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Estás a punto de morir

Rev. Noah Carter • Nov 28, 2021

Al comenzar la celebración del tiempo de Adviento, entramos en un nuevo año litúrgico. Cuando pensamos en la preparación para la Navidad, nos vienen a la mente pensamientos de decorar con alegría nuestros hogares y prepararnos para recibir visitas y familiares. Pero la realidad es bastante diferente, ¿no? En esta época del año puede ser inquietante comprar regalos, asegurarse de que todo sea perfecto para recibir invitados y de hacer que todas las fiestas y eventos navideños sean significativos. Estas dos realidades parecen a primera vista opuestas. ¿Cómo pueden convivir la alegría y la ansiedad?

En nuestro Evangelio de hoy, vemos realidades igualmente opuestas. Para lo que se supone que es una época alegre del año, este pasaje del Evangelio parece fuera de lugar. Hablando de la venida del Hijo del Hombre para juzgar la tierra, Nuestro Señor habla de señales terribles y eventos espantosos. Sin embargo, también debemos tener gozosa esperanza en la venida del reino de Dios y el juicio de la tierra. Diariamente oramos: «Venga tu reino». Y en esta temporada de Adviento decimos: «Ven, Señor Jesús, y no te detengas». Al mismo tiempo, ¿nos referimos a estas solicitudes cuando las expresamos? ¿Vienen de nuestro corazón?

El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica nos recuerda el enfoque de la Iglesia para el Adviento: «Cuando la Iglesia celebra la liturgia del Adviento cada año, hace presente esta ... expectativa del Mesías, porque al participar en la larga preparación para la primera venida del Salvador, los fieles renuevan su ardiente deseo de su segunda venida» (524). Juntos, entonces, todos los miembros de la Iglesia entran en un retiro de Adviento para que, preparándonos bien para las fiestas de Navidad, también estemos mejor preparados para su Segunda Venida. Pero muchos pueden decir: «Padre, ¡Cristo no ha vuelto en más de dos mil años! No volverá mañana ni la semana que viene». Bien vale. Ésta es nuestra tendencia, ¿no? Procrastinamos en términos de conversión. Necesito una vida espiritual más profunda; pero puedo trabajar en eso una vez que los niños estén fuera de la casa. Necesito prepararme mejor espiritualmente para asistir a la Misa; pero tendré tiempo para eso cuando esté jubilado. Necesito leer más la Biblia y estudiar mi fe; pero puedo hacer eso una vez que la Cuaresma esté aquí. Y tal vez el Señor no regrese hasta dentro de dos mil años. Así que los invito a todos a pensar en el mandato urgente de nuestro Señor de prepararnos un poco diferente. ¿Cómo te prepararías si supieras que vas a morir este Adviento? ...

¿En qué te concentrarías si supieras que este es tu último Adviento? …

¿Profundizaríamos nuestra vida de oración? ¿Perdonaríamos a alguien que nos hirió? ¿Nos reconciliaríamos con un miembro de la familia? Recuerda, no tendremos más tiempo. Este es nuestro último Adviento. Y luego morimos.

Nuestro Señor nos da tres cosas para evitar y una forma de prepararnos. Dice en el Evangelio evitar el libertinaje, la borrachera y las preocupaciones diarias de la vida. Es decir, debemos evitar el exceso en los placeres de la carne y del mundo. Nuestro Señor dice que el día de su venida, debemos mirar hacia arriba porque nuestra redención está cerca. Con demasiada frecuencia no somos personas que miramos hacia arriba, sino hacia los bienes mundanos y nuestros propios placeres. Cuando llegue el momento de nuestra redención, debemos haber practicado el desapego a estos placeres para que podamos fácilmente mirar hacia arriba y alejarnos de ellos hacia el Señor.

