We all dream of meeting the perfect guy or girl. We probably have a whole list of things that “special someone” will have: good looks, fun personality, kindness, etc. We often ask God for help in finding that person, which is not a bad idea, since God really wants us to be happy.

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber both pray. J B is open about the fact that he prays often. “Never Say Never”, his recent docu-movie, clearly showed him praying at diffeent moments. He prays with his family and crew before his concerts. He and his buddies prayed before sharing pizza (The pizza prayer was a real buddie moment: half funny, half serious). In his autobiographical book Justin clearly states he is a Christian and explains how some aspects of the Christian faith help him in his life.

Justin also took time this past year to make a pilgrimage (religious trip) to Israel where he wanted to pray at the places where Jesus had lived.

And every teenage girl knows “the Bieb” carries a tattoo on his ribs that spells Jesus’ name in Hebrew, a tattoo that his dad also carries.

Selena Gomez is Catholic. She and her family try to attend Sunday Mass as much as her constant traveling permits. She admits that her favorite times growing up were those weekly moments when they could take part in Mass as a family and have more family time afterwards. She says God is a huge part of her life.

Selena also made the news a few years ago because she was wearing a chastity ring. She explained that it was promise that she wanted to make to God when she was 13. She had asked her dad to buy her this ring and she took it to a Catholic priest to have it blessed.

Selena isn’t wearing the chastity ring any more. Many say it’s because she felt that she could’t keep that promise any longer. They say that she and Justin have already “done it”.

Others say the ring restricted her fashion choices.  Selena is in huge demand for fashion shoots and has to change her look slightly for every shoot. So the ring was too restricting.

But it is clear that Selena grew up asking God to help her meet the right guy, and the chastity ring was part of that.

Maybe Selena has found the right guy. Maybe she hasn’t. That’s up to her. In a recent Teen Vogue interview Selena explained that now that she is 18 she very much wants to fall in love but is not sure if her first 18 year old love will be the person she eventually marries. All the paparrazzi photos seem to confirm that she is in love… and that her love is J. B.

So, if she and Justin want it to last, what should they do?

Well, first of all they should really try not to go too far. If they already have (We are all weak when we are with someone to whom we find a really attracted, so we know we have to be careful.) they should set some boundaries, so that the physical aspect of the relationship is kept under control until they actually commit to each other (By commitment I mean getting married.)

Sex is good, and it is designed by God to help us fall more in love with the person we have committed our lives to, the person with whom we want to be with for the rest of our lives, the person we want be the father or mother of our children.

But because we are weak we often want to “have desert” before “the main course”. The main course means building up a really strong friendship and mutual respect. It involves spending time with that special someone without letting the physical attraction make us lose our heads before it’s time.

The fireworks are a beautiful part of love, but they only last for a while if they are not founded on something bigger, something more than physical attraction. What lasts is mutual respect, mutual esteem. These things help keep the flame alive and active even when the original “intoxication” of love (This stage of love is usually called infatuation.) begins to wear off. Mutual respect and esteem also help to revive the “intoxication” experience when it grows dim.

So, be careful, Selena and Justin. Spend time together. Learn to listen to each other. Find out what you agree on. Find out where you disagree. Have some fights.

Yes, I am serious! Find out what things you don’t agree on. It’s OK to have disagreements and see if you can work things out, respecting the opinion and values of the other person without compromising your own. It helps the relationship to mature.

Also find out what aspects of your own personality you need to improve to make the relationship work.

Find out what aspects and values are not worth giving up just to please the other person.

Then, if you are going to make the relationship last you will need to cut back on the constant traveling. We all have a right to have a career. We all have a right to travel. But in order to make love last we need to be around for the one we love. That is a tough sacrifice when your career is so successful and the career demands constant traveling.

It’s seems to me that at this stage you are probably not ready to make this kind of sacrifice, Selena and Justin, and you both seem to know it. So keep scheduling time together. That’s good, really good.

But if you are going to take it to the next level you need to talk about the sacrifices you are going to have to make in a few years. And a few years come sooner than we think.

So this romance is going to be pretty difficult…

But, …wait.

Justin has said that he wants to be married and start a family by the time he is 25.

There’s something for you two to talk about, Selena and Justin. Talk about it privately. No pressure. Figure out if  you are serious about this. Do you and Selena want to start cutting back on your careers in about five years? That would be totally cool… for your romance anyway (maybe not so much for your fans, but most of them would totally understand) It’s definitely something  that could make your romance turn into something more than a passing flame.

But you have to show you are serious about this. Start making real plans now, not just vague desires. Talk to your parents and your managers about this. But know that in the end it is up to you two.

Leaving successful careers is pretty scary. You’re only 17 and 18. And you’ve got a lot of future in front of you.

But you seem to know what you want. And wanting to marry a wonderful girl or a great guy is a really good thing.

Starting a family at 25 is certainly doable. It depends on how much you want to mature. There are many lasting and happy marriages that were started at that age. Very happy marriages. I know a lot of them. But it does take sacrifices.

Yeah, sacrifice. That’s the hard part of love. Sacrifice doesn’t mean we have to be miserable or give up all our dreams, but it does mean seeing clearly which are our most important dreams. What dreams are going to make us the most happy? Love is definitely a dream worth making some sacrifices for.

Jesus has a cool story about love. He says that when a man finds a treasure hidden in a field he goes and sells all he has in order to buy that field (Matthew 13: 44). Jesus was talking about love for God when he told this story. But it also applies to human love.

True, Selena nor Justin, neither of you should give up absolutely everything else that is good about your lives. You should still be able to perform. You should still have lots of friends besides each other. You should still travel.

Just that that these other good things will have to be reduced a bit. You might even want to go “cold turkey” for a little while (“Cold turkey” means giving up something totally for a while.), at least the travelling, just to find a new balance.

So, maybe you are not ready for this yet, but it is a good time to start talking… Let’s hope you do. I’ll be praying for you.

Reps for J.B. say he posted this picture on his site. Caption: “Brangelina 2.0 hahahaha”

This movie is one of the few Christian movies that I’ve seen that does not fall into the “corny” category. It is a story about a man who is given a second chance by God to see what his life could be like if he had chosen a less selfish path. It celebrates family and service without being patronizing.

I think the acting is excellent, and the dialogue is not the sort of soppy cliche stuff that we have come to expect in Christian movies. It is much more real and honest. I especially liked the angel character, played by John Ratzenberger (Cheers, Toy Story 1-3, Wall-E). You can see why John is one of the six most successful actors of all time. I also really liked the acting of Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) who plays the wife and mother role.

This is not an action-adventure movie. It is a thoughtful movie, so be prepared to think and ponder as you watch it. It covers a very important theme we all need to think about: am I becoming a person of love or a person of selfishness?

Oakland Athletics minor league prospect Grant Desme was on fire in 2009. He hit 31 homers and 89 RBIs with a .288 batting average in 131 games. Then he threw down an MVP performance in the Arizona Fall League, where some of baseball’s top AA and AAA prospects compete. In an unprecedented display of power during the 27 game season, Grant batted .315, hit a league-leading 11 homers, and drove in 27 runs! During an 11 game hitting streak from October 14-28, he hit 10 homers in 10 games.

This kind of success meant a move up to Class AA for the 2010 season, just two steps away from the Major Leagues. But with his chances of being a major league player now as real and close as the smell of his leather glove, Grant Desme shocked the baseball world. No, it wasn’t by crushing a home run or making a spectacular diving catch. He informed the Oakland Athletics that he was retiring at just 23 years old…

…to become a Catholic priest. People who didn’t know Grant may have thought this was a joke or a publicity stunt. However, Rob Fai, Assistant manager for the Oakland affiliate in Vancouver, BC, isn’t surprised about Grant Desme’s choice: “If you know Grant, the spiritual side of his life has always been a priority.”

