Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene

When it comes to Holy Scripture there are some people that we know a great deal about.  Moses, for example, comes to mind as someone mentioned quite often in the Bible.  St. Paul is another person that has many epistles/letters attributed to him in the New Testament.  Thus, we know a good deal about St. Paul from his own writing.  Obviously, a goodly portion of the Acts of the Apostles is about St. Paul.  On the proverbial "other end of the spectrum," there are others that were very important and yet we do not know very much about them.  St. Joseph comes to mind.   And also Mary Magdalene is another important person associated with Our Lord and yet we do not know that much about her from Holy Scripture.  There are less than twenty verses in the Bible which mention Mary Magdalene.  Yet we know that Mary Magdalene was important to Our Lord and the early Apostles and Disciples.

1)  The Seven Devils

It is commonly believed by many people that Mary Magdalene was a former prostitute.  But despite this widely-held belief, it is never mentioned in Scripture that Mary Magdalene was a penitent prostitute at one time or another in her lifetime.  While it does not say in the Bible that Mary was a prostitute at one time or another, it does say that Mary did have a miraculous recovery.  Let us look at St. Luke 8:2:  "And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom when seven devils."  What can we learn from this verse?  Well, for one, we learn that she was "called Magdalene . . ."   Remember that Magdala was a place.   It was near Tiberias, on the the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Thus, more than likely the name "Magdalene" was really a nickname, if you will, for where she was from.  Similar to how we would call someone from Ohio a "Buckeye."  Or we would call someone from Indiana a "Hoosier."  The second thing that we learn from the verse cited above is that Mary had been miraculously cured of "seven devils."  Now, again, when the term "seven devils" is used, it could be an analogy for sicknesses or illnesses.  She could have been cured of seven different illnesses.  Or the number "seven" could have signified something very important or dramatic.  In either case, nowhere does it say that Mary Magdalene was a former prostitute.  What we can learn, though from this is that each one of us has our own "devils" that we deal with in our lives.  Each one of is more than likely targeted by devils and we have to deal with them.  Certainly, without a doubt, once you become a "Child of God," once you become a "Son or Daughter of God," you become "Public Enemy Number One" to Satan.  Once he sees the love of God growing more and more in your heart, he will certainly send devils to plague you and torment you.  Mary Magdalene had seven devils.  How many do you have?  How many do I have?  The number is not important.  What is important that each one of us is not immune from attacks by the devil.  Each one of us needs the healing touch of Our Blessed Saviour to bring us back to fullness of health:  physically, spiritually and emotionally.

2)  Near The Cross

When you think of all the people whose lives were touched by Our Blessed Lord, it is an absolute travesty that there were so few with Him when He was crucified.  Think about all the people that were healed by Our Lord.  Think about the people that were inspired by His words as He taught and preached.  Think about the people that were touched by Our Blessed Saviour and their lives changed forever.  And yet look at how few people were there at the Hill of Calvary on that dreadful day.  It is obvious that many people were fearful and afraid.  It is apparent that those closest to Our Blessed Lord were afraid for their very lives.  Look at St. Peter.  Our Lord foretold that St. Peter would deny Him and St. Peter did not believe Him.  And yet look who was correct.  St. Peter denied Our Lord not once . . .  not twice  . . .  but three times.  We all know this. There were some faithful souls that remained close to Our Lord in His hour of agony.  "Now there stod by the Cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene."  Mary Magdalene was one of the few that stayed faithful to the end.  This is what faith is all about.  When things look the darkest, how many of us give up?  When things look like they could not get any worse, how many of us give into despair?  How many of us just throw our hands up ready to surrender.  Now, I am not saying that Mary Magdalene and those who were there on that fateful day were not scared.  I am sure that they were very fearful.  I am sure they were confused.  I am sure they were emotional.  We could say a hundred things.  And yet no matter what they were, they were also faithful.  They were faithful to Christ.  They did not know what would happen next and yet they stayed close to the Cross.  In our own situations, we become fearful.  In the drama that we call life, we become confused.  And yet whatever befalls us in life, let us always remain close to the Cross.  Let us always remember that Our Blessed Saviour carried His Cross and that we should carry our own crosses as well.  Our "crosses" are what we have to carry on a daily basis:  money woes . . . .  sickness . . . . perhaps drug or alcohol problems . . . . loved ones who seem bent on self-destruction . . . . Each one of us can come up with our own "cross" that we carry.  Let us be inspired by Mary Magdalene.  Let us remain faithful to God, yes, in the good times but still remain faithful to God when the bad times come as well.  It's easy to be a cheerful Christian when we've got life good.  But how easy is it to be a cheerful Christian when the world is attacking us?

