The Wizard of OZ and Catholicism

Okay, allow me to get weird here for a minute.

The last time I saw “The Wizard of Oz” I thought, “Hey, this is the Catholic Pilgrim’s Progress.”

Dorothy’s unhappy with her life and wants to go “over the rainbow” or heaven, maybe?

After her baptism---her trial by fire in the tornado, she reaches the other side... “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” Catholics believe that you enter a new Kingdom, the Kingdom of God when you are baptized. It is then you begin your journey to eternal life---Like Dorothy--the journey to the Emerald City on the Yellow Brick Road.

For Catholics, you are never alone. You have your angels, your sponsors, your church family helping you along with the journey-- learning with you and maturing you in these ways:

The scarecrow: his brain or theology....

The Tin Man: a correct heart....

The Lion: learning courage!

All go with you on the journey. Even though you are no longer in your old life, you are in the new, you still have not yet arrived at God.

All during the process you are followed by demons who discourage you and try to burn you, make you sleep, keep knowledge from you.... 

When they arrive at the Emerald City they have to “freshen up” so they can look perfect before seeing the Great and Mighty OZ----think---purgatory anyone?

Yeah, yeah... the comparison breaks down as OZ turns out to be a fake and the whole point of the movie is to get BACK to her life on earth. Oh well, it still seems a bit like the writer had an underlying religious message--doubt it was Catholic, though.

On "DEEP IN SCRIPTURE" EWTN RADIO, Wed. Jan 20th

For those who are interested, I will be speaking with Marcus Grodi on the Deep In Scriptures radio program this next Wednesday, January 20th. It will be live at 2 pm eastern time on a local EWTN station. You can also hear an archived version at this following website (as well as hearing it live.)

http://www.deepinscripture.com/

Please pray that God will be glorified and that His tender love, mercy and forgiveness with show through in every word we say. And that in the end, truth will burst forth for those who are seeking it!
God bless you,
Teresa Beem

Bishop Vasa: Those who profess to love God, but back abortion, are liars - Catholic Online

Bishop Vasa: Those who profess to love God, but back abortion, are liars - Catholic Online

Happy Catholic New Year!

Did you know that for Catholics the New Year began with Advent?

Four Sundays BEFORE Christmas with the beginning of the Advent season or "arrival" the New Year begins. Then for Catholics, Christmas is not a day but a season that begins on Christmas Eve and lasts until the celebration of the Baptism of Christ which is celebrated on the 13th of January. (Although I heard a bishop on EWTN's Journey Home that said this year it is until February 2? If anyone can clear that up for me.... I would appreciate it.)

I just learned that the Twelve Days of Christmas is actually the days between Christmas day and the Feast of Epiphany.

There is just so much to know about Catholics and their traditions and history. There is a surprise around every corner. And I just LOVE that.....

The Second Advent as a Catholic

When I was a Seventh-day Adventist, I was under the impression that no other denominations were preaching the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (you know, we were the ones who focused on the Sabbath and the great Apocalypse of prophecy). When I left that church I found that the Baptists and Assembly of God as well as many fundamentalist and charismatic churches were very active in looking for signs of the last days and dissecting Revelation's prophecies.

Now that I am a Catholic, I realize that the Bible gives us a command about proclaiming the good news of God's second coming. It isn't having Revelation Seminars. It isn't passing prophecy pamphlets out or writing fictional accounts of what might happen. Let's read what Paul said that Jesus personally told him about how to proclaim God's Second Advent:

I Corinthians 11: 23-26: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

When we as His Body come together, unified in spirit and in truth, partake of His body and blood, we ARE proclaiming both our Blessed Lord's Sacrifice and Redemption as well as the hope that Jesus is coming again! It is the sign that He is returning. Our love for one another in the unity of the cup and bread is our way of showing the world God's infinite love in the past and that in the future we will once again be with our Lord both in body and spirit.

The Catholic church does indeed preach about the Second Coming of Jesus in doctrines and in occasional sermons, but we also proclaim it every time we partake of the Eucharist each week or every day. It is the way we mark time until His coming again.

Advent Season

Everything I do now that I am a Catholic is tinged with a surreal mystery. Though I have always loved Christmas time, now it is different. When I watch "Bells of St. Mary" and "It's a Wonderful Life" I take to the movies a surprising and new perspective.

There is such a fascinating dance between the ethereal spirituality of Catholic mysticism and their devotion to science and reason. It is a fascinating marriage of the sublime and philosophical that meet in Catholic doctrine. I bring this into the Advent season this year.