Get in the Game

Gregory Grant Desme was born April 4, 1986, in Bakersfield, California. He attended Stockdale High School and was an all-area baseball selection his Junior and Senior year. “For my entire life, baseball’s been my life,” Grant told the LA Times. Like most young athletes, he grew up dreaming of being a professional player and one day being in the Hall of Fame.

It takes a serious amount of practice and dedication to reach this level in a sport, and growing up Grant devoted every available second he had to working on his baseball skills. In an interview with Catholic.org he said, “I could never get enough baseball in my life.”

After playing for San Diego State University, and later for California Polytech State University, he was drafted in the second round by the Oakland Athletics. He played the 2007 season for one of the A’s minor league teams, but was injured early in the 2008 season.

Time Out

Grant suffered a separated shoulder which allowed him to play only 2 games in 2008. For the first time since his childhood, he had to live life without baseball. He finally got to think about who he really wanted to be and what he really wanted out of life.

“My injuries were the biggest blessings that God’s ever given me,” he said, “[…]I’ve defined myself as a baseball player. When it was taken away, it was kind of an eye opener, a real shock. Either way, if I played in the big leagues and became a Hall of Famer, you never know when it’s going to end.”

Reading the Signals

During this time, Grant visited an order of priests called the Norbertines at St. Michael’s Abbey. During this time, he had a chance to pray undistracted. He got to see first hand what it meant to be a priest and a monk, and what life is like when you are wholly devoted to God. “I started doing some soul searching about who I was, and this is where it’s led me.” The monks at the Abbey lead a life of quiet and prayer, something Grant found refreshing compared to the circus parade of public attention in which a pro athlete lives. “I could see that being home,” he said.

Grant felt a pull in his heart; a deep sense that God was asking something of him. This is called a vocation. Not only did Grant feel this calling from God, but he truly in his heart felt the desire to follow it. He quickly knew this was where he would find his truest peace and happiness.

Bottom of the ‘09th

Grant made an interesting decision next. He wanted to leave baseball on a different note. It would mean one thing to leave for the priesthood after a year off from injury. But he wanted to try one more season of professional play before he made his decision final. Desme returned for the 2009 season, and as you read earlier, it was an incredibly successful one for him.

On his nationally syndicated radio show, Dan Patrick asked Desme if he had trouble concentrating on the game while having already made up his mind to become a priest. Grant answered, “I still had my job to glorify Him, to use it to the best of my abilities.” It took a lot of patience, discipline, and self-control to keep playing well while his mind was on the priesthood. He realized that we must do our very best at everything to give glory to God.

Now Grant felt he could peacefully make his decision. Knowing that he freely chose to walk away from a baseball career, in the midst of success and not injury, gave Grant the last bit of assurance he needed.

The Slugger Fires a Bombshell

On January 22, 2010, Desme publicly announced his change of plans. He had called Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane and told him that he would be retiring from baseball to enter a Catholic seminary in order to become a priest. Grant explained his choice to the LA Times, “I love the game but I aspire to higher things.”

Despite his recent professional success, Desme realized he wasn’t completely at peace as a baseball player. “Unfortunately this dream [of being a major league baseball player], as I became older, turned into more of an idol. I ate, drank, and slept baseball…”

During his season off, Grant had realized that his love of baseball had been competing with his love for God. Once he truly felt inspired to be a priest, Grant said it would have been selfish for him to keep playing baseball. “Baseball is a good thing,” Desme said. “But that felt selfish of me, when I felt that God was calling me more. It took awhile to trust that and open up to it and aim full steam toward him […]” he explained.

Training is Key

As physically challenging as Grant Desme’s road toward the Major Leagues has been, it’s prepared him for the challenges that he’ll meet in the priesthood. Grant is joining an Abbey where the priests are required to do lot’s of prayer, work, and private study. He’ll spend hours and hours of study and preparation for homilies and preaching. A priest’s day starts very early in the morning, and often he has to answer calls in the middle of the night, too. Along with his work at the Abbey, Desme may also be asked to perform additional jobs just like your parish priest: celebrating Mass, baptizing babies, weddings, funerals, and hearing confessions.

Right now in the United States, there is only roughly one priest per 1,600 Catholics. This number clearly shows that Grant has a lot of work ahead of him. He’ll need all of the patience, discipline, self-control, energy, and determination of a professional athlete in order to successfully meet the demands of his priestly duties.

When asked about having to start his “career” all over from the beginning, Grant said, “It’s about 10 year process of studying, so in reality, this is kind of a comparison. It’s like I’m re-entering the Minor Leagues.”

His Crowd of One

Professional athletes have a lot of opportunities to use their talent and public status to show God’s love to the world. Kurt Warner, Troy Palomalu, and Tim Tebow are all football stars who use their sports image as a platform to talk about God, and whose stories have appeared in other articles in Our Faith In Action®. You may have recently even seen Tim Tebow use his star power to put a personal pro-life commercial on TV during the Super-bowl XLIV. Grant himself had said that he could have given glory to God by playing baseball. So why would Grant Desme choose to give up his position of influence?

In his radio interview with Dan Patrick, Desme was asked if he thought he’d be able reach more people for God as a professional baseball player than a priest. “[God is] the one in control,” Grant answered, “and whatever He wants is going to be the best for me and for everyone else.” But it goes further than that.

Grant is not the first professional athlete we’ve seen forsake his career to follow God in this way. In the November 2008 Issue of Our Faith In Action®, we learned about Chase Hilgenbrink, a professional soccer player, who entered the seminary. Both men had very similar things to say about their experiences. When you get very close to God, you start to think like He thinks, and you begin to want what He wants. Once they had tasted that closeness to God, they truly wanted to be with Him and do His will more than anything else.

Grant Desme sums it all up very well: “I wanted to give my life completely to God for love, for everything He has done for me,” Desme said. “I’m very thankful for that. Something like this is very little in comparison to what he has done for me.”

You’re On Deck

We should be very happy for Grant. He has found something that all the money and fame in the world can’t provide. “Deep down, I think I knew it was the right decision,” Grant Desme said. “I can’t explain the peace and joy I’ve experienced from making it.”

We can learn a lot from Grant’s decision and the process he went through to make it. Not everyone is called to be a priest or a nun, but we all want to be happy and find peace. Grant found it by getting close to God, and allowing his heart to be drawn to what God wants. If we can do the same, God will lead us to that same place of peace and contentment.

Ever since she was a small girl Miley Cyrus knew she wanted to perform. Her dream has come true on a level that has amazed even her biggest fans (her mom and dad). But is Miley promoting a healthy vision of being a performer or is she slowly abandoning Christian principles?

In this lesson we will look at Miley’s background and her values.

We will also look at what it means to be a Christian in the entertainment world today.

Miley Cyrus was born into a musical family. Her dad is a successful country singer. Many of her relatives are musicians, and she grew up singing and attending her dad’s performances.

But there is more to her background than just being on the stage. Her father and mother are very into family. Miley grew up spending lots of time with her family.

Miley explains that when she was born, her dad’s music career was at an all-time high. But when she was about one or two years old her dad realized that he was losing something more precious than success. He was losing his family. “So he let go his music career and moved with the family … to the farm in Franklin to be the very best husband and dad he could be.” (Miley’s words)

Miley has spent lots of time with her dad, her mom, and all her family as she grew up, and this has continued as she became a star in her own right.

Another value that is very strong in Miley’s life is faith. Her dream is to be a light in the darkness of this world, a sign of hope.

When Miley first met “Prince Charming,”, (Everyone claims that the “Prince Charming” is Nick Jonas, and Miley has pretty much admitted it.) he asked her about her values. She immediately explained that she and her family are “hard-core Christians”.