3)  "Woman, why weepest thou?"

In the Twentieth Chapter of St. John's Gospel, we hear a very interesting story about Mary Magdalene.  St. John tells us in this chapter that Our Blessed Lord had already been taken down from the Cross and had been laid in the tomb.  Now bear in mind from what we said above about Mary Magdalene, she not only remained faithful to the end, she remained still faithful once Our Lord had been laid in the tomb.  St John, in his Gospel, tells us that Mary Magdalene had come "to the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." (St. John 20:1)  At that point she ran and told St. Peter.  But this is not the interesting part yet, in my opinion.  If we move further down in this chapter we will soon find beginning in verse Fourteen:  "   . . . . she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?  whom seekest thou?  She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.  Jesus saith unto her, Mary.  She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master." (St. John 20:14-16)   How many times has God appeared to us and we did not recognize Him?  How many times has God spoken to each one of us and we did not hear Him?  Did we not recognize Him because we were too busy seeking after  worldly goods?  Did we not hear God because we were too busy listening to others?  Or perhaps we only listen to God when He says what we want Him to say.  Other than that, we don't hear God.  In our children we call that "selective hearing."  Do any of us have "selective hearing" when it comes to God speaking to us.  Do we only recognize God when He "fits" our description of what He should look like?  Our Blessed Lord speaks to us at various times.  Our Saviour appears to us at various points in our life.  Let us always remain faithful to God so that we will always recognize Him.  Let us learn from the example of Mary Magdalene and always stay close to God, even to the very end.

Join Us For Third Sunday After Easter, May 7th, 2017

Third Sunday After Easter, May 7th, 2017

I have often thought that it is nearly impossible for us to know what the Apostles and Disciples felt back when Our Blessed Lord walked the earth and also after His Crucifixion and Resurrection.  In other words, those of us living today have known this history for two thousand years now.  We've "read the book," so to speak.  "We've seen the movie," so to speak.  We know how the story ends because it has been ingrained into us by our parents and their parents before them and their parents before them, etc. etc. etc.  Hard as we try, we will never know the fear and the uncertainty . . . . the mixture of emotions . . . . . the unknowing of what was going to happen next . . . . . for the Apostles.  They saw their beloved friend, teacher, master taken in by the authorities and then die on the Cross.  They saw with their own eyes this same man being buried in the tomb.  And then three days later they saw this man rise again from this same tomb.

In the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John, Our Blessed Saviour has gathered the Apostles around Him and He is attempting to explain to them the events that would be forthcoming regarding the Crucifixion and Resurrection.  "A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall se Me, because I go to the Father."  (St. John 16:16)  And now after all that they have seen and heard and witnessed in the three or so years they have known Him, Our Blessed Lord is telling them that He is leaving their presence.  Certainly, we can almost imagine the disappointment they were feeling as Our Blessed Lord was telling them this news.  We can try to envision their confusion as He tells them He is leaving.  If we place ourselves in their shoes, so to speak, we can only imagine the wide range of emotions that we would be feeling.   And at the end of the passage Our Lord tells them:  ". . . . . but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you " (St. John 16:22)

