FATHER AMARO SAUMELL

Father:

We hear in church, "blessed are the poor in spirit" could you tell me what is meant by 'poor in spirit'? Thank you. - Tom

Dear Tom:

Think about something.  Have you ever met a know-it-all?”  What’s wrong with being one?  Well, the answer is simple.  The know-it-all “thinks” that he knows it all, so he never gets any smarter.  The same can be said for some people who “think” they know all about God. But for the person who is really humble, that person knows that there is always more to know.  The person knows that he or she knows nothing yet in terms of all eternity. The person is spiritually poor and can only get richer.  To be aware of spiritual poverty is an exciting thing. It means that we’ll never be bored like a “know-it-all.”  We’ll always be open to new information.  We’ll continue to grow.  It has everything to do with “mystery.”  The word doesn’t mean “secret.”  It means “something of which there is always more to know.”  As long as we continue to delve into the mystery of God, we’ll never be bored with Him.  Imagine how bored eternity would be if we could know all about God.  But God has no limitation.  He will always be wonderfully interesting.  So, embrace and rejoice in your spiritual poverty.  God bless, Father Amaro

Father Amaro:

I was reflecting on the scripture Luke 22:39-46 where it is written He then left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the disciples following.  When they reached the place he said to the "Pray not to be put to the test."  My question is in the Bible it says "as usual" to the Mount of Olives.  Why there? Is there any significance to that particular place?  “When He withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away.”   Is there any significance to that verse using the term stone's throw and was the prayer He asked them to say, was it the Our Father as He had taught.  (Looking at the verses).  I was wondering about these things.  Thanks. - Joyce

Dear Joyce:

I think the “as usual” means exactly what it says. We all have our special places.  To keep our spirituality healthy, we all “retreat.”  We spiritually regroup. Jesus did this when he prayed.   People often prayed aloud.  The “stone’s throw” allowed for privacy.

The “Lord’s Prayer” as we know it, was not to restrict our words, but to give us formula of what is important in our relationship with God.  That is why Jesus would eventually say in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but yours...”  Sounds a bit like “Thy will be done,” doesn’t it?  God bless, Father Amaro

Father:

My wife died in 2001 we had a special connection and if there was anyway she could she would contact me.  Whichever one of us went first. I've been waiting for just a little sign, but nothing, which makes me think that the reason she's not communicating is because there's no place for her to contact me from.  I feel like I know a secret that no one else knows; that there is no afterlife.  I would never tell anyone else, my kids, my mother or my cousins for they all need to believe.  I know better.  I wish I didn't know what I know but you can't unknow something. I was just wondering if you had something that would convince me otherwise.  Faith doesn't work anymore. - Charles

Dear Charles:

Ahhh... you’re in love and that’s wonderful.  But really, would you sincerely want your wife to re-connect with you after having been in the full and unveiled presence of God? Not that the movie “Ghost” is any theological work, but remember the last words of the movie, “You take your love with you...” If your wife is in God’s presence, she has no need to contact you.  Your love is with her.  In fact the love she had for all is with her.   She is in eternal comfort.  Would you really want her to leave that?

Now, read the above post to “Tom.”   Don’t leave the state of spiritual poverty.  That’s a big mistake.  Don’t make the mistake of confining faith to a feeling either. Feelings are fickle and come and go.  Use the example of Mother Theresa who had no sense (or feeling) of God for the last 40 years of her ministry.  Her faith was a decision that went contrary to her nature in the flesh.  She lived her spiritual poverty. When we judge the eternal and claim “to know,” we cut ourselves off from learning and experiencing not only the cross and death, but also the resurrection.

Your experience of pain and separation is only a glimpse of that of God when we separate ourselves from Him through sin as His Spouse, as the Bride of Christ.  His desire for restoration is always there.  Your Sacrament of Matrimony demonstrated great love.

Don’t ever judge the eternal by standards of Creation either. God isn’t limited to Creation. He created it. Would you really want someone you love to be limited by this passing world’s limitation? I don’t think so.