Uno de los excesos que destaca es la borrachera. La embriaguez nos hace perder el uso de nuestra razón y poder para tomar decisiones sabiamente. Si bien todo pecado es irracional, el pecado de la borrachera es un pecado mortal. Es la elección de inhibir nuestro intelecto y debilitar nuestra voluntad. Después de años de ver anuncios y comerciales, sabemos que beber y conducir es muy serio. Pero San Pablo y toda la tradición moral de la Iglesia siempre han declarado que es un pecado grave incluso emborracharse solo en la propia casa. Algunos intentarán exagerar sus acciones diciendo: «Bebí demasiado». Desafortunadamente, en la vida moral, somos culpables de pecado mortal cuando estamos borrachos, y somos moralmente responsables de cada acción y palabra que provenga de nosotros durante ese estupor. Abstengámonos de la embriaguez, no sea que encontremos a nuestro Hacedor sin las facultades para hacer un acto de contrición y arrepentimiento.

En tercer lugar, Nuestro Señor nos dice que tengamos cuidado con las preocupaciones diarias de la vida. Y lo difícil que es dejar ir la ansiedad y la preocupación que cargamos a diario. Las cosas que nos preocupan son las cosas que amamos: nuestra familia, hogares, trabajo, planes futuros, amigos, vida espiritual. Y por mucho que podamos cultivar estas cosas buenas, Nuestro Señor incluso quiere que estemos listos para volvernos de esas cosas hermosas hacia Él en el día de la redención. Tendremos que dejar ir y estar solo acerca de Cristo. Recuerda nuestro tema de meditación: vamos a morir este Adviento. Teniendo esto en cuenta, muchas de nuestras preocupaciones podemos darnos cuenta de que son triviales en comparación con el reencuentro con nosotros mismos para encontrarnos con Cristo el Señor.

Finalmente, Cristo nos dice que mantengamos la vigilia y oremos. Ahora estamos acostumbrados al ayuno. Estamos familiarizados con abstenernos de comer una cantidad completa para hacer penitencia y crecer en virtud. Pero hay otros consuelos que pueden apartarnos del Señor. Eso es demasiado tiempo para dormir y descansar. Su remedio es vigilar y rezar. Este comando nos llega en un buen momento porque este próximo viernes y sábado es el primer viernes y sábado del mes de diciembre. Esto significa que toda la noche tendremos al Santísimo Sacramento expuesto para la Adoración Eucarística. Desde las ocho de la tarde hasta las dos de la mañana, habrá un programa oficial de vigilia en español e inglés. Esto se hace todos los meses el primer viernes y sábado consecutivo para las familias que desean responder al mandato del Señor y mantener la vigilia. ¡Esto nos hace fuertes! En otra parte de Lucas, nuestro Señor dijo, si el hombre fuerte hubiera sabido la hora en que venía el ladrón, se habría quedado despierto y vigilado su casa. Desde los primeros días, los cristianos de conciencia recta han desarrollado formas y devociones para ayudarlos a mantener la vigilia y la oración en común. Esto no es solo para las comunidades monásticas; es un mandato para todos nosotros. Los invito a todos a participar durante la totalidad o parte de la vigilia del primer viernes y el primer sábado de cada mes.

Diariamente le pedimos a nuestro Padre: «Venga tu reino». En esta temporada de Adviento decimos: «Señor, no te demores». En nuestra preparación para esta temporada de Adviento, a la que quizás no sobrevivamos, debemos mirarnos en el espejo y decirnos a nosotros mismos: «¡No te demores!» No debemos esperar un día más para preparar nuestro corazón para la venida de Dios. No nos demoremos.