All of us, I am quite sure, can think of a time where we lost someone very dear to us.  It might have been losing someone to death.  Or it simply might have been "losing" someone that moved far away to a different state.  I can think in my own life about the times that I have lost beloved family members . . . . whether it be my grandparents . . . or my uncle  . . .  or even my own mother.  I can think of friends who were very close to me that I lost contact with because either they moved or I moved.  And yet in either scenario, the memory of these people so close to me at one time are still close to me because I have their memories in my mind and in my heart.  As Our Lord said, no-one can take your joy from you.  Nobody can take your memories from you.  For the Christian, the joy that we have is the knowledge that Our Blessed Saviour is not only part of our life, He is the Saviour of our life.  He is our Saviour.  He is our Teacher.  We carry Our Blessed Saviour with us in our heart everywhere we go.  He is with us always.  This is where our joy comes from that "no may taketh from you."  Our joy is Our Blessed Saviour.  Our joy is our relationship with God.  Our joy can only come from having a personal relationship with Our Lord.  So many people try to find their "joy" in worldly things:   material possessions . . . . wealth . . . . power . . . . drink . . . .  drugs . . . .  All of those worldly joys ultimately fade away . . . but the joy we receive from a relationship with God can never fade away.  It will never disappoint.  There are a lot of things that can be taken away from us, but our relationship with God can never be taken away.

St. Margaret Church meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  We gather together in the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we gather together communally as God's family to worship Our Heavenly Father and receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to strengthen and nourish us for our journey called "life."

Join Us For The Second Sunday After Easter, April 30, 2017

Second Sunday after Easter, April 30th, 2017

I remember when I was growing up . . .  I find myself saying that more and more .  . . .  . .. anyway, I remember when I was growing up, it was understood that a person started at the bottom and worked their way up from there.  To me that was how things were done.  I suppose that's why while still in high school I got a job scrubbing pots and pans in a cafeteria.  You don't get much more "bottom-rung" than that, it seems to me.  You start at the bottom and then work your way up the ladder, so to speak.  Now I don't want to paint everyone the same way.  I realize there are exceptions to every rule.  But it just seems that today, very often anyways, that people are not content to start out at the bottom and work their way up.  They want to start out at the top.  Even when someone is at the "bottom," so to speak, very often they seem to know things better than the boss.  Even where I work, the kids there seem to have an attitude that they know things better than any adult and they are always right no matter what.  Unfortunately, it's not just the kids that have this attitude at times.  I think we all have this perspective at times.  We so often have to come up with excuses when we are criticized.   We have to explain things instead of just accepting that we could have handled things differently or better.  We have to always be "in the right" or "have the last word."  The reason I am reflecting on these thoughts is because in the Tenth Chapter of St. John's Gospel, Our Blessed Lord is speaking of Himself as being the Good Shepherd.  Our Lord says:  "I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine"  (St. John 10:11 ff)  Now, keep in mind that there are three different statements or observations in the above sentence:  Our Lords says that He is the "good shepherd."  He also says that He knows His sheep.  And then He ends up by saying basically that His sheep know Him. In regards to this last statement or observation, do we know the Good Shepherd?  Or to put it another way, do we know that we are His sheep?  Are we content with being His sheep?  This sounds strange to ask but do you know anyone that just has to always be right?  Do you know someone that just always has the have the final word in everything . . . . no matter what.  In the spiritual life, there are people like that as well.  When they go to God in prayer, they tell God what they want to happen instead of listening to God telling them what He wants to happen.  Do we ever go to God demanding things when we pray?  Sure, we may do our "demanding" in a nice, respectful way . . . . . . but the bottom line is that we are still telling God to do it our way.  We have things all figured out and we know what's best and so we pray not so much saying "Thy will be done" as much as we do "My will be done."  Our Lord is the Good Shepherd.  As such, there is only room for one shepherd.  Let us continually fashion ourselves and remind ourselves that He is our shepherd.  God is in control.  Let all of us remember that fact and let God be God, in other words.  As human beings we do not like to be told what to do.  We very often have to have the final word.  As devout Christians, let us remember that God is in charge and that God gets to have the final word.  Let us always remember that Christ is the Good Shepherd and that we are His sheep and to follow Him.

