The Wednesday Audience

And Adoration.
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Each Wednesday I spend the afternoon at adoration at my parish church.  It isn't because I'm holy, rather it is because the people for whom I fill in are no longer able to get out for Mass, much less adoration - and no one else seems to like the afternoon time slots. 

After I arrived home last evening, while reading the Holy Father's words at the Wednesday audience, I was struck by how much it tied in with my own conversation with Our Lord at adoration.  "How providential!" I thought - it almost seemed as if I had listened in to the Holy Father's allocution.  I had been concerned with the neo-protestants, people like Fr. Cutie, Anne Rice, and others who leave the Church because they cannot accept Catholic moral teaching.  I understood the Pope's Wednesday address as an answer to my prayer, or at least confirming my sentiments at adoration.  From Catholic News Agency: 
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Defend Church doctrine without "giving into disrespect and angry rhetoric".
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To spread the Gospel, a believer needs a personal relationship with Jesus, an upright moral life, and a good prayer life, Pope Benedict XVI said Feb. 9  Benedict cited the example of St. Peter Canisius, the 16th century saint and doctor who revitalized Germany in the Counter-Reformation.
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Pope Benedict remembered him during the general audience address for his ability to “harmonize fidelity to dogmatic principles with the respect due to each individual.”  He called it “extraordinary” that in the difficult period following the Reformation, the saint “avoided severity and the rhetoric of anger ... and sought only to explain our spiritual roots and to revitalize faith in the Church.”

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St. Peter Canisius emphasized the liturgy and the sacraments in his writings – namely the three part “Catecheses” series – which were directed to youth and the greater public to improve basic spiritual education.
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“His significant contribution to catechesis is second only to the example for us of his disciplined Christ-centered spirituality, finding in the liturgy, daily prayer and devotion to the heart of Jesus the strength and inspiration to carry out well his countless tasks,” said the Pope.

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The saints' focus on the liturgy, combined with an emphasis on personal prayer are both important today, said the Pope.
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“In the midst of the thousand activities and the multiple stimuli that surround us, it is necessary to find moments of meditation daily before the Lord to listen to him and speak with him,” he said. - CNA
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Neo-Protestants
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Wednesday I had been especially saddened about friends who reject Catholic teaching as well as the increasing numbers who seem to be leaving the Church - some of whom converted to Catholicism as adults.  In a sense these people are neo-protestants - not unlike the 16th century protestant reformers.  We have in the Church those who choose to stay, and we call them dissenters.  Angry rhetoric and name calling only deepens the divide.  I also thought of a friend who was unhappy with a post I did regarding same-sex marriage and gay couples with children.  This is our new reality as Catholics, and we need to pray for one another instead of attacking each other.  We need to see each other as individuals loved by God - not as ideologues in the culture wars.  Jesus wants me and you... and that other guy.   I know that better now because I realized Jesus actually wanted me at adoration yesterday.  He wanted me.  He likes me - he really likes me.  He loves me and you... and that other guy.
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One by one.  I always get sidetracked from that.