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Ove and Joan of Arc

By Rev. Noah Carter • 03 Sep, 2023
A particularly good novel that I finished earlier in the year is A Man Called Ove , by Swedish author Fredrik Backman. First released in 2012 in Swedish, it hit the market in English just a year later and was on the NYT Best Seller list for over 10 months. Ove is a 59-year-old man who is wrestling with sadness and loneliness after having lost his wife Sonja. His neighbors and the townsfolk see him as a crotchety old man with a disdain for others. He has difficulty dealing with others as he is all caught up in his fond memories of his wife and recollections of their life together. Throughout the tale, I enjoyed the author’s keen insights into the human psyche, especially how sadness and loss can cripple one’s ability to form new relationships and darken one’s view on life around them. As the story unfolds, Ove is confronted with new situations, neighbors, and experiences that allow him to come out of his isolation and find meaning in community as a sort-of new family. It is truly a heartwarming read. If I read it again, it would be during winter by a fire with a cup of tea; that now seems the best setting. Warning: the book contains material revolving around depression and suicidal ideation. I came across an interesting read in May — interesting because I found the book per chance at a book giveaway, did not have much hope for it, and ended up content upon finishing it. I am usually disappointed in modern retellings of the lives of the saints, especially when so many modern non-Catholic authors try to debunk the supernatural or discredit the Catholic Church in the way they re-tell the story. I was quite happy with Kathryn Harrison’s Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured . Born in the 15 th Century, Joan of Arc led her fellow Frenchmen into battle against England. She claims that angelic voices led her to do so. Captured during the siege of Compiègne, she was put on trial by the English ecclesiastical authorities. After a trial verdict of guilty that was posthumously overturned, she was burned at the stake at age 19 for blasphemy, heresy, and following demonic visions. Much legend surrounds her life, especially fantastical accounts of her prowess in battle. Harrison attempts (successfully, in my opinion) to entertainingly tell Joan’s story devoid of unhistorical details that lack evidence. Her sources include Scripture, historical accounts, and the trial records kept during Joan’s prosecution. While I do not agree with all of Harrison’s portrayals and conclusions, the book as a whole is a very unique look at the life of the Maiden of Orléans.

The Thanatos Syndrome

By Rev. Noah Carter • 27 Aug, 2023
In preparation for a faculty in-service at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School, I reread this summer C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce . The title pays homage to William Blake’s poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In Lewis’ short story (less than 150 pages), we follow the narrator on a bus ride to a fantastical place along with many grumpy passengers. When they disembark, they are revealed to be ghosts. There are a number of descriptions that seek to pin down the precise meaning of Lewis’ allegory. I have always described it as souls from hell are given one day at the doors of paradise, but must confront someone they knew in life who is now in heaven. The dialogue is fast-paced and makes the reader reflect about their own actions, responses, and priority of loves in their own life, but weighed against the love they have for heaven. In terms of southern, Catholic authors, Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy are two of my favorites. Walker Percy (1916-1990) lived most of his life in Louisiana and was an Oblate of St. Benedict. He was trained as a physician but, after contracting tuberculosis, dedicated his life to philosophy and writing. This summer, I read Percy’s last novel The Thanatos Syndrome , published in 1987. It is a sequel to Love in the Ruins . It is set in the not-too-distant future in a town where residents are experiencing “off” behaviors. It follows a psychiatrist and lapsed Catholic who returns to his hometown and begins observing strange behaviors in the residents, including his wife with whom he is no longer in love. He feels compelled with the assistance of his cousin to figure out what the root cause is. One element that I enjoy in Percy’s novels is that there is always a fallen priest character that is secondary to the main plot. In The Thanatos Syndrome , the local parish priest has been replaced because he has given up the ministry and run off to live in a wildfire watch tower in a nearby National Forest. The interchanges between the psychiatrist and priest are comical, enlightening, and quite on the nose about fallen human nature. Altogether, the novel moves briskly in its plot as it introduces a number of poignant themes: the fallen hero; a world gone crazy; science’s role in the devaluing of human dignity; and the inability of society to function without a shared language and shared moral values. As a caveat, let me be clear, this is not a novel for young ones as there are some adult themes present.

