Wheat and Chaff at the Final Judgment

Well, here we are halfway through Advent. There’s only a couple weeks to go until Christmas Day, and yet once again the gospel reading at Sunday Mass STILL does not talk about Jesus’ birth.

Seems kind of weird, doesn’t it? In secular society, we’ve been preparing for Christmas since the day after Halloween. However, on the church calendar the Christmas season doesn’t even begin until the Christmas Vigil Mass on the evening of December 24th, and then runs for the next 12 days. (Which is where we got that classic and painfully tedious song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”)

The season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, is the time we prepare for the coming of the Lord. But it’s very easy to focus only on the birth of Jesus—that brief moment in history when he was tiny and helpless—and ignore the majestic and powerful Jesus. This Jesus is quite a bit more awe inspiring (and let’s be honest, a bit more frightening) than the little baby in the manger.

The gospel reading for the weekend of December 12th and 13th continues to remind us that Jesus’ primary purpose in becoming human was not to present a cute little Nativity scene for us to focus on once a year, but instead to be the Redeemer and Judge of all the world.

John the Baptist was teaching and baptizing the crowds, and some began asking whether John was the long-awaited Messiah. If John was even the least bit prideful, he could have accepted their praise and adoration. But John would have none of that nonsense. He immediately said, “Whoa, time out, fellas. You got the wrong dude!” (Well, OK, maybe that’s a loose translation.)

John explained, “One mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.” Isn’t it refreshing for a change to see someone who is not blowing his own horn all the time? John knew his role was to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the one who pointed Him out to the crowds and then stepped aside into obscurity. John surely could have generated a lot more interest in himself—maybe even started a mega-church in California and bought himself a private jet—but he knew that was not what God called him to do.

In describing the Messiah who was soon to appear, John said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

In case you don’t quite understand the farming and harvesting symbolism, John was saying that Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked, with the righteous being gathered into Heaven while the wicked are sent to a very hot and uncomfortable location (no, not Miami).

God does not wish for anyone to spend eternity in Hell. And He sent His only Son to save us from that fate. But God’s patience will not wait forever. At some point each person must decide whether to trust in Christ and be counted among the wheat (the righteous), or to ignore Him and be counted among the chaff (the wicked).

Jesus the infant in the manger is definitely less threatening than Jesus the righteous judge. But John the Baptist focused on Jesus the Judge, and the Church liturgy also focuses on Jesus the Judge, even though it’s less than two weeks until Christmas. 

Yes, Jesus was a cute and helpless baby in a manger—for a brief time. But He is the holy and righteous judge for all eternity. Let’s never lose sight of that fact.

The ‘Wait, What?!’ of the Week, December 4, 2015

After the mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado last week, President Obama said, “Pro-lifers are not responsible for terrorism — people are responsible for violence and terrorism. I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of pro-lifers reject this ideology.”

Wait. What?! President Obama actually came to the defense of pro-life people?! No, just kidding. He never said that about pro-lifers. However, he did say exactly that about Muslims in the wake of [fill in the blank: Fort Hood, Boston Marathon, Chattanooga, Charlie Hebdo, Paris, San Bernadino, and dozens of other incidents where innocent people were murdered].

After an obviously deranged man, with no connection to any pro-life organization, shot people at the Colorado clinic, President Obama did scold pro-lifers not to “demonize” Planned Parenthood. Many spokespersons for the Democrat party (who comically call themselves impartial journalists) came right out and said that pro-life people were responsible for the Colorado killings because of their “hateful rhetoric” toward Planned Parenthood. Apparently, it’s wicked simply to point out that Planned Parenthood kills infants and harvests their body parts, but it’s perfectly fine for Planned Parenthood to actually do it.

A tip of the hat this week to a terrific blogger, Matt Archbold (creativeminorityreport.com), for the theme of this post, and who earlier this week asked this question: “Why is it that when a radical Muslim terrorist commits an atrocity their motive is unclear to all and their affiliation with Islam is denied everywhere. But a nutjob who shoots up a Planned Parenthood with no connection at all to the pro-life movement is the responsibility of all pro-lifers?” 

Matt, some people would point out that if you have to ask the question, it means our country is in big trouble. Many others, of course, would point out that by simply asking the question you have identified yourself as a racist, right-wing, anti-woman, Islamophobic, Bible-thumping, gun-nut, hater. Or something along those lines.