She says that her whole family has gone to church on Sundays since she was a child, but when Miley was in middle school the family’s faith took a deeper step. “Brandi (Miley’s older sister) brought us to a new church in Franklin. The People’s Church was different. It became family for us. The members of our congregation hold each other accountable for the way we live our lives…For the first time our family started making decisions based on our faith…The People’s Church really opened my heart. It has made me truly thankful.”

Miley admits that one thing that makes her sad is that not enough people know Jesus. She tries to take time to read the Bible regularly, and her recent book is full of her favorite quotes from the Bible. She has also said that Justin Gaston (whom she costars with in an upcoming movie) got her reading the Bible even a little bit more.(Boys can have positive points, sometimes…)

One way Miley tries to live her faith is by helping others. She visits children in hospitals as she travels, a habit she picked up from her dad. She donates a portion of her earnings to charitable causes, such as Youth Service America and City of Hope (a cancer care center).

She also tries to communicate her concern over contemporary issues such as global warming.

Miley also wears a purity ring, as a sign of her Christian commitment to remain a virgin until marriage. “When I got old enough and there were boys in the picture, I asked (my parents) if it was time for me to get my own ring (like her older sister Brandi). My mom gave me one that has a circle on it, to represent the circle of marriage. There’s a little diamond in the center of the circle for me, and when I get married, there will be another diamond added. But until then, it’s just me. And it feels right.”

“The press might make fun of some people for wearing purity rings, but I don’t pay attention to that. They can think what they want. I have my morals!”

But Miley has been in some controversy about whether she really understands all her Christian values.

About two years ago a cover shot for Vanity Magazine appeared in which Miley had her back to the camera and seemed to be nude. In fact she was not nude, but the pose gave that impression. Many parents expressed outrage that a girl who is presented as a role model for young girls could pose for such a shot. The image was sending the wrong message.

Miley and her parents apologized for the image. They explained that in the studio the pose did not seem that provocative, but after they saw the magazine they realized that they had been mistaken.

This past spring Miley tweeted about the Miss California “gay marriage” question.

On her Twitter page, Miley said: “Jesus loves you AND your partner and wants you to know how much he cares!

“That’s like a daddy not loving his lil boy cuz he’s gay and that is WRONG and very sad! like i said everyone deserves to be happy.”

We can agree with Miley that Jesus loves everyone. But Jesus tries to make us aware of sin: those things in in our lives that are hurting us and hurting our relationship with God.

People with same sex tendencies are loved by God. But, like all of us, they are also struggling with sin in their lives. They desire love, but are looking for it in a way that will not bring them true happiness. And they end up drawing other people into a a cycle of unhappiness as well.

Sexual impurity hurts the persons who commit it, and it hurts society as well.

Recently, Miley has been involved in a controversy about pole dancing and provocative clothing. It seems that some poses and wardrobe choices in her debut performance of “Party in the USA” (By the way, OFIA thinks “Party in the USA” is a cool song.) could easily be interpreted as too close to the setting of a strip club. These critics may have a legitimate point. It was imprudent of Miley to accept such a setting for the inauguration of the song.

Also, a number of people have pointed out that many of the wardrobe choices Miley has made on her recent tour have been a bit immodest or provocative. Miley certainly is not a little girl any more, and does not have to dress as a little girl, but is she pushing the envelope too much in the other direction now?

This brings us to a final discussion about what it means to be a Christian and a performer in todays’ world.

Today, it is not easy to understand that things like immodesty and homosexual relationships are impure and destructive. That is because so many shows, movies, and music present the opposite message.

In this atmosphere it is easy for Christians to get confused. It takes real wisdom and discernment to distinguish between loving everyone and approving destructive behavior. Maybe some Christian might be able to explain this to Miley in a loving way. (Know anyone?)

Few can doubt that Miley Cyrus is an extremely talented performer. She has a gift for communicating joy. It is a gift given her by God, and she has worked very hard to develop it. She wants to help people by her performances. She wants to help them experience joy and love. She wants to give them hope. And she does this quite well.

But being a performer can sometimes lead to sending the wrong message. Miley has sent a great message many times throughout her career. But, precisely because she is so full of joy, Miley does not always realize that some aspects of her performances can have a meaning she did not intend. This is where the virtues of prudence, wisdom, temperance, and courage come in. This is where a wise counselor might help a bit.

Let’s pray that Miley continue to look for Christians who are gifted with wisdom to be her friends and advisors. Let’s pray that her friends and advisors continue to help her live Christian values.

We all need constant education and encouragement on what it means to be a Christian. Let’s continue to pray for Miley and encourage her in the good things. Let’s try to set a good example ourselves of what it means to be a Christian in the secular world. The world needs many more messagers of Christian life today.

The X-Games™ have always been the place where over-the-edge athletes throw down adrenaline-pumping stunts that blow the minds of spectators. Those who really excel at these death- defying sports often embrace a dark and murky culture of dissent, dissatisfaction, and dissing anything that resembles rules or conformity.

But a few of these dare-devils have been raising an uncomfortable stir. Sponsors and organizers are nail-biting over what fans will think when they learn their bad-boy, rebel heroes have embraced Christianity. In this lesson we’ll find out who some of them are, and how it happened…

x-treme biker

When motocross racing newcomer Brian Deegan won the1997 LA Coliseum Supercross, he astonished the crowd by hopping off his moving bike at the finish line. It launched riderless into the air. That was to be the first of many shocking stunts from Deegan that would rock the motocross world. The move was immediately banned by motocross authorities and racing rebel Brian Deegan found his bad boy niche.

Deegan was 12 years old when his parents divorced. He found a vent for his anger in dirt biking, and turned pro by age 17. He left small town Nebraska for Southern California, FMX headquarters, promising his father he would come back home and go to college if he didn’t make it.

Brian soon switched from motocross racing to freestyle motocross (FMX), which is more about stunts and tricks than riding laps. He soon joined up with other riders who wielded the same revulsion for authority. With Larry Linkogle, Deegan co-created the “Metal Mulisha”, an FMX team that would eventually compete and perform around the world.

In an interview with Phil Bartsch of the Courier Mail, an Australian newspaper, Deegan said “We formed the Mulisha because we wanted to have our own group of guys who stood up against the (motocross industry) establishment. We’re against people trying to make you do things you don’t want to do, like dress and look how you don’t want to look.”

The Mulisha became known for their raucous, destructive behavior, shaved heads, tattoos, wild parties and busted hotel rooms. Deegan chose a skull with a Nazi helmet for the Metal Mulisha emblem, marketing the symbol in a multimillion dollar clothing line.

x-treme talent

The X Games (formerly known simply as “X-treme Sports”) began to include Freestyle Motocross in 1999. Deegan has taken 3 Gold and 7 Bronze medals, competing in at least one X Games event annually.

He was the first ever to do a 360 in competition - an aerial back flip on the motorcycle while ramp jumping. The trick was named the “Mulisha Twist”. Deegan became internationally known for his willingness to invent new tricks risking everything to entertain an audience.

x-treme attitude

“For me, I would say my whole life was being a rebel; trying to form an image of this guy who has done a lot of sins, a lot of bad things. (I was) trying just to build a name - basically glorifying being a bad person…” Deegan goes on to express his growing emptiness he felt inside. “ I just was hurting the people I loved and doing the bad things.”

x-treme pain

The Metal Mulisha packed stadiums wherever they went. But ripping on a bike in FMX competition has the potential to rip the rider’s body as well as take his life. Like ancient gladiator games, spectators are as eager to see a crash as they are thrilled with a successful death-defying trick.