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church is a traditional Anglican parish, which uses the Anglican Missal and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  We also use the King James Version of the Bible.  We believe strongly in Our Lord's words . . .  "this is My Body and this is My Blood" . . . and truly believe that Our Blessed Saviour is truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and we receive Him at Communion time.  Come join us every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM as we gather together as God's family to worship Our Blessed Lord.  We celebrate Mass in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

He shewed unto them His Hands and His side

First Sunday after Easter, April 23rd, 2017

In the Twentieth Chapter of St. John's Gospel,  the evangelist tells us when the disciples were gathered together after Our Blessed Lord had been crucified and laid to rest in the tomb.  St John relates in verse 19 that "the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews."  Our Lord appeared to them and we can only imagine their utter shock and disbelief if we were in their position at that time.  After after Our Blessed Saviour had greeted them, St John tells us:  " . . . . He shewed unto them His hands and His side. "

How often when we are in disbelief about something . . .  anything . . . do we have to show the evidence to show what we are talking about?  If we get cut doing something, we run and show the cut.  Or if a storm has gone through and knocked down a tree or at the very least knocked down heavy branches, you tell somebody to come and look at this.  "Oh, look at that  . . . . "  As humans, we are physical beings.  We see with our eyes.  We feel with the touch of our hands.  We hear with our ears.  We want to experience something first hand by seeing it for ourselves.  Our Lord knew this and this is why He showed the disciples His wounds.  He wanted them to see with their own eyes the "evidence" that it was Him.  

In our own life . . .  for those of us who claim the name of "Christian,"  . . . . . the question remains how do we show the "evidence" of our faith?  As mentioned above, we are able to see with our eyes, for example, the result of a storm . . .  or a car crash.  We can see the fruit of our labour when we work hard on a project and we see it after completion.  Such as building an addition on a house, cleaning and organizing a room, etc.  We can see the results with our eyes with examples such as those mentioned.  But how do we "see" a person's faith?  Faith is definitely something that is internal to each one of us.  Faith itself is not something that we can "see" physically with our eyes.  And yet the faith that we have inside of us.  The faith that we have internally that demonstrates our love for God.  This same faith is translated into action.  The way that we treat others.  The way that we are moved with compassion.  The things that we do for others around us that are less fortunate.  These are all examples of how we can "see" faith.  

As human beings, we want to "see the evidence," we want to see with our own eyes.  Let us all work on "showing" others our love of God.  Let others see how much we love God by how we live our lives.  As I often say in my sermons, the majority of people that you encounter this week probably do not ever go to church.  For those people they will only see the face of Christ as it is found in you.  If this is true, what will the world see?

Mass is celebrated every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  St. Margaret Anglican Church worships in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join St. Margaret so that you can spend part of your Sunday morning worshiping God, hearing the Word of God in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, receive Him in His Precious Body and Blood. 

Are We Outraged?

In the Twenty-Seventh Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we read about the various events leading up to the Crucifixion of Our Blessed Saviour.  The chapter begins point blank:  "When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death." (St. Matthew 27:1)  This sets the tone for the events described in this chapter.  One of the main characters portrayed in this chapter is, of course, Pontius Pilate. This is because the chief priests and elders had enough with this "radical rabbi," . . .  . this "miracle worker," . . . . this "blasphemer," . . . . . and they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.  The reaction of Pilate always struck me as someone who is in a sort of a "calm panic."  In other words, Pilate  . . . . at least in my opinion . . . . always seems to be somewhat calm in his demeanor on the outside.  On the inside, though, he seems to be in a panic:  he does not know what to do with the Man Jesus that is brought before him.  Pilate seems to know that he was caught somewhere in the middle and was about to be squeezed from both sides. "And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." (St. John 19:12)  Remember also  it was the wife of Pilate, who received a warning in a dream and told her husband not to have anything to do with Jesus.   It is at this point in the chapter that Pilate speaks to Our Blessed Saviour:  "Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly."  (St. Matthew 27:13-14)  Now if you survey this whole Twenty-Seventh chapter of the St. Matthew's Gospel, you will find that the interaction between Pilate and Our Blessed Saviour takes up a big chunk of this chapter.  And throughout this whole interaction between Pilate and Our Lord, He only says two words to Pilate in response to Pilate asking Him if He was a king, Our Lord responded:  "Thou sayest."  (v. 11)  You see, Pilate "marvelled greatly" because he was facing a man who was facing imminent death.  Most men, I am sure, in similar circumstances were probably protesting their fate, telling how innocent they were, and begging for mercy.  But now Pilate is facing off against someone who is doing none of these things.   He does not know how to react to this reaction from Our Blessed Saviour to the dire consequences He is faced with.