Injured on Day of Big Game

Just imagine it’s the morning of Super Bowl Sunday, and Tom Brady wakes up, gets out of bed, walks into his bathroom, and slips on the wet floor and tears ligaments in his knee. That would be awful. (As part of this imagined scenario, of course, the Patriots are scheduled to play in the Super Bowl. If the game is actually Carolina vs. Cincinnati, then it really doesn’t matter what happens to Mr. Brady that morning.)

Or imagine a major concert is scheduled at Carnegie Hall, which will be broadcast live around the world, and on the morning of the concert, famed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan wakes up sneezing and wheezing with a bad cold. He gets out of bed, walks into his bathroom (fortunately he does not tear any knee ligaments), gargles with warm water and then cautiously tries to sing a few notes. His voice sounds exactly like Bruce Springsteen after a night of heavy drinking. That would be awful. (As part of this imagined scenario, of course, Mr. Tynan is scheduled to be the main concert performer. If the featured singer is actually Placido Domingo, then it really doesn’t matter if Tynan has a cold.)

Or imagine the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games are scheduled to begin later that evening, and NBC broadcaster Bob Costas wakes up, walks into his bathroom, and notices in the mirror that he has a wicked case of pink eye. That would be awful. (Oh wait, never mind. That really happened to Mr. Costas in February, 2014. At least it gave those of us who are bored to tears by the Winter Olympics something interesting to talk about.)

So, why am I asking you to imagine scenarios where something terrible happens at the worst possible moment? Well, imagine that it is the night before Thanksgiving Day, and a certain newspaper columnist, who for years has insisted that gluttony is a virtue rather than a vice, wakes up from a sound sleep at 2:30 a.m. with stomach cramps. He gets out of bed, walks into his bathroom, and proceeds to endure two hours of severe gastrointestinal distress. (If you don’t mind, I’ll refrain from any further details. At least he didn’t tear any knee ligaments.)

Imagine Tom Brady hobbling into the Patriots’ locker room on crutches. Imagine Ronan Tynan walking into the Carnegie Hall dressing rooms doing a Marcel Marceau pantomime, frantically pointing to his throat and mouthing the words, “I lost my voice.” Imagine Bob Costas appearing on TV screens in 100 million homes with a single beet-red peeper pulsating at the viewers like that Edgar Allan Poe horror story, “The Tell-tale Eyeball.” (Oops, that actually did happen, at least until NBC executives finally took Mr. Costas off the air for a few days.)

On Thanksgiving Day, when I, er, rather, when that certain columnist walked into his sister’s home, all pale and frail (the columnist was pale and frail, not his sister’s home), imagine everyone’s confusion when he did not sprint toward the hors d’oeuvres table, but instead gingerly sat on the couch and requested a cup of tea.

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Finally, a niece said, “What’s the matter, Uncle Billy?” Um, I mean, she said, “What’s the matter, Mr. Columnist? It’s a family tradition to cheer you on as you eat everything in the house on Thanksgiving Day.”

Well, the moral of the story is: sometimes bad things happen to good people. Or maybe the moral is: sometimes a stomach bug hits on the Super Bowl of eating. Let’s just say that now fully recovered, I am most definitely, er, I mean, that columnist is most definitely looking forward to Christmas dinner.

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*** Important announcement: Tune in to WATR radio, 1320 am in Waterbury, CT (or streaming at www.watr.com ) on Saturday, Dec. 5th, from 1 pm to 2 pm. I will be appearing on the "Special Edition Saturday" talk show, to talk about, um, I have no idea. But they promised me it would be funny. ***

Peace and Joy Possible in This World, Too

Let’s be honest, the primary reason Christianity is so attractive is the promise of eternal life. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will receive everlasting life. What a wonderful offer.

Do the math. Compare all of eternity to our brief 60, 80, or 100 years of life here on earth. It’s no contest. Eternity is a really, REALLY long time. It makes perfectly good sense for people to desire to spend eternity in a place described as paradise rather than in a place described as never-ending torment.

