Now or Later

Imagine, if you will, a piece of wood.  You can drive a nail into the wood and then, realizing you acted in error, remove the nail.  The nail will be gone, but it leaves a hole where it once belonged.

Something similar happens to our souls.

When we commit a sin, it's like a nail being driven into our soul.  It wounds and weakens us.  Thankfully, through the sacrament of Confession, God forgives us of our sin.

But that's not the end of the story.

Just like the wood, sin leaves a sort of hole in our soul.  The sin may be gone, but there is still work that needs to be done.  For one thing, there may still remain the tendency or desire to commit the same sinful act.  

Secondly, the spiritual "holes" represent that the soul is lacking in love.  There is a lack of full love for God, a love that would prevent the soul from succumbing to sin again.  

Finally, there is a need for correction.  Think for a moment of a child.  Let's say the child smashes his mother's antique vase.  Well, his mother will forgive him, of course, out of love.  But there must be some recompense: the child must repair the vase or replace it.  This is just and it is also love.  Loving discipline directs one to what is good.

Similarly, while Confession removes our sin, it doesn't remove the punishment due to those sins.  This is a very key point!  Just like a child, we also need to be corrected through punishment when we willingly and knowingly disobey our Father.  

So, evil dispositions, lack of love, need for temporal punishment: these are the holes that remain in our soul once a sin is forgiven.

We must be purified.  The question put forward to us is: when?  

You see, it is our choice.  

We may be purified now or later.

On November 1 we celebrate All Saint's Day, a joyful occasion when we remember and thank God for our friends in heaven.  The saints are our heroes: they've won the race and are now cheering us on.  They have been purified: there are no holes in their souls!

This year on All Saint's Day I found myself involved in a very timely project.  I've volunteered to decorate our parish's bulletin board each month, which has been enjoyable albeit a bit challenging, as I don't really consider myself a very crafty person.

Anyhow, in honor of All Saint's Day, I decided to fill the board with every saint card we owned, which, over the years, has amounted to a substantial number.  Some collect baseball cards; I guess we collect saint cards.  Amidst the cards, I added quotes from the saints themselves, since they obviously have a great deal to teach us.

Well, as I typed up the quotes, I noted to myself that there was a general theme running through the messages.  Whether the saint be a martyr from the fourth century, a wife and mother, or a prisoner at Auschwitz, they all agreed upon one thing: suffering.

Here are just two examples:

"When you are ill, offer up your sufferings with love, and they will turn into incense rising up in God’s honour, and making you holy." ~ St. Josemaria Escriva

"The cross is the greatest gift God could bestow on His Elect on earth. There is nothing so necessary, so beneficial, so sweet, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus. If you suffer as you ought, the cross will become a precious yoke that Jesus will carry with you." ~ St. Louis Marie de Montfort 

More than miracles or mystical prayer experiences, the common bond of these souls in heaven was that they all suffered.  It wasn't something they had to unfortunately "deal with" during their day, an untimely obstacle along the rosy path of life.

No, they embraced the suffering.  They united their suffering with the suffering of Christ on the cross--some, like St. Padre Pio, to the point of even bearing Christ's wounds.  They allowed that suffering to purify them.  It was what made them saints!

They chose to be purified now, here, on earth.  Through suffering they became detached from all sin and made reparation for any damage caused by their previous sins.  Thus their love for God was so pure that, at the moment of their death, they entered directly into heaven.  

Then we come to November 2--All Soul's Day.  This is the day when we especially pray for the souls who were not fully purified here on earth.  

These are the souls in Purgatory, a word that itself means "purified."  As St. Catherine of Genoa writes:

"The Almighty is so pure, however, that if a person is conscious of the least trace of imperfection and at the same time understands that Purgatory is ordained to do away with such impediments, the soul enters this place of purification glad to accept so great a mercy of God.  The worst suffering of these suffering souls is to have sinned against divine Goodness and not to have been purified in this life."

