The bells are ringing! The bells are ringing!

A couple days ago, I was praying in the chapel, before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. As I was praying, the Lord lifted the veil from my eyes for just about a half a second, and showed me His glory.

When you have few experiences of certain things, you tend to remember each event quite clearly. When you have more experiences, then you remember each of them less and less. When I was discerning the Lord’s call for me to His holy Catholic Church, I remember the first several Masses quite clearly; now I can only picture a handful in my mind.

Let me tell you about the first time I went to St. Mary Cathedral in Austin.

This Mass was important to me in several ways.

This was the first Mass I went to in Austin.

This Mass was the first Mass I went to, with full knowledge that I wanted to be in full communion with the Catholic Church.

This was the first Mass where I heard sacred Church music in the context of the Church.

This Mass, was just on an ordinary Sunday. No feast day, no solemnity. Yet, it was most profound to me. During the Consecration of the species to become the Body and Blood of Christ, there were these bells that were ringing. And I don’t mean just the bells the altar servers shake in the sanctuary. I mean the belfry, the bell tower roared to life! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Over and over again, across downtown you can hear it! And I was there, as if I was taken up to the third heaven, in the presence of God and His holy Angels.

The bells, the smells, the sights and sounds. The prayers, the songs lifted up my human soul to the depths of God. Although, at the time I could not describe it, now I can adequately describe what happened that day.

Can you imagine it? The bells were there to announce the Kingdom of Heaven! They tell us, “Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever!”

I wonder people outside must think we’re crazy. Why are they ringing the bells at 12:51pm? They must have their clocks off!

Such an image reminds me of a scene in the Lord of the Rings. When Aragorn King rode with his knights and men into Mordor, the trumpets sounded and the Lords announced, “The Lords of Gondor is come! Let all leave this land or yield them up!”

Yes, the Lord is come. Let sin leave this land. Let death and darkness leave this land. Let the Lord reign.

Sing, o city of Austin. Sing, all ye people living in the slavery of sin. The Lord is come, at last! The King comes to you! Lowly and humble, hidden in majesty!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit. Amen.

Meeting the Mother of God V: How Mary showed me the Son

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our death. Amen.

About a year ago, I was in Austin, TX for college graduations. It was a long day, but the night was longer still. I couldn’t fall asleep on the hard floor. To fall asleep, I starting praying the Rosary, hoping the rhythm would soothe and calm my soul. How mistaken I was to think that praying the Rosary would make me sleepy!

It only woke me up further. As it was a Friday for that morning, I meditated on the Sorrowful Mysteries. In the deep mystery of prayer, I came to understand the Lord’s Passion so intimately. As I contemplated Christ taking up His cross, I saw myself taking up a cross. I saw my back bent down, my eyes focused on my path. Then, like a spark of light, I remember the Lord saying, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

But to me, it wasn’t so much that I was carrying the cross. It was Christ himself, carrying the cross for me. I was only Simon of Cyrene. Christ was doing the heavy lifting. Tears fell from my face. Christ, who in His Holy Passion, suffered for me, is still lifting my cross and calling me closer to Him and his Sacred Heart.

I didn’t sleep that night. Such a revelation was too much for me to fall asleep after that. I looked at my cell phone. It read 5:03. I got up, got dressed, and left the apartment, and went downtown, where the Cathedral held daily Mass that morning.

This is why I love Mary, the Mother of God. Through her, I have come to know Christ in such a deeper and intimate level. Through her, I have come to know the Church, which is Christ’s body. Through her, I have come to know the Holy Trinity and the family of God.

Many Christians often ask why should they pray to Mary to intercede for them when they can go straight to Christ. For many well-intentioned Christians, to pray to Mary would mean to detract from the glory of Christ. For a time, I thought like that too. But now I have come to know, we come to know Christ better through the people He loves and the people who loves Him. And this is why I pray to Mary: because she leads me closer to Christ. “Do whatever He tells you.” The Blessed Virgin always point us to her Son.

Catholics pray that Mary would show them her Son. One of my friends, Peter, suggested that I pray that Christ would show me His Mother. I did that. And I have no regrets.

Take my hand, Mary, holy Mother. Take me, and draw me close to your Son. I want to be with you and your Son. Holy Mother of God, pray for me, a sinner, now and in the hour of my death. Amen.

Came to My Rescue

Today, as I was driving home from a long day of work, I decided to stop by Prince of Peace Catholic Community to spend some time with the Lord. I wanted to thank Him of the many graces I have received.

I walked in, genuflected on both knees, and knelt down on the third pew from the front, of the right side of the nave. After spending about two minutes in prayer, I sat down and closed my eyes. Scarcely five seconds had pass, and behold, a great brightness came upon me. Bewildered, I open my eyes, half expecting the Angel of the Lord. But lo, it was only the sunlight from the window.

Amazed, I knelt again and asked God what did He want from me?

A sense of calm was poured into my heart. A sense of peace was waving into my soul. I felt as if Jesus, our Christ, told me, "I'm proud of you, Daniel."

God is continually captivating my heart, my soul, and my mind. Here I am, Lord. Send me. Can there be any love so amazing as this?

Falling on my knees in worship,

Giving all I am to seek Your Face,
Lord all I am is yours.

My whole life
I place in your hands.
God of Mercy,
Humbled, I bow down
In Your presence at Your Throne.

I called. You answered.
And You came to my rescue and I,
I want to be where You are.

