--and should--do something for Christ every day,  Even if it’s just taking last place in line to let others go first as a reminder of our obligation to serve....St. Therese of Liseaux taught us that little things done with great love serve Christ as well as great deeds. Best of all, small deeds are accessible to us all.

Examine what your are protesting.  This isn't just for Protestants.  There are plenty of pew-sitting Catholics who’ll say: I don’t believe the Church’s position on birth control, the Real Presence, the centrality of the Mass, the Sunday obligation capital punishment...  There’s a word for the cafeteria Catholic: Protestant.  It is fine to question and to explore.  Rejecting a well settled truth of the faith, or even rejecting the appropriate direction of the Bishops appointed to lead us in our particular time separates us from Christ's Church even when we remain in the pew.


The faith is a seamless garment, and we must accept it all, for rejecting any part of it it is rejecting the teaching of Christ.  If you have difficulty with a teaching of the church, in humility, accept it (this is an act of the will and requires the discipline to stop your old ways of thinking when they surface), then ask prayerfully for the grace to understand.  Read Humane Vitae and the great wealth of commentary on it in light of modern times.  Read Dead Man Walking.  Go..experience..accept..and soon it will make sense.  But don’t sit, arms folded, and presume that you know better than Holy Mother Church when it comes to matters that are essential to faith.....

Make a Vatican Pilgrimage:  Amen!  But if that is out of reach, do it virtually--there are amazing virtual tours on the web.  And do it with an attitude of prayer and thought.

Enjoy the Mass in multiple settings:  Easy to do around here.  Go to a Spanish mass (St. Stephen’s, Sts. Peter and Paul, OLPH or St. Jude).  Go to the Korean mass at OLPH.  Visit the Byzantine community near Knoxville or go to the Maronite parish in Atlanta.  Go, go, go and you will have the wonderful experience of being totally foreign and utterly at home.

In other words: It’s your faith.  Grow it and share it in joy and in confidence!

In His Service--Martha