Category: Behold Vancouver

Drawing from The Bible in a Year, Fr. Mike offers powerful insights on what it looks like to struggle faithfully with God and grow in relationship with Him. He closes with a heartfelt Q&A, sharing personal reflections to inspire your own journey of trust and surrender.34:40 I’m a Protestant, but I feel like a Catholic after spending so much time with your videos and podcasts. How important is it to convert? 

39:08 If we can’t take a 30-day silent retreat, what can someone do to “really get to know God”? 

44:35 I’m tired of sinning the same sin. Tips? 

51:50 Fr. Mike: Collar or sweats, when you were recording the podcasts?

Few are familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien’s greatest love and what gave him profound strength during his darkest hours.

Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien is well-known for his mythological realm of Middle Earth and highly influential Lord of the Rings series of books. In fact, one survey in 1997 voted Lord of the Rings the “book of the century.”

To find that, we must open up a letter he wrote to his son Michael. At the time Michael was 21 years old and having relationship problems. Tolkien wrote to him to share his advice about women, but also related to his son the greatest love he could ever possess.

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.

Cure for sagging faith

Many years later, when Michael was 43, Tolkien received a letter from his depressed son looking for consolation. It appears Michael wrote to his father about his “sagging faith” and began to doubt if God or the Catholic Church was true. This was Tolkien’s response.

The only cure for sagging of fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.

Tolkien was known to attend daily Mass at a nearby church and his eldest son, John, became a priest and was with his father at his death bed, likely giving him holy viaticum, the Holy Eucharist, as he passed from this life to the next.

Not surprisingly, within Tolkien’s Middle Earth there was a special type of bread called lembas, which sustained Frodo and Sam as they reached the place where their journey ended.

The lembas had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain down to die. It did     not satisfy desire, and at times Sam’s mind was filled with the memories of food, and the     longing for simple bread and meats. And yet, this way bread of the Elves had potency that increased as travelers relied upon it alone and did not mingle it with other foods. It fed the will, and it gave strength to endure, and to master sinew and limb beyond the measure of mortal kind.

The life we live is Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The more we look to the Mother of that life, the more we come to know and embrace life in its fullness.

Tomorrow, on the solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, we will pray to God the Father: We rejoice to proclaim the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary Mother of your Son and Mother of the Church. Why do we start every New Year focused on the Motherhood of Mary?

We need the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Mother, and for at least three key reasons.

1. The Mother of God’s love awakens us and enables us to be ourselves

The theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar reflected on a simple fact of life: “The little child awakens to self-consciousness through being addressed by the love of their mother.” In her book The Drama of the Gifted Child, the psychiatrist Alice Miller explains how

Every child has a legitimate need to be noticed, understood, taken seriously, and respected by their mother. In the first weeks and months of life they need to have the mother at their disposal, must be able to be mirrored by her …. The mother gazes at the baby in her arms, and baby gazes at their mother’s face and finds themself therein, provided that the mother is really looking at the unique, small, helpless being and not projecting her own expectations, fears, and plans for the child. In that case, the child would not find themself in his mother’s face but rather the mother’s own predicaments. This child would remain without a mirror, and for the rest of their life would be seeking this mirror in vain. 

And sadly, this is the plight of many people. But it is not the end of the story. For we have been given an Immaculate Mother who provides for our every need—Mary is the Mirror we seek.

Pope St. John Paul II expressed something similar:

A mother is not only the mother of the physical creature born of her womb but of the person she begets. Mary is Mother of God because she accompanied the Son of God in his human growth. Mary’s Motherhood is not merely a bond of affection—she contributes effectively to our spiritual birth and to the development of the life of grace within us.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
— Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, “O, Holy Night”

Wanting to be a parent is perhaps the greatest human desire. The desire to love another soul unconditionally — to teach, guide and nurture — is profoundly exciting. Being willing to impact the life of another in such an intimate way is overwhelmingly selfless. The yearning to share one’s own DNA, body, family traditions, home and life with a new creation is a dream many experience years prior to attempting to create new life.

