Intro to Catholic Moral Teaching

Talk for RCIA this Sunday
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_KXHqjxpwk1ZB7fDcfGMJfnVneCUN02EAftZx3-eNu0/edit?usp=sharing

As an example of flawed conscience, I submit the example of one Greg Williams, former radio host of KTCK (1310AM The Ticket in Dallas).  Back in 2005 he told a story on the radio about his experience in rehab.  He had voluntarily checked himself in due to a Vicodin addition during the 2004-2005 holiday break.  A portion of the story can be heard here.

This audio is from the second segment of that talk. In the first segment, he mentioned an interesting fact: all the staff in that rehab clinic were trained to avoid looking at their patients in the eye.  The patients were obviously in pain and if the staff looked them in the eye, they might take pity on them and might do something to ease the pain.  It's understandable that this clinic had drugs or alcohol on hand: the addicts probably had it on them when they came in.  So it's possible people could squirrel it away and, in a misguided sense of compassion, give the patients something to take the edge off.  Conscience tells us to help, but it doesn't tell us the best way, or even the right way.

Conscience does not good unless it's formed by something outside of ourselves.  Something trustworthy and well-founded.

Thoughts about the Rites of Initiation in RCIA

My talk from yesterday's retreat

I read it for my own benefit as much as anyone else's. The story of Elijah is about as personal as any I can think of.  I pray for refreshment almost every day. 

In fact, I've been thinking about leaving RCIA for more than a year because I don't know if I can keep going.  Work isn't getting any easier, and I'm not getting any younger and there are other considerations that I don't want to get into in a semi-public forum (assuming anyone ever reads these posts).

I've been looking for a sign, and our new pastor starts on March 1, so maybe that will be it.  With God's grace, I can keep going. But if He withdraws His grace because it's time for me to do something else, I certainly can't do it on my own.

My Most Successful Lent

I haven't decided what to do for Lent this year.  Actually, work has been grinding me down to the fine powder and I'm making a long car trip in a week, so between those two thing, I'm not sure what more penance I can do.

But I was reminded this morning of what I did last year and it was very successful.

There was a certain Religious Sister who works for the diocese who had taught a class I attended who said a series of things that really upset me.  It would be uncharitable for me to dwell on them here, but they were straight out of the 1970's felt-banner era and I was surprised that such generational and cultural biases still existed in the 21st century.

And the more I thought about it, it really made me mad.  I was mad at her, I was mad at the people in her religious order, I was mad at the people who hired her for to teach this class, I was mad at the people who hired them, and I was mad at the local Ordinary.  In short, I was pretty mad and frustrated.  I had been promised that this generation was passing and there'd be a new, orthodox group to take their place Real Soon Now(TM).

I chewed on that anger and nurtured it for several years.

I couldn't remember her name, but I knew that she was some bigwig with the diocese religious order ... organization or whatever it's called.  I had seen her picture on a poster for that organization on the day that she was teaching the class.  A week or so before Lent last year, I was walking around the parish and -- lo and behold! -- that very poster was hanging on the wall with that very Sister's smiling face beaming at me. In a flash of inspiration, I took a picture of it on my phone.

Soon, it occurred to me to pray for her.  I'm not one for symbolic gestures -- I've had too much pop psychology at corporate training events to take it seriously -- but I resolved that I would pray for her every day during Lent, and on Easter I would erase her picture from my phone with the idea that this would erase the anger from my heart.  Since she was all about the NewChurch, I decided that an Our Father, a Hail Mary and St Michael Prayer would be appropriate.

So every day in Lent, I prayed those three prayers for her and for catechists in the diocese, and for those who run that program including the bishop.  That's a lot of work for three little prayers.  But I did it every day.  And on Easter I deleted her picture.

I wish I could say there was a huge cathartic release when I did, but it wasn't like that.  The first week of Lent I felt no difference at all.  I don't know if there was a single point during Lent where she didn't bother me anymore, but by Holy Week, I was pretty much over her.  It did feel good to delete her picture, but I can't really explain why.  I was actually kind of embarrassed by the gesture, and embarrassed that it was necessary. Maybe I was just happy that it was over.

Had I written this post before I did that I'd have spent several paragraphs trashing the woman, including what she said, what she wore and anything else I can think of.  Now, that doesn't seem necessary.

I don't expect this to work for everyone.  People in a continuing relationship wouldn't be able to symbolically delete other people from their lives: new provocations would require them to start over continuously.  But it worked in this case.