{"id":9212,"date":"2025-06-07T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=9212"},"modified":"2025-10-22T03:18:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:18:32","slug":"called-to-holiness-not-stupidity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/called-to-holiness-not-stupidity\/","title":{"rendered":"Called to Holiness, Not Stupidity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ricardo<\/a>
Ricardo Andr\u00e9 Frantz’s photo: Bernini’s baldacchino in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. (2005)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\"Brian<\/a>I’d planned on talking about something else this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That hasn’t<\/strong>, happily, been keeping me from Sunday Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

In practical terms, one of the ways I love God is remembering to get to Mass regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

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 \u2014 which would have made for a very tight midday schedule today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 but it’s accepted. (“Apostolic Letter Dies Domini<\/a> 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))<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d particularly wanted to celebrate Mass this weekend, since we were doing the St. Blaise blessing. His feast day was February 3 \u2014 and the blessing of the throat is part of our regional Catholic culture \u2014 not just ours, of course….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…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>” , A Catholic Citizen in America (February 6, 2011) on blogspot.com)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was then, this is now. Taking care of infants is a ‘been there, done that’ thing for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking care of my health is another matter. It’s still an obligation, but not my top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Priorities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\"'The<\/a>Being, staying, or getting healthy matters. But if I made my health, having a neatly-trimmed lawn, getting the latest thing in household appliances \u2014 anything or anyone other than God \u2014 my top priority, I’d be practicing idolatry. And that’s a very bad idea. (Catechism, 2112-2113)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to wrap this up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, about being Catholic and whether or not I’m in good health. I’ve said this before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being healthy is okay. Being sick is okay. They’re both<\/strong> 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)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Being a Catholic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Collage,<\/a>
Clockwise from top left: Old Catholic church, Hannover, Germany; Takatori Catholic Church, Hyogo, Japan; Dali Catholic Church, Dali, Yunnan, China; St. Maria Catholic Church; Westfield, Indiana, USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, what started me thinking about this was someone’s comment in a discussion thread on social media \u2014 and that’s a whole slew of topics I don’t have time for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/strong> a Catholic. And that’s yet another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about health, being Catholic, and why Mass matters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n