Five Faith Friday

Happy Friday! It's the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. And because a Solemnity falls on a Friday, you know what that means... go ahead and fry up some bacon because meat is allowed to be eaten today!

"Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday ... " (Code of Canon Law #1251). Yes, every Friday of the year, both inside and outside of Lent, Catholics are required to abstain from meat. Why? To commemorate the Passion and death of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in His honor on Fridays unless a Solemnity should fall on Friday. This year we actually had three meat Fridays and this was the last one.

Now that I made your day by sharing that you can have some bacon, let's get back to our regularly scheduled program.

Here is this week's installment of "Five Faith Friday" which contains five, faith-based things I found interesting and am sharing on Friday.

What I’m Reflecting On –
How there is no hero in the Bible that spoke the truth and was loved by the world. Not one! Noah was scorned, Jonah as hated, Paul was beheaded, the disciples were crucified or beheaded or exiled or worse. Jesus was hated for delivering the sting of open rebuke more than once. Now days there are priests asked to resign because of their "tone and manner" despite not saying anything against the Catholic Church. I truly think that if Jesus were here today, we would crucify Him again because of his tone and manner (emphasis mine):

  • He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work." (Luke 13:32)
  • But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (Matthew: 16:23)
  • He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (Mark 7:27)
  • But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them (Matthew 23:13)
  • You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? (Matthew 23:17)
  • The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” (Matthew 26:24)
  • “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it." (Matthew 7:13)

Remember, "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

What Video I Watched --
This 1 minute and 40 second one from Bishop Barron titled "Go Back to Mass!" If you haven't been back to Mass since the pandemic, ask yourself, "Why?" I know dozens of people who send their kids to school, who go grocery shopping, who have their kids enrolled in sports, but still aren't back to Mass. I saw this quote from Father Sebastian Walshe, O.praem. and thought it was thought provoking: "If instead of giving out Holy Communion the priest distributed hundred-dollar bills, churches would be full every day." Seriously... ask yourself, if your local church were passing out hundred-dollar bills, would you go? After you answer that question, pray about how the Catholic Church literally offers you the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (CCC 1374). The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." (CCC 1324). Just remember, that if you do go back, for your soul's sake, remember to first go to confession. Are you going to confession for the first time in a long time? This video will help.

What I Found Interesting --
That "Burger King takes aim at Chick-fil-A with donation to LGBTQ group.. The chain took a not-so-subtle jab at its competitor by saying "during #pride month (even on Sundays) your chicken sandwich craving can do good!"" Pretty sad if you ask me. I guess that's what you have to resort to when your competitor (Chick-fil-A) makes over $1 billion more than you (Burger King) every year despite having just 1/3 of the locations. Christians continue to be attacked and it is only going to get worse. People are allowed to have different opinions and you should never hate them for that. Love one another. Just as Jesus loved us, we should love one another. And by doing so, everyone will know that you are one of Jesus's disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).

Which Language We Should Watch --
Those by President Biden (and others) referring to mothers as "birthing people." President Biden did so in his $6 trillion budget proposal this week. Words matter. There is a reason why if a priest "baptized" you and said, "We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" that you are not indeed baptized. There is a reason why God said that there is only man and woman (Genesis 1:27). There is a reason why God said that marriage is only between man and woman (Genesis 2:24) and why Jesus affirms this (Matthew 19:4-5). The word choice of "birthing people" is becoming popular recently (check out the Google Trends) but it doesn't make it true. Fun fact for you: 100% of birthing people are, and have always been, women.

What Book I Read --
"The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War" by Malcolm Gladwell. I HIGHLY recommend this book if you enjoy history. It just came out on April 27th and already has a 4.4 out of 5 rating with over 1,600 reviews. Especially the audio version of this book which is read by the author (so you get his emotions!) and includes news clips, interviews, etc. making for a very engaging book. While this book doesn't directly align to the faith, the concept of war does so I wanted to touch on "just war theory." What is a just war? The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:

  • The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
  • All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
  • There must be serious prospects of success;
  • The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good. (CCC 2309)

BONUS -- What I Want to Highlight --
Multiple resources about "pride month" and how Catholics cannot participate in it. My first entry in last week's FFF garnered some attention and so I wanted to share some additional resources on the topic so that people understand that my opinion is unwavering from the Church's position.

Have a wonderful weekend and may God bless you and your family!

David Yingling started his weekly “Five Faith Friday” emails when the Coronavirus forced an end to his in-person “Pints & Prayers” gatherings, which he describes as “Men striving to deepen their faith over a cold one.” He’s a member of St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish in Easton.



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