Love is never limited by one’s selfish desire.  Wanting your wife to be with you rather than in God’s presence needs to be re-examined.  It’s time to re-evaluate your blessing.  When you got married you either said, “Till death do us part” or “as long as we both shall live.”  You probably didn’t realize that you and your wife were committing to this pain of separation.  It could have been the other way around. It could have been you that went first, leaving her to suffer this pain. Either way, once that ring was on your finger, someone was going to experience it.  But your pain itself is a sign of how blessed you have been.  If there had not been good, you wouldn’t care.  It is time to be thankful, even in your sorrow.  But that, like faith and love, is a decision that goes far beyond mere feeling.

Remember, we start eternity now.  If we put limitations on faith, hope, thanksgiving, or love, we cut ourselves off from their result.  When you count on gut feelings, all you are left with is guts. (What a terrible thought)  But when we’re open to God, removing all imposed limitations, we find ourselves in awe and wonder; even at the sight of the ones we love with Him eternally.  God bless, Father Amaro

Dear Father Amaro:

I'm so confused.   For almost six years now I've been trying to fully understand mortal sin. I'm aware of the three components- knowledge, seriousness, and consent. But it doesn't help, every second I'm awake I'm hating myself, thinking I'm guilty of some mortal sin.   I'm constantly going to confession.   I NEED HELP, I CANT TAKE THIS, please someone tell me something useful. - Matthew

Dear Matthew,

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to disobey the first commandment, "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no false gods before me..." That's a big one and we all do it.  How?  By passing judgement on ourselves.

You see, it's one thing to discern our imperfection.  But to sentence oneself for imperfection is to get in God's way.   None of us are equipped to judge ourselves, let alone sentence ourselves.   Self hate is a "sentence."  It's a punishment.

Never, never do we want to forget God's love and mercy or close it out.  I think that's what you're forgetting.  Confession is a joyful event.  Surely, we feel guilty before we go.  But the forgiveness of sin is a new beginning.  That's why we're constantly singing a "new song."

Even St. Paul had the difficulty of repeating mistakes.  So you're in good company with your frustration.  The only difference is that St. Paul didn't let it become a fixation. Look at what he had to say....

 [Rom 7:13-25] "So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.  Did the good, then, become death for me? Of course not! Sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin, worked death in me through the good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment.  We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin.  What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if (I) do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.   So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self,  but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.   Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin."

I know this is a lot. But it also explains a lot of the dichotomy of living in a sinful body and in the spiritual Body of Christ.   St. Paul shows full dependence upon the freely given mercy of God.  He refuses to give back God's gift and insult Him who is so generous.  He is happy in that he knows how to be disappointed in sin.  Some people haven't figured it out yet.

So, be like Paul. Recognize sin.  Yes, be disgusted if you must.  But always see it as a new point of departure for growth.

He also says in 2nd Corinthians12:6-11  "Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.  Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,  but he said to me,  "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.  Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 

St. Paul embraces the reality that our weaknesses keep us from becoming arrogant, as if we don't need Christ.  In this life, we shall always experience weakness.  A person doesn't understand what it's like to be spiritually fed unless he has experienced physical hunger and satisfaction.  The physical is an analogy that helps us understand the spiritual.  In the same way, understanding our slavery to sin gives us insight to the wonderful promise of God to be set free.  He is concerned with weakness, but not obsessed.

The bottom line? Put your attention to God's love and providence rather than spending so much time on the weaknesses. That's what St. Paul did. You'll find peace.  God bless, Father Amaro

Can. 1101 ß1 The internal consent of the mind is presumed to conform to the words or the signs used in the celebration of a marriage. 2 If, however, either or both of the parties should by a positive act of will exclude marriage itself or any essential element of marriage or any essential property, such party contracts invalidly.