Purgatory is God's hospital for souls.  It functions just like a hospital here on earth.  The inpatients realize fully that they are sick and need a cure.  They additionally recognize that a cure will come only through suffering--surgery or medical procedure of some sort.  Yet, they willingly proceed with the suffering, knowing that it is for their ultimate good and in hope for full health one day.

The souls in Purgatory await the ultimate cure: the bliss that is the Beatific Vision.

Joyfully, there is only one door out of Purgatory and that is the door to heaven.  But until the purification is complete, the soul will experience a suffering "more painful than anything a man can suffer in this life" (St. Augustine).  They suffer because they see so clearly the evil of their sins and sin's effects.  

They seek the peak of the mountain, but must make the painful ascent, shedding their sins and sinful desires as they rise to the top.  

While being purified, these holy souls in Purgatory cannot earn merit for good works.  They cannot hasten their ascent to the top.

This is a teaching we affirm at every Mass when, following the consecration, the priest prays, "Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence."

Who are these "brothers and sisters" from whom we pray?

Not the saints in heaven--prayers will not help them, as they have reached eternal happiness.

Not the souls in hell--prayer will not help them, as they have been damned to eternal punishment.

We pray for the souls in Purgatory, who were not purified now on earth and must therefore be purified later.


Then we come to a realization.  We are each given suffering, every day, in a myriad of shapes and sizes.

Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio

How will we use that suffering?  Will we squander it?  Or will we use it for atonement of and reparation for our sins?  Will we be like the saints who embraced their suffering and were purified through it?

That's what we can do now.  I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said that we begin to choose--today!--our eternal destination.  Heaven and hell begin on earth, through the decisions we make about how to live our life.  

Right now we can allow our suffering to purify us.  

And right now we can help those in Purgatory.  

Remember, they cannot help themselves: they cannot hasten their ascent to the heavenly mountain.  But we can!  Through our prayers and by offering up our sufferings, we can hasten their way to heaven.  

We all have loved ones who have died.  Don't assume that they are in heaven because, if they are in Purgatory, they need your help.  Offering our suffering, our prayers, our work, any difficulties in this life is the best way to show these departed ones our love.

We can (and should) remember the souls in Purgatory every day, but most especially now, in the days following All Soul's Day.  

Each day from November 1 until November 9 we can gain a plenary indulgence (removes all punishment due to sin) for a soul in Purgatory.  Of course, this is following the various requirements of a plenary indulgence, including detachment from all sin, which is quite difficult to achieve.

But we should still try!  

Here is what you need to do:

1. Visit a cemetery--any cemetery will do; it need not be the one where your loved one is buried.
2. Say a prayer for the particular soul for whom you wish to gain the indulgence.
3. Attend Mass the same day.
4. Go to confession within 20 days of the cemetery visit.
5. Have a spirit of detachment from all sin.
6. Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the intentions of Pope Benedict.

Now, through God's grace, we can atone for our sins and heal those holes in our soul, thus increasing and perfecting our love for God.

Now we can aid the suffering souls in Purgatory and, by assisting them, we also will be further purified.  

Now we can try to bypass Purgatory and aim for heaven, where we will see God face-to-face.

Holy Mary, Refuge of Sinners, grant us the strength and grace of God to act "now" so that "later" will find us adoring God in heaven, in the company of all the angels and saints!  

To Mary (Eighteen Years From Now)

Dear Mary,

Right now, you are fast asleep during your afternoon nap (which explains why I can take the time to type this letter to you).  Upon awaking, your thoughts will probably turn to a trip to the playground or to the latest book we took out from the library (Jesse Bear's Birthday--I highly recommend it).

I can pretty much guarantee that there is one thing you won't be thinking about: dating.

That's why I am writing you this letter.  

There will come a time--hopefully many, many years from now--when you will likely become interested in dating.  At such a point I (hopefully) will not panic, but instead share with you the wisdom I have gleaned from life experiences and from those much wiser than I.

