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Guest
Have you tried reading the Liturgy of the Hours yet? I find it to be very moving. I don’t like surface spirituality that just skims over the surface. When I was in the military, we would go to bed very late at night polishing boots in the dark and waking up to return to polishing boots again. Polishing or rather “spit shining” boots is more of an are than an action. You have to get a feel for it much like an artist or musician spends endless hours laboring over learning techniques. The task can be rather draining. But in the end the boots get so shiny that others accuse you of painting your boots. I was so dedicated and good at G.I. ing that I received way too many awards just for paying attention to detail. I found that the same dedication applied to faith is just as productive. My falling away was very complicated and involved several priests a deacon, some seminarians and scandal. I ran like the wind after exposure to it. I’m sad, yet relieved, that most of the clergy that I’m talking about have been laicized, some more scandalous than others. I offer penance for those folks now and pray that our Heavenly Father will have mercy on them and return forgive me for my sins. It’s part of my self-imposed penance. A work of love…for others. The Liturgy of the Hours helps me draw closer to God. I mean it’s amazing. We recited it in the seminary. I recited it when I met my wife and missed it all those years I was practicing her faith. I went so far as to look for a way to create my own that would not draw attention from the Chrisitans around me that would have paniced over it if they knew what it was. So I burried my head in scripture instead. I read so much stuff that if lead me back home eventually. It’s rather dishonest in my opinion to study all that history and still deny that the Catholic Church, both Western and Eastern Rites were the norm all the way back to the beginning. I discovered the Eastern Rites in about 1992 or 93 after seeing the news. It amazed me because much of what they did sounded like a mix of my Catholic and current faith. I’ve often contemplated going to the eastern Church, but I am Latin and my wife and oldest son have resisted, so I’ll stay where I am and be happy in it.
Going through the motions is a requirement when you’re not feeling the love so to speak. It’s hard, but just like you stick with your family, we stick with our God. He’s there…teaching us something to help us. Many times the lesson is difficult, but if we persist we will grow.
