Two new articles and a radio conversation tomorrow

Greetings, folks! I have two new articles up at Catholic Stand:

For Whom Should I Pray? Part 1: about how to pray for the world.

For Whom Should I Pray? Part 2?: about how to pray interiorly, for oneself - not for your needs, but to grow closer in relationship to God.

And, tomorrow morning at 7:10 am, I will be joining John and Glen on Morning Air to discuss part 2, how to pray for oneself. You can find it on your local radio station, or listen on their live player here.

I was inspired to write these by the knowledge that a lot of Catholics just don’t pray. I can’t remember what my prayer life was like before the experience of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius - probably mostly the rosary. And perhaps you, too, default to the “devotions” rather than going into personal, deeply explorative and truthful prayer. But the time is now! Prayer is the time to meet God, and ourselves. It is the time to learn of our own attachments and false beliefs about God and self, and throw them off. This is the work of a lifetime, and it is utterly necessary to do. Prayer is not an option. So get your hiney in the chair!

See you on the radio!

Praying like the Mass

I recently had the very happy experience of visiting a beautiful local church that offered the “Novus Ordo Latin Mass,” something I have not attended in a long time. I was very moved by the Latin – which, I realized, I finally understand after many years – and felt transported to another time and place. It was very peaceful and my immediate feeling was one of being home.

I have no problems with the regular Novus Ordo Mass whatsoever, by the way. But I get why many flock to the Latin, and it was nice to be reminded with more clarity why the Catholic Church is different, and why what is on offer there, so to speak, will always be different. It takes work to find and make meaning in the highly secular world; at that Mass it seemed to be presented to one on a platter (and a golden one, at that).

The priest had an interesting and, for me, relevant homily about how to pray. Lately I have been contemplating, what is the best way to pray? I don’t believe there is only one way to pray – that would eliminate the truth that everyone has unique gifts and ways of being – but that there has to be a simple way, at least, to get started. I imagine many people would like to pray, but don’t know where to start, and I want to reach those people.

So, yes, there is the Ignatian way (to which I am partial), the Dominican way, the Benedictine way, and so on. But is there something even simpler than that?

Look out for my next articles on this topic later this month. I’m working on a part 1 and a part 2, with the first being directed at answering the question, “How do I pray for the world?” and the second, “How do I pray in a personal way that connects me to God?” So, the outer prayer, followed by the inner prayer.

This priest’s answer to the question of, “How do I pray?” in his homily was an interesting one: his advice was to remember the order of the Mass and mimic it. So: start with the sign of the cross, move to an acknowledgement of being in the presence of God, confessing your sins, giving glory to God, and listening to and praying over the Gospel. This seems just as about as good advice as can be given, don’t you think? The Mass is the highest form of prayer, and lo and behold, is also a handy guide for praying on one’s own.

Side note: this is one of the things I love and appreciate about the Church so much, that there are so many ways to pray. The Stations of the Cross! The Examen! The Rosary! Prayer alone, prayer with others! Just pray!

Identifying anti-life "misinformation"

On a recent episode of The Pillar podcast, Ed Condon made the good point that in the current stage of the fight for the culture of life, those on the opposing side will use the term “misinformation” or “disinformation” when discussing the pro-life position. However, we should recognize their claims to disinformation for what they are: lies. Here are three of the most common:

1. Women will be punished or jailed (some have even said “executed”) for having abortions.

2. Taking care of ectopic pregnancies is a form of abortion that will no longer be legal, endangering women’s lives.

3. That the Supreme Court ruling “overturned” a Constitutional right.

The first two are just lies, plain and simple. Nowhere in the country can a woman be prosecuted in any way for having an abortion. Abortion “doctors,” however, can. Also, the process for ending an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion, and is not illegal. Nothing has changed with regards to the availability of that procedure, called a salpingostomy, salpingectomy, or laparascopy.

The third one is also untrue. The ruling did not remove or take away a right. The ruling found that the Constitution does not grant the right, and that those earlier cases - Roe and Casey - were in error for imagining a right that does not exist in the Constitution. As I said on my recent appearance on Morning Air, indeed the ruling actually restores a right: that of life to the unborn. The ruling returns the ability to legislate on abortion back to the states. That’s what it does.

One big lie that has blown up in recent weeks is the apparent story of a ten year old rape victim who went across lines from Indiana for Ohio for an abortion. The president himself repeated this story which, it turns out, is completely unfounded. The bigger story here is why an abortion doctor would “treat” a ten year old, clearly a victim of sexual abuse, and not report it. Turns out the doctor promoting this story is known for not reporting cases of juvenile sexual abuse she sees in her clinic. Not reporting abuse is an offense serious enough to warrant losing one’s medical license.

So, misinformation - that is, lies - are rampant, and of course have been rampant, because that is the nature of our media and the powerful lobby that advocates for the culture of death. If you are looking for a patron saint of the truth right now, may I first suggest Jesus himself: the way, the truth, and the life. But I also suggest St. Michael the Archangel, defender of the Church and of life. We will need his help in this and all spiritual battles, but praise God, He is with us.