But, seeing how it will be years until such a conversation will transpire, and considering that my experiences with dating aren't all that long ago, I thought it wise to jot down some thoughts about dating right now, while they are relatively fresh in mind and before the cobwebs of time begin to cloud my memory.

These are the things I wish you, dear daughter, to know before you delve into the wonderful, perplexing, exciting, and sometimes exasperating experience that is dating.

1.  Date With a Purpose.
Why do people date?  

There was a time when I was dating a dear friend.  He was honest, absolutely respectful, and so very kind to me.  We enjoyed each other's company and shared many laughs together.  After several months of dating, however, I began to feel very uneasy about our situation.  

You see, as dear and as kind as he was, I knew in my heart of hearts that he wasn't the man for me.  As easy and convenient as it would have been to have him be my vocation, I knew there was someone else out there.   

During a heart-wrenching conversation in which I explained this, he suggested we not take things too seriously.  No need to say we were in a relationship--we could just casually date, with no serious implications for the future.

It was a tempting choice.  I did very much enjoy his company, after all...

But what is the purpose of dating?  

So many people date to have fun, to have companionship, to share physical affection.

Yet, the true reason for dating is to become acquainted with another person with the intention of discerning if this is the man or woman God intends for you to marry.

When you date, you should always have in the back of your mind: Is this my future spouse?

If you have gathered enough information and adequately observed your date to determine "NO," then it's time to say goodbye.

That goodbye can be hard.  I know from experience that it is.  

But I also know that, a few weeks later after saying goodbye, I came to say, "Hello" to the man who would become my husband.

People date to find a spouse.  This is our guiding principle.

2.  Don't Look for Heartbreak
When should one begin to date?  

Let's let our guiding principle answer that for us.  If dating is a process for finding a spouse, it seems that one should only begin dating when he or she is of marrying age.

Generally, in the United States, this is about 18 years of age.

Now, you will find, here and there, those high school sweethearts who do indeed eventually marry.  It happens.  But it isn't the case for the overwhelming amount of high school couples.

The majority of couples give their hearts to each other, only to realize a few weeks or months down the line that the relationship isn't really working out.  This boyfriend or girlfriend isn't all you thought him or her to be.

If you start seriously dating in high school, by the time you eventually meet your spouse four, eight, or ten plus years later, your heart might have become emotionally scarred from bad relationship wounds.  It will be that much more difficult for your spouse to gain your trust and you'll have more baggage to unload before you are free to give your heart completely in marriage.

So, what's one to do in high school?  Avoid the opposite sex altogether? 

The best scenario: spend your time forming strong relationships with female friends and socialize in a mixed gender group, so you do have interaction with those of the opposite sex, which is certainly important.  Avoid any serious, committed relationships--there will be plenty of time for that later.

3.  Form Your Ideal
So you are now an appropriate age to date!  Where to begin?

Just because you can date someone doesn't mean you should date him.  Remember, dating is all about finding a future spouse.  So, the question you should ask yourself is: what am I looking for in a spouse?

The answer might eliminate many men right then and there.

You might be introduced to an individual who seems like a pretty decent fellow.  However, if he is an atheist...well, you could certainly be friends, but he probably isn't someone you should date, since you would want a spouse who shares your faith.

Form your ideal.  Make a mental image of your future husband.  Add on all the adjectives you want: responsible, intelligent, humorous, patient, hardworking, virtuous, handsome...

Of course, you can search the whole world and you won't find someone who is perfect.  Only God is perfect.  BUT you can find the perfect man for you--the man God created with you in mind.  

Your ideal is out there!  People might tell you that you are unrealistic, that you are being too picky, that an "ideal" doesn't exist.

If your vocation is marriage, your ideal does exist.  So never give up; God will bring him to you.  

But you have to know what you are looking for.  

The process of dating may help you define your ideal with more clarity, but you have to start out with a template.