In May of 2005 Brian Deegan attempted a back flip for the MTV cameras filming Viva La Bam. He tried to slice through a 40 mph crosswind. The jump went bad. He took the handlebars in the gut, exploding his kidney, lacerating his spleen. He crash landed and writhed in pain on the ground.

x-treme promise

“In my head, I knew I was dying.” recalls Deegan. Rushed to hospital, the surgeon told him that he might not make it. Then and there he made a promise to God. “That was the final moment when I said, ‘You know what? If I live through this, I am going to fully follow Christ.’”

The day after his surgery, his wife Marissa fueled his desire to live by announcing that she was pregnant with their second child.

x-treme change

In an interview with Chris Palmer of ESPN Magazine Deegan said, “ That was be being a dumb kid. I tried to uphold an image and shock people. We had to be gnarly all the time. When I realized how stupid that was, people called me a sellout. But I didn’t owe them anything.” He also said, “It took me years to realize that I was a [expletive removed] idiot. It took me another 2 years to get away from it.”

True to his promise, as soon as he recovered he found a church for his family to attend and began opening up his home for a bible study and faith sharing for his biking brothers.

x-treme influence

Soon other members of the Metal Mulisha joined Deegan in his search for God. “I was able to bring Jeremy Lusk into our bible study. Twitch was in our bible study, just our close friends that we really cared about and it started to grow.”

They started taking heat for expressing their Christian faith in a culture that despises religion. But they found strength to stand up for their beliefs in each other. “I think the main thing,” said Deegan, “ is finding people that you can associate with. I continued to grow. Through that, we (all) really started to learn about God and the bible. That was pretty much how our walk started advancing.

x-treme loss

Jeremy Lusk was one of Deegan’s closest friends and a teammate, and he had recently been baptized. On February 9, 2009, while performing a back flip trick called the “Hart Attack” at a show in Costa Rica in front of thousands of motocross fans, he crashed and crushed his skull. The Metal Mulisha were devastated, but continued in their public outpouring of faith.

x-treme wake-up

“At this point, I’d say Jeremy Lusk passing away - you know I see my best friend, and just seeing him laying there – you know after he passed, down there in Costa Rica, I was just like, you know what? I go, this has to be the strongest awakening for me going, ‘You better figure it out, you better just follow Christ from this day on.’ It just really made me see how short that life can be and you don’t know what is going to happen the next day, and so why not live your life to where when you’re gone, you can be like, ‘Man, I lived the best life I could possibly live. I affected people in a positive way.’

x-treme witness

Deegan, when asked about his making his faith public, told The New York Times, “In the end I said, ‘who’s more radical than us?’ Everything we do is full-on. Once we went to church, we were full-on Christians, too. And we’re going to go for it. On the mic, I’ll say it. On TV, say it. The next thing you know, I have way more people pumped on me.”

So many fans began to question what it meant to give one’s life to Christ that Brian Deegan was moved to share his faith with his fans in an interview posted on YouTube called “Faisst Pastor PJ and Deegan Gospel” part 1 and part 2.

x-treme struggle

Brian De­­agan spends a lot of time up in the air flipping motorcycles. But his life is becoming grounded in Christ. He strives to be a better person with God’s grace. “You know we had our ups and downs. We have done a lot of bad stuff and it still happens. I am still a sinner, I’ll admit it. I have my moments. I’m not happy for the things I’ve done. I feel bad the next day and I don’t want to do it again. The thing is, I am trying to become a better person, a better dad, a better husband, a better friend.

x-treme sacrifice

X-treme motocross has something in common with the real Cross. When an FMX biker, rally car racer, or any other extreme sport athlete performs, they offer every bit of themselves to their sport. Risking great injury and maybe even death, they pour it all out on the altar of that dirt track; to feed their fans hunger for a rush, and to gain their prize: the medal, respect, and money.

When such radical people come face to face with the intense, “full-on” love, giving, and selfless sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross (and we witness at Mass), they have a deep understanding of what it takes to do that. They get it, they respect it, and want to follow it.

God’s love for us, and giving that love to others, is the missing element that they were searching for but could never satisfy with an adrenaline high. Their desire to be unique is answered by Christ’s individual love for each of us. And as they continue their Christian walk, they find themselves more radical and different than ever before.

Arrr… Danger ahoy!

From Peter Pan to the Pirates of the Caribbean, everyone loves a good pirate story. But real pirates aren’t silly swashbucklers like the romanticized treasure hunters we know from movies and books.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2009, four ordinary-looking Somali fisherman, all less than 20 years old, used grappling hooks and rope ladders to board the merchant vessel ship Maersk Alabama. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, they were seeking to take control of the ship and its crew at gunpoint.
The ship was off the coast of Somalia, carrying medical supplies and food destined for refugee camps. Some of these things belonged to Catholic Relief Services.

Violence breeds violence

Somalia is probably best remembered from the movie Black Hawk Down. Recently, however, this north-east African country has been in the news for many of these types of pirate attacks.
Years of civil war and unrest have left the country very poor, and so many people there turn to violent means of providing for themselves and their families.

Somalia has hundreds of miles of coastline along very busy shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. Ships here are an easy target for these pirates. Sometimes the pirates are interested in stealing the cargo on the ships. However, most of the time they are looking to get ransom money.

Walking the plank

When they learned that there were pirates on board, the crew went below deck and locked themselves in safe rooms. They had managed to capture one pirate. Only the captain and one other crew member stayed on deck to negotiate with the pirates. What happened next is what makes this particular story very different from the other cases of piracy in the news lately.
The captain of this ship, Captain Richard Phillips, was so concerned about the safety of his crew that he did something unthinkable… He asked the pirates to take him as their prisoner, and in return let his crew take the ship and go free. Once the ship and crew were at a safe distance, they would exchange Captain Phillips for the captured pirate.

Tide turns against him

The three armed pirates liked the idea. Capt. Phillips led them to one of the ships small lifeboats, climbed in it, and had it lowered into the water. Captain Phillips was in close quarters with the men who could easily have killed him at any moment. He showed them how to operate the boat. And then the plan went horribly wrong. The crew of the Alabama, as they had agreed, brought out the injured pirate for the trade. But now that the pirates had their friend, they didn’t release their prisoner. They kept Capt. Phillips as a hostage, and were holding him for ransom.

For five days these bandits held him under constant guard. There was water and food, but there were no bathrooms or showers. It was unbearably hot in the enclosed lifeboat; so much so that Capt. Phillips said he dreaded the sun coming up in the morning. The captain and his captors sat, waiting. The pirates weren’t sleeping and were becoming agitated.

At one point, Capt. Phillips even tried to escape. He pushed one of the pirates guarding him overboard, and dove in the water and swam away. He swam towards a US Navy ship, the USS Bainbridge, that was following them. But it was nearly a half mile away. Before long, he was caught again; only now the pirates were very angry with him.

Is Davey Jones comin’?

By this point, the outcome didn’t look too bright for Captain Phillips. “It was just settling everything. Getting ready to die and just settling everything. You know, saying my last thoughts. Andrea, the kids.” He no longer believed he would leave that boat alive. He wondered why the pirates were dragging things out when he was certain they would kill him in the end anyway.

He had known when he went with them that there was a chance he would die. But he had been willing to take that chance freely, to spare his crew. Now, faced with what seemed certain death, he was at peace with his decision.

Watching and waiting

Thousands of miles away, in a tiny town in Vermont, the Phillips family was experiencing the turmoil of wondering what was happening to their husband and father. “We did not know what Richard was enduring while being held hostage on the lifeboat, and that was really the hardest part… the wondering,” said Mrs. Andrea Phillips.

Mariah, the captain’s 19 year old daughter, expressed the shock of learning that this had actually happened to her family: “This is something that happens to other people. Obviously, I am other people.”

They received visits from Fr. Danielson, their parish priest, who prayed with them and told them not to lose hope.  Captain Phillips was unaware that there were other forces at work in his story. There was prayer power gathering and there was planning by the US Navy.