East of Eden

By Rev. Noah Carter • 20 Aug, 2023
After a hiatus from my Sunday articles in the bulletin, I wanted to switch gears from catechetical topics. For the next handful of weeks, I wanted to offer some recommendations from my own reading. Each week, I’ll offer two books that I’ve enjoyed reading or rereading in the past few months. I hope you may consider taking up a book or two that might enrich your day-to-day life. In terms of something that I read to enrich my faith, I have been rereading this summer The Imitation of Christ by Thomas á Kempis. For such a small book, it seems to smack me in the face every time I read it. Thomas is no wuss. He wants his readers to take seriously the commands and example of Our Lord with such alacrity that we are ready at once to enter into heaven. With books like this, I do not recommend them for the scrupulous. We must take what is useful from them to advance in small steps in the ways of holiness, but not take the ideal they present to us as if holiness is so very far from us or impossible to reach. The Imitation of Christ is divided into four “books.” The individual meditations for each day can be read in all of three minutes, give or take. The first book seeks to stoke the flame of our interior sentiments so that we might see what prevents us from zealously pursuing holiness and begin to desire a life that is ordered to what is above. Then, he moves to true interior conversion by highlighting the obstacles to God’s love and follows with a great treatise on how to bend and conform our interior faculties to despise the world and seek heaven. Lastly, he offers a beautiful set of reflections that can be prayed and mediated upon before the Blessed Sacrament, using the Eucharist as the Christ-now-and-here-present to motivate our imitation of the Savior. This time around, I gleaned the most benefit from his last few chapters in the second book, wherein he admonishes those who do not wish to take up the Cross of Our Lord. It seemed especially fitting since we encounter in ourselves in the present day so much lukewarmness and unwillingness to boldly live our Faith. In terms of a book not directly related to theology or the Faith, I finally got around to reading John Steinbeck’s 1952 crowning novel East of Eden. Finally? Yes, because a friend from high school who teaches English literature has been begging me to read it for about 12 years. Oh my, it’s a long investment; but I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with it. The entire novel has so many allusions to Biblical stories, especially from Genesis, but that’s not what I took away from it. First of all, I love good writing. Too many popular books, especially modern popular books, have great literary elements, characters, and plots, but lack in good writing. Steinbeck’s ability to paint a scene as a backdrop to a character’s decision or response to some interaction is prophetic. Most ingenious is Steinbeck’s ability to describe human nature. Throughout the whole epic, I failed to really identify one character as immaculately good. And that is the predicament with modern authorship. Many times, modern authors want to paint the characters as good, evil, or somewhere in between. Steinbeck has an uncanny ability to elucidate the “good” characters as deeply flawed and the “bad” characters as redeemable. It reminded me that human nature never changes. Even when we are good, we need to illuminate the parts of us that need to be better. And when we find ourselves to commit sin, there is always a good part of us that can be redeemed to overcome the bad.

A Conclusion to the Precepts of the Church

By Rev. Noah Carter • 25 Mar, 2023
To summarize, the five precepts of the Church are: (1) “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor;” the faithful are required to attend the celebration of the Eucharist every Lord's Day (Saturday vigil or Sunday Mass) and the holy days of obligation as established in the liturgical calendar, unless excused for a serious reason [i.e. illness or the care of infants] (CCC 1388-9, 2042, 2043, 2177, 2180, 2185; 2187-8; 2192-3); (2) “You shall confess your sins at least once a year” (CCC 1457; 2042); (3) “You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season” (CCC 1389, 2042); (4) “You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church” (CCC 2043, 2177); and (5) “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church, each according to his own ability” (CCC 1351, 1387, 1438, 2043). Taken altogether, the precepts of the Church give us a roadmap by which we conform ourselves to the life of the Church. They allow a wide diversity to the faithful to adapt them to their own circumstances. When properly implemented in one’s life, they prioritize the centrality of the Gospel and God’s presence in our families. It is important to note that the precepts require us to make plans judiciously. When we look at our budgets, our vacation plans, our Fridays during Lent, and our Sunday plans, we should always have a conversation about how these precepts fit in and, therefore, where God fits in to each aspect of our life. When we go on vacation, for example, we plan our travel, the place where we stay, who we will visit, and where we will eat. We can also plan out where we will attend Holy Mass. “But, Father! There wasn’t a Catholic Church where we were vacationing.” If that is true, it is a godless place that Christians shouldn’t visit. “But Father! We had family visiting during the holidays.” If that was the plan, bring them to Mass and allow them to enjoy your parish community gathered together in joyful worship of God. “But, Father! Money is tight right now with rising prices and inflation.” If money is tight for you, money is tight for the parish, too, and prices are going up as well for the resources that the church needs to operate. When we look at our weekly calendars and monthly household budgets, we can clearly delineate where our priorities lie. The precepts help us fairly balance our temporal needs with our spiritual needs, lest we get swept away by earthly goods (money, success, power, leisure, friendships). An important man once said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” We can, however, serve God and use mammon (generally intended to signify temporal goods) wisely in our pursuit of God’s glory and heavenly life.

Church Precept #5

By Rev. Noah Carter • 18 Mar, 2023
To provide for the needs of the Church.

Junto al pozo

By Rev. Noah Carter • 12 Mar, 2023
Reconocimiento del pecado, aceptación de quién es Jesús y darlo a conocer a otros
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