4. Don't Compromise
This is a logical consequence of point #3.  If you have an ideal in mind, don't compromise it.

You may become very lonely.  You might get really tired of waiting for your vocation to show up.

Don't compromise your ideal for something less. 

If you have dated someone and there are clear warning signals that this is not the right man for you, don't relax your standards just for the sake of being in a relationship with someone.

The right man is worth waiting for.  

This is why it is so important to form around you a strong community of female friends and to keep yourself busy by helping others, staying active in your church community, and forming yourself professionally, spiritually, and intellectually.  

5. Make It a Family Affair
Dating is a discernment time: it's a period of asking yourself if this man is your future husband.

To adequately discern this, you need input: from friends, yes, but from family, too.  Family are the people who know you the best.  

So, be sure to keep your family involved.  Introduce your date, from the start, to your parents and siblings.  They will provide you with valuable input and a necessary perspective.

There was many a time my family helped me see things I was denying or ignoring about a poor relationship.  At the time, their input wasn't always welcomed, but in retrospect, it was absolutely critical.  

Don't keep your dating a secret.  You don't have to share every single detail with your family, but you should share enough so they are in the loop.

And if a relationship does end and your heart is hurting, the unconditional love of your family will always be there for you, to embrace you and to assure you that you are precious and beautiful.

As a corollary, when you are dating, be sure to learn about your date's family, too.  These are the people who raised him and are likely the greatest influence upon him.  They may be your future in-laws one day.  

Be sure to spend time around his relatives and to observe their family dynamic.  Watching your date around his parents and siblings will reveal another important side to him and will further help your discernment.  

6.  Give the Perfect Gift
If you are dating and decide that this man is marriage-material and fits pretty well with your ideal, and your family concurs...then it may well be time to enter into a courtship.

Some people might call it entering a "relationship," which is generally understood to mean that the man and woman will see each other exclusively.  

However, I think the more preferable term is "courtship," because it keeps in mind the ultimate end of thing.  The man and woman are moving from a time of dating to courting, in preparation for a possible marriage.  

If you find yourself in a courtship, this is a tremendous blessing and you should certainly thank God for it!  

However, two very important points:

1. Discernment doesn't end until the day of marriage.  Remember that you are still learning more and more about this man in order to know if he is your vocation.

2. Physical affection might have begun in the dating stage (holding hands, hug goodbye).  If the relationship becomes more serious, that doesn't mean that physical affection should as well.  From the very start, your goal should be to give the perfect gift and this is a goal that must be defended and protected at every stage of the relationship, from dating to courtship to engagement to marriage.

7. Is Marriage Your Vocation?
Every person has a vocation: an invitation from God to love and serve Him and His Church in a particular state or way of life.  We receive our vocation in Baptism.

Many people are called to serve and love God through the sacrament of matrimony.

But not all people.

Some men are called to the vocation of priesthood.  Some men and women are called to the vocation of religious life.  

These vocations are not the "back-up" plan if you don't meet the right person.  They are legitimate, beautiful, and fulfilling ways to live one's life.  

Some might say that a young man has a holy duty to prayerfully and actively discern the priesthood before he begins dating.  To serve as a holy priest of God--to be not just alter Christus (another Christ), but ipse Christus (Christ Himself)--is perhaps the highest calling on earth.  St. John Vianney has said, "What a great thing it is to be a priest!  If I were to understand this fully, I think I would die."

A woman may be called to the religious life.  To be a religious sister is to enter a religious community, which becomes your family, and to give oneself completely to God through vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience.  I have a friend who is called to the religious life and here are her words to describe her calling: "To be all His [God's], finally: that's what I'm excited about; that's what my heart was made for."

This might be your vocation, too!  Your heart might be made to be a religious sister.  So honestly and prayerfully open your heart to God and ask Him to show you your vocation.  Remember that the only way you will know true joy is through living the vocation God intended you to have.