Living the mystery

These events came about at a very appropriate time of year. The day Capt. Phillips was captured was the Wednesday of Holy Week. The time he made his escape attempt was probably around the time we remember Jesus’ agony in the garden.

On Easter Sunday morning, Fr. Danielson told the Phillips’ friends and neighbors that they should pray more intensely for Capt. Phillips. Father said he believed Capt. Phillips’ story would serve as an example; just like Christ Jesus’ suffering led to His Resurrection, once again God and His goodness would triumph over evil in the end.

A Storm breaks loose

Later in the evening on Easter Sunday, things became extremely tense on the little life boat. One of the pirates had gone aboard the USS Bainbridge for medical treatment, and to try and arrange the ransom payment. When the other three pirates hadn’t heard from him in a while, they got restless. They climbed out of the hatch of the life boat in plain view, and began firing warning shots in the air. The Bainbridge and the lifeboat were both moving, and the waves were bouncing them up and down in the darkness.

Capt. Phillips had no idea what was going on. As he heard the shots, he dove to the deck and got as low as he could. He thought perhaps the pirates were fighting against each other. Or perhaps they were getting ready to kill him.

Salvation is from the SEAL’s

US Navy SEAL snipers took advantage of the opportunity, firing one perfect shot at each pirate. After what felt like a long time, but was only a few seconds later, Capt. Phillips heard the beautiful sound of a US Navy SEAL’s voice, asking him if he was alright. He was saved.

“Hi, Honey…”

A short time later, back at home, Mrs. Phillips, their daughter Mariah, their son Daniel, and their whole family were relieved and elated to hear Captain Phillips himself, on the phone, telling them he was safe.
Mariah said, “You never know how strong your family can be when something like this happens.”
In a statement about how they survived the emotional torture of the five day ordeal, Mrs. Phillips said, “My family and closest friends held onto our faith knowing that Richard would come home.”

“I need a hero…”

What makes Captain Phillips a hero? Is it in conquering or strength? No. Like Jesus, his willingness to surrender himself as a prisoner, to suffer, and accept even death is where we find his true heroism.
Captain Richard Phillips is an example of love and respect for life. The lives of his shipmates meant so much to him, that he would offer up his own to save them. This is the ultimate sign of love and sacrifice. Whether he realized it at the time or not, Capt. Phillips was imitating Jesus Christ, at the very time when Jesus made the sacrifice that saves us all. He willingly offered himself to save others. He spent a few days in a little “tomb-like” capsule, and on Easter Sunday he got to taste a little bit of Jesus’ Easter victory.

Just doing his job

Captain Phillips does not consider himself a hero. For him, what he did was just part of his job. He had accepted the job as a captain, and that meant putting the safety of his crew above his own. Yet there is something we admire about this attitude. When we see his example, we know we have met a real man, a man who puts others first.
True manhood is about service and sacrifice. These are qualities we also admire in so many women, especially our own moms (Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!), but there is something we typically think of as particularly masculine about the willingness to face danger and take a huge risk for others. Men were designed by God to be protectors. They are called to protect their family and protect their communities. They are designed by God to overcome the fear of danger, because sometimes real life is dangerous. Sometimes risk is necessary for really important things.

Imitating Christ

Jesus Christ was a real man. He overcame his fear of danger. He put our safety above his own. Christ, by his life and death, helps men discover what it means to be a man. Let’s ask Christ to raise up more real men today.
For those of us who are guys, we can make a resolution to learn to love others so much that we are willing to sacrifice for them.
For girls, let’s start thanking some of the real men in our lives for what they do for us, starting with our own dads, or those other men who help keep us safe. And let’s show the guys that we also know how to sacrifice with courage, putting our hearts and lives at the service of goodness and love. The world will be a better, safer place.
Christ wants us to help him do this. It’s part of the call to love that he makes to each of us.

Fr Jason Smith gave us this awesome Podcast on the Passion of Christ… Check it out…

It is a large file, so be aware it may take a minute to get started…

A doubt can be powerful. The devil used it against Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. He tried to make them doubt that God loved them. It worked. We’re paying for it. The Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown, may not be as smart a hoax as the devil’s lie in the garden, but it has confused many people. Now the novel is coming out as a movie. The good thing is that many Christians are uniting in a strategy to respond: education on what our faith in Christ is really about. In this lesson we present a few ideas you can use to educate others about some of the The Da Vinci Code’s mixed-up ideas.

THE CONSPIRACY PLOT

Everyone loves a conspiracy story, and the book immediately captures the reader by opening with a mysterious murder. The clues to this puzzle are hidden in the paintings of the Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci, and are revealed little by little to keep the reader’s interest. In the meantime, an explanation unfolds of a secret plot by the Catholic Church to cover up the “true” story of Jesus through murder and deceit. Ultimately, Brown uses this story to present his idea of the “real Jesus”. This Jesus was a prophet, but not God, and was married to Mary Magdalene. He wanted to start a new religion dedicated to appreciating the “sacred feminine” in the world, and he intended Mary to head it up. Brown claims that Jesus never rose from the dead, and that he could do nothing when Peter stole the power from Mary Magdalene, and forced her to flee. Thus, the apostles built the Church on their own ideas, making up a story about Jesus’ divinity and covering up the marriage. Da Vinci was one of the few who passed on Mary’s secret through the ages through codes in his paintings.

FACT OR FICTION?

Dan Brown’s book has a strong effect, because the opening page of the book claims that all of the descriptions are true. The main characters, Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks in the movie) and Dr. Leigh Teabing (played by Sir Ian McKellan) , use phrases throughout the book such as “historians have always known …” and “scholars know …” to make the reader think that the ideas are the fruit of serious research. Yet, many of the “facts” are actually disproved by scholars in art, history, architecture and theology. Some “facts” are so easily disproved that you hardly have to be a scholar at all to fi nd the fl aw. For example, the story claims that Jesus does not have a cup (chalice) in Leonardo’s painting of the Last Sup per. But if you count the chalices in the painting you will see that Jesus does have a cup. However, the average reader is not going to spend time looking up the details, and Dan Brown banks on this. Brown did use sources for his research, but they are mostly make-believe stories which twist the truth in an inaccurate or hypothetical way.

IS JESUS REALLY GOD?

The Da Vinci Code claims that early Christians saw Jesus as only a mortal, but they voted 300 years later to call him God, only for the sake of political unity under Emperor Constantine. Not true. Look at the Gospels. The Gospels were written between AD 50-100, shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus (approximately AD 30). They show in many different verses that Christians always believed Christ was the Son of God, equal to God. One central example is Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” (Mt 16:16) Christ confi rms that Peter has understood correctly when he says “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For fl esh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16:17) The Council of Nicea was actually called in AD 325 by Constantine in response to Arius, one man who was creating turmoil by proposing his own idea that Jesus was not really equal to God. He had a clever way of phrasing things that confused some people. But he was going against what the Church already believed. 

Brown claims that it was a close vote. In fact only two bishops voted for Arius, while at least 218 voted to affirm what Christians had always believed. Close? Check your facts, Mr. Brown.

The fruit of the Council was the “Nicene Creed” which Catholics recite every Sunday, professing that Jesus is “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.” The Council simply clarified what the New Testament teaches and the Church always believed. The Council didn’t invent anything.

CAN WE TRUST THE SCRIPTURES?

Another claim that The DaVinci Code makes is that Constantine destroyed “thousands” of other reliable texts that show the human Jesus, and that there were 80 other Gospels that showed a different truth about Christ. In other words, our New Testament is not the truth about Christ, but rather someone’s personal opinion in a sea of other opinions.

It is easy to conjecture. But The DaVinci Code “scholars” don’t seem to have studied very seriously. Over 200 years before Constantine, Christians were already referring to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as the only reliable ones. They were the ones used in Mass, and they were the ones quoted by the bishops and saints. 