Meeting the Mother of God IV.5

Meeting the Mother of God IV: Marian Dogmas and Devotions

During the summer while I was in Washington, DC. I remember going through the art galleries. Somehow, I always thought to myself, why do the Madonna paintings always seem to put Mary, instead of the Christ child at the center of attention? Shouldn’t Jesus be the one whom we fix our eyes on?

All these doctrines and devotions to the Virgin Mother, some of them sound pretty excessive. Allow me to quote to you de Ligouri:

Shall we scruple to ask her to save us, when “the way to salvation is open to none otherwise than through Mary.”

“Many things,” says Nicephorus, “are asked from God, and are not granted: they are asked from Mary, and are obtained.”

At the commands of Mary all obey—even God.”

How shall I resolve this internal cognitive dissonance?

Let me tell you this story:

“You mean I have to believe in all these doctrines to be a good faithful Catholic?” I wondered to myself when the RCIA class was learning about the communion of saints, the Angels, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For example, the dogma of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven, at best, only spoken of metaphorically in the Scriptures (Rev. xii 1-6). On face-value, the doctrine definitely looks repugnant to the Scriptures.

The Immaculate Conception: the dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin and that she is sinless. Scripture seems to also point in the other direction (Rom. 3:23).

I was still learning how to be Catholic at that time. I was also learning how to read Scriptures again. I had remind myself that the Epistles were written mainly to sort out disputes, encourage and exhort the Christian faithful. It was not written to contain all the doctrines necessary for the faith of the Church. Allow me to digress. When the Apostles preached the Gospel, they handed over the living faith to the believers. Then they arranged the worship, the other doctrines and practices to the Church. That’s why St. Paul says, “Hold fast to the traditions I have handed over to you.” Part of these traditions are ones about Mary. You can also find references in the Scriptures about the Marian dogmas as well. You see, it’s not Scripture alone, neither is it Tradition alone.

I think by that time I already implicitly accepted the dogmas; I just needed reasons for doing so. My reason for joining the Catholic Church, which is another blog in of itself, is for the unity of the Church. It’s about submitting to the rightful interpreter of the Holy Scriptures and preacher of the Gospel. So here I was, thinking again that my 22 year old self knew more than the 2,000 year old Catholic Church.

As I was going through the arguments with the Marian doctrines with my sponsor, Dr. Budziszewski, a sort of lightbulb suddenly lit in my mind, except it wasn’t my own idea. I swear to you, the thought just popped into my mind, and I just blurted out the questions, “Why all these dogmas? Why does the Church has to pronounce these doctrines on Mary rather than just focusing on Christ alone? I mean, what do these doctrines do to help us come closer to Christ?” And that’s it! That’s what these doctrines are for. They help us come closer to Christ. The purpose of understanding Mary is to understand Christ.

And that’s how one should see the theology of the Church. Every theological doctrine the Catholic Church holds fast to is Christological in nature. They point us to Christ. And next time, the last installment of this series will be on exactly how Mary has helped me come closer to Christ.

This is why I've been absent.

Meeting the Mother of God, Part III: Defending Mary

By the fall semester of my senior year in college, I decided I was going to be received into the Catholic Church at the Great Vigil of Easter 2009. At the time I still had some qualms about the place of Mary in the Church. Catholics don't worship Mary, but why do they show her so much devotion? If you can pray to Jesus, where's the need to ask Mary for her intercessions?

One weekend, I visited my parents' church. By that time, I already made my decision. I attended the English-speaking service there. While I was listening, the speaker Carl made this claim, "You guys, we have a whole religion of Roman Catholicism that worships Mary." Interesting, I thought. Let's talk to him afterward.

After the service, I asked him about it, and informed him that Catholics don't worship Mary. Carl said, "Oh yes they do. I am a former Catholic." That definitely disoriented me. Huh? Okay, maybe I need to do my research further on the Catholic Church.

We had a little talk, about praying to Mary and he made the claim that prayer is worship, therefore, praying to Mary is worshiping her. We didn't have much time to talk, but he asked for my e-mail address so that we could dialogue further on what Catholics believe.

A couple months later, Carl e-mailed me on Mary, citing Vatican II documents and the Catechism.

I tried replying as charitably as I could. At this point, several e-mails have been exchanged. And I was already received and confirmed in the Catholic Church. I began to suspect that Carl's intention in our e-mail conversations were not to understand what Catholics believe, but to show me that I am in error. I told him, "I don't know if the purpose of your e-mails is to call me back into the Protestant fold or for your own understanding of the Catholic faith. If it is to re-convert me, please do stop. I am firm in my decision, the Catholic Church has been as the source and summit of my walk in Christ through the Holy Communion. I was received into the Church this past Easter. If it is to come to a better understanding of what Catholics believe, I would then be delighted to continue our conversation."

His response was uncharitable as it was ill-informed, "it is my firm conviction to help those who have been deceived by other religions. You talk so highly about the Roman Catholic Church... I am concerned for your soul, not your affiliation with another church over your church... I pray that you are truly saved, but an exaltation of a person or persons to the same degree as Christ will not save. We must worship and follow Jesus the Jew, the Messiah that came and saved us."

As it was explained in previous blogs, Catholics have devotions to the Mother of God, but we do not worship her. We do not give her total homage of who we are.

When we make statements of offense, to break down arguments, it causes the other side to come to the defense of what they consider good, sacred, or true. Carl’s last e-mail placed me on the fast-track to my relationship with the Virgin Mother: by looking up arguments in support of Marian doctrines, by praying with her and through her to the Gate of Life, in meditating upon her role in God’s plan of salvation. And Carl’s e-mail was what pushed me into loving Mary more.

Next week: Marian Devotions