Yet, for those for whom conception does not come easy, their deep desire is met with even deeper pain. The pain of infertility is felt on various levels: emotional, physical, social, spiritual and psychological. It may feel like guilt, shame, anxiety or fear in the form of, “What did I do wrong?” or “Why me/us?” Some women wonder if something is wrong with their body since they are unable to carry a child. Some even wonder if their significant other will still want to be with them if they cannot carry new life in their womb. Attempting to conceive and the emotions that come with it can be more exhausting than exciting for the woman who desperately wants to be pregnant.

Suffering in silence

During the struggles of infertility some share their desire and despair only with their significant other, which may result in feelings of isolation in society. Some women feel like the nurses at their OB/GYN office know them better than their colleagues, as they are the ones who truly know what’s going on in their lives.

Sadly, infertility and miscarriage are not uncommon, yet the medical and grief processes surrounding such losses are something we do not openly discuss in our society. I would argue that more often than not, this is out of respect for the intimacy of trying to conceive. Additionally, we simply may not know what to say to someone who lost a baby when we only learn of the pregnancy in light of the loss. Regardless of reason or motives, too many women and couples suffer in silence or solitude and feel that there is no appropriate way for them to talk about their grief outside of their significant other, physician and counselor.

Now, at this point, you may be wondering why this article is included in a December publication. And that’s a fair question.

Relics can be confusing, so here is a brief rundown of what Catholics believe.

Why do Catholics keep saint’s bones, hair, clothes or even their blood in gold shiny boxes? Didn’t God condemn idolatry? While many (both Protestants and Catholics alike) are often confused by the practice of venerating relics, the tradition has deep biblical roots.

What are relics?

Relics are material items that are connected to a saint and are sorted into three “classes.” A first-class relic is all or part of the physical remains of a saint. This could be a piece of bone, a vial of blood, a lock of hair, or even a skull or incorrupt body.

A second-class relic is any item that the saint frequently used (clothing, for example). A third-class relic is any item that touches a first or second-class relic.

Catholics are known to preserve relics of saints and it is believed that graces from God flow through these objects to devout souls who venerate them.

Where in the bible are relics?

The use of physical objects related to a holy person goes back as far as the Old Testament. In it we see an episode from the Second Book of Kings that features the use of relics.

“And so Elisha died and was buried. At that time of year, bands of Moabites used to raid the land. Once some people were burying a man, when suddenly they saw such a raiding band. So they cast the man into the grave of Elisha, and everyone went off. But when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and got to his feet.” (2 Kings 13:20-21)

Even in the New Testament we see how God uses material objects to bring about healings. In the Gospel of Mark we see how a woman is healed because she touched Jesus’ cloak.

“She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.’ Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.” (Mark 5.27-29)

There are other examples in the lives of the apostles that clearly show how God works miracles through items connected to a saint.

Do relics have power?

While the Church encourages the practice of venerating relics, it is important to remember that it is not the actual object that imparts healing. A piece of bone can’t heal someone from terminal cancer. However, God can use a relic of a saint to heal, just like he used his cloak to heal the woman with the hemorrhage.

Even great saints have gone through periods of doubt, but they persevered in prayer and love.

The word “doubt” has two definitions. The first one, as its etymology (dubius or double) suggests, is hesitation. For example, a person facing a fork in a road or a dilemma, unsure whether to turn left or right, to say “yes” or “no.”  

But the word can also designate the questioning of something we believed to be true until recently.

“Faith is certain,” recalls the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “It is more certain than human knowledge, because it is founded on the very Word of God, who cannot lie” (§ 157). When on the day of his baptism an initiate proclaims his faith in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, his “I believe” expresses a certainty. More often than not this certainty comes after a period of doubt. He then believes, and his faith is destined to grow. If he perseveres in his faith, he will soon discover more reasons to believe than he could previously imagine. If he takes time to pray, the Lord will reveal more of His presence to him. And he won’t worry, if at times the Lord has not instantly answered his prayers. 