One element in the Gospels that inspires trust is their honesty about the weakness of the apostles. They show clearly how the apostles abandoned Christ during his suffering. If the apostles were going to fake their authority they would not have said this. Yet the Gospels are honest in telling the story as it really happened.

OTHER GOSPELS?

The other texts that The DaVinci Code calls gospels were writings produced by groups that did not believe what the Christians believed or mixed Christian ideas with non-Christian ones. They were heretical texts. Many were produced much later than the Gospels. Recently some of these texts have made publicity again, such as the “Gospel of Judas.” They do not show the true Jesus, and they are being used again today to confuse people about Christianity. 

MARY MAGDALENE 

The DaVinci Code claims that Mary Magdalene was hated by the Church, and was therefore thwarted in her mission to begin a different religion to honor the “sacred feminine”. In fact, the book proposes that we should abandon Christianity and adopt a more pagan worship of the creature rather than the Creator.

But it is hard to say that Mary Magdalene is hated by the Church if she is honored as a saint. She has her own feast day. She has inspired devotion throughout the centuries. She is mentioned in the Gospels as the first person to see the risen Christ. She is sent to tell the apostles about the resurrection. She has a prominent place. She is not hated.

WAS JESUS MARRIED?

Although he has no real evidence, Brown concludes that Jesus must have been married because Jews and Jewish rabbis had the custom of always marrying.

A real Scripture scholar would be able to name several men in the Bible who did not marry in order to dedicate themselves to God: Jeremiah, John the Baptist, St. Paul. A Scripture scholar would also tell you that around the time of Jesus there was a Jewish group called the Essenes whose members did not get married. Celibacy (not getting married) did exist, and gained more popularity throughout the history of Christianity. 

It is in the example of Christ that a priest takes the solemn promise of celibacy, to be fully dedicated to God’s work and to serving others as he was. 

IS THE CHURCH TRUSTWORTHY?

The DaVinci Code accuses the Catholic Church of being a type of murderous mafia that despises women and sexuality and is only concerned with keeping its power.

It is one thing to accuse a human organization of being corrupt, but in accusing the Church as a whole, Brown is forgetting the millions of martyrs who gave their lives for others, the history of female leaders and saints, and the status given to the sacrament of matrimony. The Church has an amazing history. Becoming familiar with Church history and doctrine can inspire a sense of awe at its greatness, and can be a convincing testimony of God’s hand working within it.

And it is hard to say that the Church despises women if Mary the mother of Jesus has such a strong role in the Church. She is already present in the Gospels. She had to say “yes” in order for Jesus to become a man. She and Mary Magdalene are among the few brave souls that do not abandon Christ when he is captured and condemned to death. She is treated with tremendous veneration by every Christian generation throughout history.

DECODING DA VINCI

The real-life conspiracy of The Da Vinci Code is a plot to challenge Christianity, make some people lose their faith, and confuse many who do not know otherwise. 

For those who can decode it, who can pick out the important details and the inaccurate half-truths, it is a chance to evangelize. It is a chance to start up a conversation around a hot issue and talk about Christ and his Church. It is a chance to educate ourselves so as to educate others. People need to know what the Gospels teach. They need to know about Christ, the real Christ. 

We can start by reading the Gospels. We can continue by reading some of the other resources available. We can be especially effective by trying to be like Christ: both bold and humble, loving yet courageous.

He is here to help us. With him on our side, we have nothing to fear.

Bible Blurbs

“I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, … so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.” (Luke 1:3-4)
“Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.” (John 20:18)
“Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you… Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” (1Corinthians 15: 1-2)
“I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different Gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7) 

Pope Quotes 

“Jesus yes, Church no”, is totally irreconcilable with the intention of Christ. This individualistically chosen Jesus is an imaginary Jesus. We cannot have Jesus without the reality he created and in which he communicates himself. (Pope Benedict XVI, March 15, 2006)

“The Jesus of the Gospels is quite different, demanding, bold. The Jesus who makes everything okay for everyone is a phantom, a dream, not a real figure. The Jesus of the Gospels is certainly not convenient for us. But it is precisely in this way that he answers the deepest question of our existence…” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), On the Way to Jesus Christ, p. 8) 

Catechism Quotes 

“The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up.” (n. 126) 

“What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.” (n.96)

Saints and Heros

ST. MARY MAGDALENE: 

Contrary to Dan Brown’s claims that she is despised, Mary Magdalene is honored as a saint. Her feast day is celebrated on July 22. She was healed of seven demons by Christ, and stayed close to Christ during his crucifixion, when almost all the apostles abandoned him. She was the first one to see Jesus after he rose from the dead and was then sent to tell the the apostles. Tradition has it that she lived with Mary, Jesus’ mother, in Ephesus until she died. Centuries later her relics (her bones) were apparently brought to France. 

ST. PETER CANISIUS: 

(1521-1597) St. Peter lived in a time of controversy. He helped bring back much of southern Germany to Roman Catholicism after the spread of Protestantism He was born into an important family in Holland. While he was doing university studies in Belgium he went on a retreat directed by St. Peter Fabre, a Jesuit priest, and decided to become a Jesuit himself. He gave everything to the poor and dedicated himself totally to his vocation. During his lifetime he traveled constantly, preached many retreats, founded Catholic schools and colleges, participated in many debates with Protestants, and wrote a very large number of books. His most influential book was a Catechism which was very highly read and was reprinted numerous times. He is often called “the Second Apostle of Germany.” He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925.

Vocabulary:

Celibacy – Not having sexual relations; usually done in order to dedicate oneself more completely to God and others

Clarify – Make more clear and explicit

Devotion – Reliance on or invocation of a saint or holy person

Doctrine – Official teaching

Educate – Teach; instruct; develop the knowledge

Evangelize – To teach and spread the good news of Christ to others.

Heretical – Religious teaching that is incorrect or opposed to Church doctrine

Hoax – Deceit, deception, lie

Honesty – Speaking and acting in the truth

Hypothetical – Only in theory; make-believe

Matrimony – Marriage; sacrament in which a man and a woman give themselves to each other out of love.

Pagan – Non-Christian; ungodly 

“Sacred feminine” – Worship of women as goddesses 

Discussion Questions

1. Where would you fi nd sources of fact, fi ction, or something in between? How do you know, for example, if something you read on the internet is fact or fi ction?

a. First we need to ask ourselves if the author/source is claiming to be fact or fi ction. In the case of the book the Da Vinci Code, you will fi nd the book in the “fi ction” section of libraries and books—although on one of the 1st pages of the book, Dan Brown presents a “facts” page, which itself has untruths. The devil can take a kernel of truth and spin/manipulate it as a tool of deception.

b. As for how do we know if something we read- whether it be on the internet, newspaper, etc. is actually true and not a slanted version/half truth, here are several tools to decipher a writing’s credibility:

i. Is it a trustworthy source? If you don’t know for sure yourself, ask someone who you trust and who has in depth knowledge on the topic

ii. Cross check the information with other reliable sources

iii. If possible, go to original docu ments/sources (in this case the Bible and Catechism, for example) to fi nd the raw data, or original material-not someone else’s reporting/interpreta tion of the material iv. Don’t assume just because you read something, that it is true.

2. How can you say that Jesus is really God?

• a. He did miracles
• b. He taught with authority. He claimed to be God.
• c. He forgave sins, which only God can do.
• d. He was totally unselfi sh, dying for us on a cross
• e. He was holy, not committing any sin f. Death could not defeat him. He rose from the dead. He has power over life and death, which only God has.

3. How do we know that we can trust the Scriptures?

• a. Because God guarantees their truthfulness through the Church
• b. Because the Gospels are honest about the failings of the apostles.
• c. Because the teachings of the Bible, especially the New Testament, help to make us the best human beings possible: more compassionate, unselfish, holy, courageous, centered on God and the important things, generous, etc.

