Called to Holiness, Not Stupidity

I’d planned on talking about something else this week.

But that’s not going to happen: partly because part of Thursday got spent at the local clinic. There’s still an open sore on my left leg. Several, actually, in a little cluster.

That hasn’t, happily, been keeping me from Sunday Mass.

And that brings me to what I’ll talk about this week: a few of the basic obligations that come with being a Catholic.

It’s pretty simple, actually. Jesus said we should love God, love our neighbor, and see everybody as our neighbor. Everybody. No exceptions. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, 10:25–37; Catechism, 1789)

I said simple, not easy. The ‘everybody’s my neighbor’ part is distinctly not easy for me. And that’s almost another topic.

In practical terms, one of the ways I love God is remembering to get to Mass regularly.

I’ve talked about that before, including in the previous iteration of “A Catholic Citizen in America”, over on blogspot.com Which is where I got the title for this week’s post:

I didn’t get to Mass today. Or yesterday, when the rest of my family celebrated Mass. The Super Bowl is, indirectly, responsible for the latter. Soo Bahk Do class was rescheduled to 1:00 this afternoon, to give folks time to get home for Super Bowl coverage — which would have made for a very tight midday schedule today.

Maybe not the best reason in the world for using the option Catholics living in America have for counting a late Saturday Mass as fulfilling the Sunday obligation — but it’s accepted. (“Apostolic Letter Dies Domini of the Holy Father John Paul II to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Catholic Church on Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy” (May 31, 1998))

I’d particularly wanted to celebrate Mass this weekend, since we were doing the St. Blaise blessing. His feast day was February 3 — and the blessing of the throat is part of our regional Catholic culture — not just ours, of course….

…Does that mean I have some superstitious notion that magic candles will ward off sore throats? No. I’ve been over this sort of thing before….
(“Called to Holiness, Not Stupidity” , A Catholic Citizen in America (February 6, 2011) on blogspot.com)

Now, about getting to church on Sunday. It’s important, very important. But so is taking care of my health. And so, back when my wife and I were raising out kids, was taking care of an infant who couldn’t be taken along. (Catechism, 2180-2183, particularly 2181)

That was then, this is now. Taking care of infants is a ‘been there, done that’ thing for me.

Taking care of my health is another matter. It’s still an obligation, but not my top priority.

Priorities

Being, staying, or getting healthy matters. But if I made my health, having a neatly-trimmed lawn, getting the latest thing in household appliances — anything or anyone other than God — my top priority, I’d be practicing idolatry. And that’s a very bad idea. (Catechism, 2112-2113)

Time to wrap this up.

First, about being Catholic and whether or not I’m in good health. I’ve said this before.

Being healthy is okay. Being sick is okay. They’re both part of being alive. Getting well, and helping others get well, is a good idea. The same goes for scientific research: where ethics apply, same as with everything else we do. (Catechism, 1410, 1500-1510, 2292-2296)

Being a Catholic

Finally, what started me thinking about this was someone’s comment in a discussion thread on social media — and that’s a whole slew of topics I don’t have time for today.

This person had been thinking about becoming a Catholic. Which struck me as a good idea: since I had the same thought, years back now. Although in my case I hadn’t so much ‘thought about becoming a Catholic’, as finally knowing too much and having no reasonable option other than becoming a Catholic. And that’s yet another topic.

Anyway, this person liked the idea of being Catholic, but had the notion that Catholics have an overwhelming number of rules we have to follow.

I’ve run across that perception: and met folks who, deliberately or not, give the impression that our faith involves running through a bewildering number of daily, weekly, monthly, and annual routines; and following a list of rules that’d strike a control freak as excessive.

Sure: over the last couple millennia, we’ve accumulated an impressive array of devotional practices. But the vast majority of them are optional.

The basics, like I said, are simple. Incredibly difficult, but simple. And, happily, being a perfectly perfect person isn’t an entry requirement. We’re all works in progress.

More about health, being Catholic, and why Mass matters:

• Being healthy, or not
  • “Still Dealing With an Infection” (May 16, 2025)
  • “Holy Thursday, Dealing With an Infection” (April 17, 2025)
  • “Pope Francis, Prayer, Health, and Perspectives” (February 24, 2025)
    • Being Healthy, Being Sick, Making Sense
  • “Early Diagnosis, Tardy Treatment, and a Gimpy Hip” (January 25, 2025)
    • A Birth Defect That’s Not a Birth Defect?
  • “Another Trip to the Emergency Room” (May 15, 2021)
    • Life, Health and Making Sense
• Being Catholic
  • “Electing a Pope: Current Events, Ancient Heritage” (May 3, 2025)
    • The Catholic Church: Unchanging Basics, Changing Details
  • “A Messy Death, an Empty Tomb, and the Best News Ever” (April 19, 2025)
    • An Empty Tomb, Meetings, and —
  • “The Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and the Big Picture” (March 22, 2025)
    • Waiting Ten Thousand Years: Not an Option
    • Long-Haul Projects
  • “I am Not Samuel: But I’m Someone” (January 17, 2021)
    • Paying Attention
  • “Choosing Light or Darkness” (March 11, 2018)
    • Working Out My Salvation
• The Eucharist — why Mass matters
  • “Olympic Opening Ceremonies: ‘Saddened by Certain Scenes’” (August 5, 2024)
    • The Last Supper: It’s a Big Deal
  • “Polka Mass and Adoration” (December 13, 2019)
    • A Very Big Deal
  • “New Windows” (October 15, 2017)
    • A Requirement, and Many Options
  • “Mercy: Still Practicing” (November 20, 2016)
    • “Do you also want to leave?”