8.  God is #1
If you are seeking out your true love, remember that He is already there.  God is your true love--the one who created you, redeemed you, and sanctifies you.

You may be called to marriage and one day find a man who fills your heart with song.  To be in love is an extraordinary experience like no other.

But the love between man and woman is just a shadow of the even greater love that God has for you.

So, while there may be a man who captures your heart, never forget that your heart ultimately belongs to God.  

Spousal love flows from God's love.  Be certain to always keep God first and foremost in your heart.  That way, you will be free and able to truly love your spouse.  

As C.S. Lewis has said: "When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."


My dear Mary, do not be afraid: God has beautiful, wonderful plans and whatever vocation you are called to, if you surrender to God's Will, you will know joy--here on earth and, through His grace, in heaven for eternity.

The Demon Within

"I could never do that."

It's something you might have thought, too.  We read in the newspaper or online, in the daily news or in conversation, about great evils.  Theft, murder, drug abuse--the list goes on.

As moral, law-abiding readers, as I am sure you are, your reaction to such atrocities might range from disbelief to sadness.  Mingled somewhere in there might also be a sense of bewilderment.

How could someone do something so hideous?  What would lead someone to commit such an evil?  

At times I find myself falling into a dangerous "us" and "them" perception.  Here I am, with my like-minded friends and family, living a pretty moral life.  But over there are "those" people, doing all sorts of evil things.

It seems that in an election year, this "us" versus "them" attitude is even more pointed.  Either political party looks across the line at the opposition and wonders how they could espouse such disrespectful/immoral/dangerous views.

Now, be assured: I'm not leading you down that slippery slope of relativism that says we can't make judgment calls regarding the morality or immorality of certain views.  

Wrong is wrong.  There are certain political positions that advocate for things that are always evil (for example, abortion).  

But here is the thing: while I might like to tell myself that there is a wide, wide gulf between me and those who support or participate in evil, in reality the distance between us may be very short indeed.

Pride likes to persuade me that I am above those heinous crimes on the front page of the paper or the doctor who performs an abortion.  

But I think it's a good reality check to remember that--given different circumstances--the perpetrator could just as easily be me.  

You see, when we've been given compliments about our kindness or when we've been going to church each week or giving to the poor, we might start to forget about that dark spot, deep within us.  Everyone has it.  It's that deep, dark hole left within us by that scourge of original sin, the mark of concupiscence, that says inside, "Non serviam!"  I will not serve.  

The psychologist Carl Jung would speak about the "shadow": the dark side of the human psyche.  Jung once painted a picture of the shadow.  He created a tiled room, void of any windows, and there in the corner, an ominous figure wearing a large black hat and bearing the sinister face of a rat. 

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have a shadow.  We all have parts of our personalities that are dark and capable of great evil.

There is a devil and Satan does indeed tempt us.  But we can't overestimate what we ourselves are capable of doing and thinking--on our very own accord.  We don't need the devil to accomplish great evil.  We can do that ourselves, using the demon within.

There is a Latin phrase: "corruptio optimi pessima," which means the corruption of the best is the worst.  Even the most virtuous, most holy of persons is capable of the greatest of evils.

It's an important point to ponder, lest one fall into the trap of thinking that he or she is superior or immune to grave error.  

The dark side of our personalities is hard to confront.  It's scary to admit to ourselves what we have thought or done--things perhaps known only to ourselves and to God.  But recognizing the shadow is important.

Why?  Well, for starters, looking at the darkness within myself, I can have more sympathy, patience, or understanding for those who have committed or support evil.  Perhaps, if I had found myself in his or her shoes, I might have done the same.

The shadow makes us humble.  

It also makes us realize that, if there is a space between "us" and "them" (albeit, not as wide as we may have thought), it is mostly because of God's grace.  God's grace moves us to virtue; it is our will that moves us toward evil.

If I am going to church, living a relatively moral life, giving to the poor, well, it's really because God is providing me with the grace that sustains me in these good practices.  God is the reason and I play my small part by cooperating as best I can. 