However, many Christians who are very firm in their belief in eternal life in Heaven, are convinced that we are REQUIRED to suffer in this world while we wait for the joy of the next world. Maybe that’s why so many Christians always seem to have such sour expressions on their faces, or why secular critics often describe Christians as people who are haunted by the idea that someone, somewhere might be having fun.

The Baltimore Catechism asks the question, “Why did God make you?” And the answer memorized by school children is, “God made me to know Him and love Him and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him forever in the next life.”

I’ve heard this interpreted to mean, “See, you’ll eventually be happy when you get to Heaven. But for now you’re supposed to sacrifice and suffer and serve God—so just forget about being happy.”

Well, that doesn’t make any sense. If someone truly knows God and loves God and serves God, he or she will be the most joyful person on earth.

Don’t get me wrong; we obviously live in a fallen world. The stench of sin has corrupted our entire planet, which often makes life very difficult. All of us at one time or another are forced to deal with illness, accident, disease, crime, and death. This world is definitely not paradise.

But Jesus never said our life on earth is destined to be a joyless journey of somber sadness. We are not supposed to mope around here with sour expressions on our faces while we wait to go to Heaven. Jesus clearly said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Sure, Jesus was talking about eternal life in Heaven. But He also was talking about having abundant life here on earth. We are supposed to have joy in this earthly journey, despite the struggles and the pain. Jesus wants us to be filled with joy—right here and right now—not just later in Heaven.

A lot of the suffering and pain here on earth cannot be avoided. Illness, accident, and tragedies often strike without warning, bringing pain and grief to people. But there is still a great opportunity to experience joy in this world. And ironically, the best way to experience joy is to do exactly what the Baltimore Catechism says: know God, love God, and serve God.

Those are simple words; after all, they were designed to be memorized by school children. And yet, those words are incredibly profound. Knowing, loving, and serving God are the very things for which human beings were created. They are the fundamental purposes and goals of our lives. 

So yes, the promise of paradise in Heaven for all eternity is very attractive—THE most attractive aspect of Christianity. But Our Lord is a God of immense love. He not only wants us to experience eternal joy in Heaven, He wants us to have a taste of it right now. If we know Him and love Him and serve Him, those sour expressions will disappear from our faces.

The ‘Wait, What?!’ of the Week, November 28, 2015

This past Tuesday, at a joint press conference with French President François Hollande, President Obama said this: “And next week I will be joining President Hollande and world leaders in Paris for the global climate conference. What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be when the world stands as one and shows that we will not be deterred from building a better future for our children.”

Wait. What?! “Powerful rebuke”? Does Mr. Obama really think the ISIS terrorists will flee from the battlefield when confronted by solar panels and windmills? Let me see if I have this straight: the goons of ISIS, essentially a 7th century death cult, are spreading like a cancer, murdering innocent people wherever they go, and our fearless leader continues to claim the greatest threat to the world is global warming, er, I mean, climate change, or whatever they’re calling it this week? (By the way, the so-called experts predicted that by now New York City would be underwater and snowy winters would be a distant memory. Check out this article: http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/24/seven-big-failed-environmentalist-predictions/ ) 

Yeah, I’m sure a fleet of Priuses and Chevy Volts, driven by gender studies majors from Yale and Amherst, will pound the ISIS murderers into submission.

Top 10 Famous Movie Quotes

A few weeks ago, while discussing that classic Wes Craven horror flick, “The Sound of Music,” I asked readers to send me a list of their favorite films and favorite movie quotes. Many of the emails I received were quite interesting. (I am, of course, using the definition of the word interesting that means, “Please start taking your medication again.”)

One reader is a big fan of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Bambi.” Another reader’s favorite movies are “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Exorcist.” And yet another reader loves the movie where Bruce Willis is a cop hiding on the upper floors of a high-rise building which has been seized by terrorists. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember the title of the movie. But I know which one she means. It’s called “Fiddler on the Roof.”

In one of the email replies, a person sent me a link to a website that lists the Top Ten movie quotations of all time. I read through the famous quotes and realized that all ten of them are from “The Sound of Music.” Here they are:

10. When Captain von Trapp is hugging his children, right after singing with them for the first time, Maria hands the Captain a guitar and says, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’”

9. At the very beginning of the movie, when Maria is dancing and twirling in a mountain meadow and singing the title song, just as the music ends, she looks around, smiles, and says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

8. During the scene where Rolf rides up to the von Trapp mansion on his bicycle with a telegram, Captain von Trapp opens his jacket slightly to reveal a holstered revolver. He then glares at Rolf and says through clenched teeth, “Go ahead, make my day.”