If you look throughout the chapter, you can not help but contrast the emotions and reactions of those around Him.  It is interesting to compare and contrast the reaction of the Lord compared to the crowd.  If you look at the example of the crowds and the chief priests and the elders mentioned in this chapter, it would seem that they were outraged, full of anger, and filled with hatred.  When we read this account from St. Matthew we can feel the anger and hatred and outrage from the crowd all directed toward Our Blessed Saviour.  And despite this "venom" from those around Him, ". .  . He answered (Pilate) to never a word . . . "  This is why Pilate, as St. Matthew observes, "marvelled greatly."  It is no wonder that Pilate found this contrast amazing because on the one side he saw so much hatred . . . and anger . . . and bitterness  . . . . . and when he saw Our Lord, he did not witness any of those emotions.  

How often in our own life is our first reaction to become outraged when someone has wronged us?  How often do we become angry when we feel we are in the right about something?  How often do we react with bitterness and contempt towards others around us when they have differing points of views that do not necessarily match ours?  It is so easy for us in the day and age in which we live to become "outraged" about a multitude of things.  With "social media," not only can we get outraged about events happening halfway across the world in addition to local events that can enrage us.  We can get outraged about international events or local events or even "personal" events such as getting stuck in a traffic jam or when gas prices jump up in price forty cents.  We have the potential to be outraged about a whole host of things from little to huge.  
An interesting quote in light of the subject at hand in our own day and age:  "Outrage (has become) a substitute for religion: It convinces us that our existence has some kind of meaning or significance beyond itself, that is to say beyond the paltry flux of day-to-day existence, especially when that existence is a securely comfortable one." (Dalrymple, "Better Left Unsaid," Takis's Magazine, Dec. 31, 2016)  
  

Did the crowd described above look to the chief priests and elders for something to get "outraged" over?  Do we look for things to get "outraged" over?  We are called to pattern our lives after Our Blessed Lord.  Of course, as humans, we are prone to failure but we are still called to keep on trying.  All of us have reason to be outraged.  All of us have reason to feel frustrated in life.  All of us have reason to feel anger at various points now and then.  And yet it is our reaction to these feelings that we need to work on.  Are we constantly outraged like the chief priests and crowds surrounding Our Lord or are we calm and prayerful like Our Blessed Saviour?  When confronted by our enemies and those who have wronged us, is our reaction "anger" and "outrage" or even "revenge"?  Or when confronted by those who hate us and are angry with us, do we ever respond with prayer for that person and maintain a sense of calm?  Remember Our Blessed Saviour stated:  "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."  (St. Luke 6:27)   If we see something on social media that makes us mad .  . . .  if we get cut off in traffic by some inconsiderate jerk . . . .  if we get chewed out by our boss . . . .  is our first reaction to be "outraged"?   Do we constantly seem to be outraged or angry about something?  As much as possible, we should be different from the world.  As much as possible, we should not conform to the world.  We achieve this by following the teachings and the example of Our Blessed Saviour. Just like Pilate "marvelled greatly" at Our Lord's  reaction to the outrage and the anger of the crowds, the world should "marvel greatly" at the way in which we react to anger and outrage: responding with love and prayer.

You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened . . .

In the annals of "Pop" music, one of the biggest hits  . . .  if not the biggest hit . . . .  for Gladys Knight and the Pips was their version of "You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me."  Although I don't have any numbers or statistics in regards to how many records it sold, I would dare say that their version was the biggest selling version of this song.  But it would probably surprise many people that they were not the first artists to record this song.  Actually, I enjoy the version of this song by Ray Price, which was released in the 1950's . . . . some twenty years prior to the "Gladys Knight / Pips" version.  Now the song was obviously a song telling of  love between two people devoted to one another.  And yet as I listen to the song I can not help but think of God when I listen to the lyrics of the song.