"But for God's grace, there go I."  But for God, there can go any one of us.

Morgan Deli

I suppose I had known him for my whole life, but I first met him when I was a freshman in college.

I was working as a cashier at Price Chopper, the local grocery store.  I was in the middle of an order, scanning away, when someone came up to me and hastily handed me a small, folded piece of paper.

"Thanks," I said, surprised, as the deliverer quickly rushed away.  I opened the note to see in a scrawled script a brief message:

You will do well here.  

It was signed: Morgan Deli.

I didn't recall meeting a Morgan before.  During my break, I went over to the deli to do some investigating, but to no avail.  

I kept the note in my cashier apron's pocket and, after a few weeks, forgot about the strange occurrence.

It was then midterm time for the fall semester.  Unfortunately, I was scheduled to work the evening before my big history exam.  I was a bit beside myself: I had hoped to spend the whole night finalizing my test preparation and where did I find myself, but scanning groceries.  Great...just great.

During my break, I sat myself in the little eating area of the store where I lamented my lost study time and seemingly inevitable failing grade.  I glanced up to see a man, sitting a few tables away, carefully watching me.  He smiled and approached my table.  "You look sad about something.  What's wrong?"

I proceeded to tell him my troubles and he listened most graciously. As my break neared an end, I asked his name and he replied, “Morgan.” 

I had found the author of my mysterious note. 

We spoke several times after that initial encounter. On one instance, Morgan noticed the Miraculous Medal that I was wearing and excitedly showed me his medal, enthusiastically sharing with me his devotion to our Blessed Mother.


It came to pass that I transferred to a new store and, as such, no longer saw Morgan. Time went by and I forgot about him. I began to forget about other things, too –it was a dark time in my faith journey and my relationship with God became lukewarm as I questioned and challenged beliefs that once had shaped my whole concept of being. 

My life was on a collision course and it manifested itself quite concretely a few months later during, of all times, Holy Week. Driving home one afternoon down my quiet, rural street I prepared to turn left into my driveway. As I turned, seemingly from nowhere bounded a truck that inexplicably attempted to pass me on my left as I turned. 

The truck hit my car and swerved off the road while my car spun in place. Dazed and shocked, I managed to drive my car into the driveway, the front bumper dragging along the road as I numbly realized that the truck had missed the driver’s door by a matter of feet. 

Shaking, I exited my car and watched the driver of the truck also exit his vehicle and then abruptly begin sprinting down the road away from me (I was later to learn he had stolen the truck).  Alone and frightened I stood as another car approached the scene of the accident.  The driver stopped and came toward me. 

It was, of all people, Morgan. 

As he walked, I saw a Crown of Thorns in his hand, which he said he would be using for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. He stayed with me as I called the police and helped me until everything was resolved. 

The last memory I have of Morgan was that Easter Sunday morning.  He attended the same Mass as me and I remember, driving home, watching him walking alone down the sidewalk, the sun on his back.

In retrospect, I see the bizarre car accident as a metaphor for my faith life at the time.  You see, it was in danger and about to crash. This was God’s intervention at a crossroads to warn me and to encourage me to choose to follow Jesus… and Morgan was the messenger.

Do you know that the word angel means "messenger?"  

I have no concrete evidence that Morgan was indeed an angel, but I also have no evidence to the contrary.  Yet, what I do know to be certain is that God constantly aids us, sometimes via angels, to use our free will to accept His love and to wear our crown of thorns in imitation of Christ.


Contrary to popular imagination, angels are not the chubby little cherubim depicted in artwork. Angels are pure intellect; they lack a physical body. In fact, it may be more accurate to call them “spirits” because, unlike the human person who is a composite of body and soul, the angel is completely incorporeal. In this way, angels differ as much from us as we differ from animals. 

As pure intellects, angels know fully and completely, as opposed to humans who are constantly gaining new knowledge and modifying our understanding. 