God made incarnate. Christ with us. Jesus as baby, Jesus as man, Jesus as God. The stars He created on the breath of His voice, now bow and contemplate the mystery of God becoming His creation.

I love decorating the green tree. I love hearing Bing Crosby sing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and the crisp, invigorating cool air. The delicious and woodsy smells in my home of fresh cut pine and cranberry and clove bring a welling of deep thanksgiving.

What I look forward to most, what has become and instant tradition (another seeming contradictions of Catholicism!) for us is attending midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. This year there will be an organ concert and the choir will lead in carols, then the mass. We will behold the Christ-child in the protective arms of his mommie, coming to us as a vulnerable baby and yet who is Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And He shall reign for EVER and EVER!! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I am drinking God's Coffee!

Just when I didn't think it could get any better....

Catholic monks perfected Champagne,
Catholic monks were world renown for beer,

And now I am sipping COFFEE made by Carmelite Monks from Wyoming.

My online purchase came to me with greetings in bold letters, "Hello, Praise be Jesus Christ!"

So, here I am. I'm sitting in front of my computer reading the catechism 843 that talks with so much love and hope for our dearest fellow humans who Buddhists and Hindus.... who are "search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since He gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved."

AND sipping my coffee from the monks.... I can see my dearest Mt. Rainier peeking ever so slightly out of the clouds into the mid-afternoon rays. My husband is smiling and all I find joy in knowing that I am in the Kingdom of God, the Catholic church. Where the coffee is very good.

If you are interested in helping the monks make a living at making great coffee, the company is found online and it is called Mystic Monks Coffee www.mysticmonkcoffee.com. (NO I do not make any money from advertising!)

Archbishop Chaput on Speaker Pelosi

Archbishop Chaput on Speaker Pelosi, Life and Communion
2/21/2009
LifeSiteNews (www.lifesitenews.com)

This is a human rights issue from the point of view of the Church, and not a theological or religious perspective.


Every Catholic, whether you're famous or anonymous ... has a responsibility to be faithful to what our Church believes about human life, and we believe human life is sacred and precious from the moment of conception," said Chaput during the Fox TV interview.
DENVER, Colorado (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver expressed his support - in an interview with Fox News - for Pope Benedict XVI's message last week to pro-abortion "Catholic" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in which the Pope enjoined the Speaker to protect human life from conception.

"Every Catholic, whether you're famous or anonymous ... has a responsibility to be faithful to what our Church believes about human life, and we believe human life is sacred and precious from the moment of conception," said Chaput during the interview. Chaput also said he was happy that the Pope "took the occasion to remind her of something very important."

Asked to expand on Church teaching on abortion, Chaput said "there's no doubt" that the Church has always taught the sacredness of life from the moment of conception, and that "abortion is always wrong in all circumstances."

In an appearance on Meet the Press last August, Speaker Pelosi had attempted to justify abortion in light of her Catholic faith by citing St. Augustine's discussion of when the soul enters the living human fetus. She concluded that "the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition" on when human life begins.

"It's not a fairly black-and-white issue, it's a clearly black-and-white issue," said Chaput. "The Church without doubt believes that human life begins at conception."

Cavuto then pressed the archbishop: "Would you grant her [Pelosi] Communion in your church?"

Chaput responded, "I would like to talk to her if she were coming to a church in the Archdiocese of Denver. I would say to her what I would say to anyone: again, if you don't accept what the Church teaches, you shouldn't present yourself for Communion, because Communion means you're in agreement with what the Church teaches.

"As I said to you earlier, that applies to all of us, and I would expect her to abide by where the Church stands on these important matters."

Chaput rejected the notion that Pelosi's duty as a Catholic to protect life, even within a heavily pro-abortion culture, put her in a "box." "I don't think it's a 'box' to defend the truth and to stand up for what you know to be right, even if others in the community disagree with you," said Chaput, who added that Catholic politicians, as good Americans and good Catholics, have a duty to uphold "basic human rights."

"This is a human rights issue from the point of view of the Church, and not a theological or religious perspective," said Chaput. "Our religious perspective supports that, but that's not the source of our belief about the sacredness of human life."

The archbishop mentioned that he was "very disturbed" by the repeal of the Mexico City Policy, which had barred federal aid to overseas abortion providers, and rejected the notion that such a policy was essentially partisan. "I think that abortion should not be a partisan issue, it's a human rights issue, and it would be nice if people from both parties would take the right position," he said.

Archbishop Chaput is one of the most outspoken advocates for the unborn among U.S. bishops, and is the author of the book Render Unto Caesar, which examines the role of Catholics in political life.