4. What kind of a person was Mary Magdalene, and what kind of relationship did she have to Christ?

a. Mary Magdalene was cured of seven demons by Christ. After that she followed him wherever he went. (Luke 8: 1-3) She was constantly learning from Christ and she was faithful to him even when he was abandoned by the others. (Matthew 27: 55-61; Mark 14: 40-47; Luke 23: 49-56)

b. Some saints thought she might have been the same woman in the Gospels who was caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) or who cleansed Jesus´ feet with her tears. (Luke 7:36-50) Some thought she might also be Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.(Luke 10:38-42) This is possible, but the Gospels don’t explicitly say these women were Mary Magdalene, so one is free to think either way. The Christian tradition from the Middle East and from the Orthodox Church does not identify her with the adulteress or the woman who cleansed his feet with her tears. 

c. Mary Magdalene is called “the apostle to the apostles.” She was given the task of telling the apostles about Christ’s resurrection before the apostles actually saw the risen Jesus.(Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:1-18)

d. Her relationship with Christ was one of faith. She believed in him. She loved him in a spiritual way, not a physical way, since she understood that he was holy, the Son of God.

5. How can we really say that Jesus was not married?

a. Because he was totally dedicated to his Father and to the spiritual good of souls.

b. He taught clearly that some people can choose to remain celibate for the sake of God and for dedicating all their heart and soul to save souls. It is clear by his lifestyle that he chose this.

c. If he were married, the Gospels would have said this. They tell about the other people who were close and important to him. They never talk about a spouse because his spouse was the Church.

d. He needed to be totally open to everyone, so he did not have an exclusive relationship.

6. How do we know that the Church is trustworthy?

a. Because so many martyrs have given their blood to defend the truth she teaches.

b. Because so many saints have given such tremendous examples of charity and holiness

c. Because the Church has not been afraid to proclaim the truth even when this has brought her misunderstandings and persecutions.

d. Because the Church has preserved its doctrine down through the centuries without changing.

JOURNAL WRITING:

1. Nobody likes to be lied to and to be seen as gullible. Describe a time when someone took advantage of your ignorance, and how you felt afterwards. Or, describe a time when a movie you saw affected your life and the way you thought about things.

2. Imagine that you are in the Gospel scene with Jesus when he asks his Apostles “Who do you say that I am?” Write about who Jesus is for you. Do you know the real person of Jesus? Write at least one way you can get to know him better.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Plan a movie night as an alternative to The DaVinci Code. Take a group of friends to see another movie, and go out for pizza to discuss it. (Over the Hedge is a good one).

2. Put together a classroom special reserve collection of books in the school library related to these topics: Constantine, the Council of Nicea, Lives of the Saints (with Mary Magdalene, etc.) Offer extra credit for the students who read one of these books and present a short summary report to the class.

3. Invite a visiting speaker to the class to bring a copy of Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of “The Last Supper” and to talk about the artistic significance of it. Or, have someone bring the painting in, and present the facts from the USCCB website (below) about the artist and his intentions behind the painting.

4. Establish a weekly time in which students can ask questions about the faith and receive answers. Encourage the students to bring up the questions that others may have asked them, even if they think that they gave a sufficient response, so that the rest of the class can benefit from knowing the answers. The teacher can invite a guest speaker or the pastor to answer the questions, or correspond by email to other scholars if necessary.

FURTHER FORMATION

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 

126 “We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 

1. The life and teaching of Jesus. the Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, “whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up.”99 

2. The oral tradition. “For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed.”100 

3. The written Gospels. “The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.”101 

RESOURCES:

• Amy Welborn, 

- De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of the Da Vinci Code 

- De-Coding Mary Magdalene: Truth, Legend and Lies, 

- The Da Vinci Code Mysteries: What the Movie Doesn’t Tell You

all from Our Sunday Visitor Publications.

• Steven Kellmeyer, Fact and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, Bridegroom Press

• Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel, The Da Vinci Hoax, Ignatius Press

• Mark Shea and Ted Sri, The Da Vinci Deception: 100 Questions About the Facts and Fiction of The Da Vinci Code, Ascension Press. (www.DavinciAntidote.com) 

• www.JesusDecoded.com (USCCB website about the book and movie)

We like to think that we are really grown up when we can do our own thing. Jesus Christ challenges that assumption. Obedience to God is where the real power lies. It is a different kind of power: the power to set men free.

“By his loving obedience to the Father, ‘unto death, even death on a cross’ (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission (cf. Is 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who will ‘make many righteous’; ‘and he shall bear their iniquities’ (Is 53:11; cf. Rom 5:19)”

Obedience is not easy for us. It wasn’t for Christ as a man either. In Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ”, there are many moments in which Christ’s obedience to the Father stands out. Let’s talk about three especially powerful ones.

Agony in Gethsemani
“Let this cup pass… not my will but Thy will be done.” (Lk 22:39-42)

The Gospel of Luke gives a detailed account of the Agony. In the dark, Jesus has his battle about the apparent futility of the Passion.

First, what he is about to undergo seems useless because it is a suffering that human nature automatically rejects; for no one likes the idea of pain. Christ knows he is about to go through the worst type of pain that man can dream up for another man.

Second, Christ’s agony is increased because he realizes that his sacrifice would not work for some souls- those who refuse to obey God and their conscience.

Finally, the gratuitous nature of the Passion makes it seem senseless. It could have happened in another form. However, God wanted to show His love for us in this extreme fashion and wanted Christ to give us the maximum example of obedience: “unto death, death on a Cross” (Flp 2:8).

Back in the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus had been tempted by the devil in the desert. (Lk 4: 13). Jesus had been victorious over the devil in the desert, and the Gospel says that the devil had “departed from him until an opportune time”. That opportune time is now, when Jesus is to make His final decision to obey the Father to the last consequences.

That decision was made in prayer, as must our decisions. Here we find our Lord giving the perfect example of how to live our lives. Prayer is not a superfluous addition. Prayer is essential to human existence because we are creatures of God, in need of Him. We are not doing God a favor when we pray, but we are receiving heavenly favors from Him when we pray. This is called grace.

There was certainly the temptation of the devil for Jesus to abandon the idea of the Cross and obedience. The movie shows this very well. Jesus overcomes the devil again because He will obey God the Father. The devil always goes for disobedience.

The Scourging
“Father, my heart is ready” (Cf. Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Lk 23:16; Jn 19:1).

There are many moments to comment in this moving scene. First, Jesus does not resist when they fasten Him to the pillar. He is not fighting against the Passion, because of His love for us. He willingly accepts suffering to save us from eternal condemnation. He doesn’t scream and kick, or cause a scandal while they literally rip Him apart with their diabolical instruments of torture. It is horrible what my sins have done to Jesus.

There is an especially moving moment which meaningfully demonstrates Christ’s obedience. After the first round of bruising that they give Him with their switches, Jesus falls to the floor. That is the way the body reacts. When they relent from that onslaught, He realizes He is down and lifts Himself back up. “Father, my heart is ready”, He says. Jesus knows that this is the ransom for sin, and He is no sissy. Christ’s love for us is incalculable. “Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5: 7-8). Loving obedience and obedience for love, that is the mystery of the Christ’s passion and death.

Christ’s death on the cross
“Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. (Lk 23:46).

Some perhaps surrealistic happenings during the crucifixion and death of Jesus are depicted in “The Passion”. These are the attempts of an artist to show that all of creation was trembling due to the fact that God, the Author of life itself coming as Man, was being put to death by men. Though this happened in a specific place in the world, it was the sins of all of us that crucified Jesus.

The devil was thinking (his mind so obscured by pride), that this was finally the moment of his victory over Jesus and God. What a dreamer! Jesus, through His humility and obedience was willfully winning our redemption.