At times angels may assume a physical body. Saint
Thomas Aquinas writes, “…through their assumed bodies they [angels] appear to be living men, although they are really not. For the bodies are assumed merely for this purpose, that the spiritual properties and works of the angels may be manifested by the properties of man and of his works.” 

We see this occur in the Book of Tobit in the Bible when the Archangel Raphael comes to the aid of young Tobias. Raphael ostensibly appears as an ordinary human, so much so that Tobias is fully unaware that he is in the presence of a heavenly messenger.

Tobias’ experience raises an interesting notion: as we move throughout our day, interacting with others, passing strangers, traveling on public transportation, could we be visited by angels as well? The author of the Letter to the Hebrews forewarns, “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels” (13:2).

Certainly, there exists an entirely deeper level of existence to which we are frequently oblivious. Some angels, like Raphael, are good and endeavor to draw us closer to our Creator. Others, having utilized their free will to rebel against God, are evil angels who seek our downfall, the foremost among these being Lucifer or the devil.  

Whether good or evil, though invisible to the naked eye, we are surrounded by these spirits we call angels. And sometimes these angels, such as my Morgan, directly intervene in our lives.


When God calls to you, may you listen. And when His angels pass your way, as they indeed will, may you hear their message even if you do not recognize the messenger.

What's Wrong with Fat Free Brownies?

I must confess that I was absolutely elated one day when, perusing the aisles of a local supermarket a few years ago, I came across FAT FREE No Pudge Original Fudge Brownie Mix.

Let me reiterate: Fat Free Brownies.  

The box was in my cart within seconds and I vividly recall presenting them to my mom, enthusiastically explaining, "And we could eat the WHOLE pan and not gain any weight!"

Oh, those brownies are so good. As stated, they are truly decadent, fudgy, and chewy, I think we did, indeed, finish off the whole pan in a day.

Then, just a day or so ago, I was listening to a homily given by Rev. Gary Selin, who was preaching at the church Chris and I attended while we were living in Virginia.  It was through his homily that I came to realize these glorious, guilt-free brownies are, in fact, quite dangerous.

Of course, they are not evil, in and of themselves.  Certainly not!  However, the mentality they create can become the means for evil.

What is the danger with products like fat free brownies, diet soda, or lite beer?

Look at my rationale above: you can eat or drink as much as you like and not face the consequences--no fat, high calories, or excessive sugars to be faced.

These products train us to seek a pleasure that is divorced from its natural effect.

God is omniscient and there is such perfect logic in how He designed creation.  God created certain foods to have particular qualities.  Butter, chocolate, cream--these are supposed to have high fats and high sugars so we would enjoy them, but realizing they will cause wider waist lines, we would eat them in moderation.

God has set-up nature so that with sugary sweetness comes calories.  Thus, we are supposed to enjoy our ice cream but expect some calories because of it.  And if we can't afford those calories?  We choose an apple instead.  Reason governs our actions.

However, when we artificially remove the negative consequences, suddenly there is no need to be temperate, to keep reason directing one's passions.  Remember that vice called gluttony?  Eat the whole pan of brownies and gain no fat...why not?!

There is something actually a bit perverse about seeking pleasure and simultaneously cutting it off from its natural, God-given consequence.

Look at where this train of thought leads us...it is so imperceptible and unassuming that I never connected the dots until the priest did so for me...

Can you think of another pleasure people pursue without its natural consequence?  Something people can enjoy as much as they desire, whenever they desire it, because they have cut-off the God-given consequences of said action?

Fat-free brownies and contraception are based on the same exact ideology and it's a dangerous one for our souls.

Now, I'm not saying boycott No Pudge Brownies!  But don't fall into the same thought process as I did: don't think it's fantastic that you can have your cake and eat it all.  

Remember that our use of food and drink effects our spiritual life.  As the great spiritual classic Imitation of Christ explains, "When the stomach is full of food and drink, debauchery knocks at the door."  