In particular, some of the lyrics in the song that make me think of God are as follows:  "If anyone should ever write my life story . . . . For whatever reason there might be . . .  You'll be there between each line of pain and glory . . . "

When I hear that last line of the lyrics mentioned above I can not help but think of God because, without a doubt, He has been there for me in the good times and the bad.  We know as human beings we will experience good and we will experience bad.  Sometimes we will get a promotion at our job and sometimes we may get laid off.  Sometimes we will have the pleasure of getting bills paid off and other times we will end up receiving an unexpected bill like when the car quits running.  Our lives are similar to the weather sometimes . . . .  always unpredictable  . . .  despite the best efforts of the weather-man.  Life sometimes goes more smoothly than other times and life is certainly more difficult at times and less difficult at other times.  But whether we are experiencing good times or difficult times, God is the one constant that we can always depend on in our life.  To paraphrase the song, "God has been there between each line of pain and glory" in our life.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Of course, this verse and the following verses from the Third Chapter of Ecclesiastes are very famous.  These verses remind us that there is a time for every action.  Just as there are different seasons:  Winter . . .  Spring . . . . Summer . . . Fall . . . . there are times for us to build and times for us to work.  There are times for us to rest and times for us to move.  There are times for us to rejoice and times for us to mourn.  None of us are guaranteed an easy life.  None of us are guaranteed a perfect life.  None of us are guaranteed a life without burden.  But no matter what season we find ourselves   .  . . . no matter what difficulties life throws at us . . . .  we know that God is always there for us.  The Psalmist reminds us:  "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou are God. (Psalm 90:2)  God is indeed everlasting and His love is everlasting.

The thing that we always have to remember about God is that He is always faithful to us even when we are not always faithful to Him.  There are times in our life where we get sidetracked.  There are times in our life where we get distracted.  There are times in our life perhaps when God seems distant.  And yet we know that it anything, we are the ones that separate ourselves from God and His Majesty.  "For I am the Lord, I change not . . ." (Malachi 3:6)

Always remember that God is there for us if we only go to Him.  Spend this holy season of Lent looking forward to Easter.  We are not a people that live in the past.  We are a people of hope.  We look towards the future.  Our hope lies in Christ, Who is our Saviour.  "'Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." (Jeremiah 17:7)

Raising A Catholic Family

If you think about all of the difficult jobs in the world today, I would imagine that the job of "Raising a Catholic Family" would probably be near the top of the list.  Certainly, in today's culture in which we live, raising a family is difficult enough.  Period!  But raising a family with any sort of faith-based foundation is even more difficult.  Let's face it, in our society which we find ourselves today, the world is so "Anti-religion," "Anti-faith," "Anti-God,"  etc. that it is a daunting task to remain a good Christian our self, let alone raise a Christian family.  In this out of control world, the odds of raising a Catholic family seem overwhelming, to say the least.  But fear not, nothing is impossible with God's help . .  .  even raising children.   Let us reflect on some good "general rules" when raising a good Catholic family:

Rule Number One:  Always Stay Close To God . . .  .

I have found a good rule of thumb in any task I undertake is to always STAY CLOSE TO GOD!  As I say, this is good advice, first and foremost, for anything we do in life.  So many people in our world today do just the opposite.  They leave God out of everything they do.  In other words, people today . . . .  in general, of course,  . . . . seem to go about their merry way with no thought of God at all in their daily routine.  They don't pray . . .  they don't go to church . . .  they don't read Scripture . . . . It would seem the only time that most people in our society today ever think about contacting God is when they get into some trouble that they can not get themselves out of.  God becomes a "last resort," as it were.  We should never allow God to become a "last resort" in our life.  And this is true whether we are talking about ourselves as individuals or as a family.  Always make God a priority in your life and in the life of your family.  "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deuteronomy 6:7)   Children learn best, it seems to me, through example.  And if the way you live your life matches up with what you instruct them, the child will understand better.  Always stay close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  And let your children know just how important this is.  Let your children know how important this is not only by the words you speak to them, but also (more importantly!) by the way you live.  

Rule Number Two:  The Importance Of Prayer . . . . 

