The 3 Simultaneous Popes & Links in the Chain

Did you know that at one time there were 3 different men who were considered the pope at the same time?  I sure didn't...until today!  Today's class was quite interesting!  The chapter in our book covered a TON of information, and a lot of it was hard to decipher, but we made it through thanks to Dale!  :)  

But we learned a lot, as I said.  So let me mention the 3 popes.  Benedict IX, Gregory VI, and Sylvester II.  Benedict IX was a 20 year old pope who decided that he didn't want to be pope anymore because he wanted to get married, so he SOLD the papacy to John Gratian, who became Gregory VI.  This would be called simony, and it went on quite a bit during this time period.  Well, the people didn't particularly like that this happened so they took it upon themselves to elect a pope, Sylvester II.  THEN, Benedict IX decided that he wanted to be pope AGAIN, so he re-appointed himself.  (Isn't it something what a little power and the loss of it will do to people!?!?!)  So now, there were 3 popes.  To resolve this, Gregory VI, who was the "true" pope decided that he would hold a council to settle this silliness.  To make a long story short, he ended up resigning and Benedict IX was returned to power.  I don't know about you, but I sure would not have wanted to live during this time!

Now to our 2nd part of the class...the links in the chain.  Wondering what that is?  Well, think about this first.  Do we really, truly trust God to handle everything in our lives for us?  I know that there are plenty of times that I've said, "Not now, God.  I can handle this."  But was I able to?  I can't recall a single time that I was able to handle something fully on my own and have it go exactly like I wanted it to.  It's kind of like that saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."  Also, think about this...how often do we judge people?  Even if we don't think we are, we are all judgmental at times.  Did you ever see a homeless person and think, "He's probably just a drunk and will take any money I give him and spend it on liquor" or see a person who you can tell doesn't have much money and think, "Well, they are probably just too lazy to get a job."  Now, did you ever think that those thoughts are judgmental?  We all just think them to ourselves and never think about the fact that God still knows we are judging.  We ALL do this!  We don't necessarily do it intentionally, but we still do it.  Humans, by our sinful nature, are independent, judgmental creatures.  So how does this relate to links in a chain?  The weaker a link is in a chain, the more likely the chain is to break eventually.  We are all links in the chain of the Catholic Church and the chain of Christianity.  If we choose not to let God handle every part of our lives or if we choose to judge everyone, we make that chain weaker because we become weak or broken links.  We must become spiritually connected to who we are as Catholic Christians.

To tie this in with our lesson, the Catholic Church is a 2,000 year old chain FULL of links.  Some are weak, but the strong ones have outnumbered the weak ones for 2,000 years, and that is why she has lasted and stood strong throughout this time.  So, do you want to be a weak or a strong link in that 2,000 year old chain?  I think I want to strive to be that strong link.  What do you think?

I hope you all are enjoying the blog.  And remember, if you'd like to make a comment, please go here to the blog's site (champsofhope.blogspot.com) and make a comment.  That way everyone can see them, not just me! 

Have a great week!

Prayer Requests, Other Business, Etc.

Hey everyone. We had a great class today, even though the attendance was slim. I know everyone is busy with Memorial Day so it was expected today. We missed everyone! Here are a couple of prayer requests for this week.

• Stephanie Geibel
• Adam (Geni & Wayne's son-in-law, right?) is in Afghanistan.
• Geni (hoping to get the gift shop manager's position)
• Patsy's sister who recently lost her son
• And I'd like to add Robbie Favazza who will be ordained June 6 and then will be at our parish as assistant priest (yay!) and also for Fr. Kirk & Fr. Carroll who have been doing a great job, too!

Also, don't forget to bring the money for the sisters' bedspreads to class next Sunday!

Have a great week!

Don't Quit

I was cleaning out my e-mail "saved" folder tonight and I came across a meditation that Dale wrote almost exactly one year ago when he was at the Cancer Treatment Center of America.  It touched me then, and it still touches me now.  So for those of you who didn't get the Livin' a Dream meditations a year ago, I wanted to share this with you.  Sometimes everyone needs a little uplifting, and I think this will do the trick!  So for this blog post, I'm giving Dale the full credit.  I hope this touches you as it did me.

This is a special meditation for me, the last three days I have been at The Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL seeking hope and inspiration for continued good health. While there as it usually happens I met people that were struggling with their own diagnosis, and prognosis. I wanted desperately to reach out and let them know that we are all united in this battle, and Christ will offer comfort to those who seek it. While searching for something uplifting to write about I came across a poem called Don’t Quit, and it became clear that, that was the message I was to convey this week.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit
Life is queer with its twist and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit

God has a plan for each of us. Never give up the fight, the hope, the dream, remember that today holds a special gift, and tomorrow a brighter light, and Christ our lord is with us through the fight.
Lord you are my rock and my salvation. Grant me peace, wisdom, and courage to live according to your will.
In your holy name


AMEN

Thank you, Dale, for your wonderful insight and leadership! We love you!!!