7. When Maria first arrives at the von Trapp mansion, the butler Franz answers the door and expresses his annoyance at being bothered by visitors. He tells Maria, “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

6. When Max Detweiler is negotiating with the organizers of the Salzburg Music Festival and threatening that the von Trapp Family Singers will not appear, he shouts, “Show me the money!”

5. In the gazebo, right after the Captain and Maria sing “Something Good” and realize they are in love, the Captain holds her in his arms, gazes into her eye, and says, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

4. When Maria and the seven children row a boat up to the dock, and then the boat tips over because they got excited at seeing the Captain, Kurt struggles to shore and in a spluttering voice says to Maria, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

3. In the scene where Max discusses his desire to become the musical agent for the nearby monastery choir, he tells the Baroness how he will negotiate with the leader of the monastery: “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

2. Early in the film, when the Reverend Mother sends Maria to be the governess for the seven von Trapp children, as Maria turns to leave the office, the Reverend Mother says, “May the Force be with you.”

1. Toward the end of the movie, when Liesl sees Rolf again, who by now is totally committed to the Nazis, he spurns Liesl’s expressions of love by sneering, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” 

Well, I’m pretty sure all ten quotations are from “The Sound of Music.” I might have to dig out my DVD of the film and watch it again just to be sure.

Is Satan Real?

Over the last few weeks we’ve covered some rather serious topics here, so let’s lighten it up a little, OK? This week let’s talk about … Satan.

Oh, I saw you roll your eyes. Who wants to talk about Satan, for God’s sake? Well, actually, it is for God’s sake that we need to talk about the devil. You see, there’s a very popular idea nowadays that Satan does not exist. A sizeable number of Christians think that Satan merely symbolizes evil but is not an actual personal being. Sure, people acknowledge that there is evil in the world. You’d have to be living in a cave not to notice that the world today is full of murder and violence and destruction—just as it has been ever since Cain killed his brother Abel soon after mankind appeared on this planet.

But when most people say that evil exists, they mean simply that human beings are capable of doing nasty things. They don’t mean there is an actual fallen angel with a mind and a personality who is actively trying to draw us away from the goodness of God and lead us into a life of sin. That idea is way too old-fashioned. It sounds like a superstitious medieval notion of a guy running around in red tights with horns and a pitchfork, and who talks a lot like Snidely Whiplash.

A survey conducted by The Barna Group a few years ago found that 59-percent of people who identify as Christian agreed with the following statement: “Satan is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” 

We are about to enter the season of Advent, as Christians worldwide prepare to commemorate one of the most amazing supernatural miracles in history: the Incarnation, when the almighty, eternal Creator of the universe lowered Himself to become a human being. People sincerely believe that God is personal and that Jesus truly is the Son of God. So we ought to listen to Jesus’ words, right?

Well, Jesus said very clearly that Satan is real. The Lord said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.” How can a symbol fall like lightning?

Jesus also said this to His adversaries: “You belong to your father the devil….He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand in truth….When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Does it sound like Jesus was referring to a symbol? Does it sound like He was talking merely about mankind’s inclination to do bad things once in a while? I don’t think so. The Lord very obviously was describing the devil as a personal being.

There’s someone else who has commented on this topic. His name is Pope Francis. Just last year the pope said, “This generation, and many others, have been led to believe that the devil is a myth, a figure, an idea, the idea of evil. But the devil exists and we must fight against him.”

The fact is, there is indeed a supernatural personal being who wants to draw us away from God’s goodness and have us suffer the torments of Hell forever. Satan is thrilled when people consciously serve him, and there are many Satan worshippers in our world today. But Satan’s most effective technique is to convince people that he simply does not exist. But they’ll find out soon enough—when it’s too late.

However, the good news is that the power of Christ is way stronger than the power of Satan. So cling to Jesus and rebuke the devil in Jesus’ name. It may seem old-fashioned, but it is true. 

OK, that’s enough of this light and fluffy topic. Next week we’ll get back to the serious and somber stuff.