Communication is key to any relationship.  Whether we are talking about the relationship between a husband and wife or an employee-employer relationship, for that matter, good communication is the key.  Thus, communication between ourselves and God is of utmost importance as well.  On this I am sure we will agree.  Communication with God is what we call "prayer."  Let your children know how important prayer is  . . .  and should be . .  . in their life.  "Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." (St. Luke 18:1)  Teach your children to always go to God in prayer.  Let them know that God is always ready to hear our prayers.  Communal prayers done in unison can form a good foundation for more personal, individual prayer later on.  For example, children should be taught early on prayers such as the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory Be."  Children should be taught the Rosary so that not only can they pray it on their own but families can also pray the Rosary together in unison.  Let your children know early on that prayer is a powerful weapon.  A former bishop of mine was keen to often say:  "Play dirty and pray . . . "  In other words, his meaning was that prayer is a powerful weapon that most people do not utilize.  When we pray, we are in the presence of the Almighty.  Let your children know how important this is.  Good communication is the key to any good relationship.  And prayer is our communication with the Almighty.  Encourage your children to communicate daily with God: whether it be saying grace before meals; praying the Rosary either alone or as a family; or just sitting in the presence of God reflecting after reading Scripture or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in Church.    

Rule Number Three:  Going To Church As A Family . . . . 

When I was growing up, going to church on Sundays was very important.   In other words, it was just something that you did on Sundays:  you went to church as a family.  I know I was brought up that way and raised that way.  To this day, Sunday doesn't seem like Sunday unless I go to church.  Unfortunately, so many people do not feel this way any longer.  Why?  Because it was not taught to them.  The importance of going to church . . .  either as a family or as individuals . . .  . is not taught . . . . it is not emphasized . . . . and it is not explained.  Thus, children do not understand the importance of going to church on a regular basis.  We will not do something if it is not important for us.  In order for children to understand, it has to be explained why it is important to go to church.  As with most things, always keep in mind, teaching usually comes in two "formats:"  1)  Explaining verbally; 2) Teaching by Example.  Keeping this in mind, it doesn't matter how good you "explain" to your children the value of something if you don't do it in practice.  Will children truly appreciate the value of weekly church attendance when they don't see their parents attending church on a regular basis?  This seems pretty obvious but how many families do just this?  They try to explain the importance of doing something . . . .  for example, going to church . . . . but they never actually do it in practice.  Children are smarter than we give them credit for.  If they do not see their parents putting into practice what they "preach," the children more than likely will not put it into practice to begin with.  "Train up a child in the way he should go; Even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

Rule Number Four:  Be A Strong Role Model In The Faith . . . . 

After reading through these various "rules" so far, I hope that you have been able to see a "constant theme" through each rule:  to lead by example.  This is something that needs to be emphasized time and time again, in my humble opinion.  As stated above, children will not practice what they have not been taught.  And whether we like it or not, children learn mostly by what they see being done.  St. Paul writes:  "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction in the Lord."  (Ephesians 6:4)  We teach by instruction, yes, but the best "instruction" comes first by example.  As parents, we need to allow our children to see how we actually lead our life . . . . how we live our life . . . . if children "see" that we do our best to live good, Christian lives, they will be more willing to "listen" to why we do it.  Children, , . . . and adults, for that matter .  . . .  will not listen to someone who "talks the talk" but doesn't "walk the walk."  As a parent, if you tell your child how important it is to go to church, for example, but that child never sees you never attend church yourself, the child will see that your words are hollow and you don't even follow your own advice,  . . . so why should they?   We parents need to instruct, yes, but first and foremost we need to "instruct" through our own actions.  We need to "instruct" first by the way in which we lead our own life, by the way we live our own life.  

Certainly, these four points as discussed above are meant to be "general rules."  Once these "general rules" are set in place, other practices will fall into place.  For example: Advent wreath at home; catechism lessons at home; as mentioned earlier, Rosary recited as a family; having a Sacred Heart or Blessed Mother statue in the home; etc.  The world will do everything in its' power to go against God and the Church. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (St. John 16:33)   Everything we can do as parents to let our children know about God will help to strengthen the child once they go "out into the world."  Give the child the "tools" he/she will need to be strong in the faith and always stay close to God.