Christendom, the barbarians, and Pope St. Gregory the Great

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J.M.J

The first question asked in our class discussions was "What is Christendom?"  Is it just the Christian world? Is it just the hierarchy?  What is it?  It is really easily defined, actually.  Christendom is when the Church, the political parts of the empire, and the social parts of the empire were joined together.  During this time is also when the papacy begin to gain political power which lasted to 1870.  

During this time you also had groups such as the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Franks, and I could go on and on.  These groups were considered the barbarians, or non-Romans.  These groups would go into the cities in the Roman empire and pillage for goods and even sometimes kill the citizens.  In fact, this is where the word "vandalize" comes from!

So what about the papacy during this time of vandalization and even murder?  The "stand-out" figure in the papacy during this time was Pope St. Gregory the Great.  He was the first pope to have true political power and the first one to make the Bishop of Rome a head of state in a sense.  Gregory the Great also somewhat helped form the papacy into what it is today.  He said that the popes were servants of the servants of God, or in other words, the popes serve the people of God (the Church).  He also began the practice of private penance in place of the way it was previously done, which was in public.  So, truly, Pope Gregory was definitely deserving of the title of Great!

Also covered in this chapter was St. Benedict and the monks, especially the Irish monks.  Have you ever given thought to what Christianity would be like if we had never had the monasteries?  To be honest, it wouldn't even be close to what we have today.  The monks, especially the Irish, were missionaries to so many places that had pagan worship.  They were scribes and able to copy the Scriptures down for churches to use.  And they created a way of life that we all sometimes strive for.  

The Benedictines especially gave us a Rule to live by--Balance, Moderation, & Reason.  If we have these things in our life, we will be even closer to God.  We live and work in a secular world that causes us to be out of balance and to constantly be competing with each other in materialistic things.  This, in turn, causes us to lose reason in our lives.  So what would life be like if we were able to balance everything, have everything in moderation, and to know the reason for living?  It would be wonderful!  

Some great points were made in today's discussion.  Often we are told to give 10% to God.  Roughly 10% of our time each week would be about 17 hours.  It was mentioned that most of us probably don't give anywhere near this much to God.  But what if we did?  Think about how much better your life is when you spend even just one hour in prayer?  I don't know about you but I know that I feel so much better when I have spent some time in prayer.  Today's gospel tells us that God is Love.  So why don't we try to strive for that, too?  Why don't we give to God before we do anything else?  The reason for life is God and Love.  So here's my challenge to ALL of us this week.   Try to spend some time with God--at home, at Mass, ANYWHERE! If you drive a lot, why not pray while you're driving?  If you work at a desk and you have a little free time, get on the Internet and go to a website like EWTN and read the daily readings or read some prayers.  Another couple of great websites for those of you who work at a desk and at a place that doesn't mind you having religious things on your computer and such are 2 Hearts Network, which has Catholic wallpaper for your computer, and Virtual Rosary, which is a website where you can download the rosary to your computer desktop.  Those are some easy ways to spend more time with God.

I hope you all enjoy reading this blog and that you get something out of it each week.  Have a blessed week, and I'll see you Sunday!

Prayer Requests, Other Business, Etc.

What a great class today!!  We had several prayer requests today:  

• We need to continue to pray for Stephanie, Dale, Patsy Cole (who's cancer has spread to her brain) and all those who battle with cancer
• Also, Mary Ann's great granddaughter is hoping to get a cornea transplant and is in the hospital
• Also remember the family of Cara Allen who passed away recently
• Geni & Wayne wanted to send a prayer of thanks for their son who passed his tests and is now a paramedic (yay!)
• Finally, I ask that you remember all the high school and college graduates who are having commencement exercises and starting a new life.  Many schools have already had graduation; Chester County's is tomorrow night.  So, please remember these students as they begin a new part of their lives.

We didn't have much business today, but we want to remember that we are going to sponsor a child to send to the Area Relief Ministries Camp this summer.  It costs $200 and Patsy will be getting us more information soon.  Also, next week remember to bring money to help buy the bedspreads for the sisters' new convent.  Each bedspread costs $80 (they need 9) and each Sunday school class is hoping to pitch in to help them buy these.  Finally, lets try to be thinking of what we can do this summer to keep meeting even though the school will be closed.  James Allison recommended meeting a different houses and that is a great idea.  If Sunday morning is too hard to do something like that because of interfering with Mass, maybe we could try Sunday afternoon or even a day or evening during the week.  Another thing I thought of was to maybe have a cookout either at someone's house or if everyone was willing to drive to Henderson, we might be able to use the big pavilion at Chickasaw, too.  It is something to think about, so let me know if you have any other ideas.

I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you Sunday!