Gluttony has eternal consequences, no matter what the No Pudge Brownies may state.

I would like to conclude with a particularly striking quote from Rev. Selin.  (If you want to hear his whole homily, which I highly recommend, you can find it here--just look for Jan. 20, 2008.)  

"When modern man forgets his soul, he takes great care of the body.  There are more gyms today than than retreat houses; more beauty salons than churches.  A person can spend two hours/day in a gym, but not even five minutes/day on bended knee in prayer.  And then there is the scandal of the poor who go hungry while we waste food.  It's the story of Lazarus and the rich man over and over again.  We need to make reparation for our sins of gluttony, delicacy, and excess.  'Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams' (from Brothers Karamazov)."

Five Years to Form Character

By the age of 5, 80% of one's character is developed.

While a person is certainly formed and influenced by his or her later experiences, the crux of who we are--our personality, perspective, demeanor, principles, outlook--is largely in place by the time we are ready to enter Kindergarten.

I think we can all agree that we would like to be people of character.  Yet, what exactly do we mean by this term?

Character: moral excellence and firmness.

A person is character is a person of virtue: someone who is faithful, just, temperate, courageous, hopeful, wise, and above all, loving.

As a mother of a one-and-a-half year old, the realization that our daughter's character is mostly formed by the age of 5 really hits close to home.  

In some ways, one could say these are the easiest years of raising children.  Seemingly the hardest tasks are dealing with a picky eater, avoiding temper tantrums, or potty training.  

And yet, it is exactly these early years that are absolutely key in forming a person's character.  So, in a real sense, these are also the hardest years because there is such a lofty task presented to us parents!

I am reading a fascinating and informative book entitled Raise Happy Children...Raise Them Saints! by Mary Ann Budnik, which delves into this topic and explains how, as parents, we can form men and women of great character.

Character is formed in four ways:

1) Example: what children observe in the actions and words of the adults around them.
2) Directed practice: what children are led to do or made to do by the adults in their lives.
3) Word: verbal explanations of what they witness and/or are told to do.
4) Suffering: how the child learns to view and handle the difficulties that come to him or her.

In reading this, my first thought was of the children who spend the majority of their early years in daycare settings.  The vast majority of their days is spent with someone other than mother or father.  This means that the example, directed practice, words, and approach to suffering that shape one's character is shaped mostly by someone outside the home.

The repercussions of this reality should perhaps have parents questioning the need for childcare during these formative years or, at the least, lead mothers and fathers to really scrutinize possible childcare services.  Aside from the daily schedule, facilities, or the experience of those leading the childcare, what is the character of the adults running the program?  

For myself, I am examining more closely what example, practices, words, and approach to suffering I model for Mary.  In this journey of life where we each must strive for sanctity, Chris and I can give Mary an extra "boost" along the way by instilling within her instinctive, deep-rooted behaviors that will form her character.

At this age, Mary is both a sponge and a parrot: she absorbs my words and actions and then repeats them back.  In fact, as I write this, I said aloud, "I need a title..." and I heard beside me, "TITLE!"

So, if I can exhibit and model character...she will, too.  

I realized there are countless little ways I can do this and, in teaching Mary character, I find I am strengthening my own. 

One practice I have found especially helpful is focusing on sanctifying suffering.  When an inconvenience presents itself, I want to demonstrate to Mary that this is an opportunity for grace, not just a pain in the neck.

Thus, when a glass of water spilled all over the floor and I had to clean it up, I said, "Who should we offer this up for?"  She thought a minute and exclaimed, "Pop!" (the name she calls my father).  So, I prayed aloud, "Lord, we offer cleaning up this water for Pop and all his particular needs today."

Something so small, and yet so capable of defining character...it amazes me to think that, if Chris and I are able, with God's grace, to share little things like this with Mary, when she is later presented with crosses she will instinctively draw upon these first approaches to suffering and use them to understand how to cope and sanctify her soul through them.