Both/And in Light of Catholic Truth

The true nature of the Catholic Church is determined by the Incarnation of its founder, Our Lord Jesus Christ. We would do well to ponder this deeply, to reflect upon the Gift of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, as both spiritual and material—an unseen inner reality manifest in an outer visible form. This both/and mirrors the companion being/doing of faith and works. True believers must possess an inner faith life and radiate this through external, temporal works of mercy. No works...well as St. James bluntly puts it, "faith is dead." This both/and solves the riddle that asks how the Church can be made up of both saints and sinners. Both/and is decidedly Catholic. The Blessed Virgin Mary, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you" and Adolph Hitler, "Heil Hitler," full of hate, the Lord is not with you...both Catholic.

The true nature of light is another both/and. In the spiritual realm we "see" light both visible in the earthly life of Jesus Christ the "Sun of Man" and invisible in the gentle inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights." Both the Old and the New Testaments reveal this wonderful truth: the pillar of fire of the Spirit, the Star of Bethlehem, the "True Light that enlightens every man."

It is no surprise then, that in the temporal order we observe that light behaves both as a particle and as a wave, both as light and as heat. When we gaze at the sun and squint, is it as if a ray of light is tethered to our eyes, a rope ninety-three million miles long that strains to reach us at incredible speed. When we lose ourselves in night prayer kneeling before a flickering candle, we witness the soft radiant glow that envelopes us, a peaceful ambient wave calling us to sleep. Contrast this with awesome power of lightning—the flash of light and tremendous heat that instantly wakes us from this rest.

In His creative plan and owing to His supreme wisdom, God willed that the sun bear witness to many of the truths of this spiritual/temporal reality—to put a daily face on the invisible, pure and unapproachable Light that is central to the mystery of the Trinity. The sun is life-giving and life-sustaining, without which there would be no "daily bread."

God also created a moon to service this plan and all mankind by peacefully and passively reflecting sunlight to spur man to nocturnal rest and to provide a time for the earth to cool. Moreover, He supplied a mysterious lunar gravity to regulate woman's periodic mood and fertility and the ebb and flow of the tides.

We must now turn our attention to the crux of the matter, the largely forgotten belief in objective truth, the Real Presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. Is it true that now only 20% of all Catholics believe in this Light from Light?

The Holy Eucharist is profoundly both/and—the particle (corpuscle) manifest in the The Bread of Life, the Body of Christ and the wave (frequency) in the Cup of Eternal Salvation, the Precious Blood. The constancy of an unchanging Jesus Christ, "who is the same, yesterday, today and forever" is curiously linked to the "conversion constant" the speed of light in a vacuum—3x10^8 meters per second—a speed that never changes. No light—no sight (spiritual or temporal). No light—no life (spiritual or temporal). Jesus could not be clearer when in Chapter 6 of St. John's Gospel he relates "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink the His blood you have not life within you."

When we fully accept this mystery, we begin to "see" God's plan in a clearer light. By relating to absolutes through, with and in Jesus Christ, we are grounded in His Truth and girded by two thousand years of Church Tradition. Candles, insense and the bells add sensory reinforcement to this Truth—the agape feast of the Lamb's Supper.

What's the most important act we humans are called to each day?

Go to Mass and receive the Lord in Holy Communion.
Go now and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.

A final thought....

The alternative, the ultimatum...the either/or commandment of the world demands to be heard. It is man's right to choose. Right?

Don't we see that this liberty to choose is actually license to sin, a condition that leads to darkness and death, for when choice is elevated to a sacrament, then the Light of Truth is extinquished, candles are placed under bushels, oil lamps are drained and empty, relativism rules unchallenged.

Unlike Moses, Jesus' teaching on divorce is unequivocal—God did not will is so.

Adam and Eve sinned, Moses compromised—Christ's death and resurrection renewed the Covenant.

St Joseph's no to divorcing Mary should teach us that the Light of Christ is faithful to the Covenant.

Martin Luther and King Henry VIII 's yes to divorce is proximate cause for the world's current crisis, the break up of Christianity and the resultant "culture of death."

Divorce—the death of covenant—the sevening of woman from man, of faith from reason, of religion from science...is the ultimate either/or.

What came first the chicken or the egg? What a assinine question!

God created two chickens, one male and one female he created them. The female was endowed with the ability to lay eggs in order to reproduce her kind. The answer to a question that never should have been asked is simple, it is a very Catholic both/and.

Imitate Mary, Become like Jesus, Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Christ! See you on the High Ground!