But there may come a time when faced with trials and tribulations that he questions certain aspects of the Gospel message. These doubts (in the second sense of the word), can be assuaged and do not necessarily imply any skepticism on his part. 

“Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt”

Some saints had to go through these periods of spiritual darkness. At times, they felt that God had abandoned them, or worse, that they couldn’t love Him. They had to pray to overcome their despair. What gave them solace is the certainty that in accepting to take part in the agony of Christ they could participate in saving the world.  

In the last months of her life, St. Therese of Lisieux was assailed by terrible doubts about the existence of Heaven. But she firmly held on to her faith supported by the words of Christ: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (John. 4:12). Cardinal John Henry Newman used to say: “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”

When someone talks about “being on mission,” what’s the first thing you think about?

For a lot of people, missions might be limited to the trips people take with their churches to go and build a well or orphanage in another country. And while that’s a great way to serve God’s Kingdom, for many it’s not a reality.

And it’s not the only way to be on mission.

Maybe your life doesn’t have room for a missions trip. Maybe the idea of adding yet another thing to your weekly calendar seems like too much to ask. Maybe you and your spouse are barely finding time to connect as a couple, never mind turning your marriage into a mission field. However, having a mission-minded marriage doesn’t need to be as daunting as it seems.

But a bigger question – before addressing the how – would be the why. Why should mission be a central focus in your marriage?

Why is mission in marriage important?

Gary Thomas, in his book Sacred Marriage, writes, “When marriage becomes our primary pursuit, our delight in the relationship will be crippled by fear, possessiveness, and self-centredness. We were made to admire, respect, and love someone who has a purpose bigger than ourselves, a purpose centred on God’s untiring work of calling His people home to His heart of love.”

“Without this involvement in and commitment to service,” he continues, “marriage gets lonely very fast. A selfish marriage is a hollow marriage. We were made to serve God, and no human affection can appease that hunger for very long.”

But, again, having a marriage centred on mission doesn’t mean moving across the globe – it means being open to understanding the call God has placed on you, on your spouse and on your marriage.

How to live out mission every day

“If we are going to learn how to live out our mission in our marriage relationship,” Thomas writes, “we must learn to be more selfless, and we have to become more connected with each other. We have to remember that our spouse is called, just as we are, and we have to be interested enough in their call to know what it is that moves them and gives them energy.”

In A Lifelong Love, Thomas explains how mission looks different for different couples: “Though every Christian marriage should ultimately aspire to seek God’s kingdom as the primary mission, each couple will have a different expression of that mission.”

How can you and your spouse turn your marriage into a mission-minded marriage? Three couples share how God has led them to reach outside of their marriage and serve those around them.

In this episode, we begin our Advent journey in Eden, a place of freedom, communion, and life without shame. Eden is not only a moment in history, but also an interior garden within each of our hearts. We talk about the deep ache we all feel for union, rest, and peace, and how this longing reveals our original design for communion with God. We also reflect on the shame that often accompanies this desire for communion with others, especially when our desires are left unmet, and how bringing these places of poverty to Jesus opens us up to real, lived communion with Him.

Show Notes

One Thing We Love This Week:

• Sister Miriam’s one thing – Sacred Anchor Artisans (Catholic Etsy!) founded by Tim and Molly Olsen

• Michelle’s one thing –  The Inspired Living and this Chrism Candle

• Michelle’s other one thing – Fr. Innocent Montgomery, CFR

• Heather’s one thing – The Renew Conference in Toronto

• Heather’s other one thing – Her Advent Worship Playlist

“God does not ask us to be successful, He asks us to be faithful.” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta 

Fr. Mike Schmitz reflects on this quote along with the way St. Mother Teresa lived her life. So often we measure our lives by worldly success, however God wants your faithfulness, not your success. 

Let us always say, “God let me honor you with my effort.”

Do you trust God’s timing? 

Fr. Mike Schmitz reminds us that God is never late (and never early). We can trust whole heartedly that His timing is always perfect!