Jesus knew he was winning, even though winning meant living all the pain and loneliness that man feels in his soul when he sins. For this reason Christ quoted Scripture from that excruciating position: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me” (PS 22)? Then to fulfill the Scripture said: “I thirst”. He is obeying the Father, even through what was written about Him in the ancient Scriptures (because inspired by God) was horrible and full of pain! Jesus is able to recognize God’s will wherever it may come from.

Then He finally says the words the audience is awaiting Him to say: “Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” By that time the tension is overwhelming. When will this torture finish? You feel it is not soon enough; too weighty the expectation.

Jesus wanted it that way. He does not measure out grudgingly his love for us and for the Father. He is not petty but magnanimous, because that is not the way his Father is. Jesus shows the depth of true love. No fair mixing in egotism or personal pleasures. Love is obedient and long-suffering. There is no valid substitute. Either it goes all the way to giving one’s whole life, or it is not true love. Small pieces of the heart will never pump life-supplying blood.

Definitions
Obedience- the virtue of submitting our will to the will of God.

Humility- the moral virtue that restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness. Humility leads us to an orderly love of self based on a true appreciation of our position with respect to God and neighbors; the virtue of being without pride.

Discussion Questions
Do you think that God’s way of saving us (the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ) makes God still seem distant and uncaring about man? What do you think this way of saving us shows about how much man is worth to God?

Do you think that God wants to force us to love and obey him? Does the Passion of Christ force us to love God? How does it help us to love and obey God?

In what other moments of Christ’s life can we see His obedience? Why is obedience important in the role of the Redeemer?

As a Christian, to whom should I be obedient? God? Our parents? Teachers? Boss? Husband?

Like Jesus, are my decisions made in prayer?

Personal Reflections/Writing
1. What specific incidents in my life have I been disobedient? Is there a pattern in these? Was it pride that kept me from being obedient? What concrete things can I do to root out my pride?

2. Write a page about the Christian virtue of obedience. Be sure to include some Scripture passages. Cite example of saints living out obedience.

Resolution Idea
Mediate on one of the Bible passages below. How does it speak to me and my life?

Biblical texts on obedience (see a concordance) essential passages: 1Sam 15:22; Jn 5:19; 8:29; Rm 5:19, Flp 2:8; Heb 5:8; 10:6.

After seeing Christ’s self-giving love in the movie “The Passion”, we are compelled to ask how do we individually define love, and what is our society’s view of love?  Love is a word whose meaning has been spun so weirdly in our time that it has in many ways lost connection with the divine meaning. In 21st century America, loving someone means making them feel good, emotionally or physically. Feel good, but don’t bind. The fundamental idea of love binding a man and woman together for life is difficult work, so in a culture that promotes self-gratification, we have chosen to cast it aside.

We’ve broken it not because love is wrong, but because there is something we value more than love- our personal freedom. Freedom has become our absolute good, the highest value humanity strives after. If love binds one person to another, it limits personal freedom. See the quandary?

Everyone knows Jesus is all about love, but all he does in “The Passion” is suffer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, his anxiety and fear press him so intensely that he sweats blood. Is that loving? Lashed by the whip, his flesh ripped by the torturer’s cruel instruments, Christ sags to his knees, blood spattering the pavement. Stupidly, insanely, he struggles to stand, and freely chooses to do so-is that loving? The two torture specialists are driven demonic by this display of courage and nobility, and they unleash all the fury their brawny muscles and metal-tipped leather can inflict. How does this brutality relate to love?

Freedom fulfilled through love

Pope John Paul II teaches that freedom is not greater than love, but rather freedom is fulfilled in self-giving love. Freedom is not man’s absolute goal, love is. Freedom without love is useless, like so many wheels free to roll anywhere; the wheels are useless without a vehicle to harness them-love is that vehicle. Love is far greater then freedom, for a person can be happy without freedom as long as he loves.

Freedom intensifies love, proves it genuine. That is where suffering plugs in. Because genuine love must be freely given, love’s intensity is seen by the amount of suffering it bears-because everyone hates suffering and strives to avoid it. So if a person freely chooses to suffer for someone else, for love, then that love is great. Suffering is a thermometer, which shows love’s temperature, the degree of its reality.

That is why watching “The Passion” moves us to admire and love Jesus Christ. He chose freely to undergo his unfathomable suffering, which forever marks the zenith both of a man’s love for other men, and God’s love for man. This is a love that is best defined as self-giving, as St Paul writes: “He poured himself out for us.” Viewed from the perspective that Christ’s Passion affords, our understanding of love and freedom changes radically. Instead of love giving me something like enjoyment and fulfillment, I look to give of myself, to bring fulfillment and joy to others by serving them, even if in serving others I endure suffering.

Love transforms

Revolutionary- that is Christ’s love. It ignites, breaks up and shakes up our lives. Look at the individuals who were touched by Christ’s love-they all bought a share in suffering, and discovered love. Pilate’s wife Claudia could not prevent Jesus’ scourging; the only thing she can do is offer Mary linen cloths with which to wipe her son’s blood from the pavement. Her sharing in Mary’s own agony upon watching her son flayed alive, opens her to an act of love, offering her friendship to Mary through a humble gesture. Simon of Cyrene’s sharing in carrying the cross opens him to understand the self-giving nature of Jesus’ sacrifice. Simon will not be crucified, is not beaten, but his closeness to Jesus Christ while carrying the cross reveals to him Jesus’ patience, humility and overpowering love for the very men who kill him. Simon’s world is blown to bits, for instead of avoiding suffering, he wants to take it on in order to protect this man Jesus whom he has not known but has experienced.

Freedom’s purpose is revealed in love motivating us to serve others.  Suffering intensifies and purifies love, makes it genuine, real, solid. And the ultimate experience of love IS Jesus Christ, but he is a challenge, the rock against whom the waves of every generation crash and are divided: some follow Christ along the path of self-giving love, others reject Him in the hopes of discovering a self-fulfilling love.  The reality of the resurrection shows us that if we choose Christ’s path of self-giving love, then we will find true peace and everlasting life.

Virtue Verification:

Freedom - the power, rooted in will and reason, to perform (or not) deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
Love - the theological virtue by which we love God above all else for his sake, and other people as ourselves for love of God.
Suffering - experience of pain, distress, injury. Suffering with Christ is sharing in his redemptive sacrifice of crucifixion.

Discussion Questions

1. One person commented after seeing the movie, “I forgot. I forgot how much Christ loves me- individually, so much so that He suffered immensely to save me.“
   Did seeing the movie change your perspective on Christ’s suffering for your salvation, and the degree to which Christ loves you?
2. What can we do on a daily basis to remember Christ’s sacrifice for us and his love for us? (Potential discussion tips: contemplate Christ’s suffering in daily prayer, especially through the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary; make a point of remembering Christ’s suffering for us every time we have an opportunity to give of ourselves for another person.)
3. What does the popular culture teach us about love?  Let’s discuss specific things that  we can do in our daily lives to counter these images within our families, schools, and places of work.

Personal Reflections/Writing

1. Consider a time in our lives when someone else freely chose to sacrifice to help us.  How did this act of self-giving love affect us?
2. When suffering is imposed upon us, how do we approach our cross?   Do we run away from the cross?  Do we remember how Jesus accepted the cross?   Do we pick up the cross, and if so, do we do it joyfully? Do we run toward the cross?

Resolution Ideas

1. The next time we have an opportunity to serve someone in a way that involves true sacrifice, we will choose to do so with a joyful heart, remembering that it is an opportunity to imitate Christ’s self-giving love.
2. The next time suffering is imposed upon us, we will choose to accept our suffering with a joyful heart, embracing it is an opportunity to freely offer our suffering in self-giving love for the redemption of other’s sins.