Sometimes a person enters into marriage without any intention of living the life of marriage. This invalidates the marriage through the annulment process. There must be an internal consent which is an expression of the will, as well as the external celebration as expressed by the vows. For example, if a couple, or even one of the persons has no intention of living a “married” life, it is invalid. This can be for many different reasons. Maybe he or she wants to “appear” married to remedy another situation. Maybe he or she is doing it just to run away from something and the appearance of marriage would dissuade some complication involving persons or circumstance. For example, maybe on wanted American citizenship and getting married was the only way to do it. Yet, it would be scandalous to family to be married outside the Church. The two merely “go through the motions” so that the person gains citizenship. Even if only one of the parties were entering into the marriage with good intent and act of the will, it would be declared and invalid marriage. Marriage requires two unimpeded consents with the supporting intention to live the life of marriage. I hope this illustration helps. God bless, Father Amaro

Father Amaro:

I have no religion. "seek and ye shall find".how do you know if you find when you have found the truth? - Matt

Dear Matt,

Wow, this one is a hard one. You know why? Look around. Even the Taliban are convinced that they have the truth.

You know, this is a time for “faith sharing.”  Contrary to popular thought, faith sharing is NOT giving a personal interpretation of faith. On the contrary, it is the sharing of  the faith as it is applied and proven by the believing community. In our case as Catholics, this would be the Magisterium of the Church and the teaching of the Holy Spirit that flows through that Apostolic Office. It is the sharing of experience of one’s journey to embrace a belief. Mine was a real trip.

I had been “raised” Catholic. I remember my dad stating very firmly, “If your not going to be Catholic, be Jewish” From his perspective, these were two disciplines that didn’t change with whims. Nonetheless, in my late adolescence, I experimented around. And, it was quite a journey. I met many very faithful people, most of whom all had their own interpretation of God, Church, and Scripture. But believe it or not, it was the Mormons that really got the ball rolling.

I was very friendly with two of their bicycling missionaries.  We shared a lot of humor and ‘Christian jokes.” They were most pleasant and never devalued or belittled my faith journey. I had and still have a great deal of respect for my Mormon friends. I have a great deal of respect for the way they celebrate family. It really got my attention. But one day, a real challenge came up. They brought up the subject of “authority,” particularly in terms of the Apostles. They claimed that the Catholic Church was the only church to have legitimate Apostles at the beginning, but that they lost it along the way. This was really intriguing to me. Jesus did, in fact, call Apostles over and above the disciples, breathed His authority on them and promised to be with them until the ends of the earth. He didn’t say that he’d be there until Martin Luther, King Henry VIII, or Cardinal Lefevre came along. He didn’t say that there would be any interruption. He didn’t say that they would be perfect as individuals either. After all, even one of those He chose participated in the cause of His crucifixion, right?  Wow, did that explain the Catholic Church to me. I could not deny its reality.

Then I studied the Scriptures…. But more than that, the way they were compiled. Did you know that there was no New Testament until the year 354 A.D.? What did that say? It meant that even the earliest of Christians recognized in the successors to the Apostles, the bishops, the authority to compile all these scriptures into what is called the New Testament! I started studying more, only to understand the confusion of what happens when one starts to interpret the scriptures for themselves to satisfy feelings or personal agendas. That’s where splits in the Church came along. Well, if Jesus’ prayer was “that they all

I started to understand the difference between human beings and every other being on the earth. All animals act on “feelings.” We were the only creatures on earth that could make decisions contrary to our feelings through deliberation and decision. And, if God have given us this tool, we were meant to use it!

Well, it moved on from there. When I finally realized that the Bible wasn’t written in English with little numbers before each verse, things started to really open up for me. I saw how the Catholic Church would not deny any truth, even if it came from other sources besides Scripture and Divine Revelation. And, why not? If Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life, any participation with truth, no matter how it was discovered, was an encounter with the Word through whom all things were made.

Well, I could go on from there for hours. But I discovered along the way that I was made up of three things…. My very being, my expression, and my animation. All of a sudden, the reality of the Trinity of God actually made some sense to me and that all of these could be so perfect that they could be personified in one God through personhood!

Matt, I came back to the Church… but who ever thought I’d come back this much… as a priest!  Every bit of my imperfection just pointed to a goal of the perfection to which God beckons us. I understood finally what it meant to be a “child of God,” for a child has no past, only a future of promise, possibility, and growth. That was me!

I was a successful night club entertainer and stage performer. But even that was analogously insightful to what I would become, just as the parables in the scriptures. My activity would no longer be “let’s pretend.” It would be real. My ”act” would become my “actions.” My feelings would mature into “deliberation, cooperation, and choice” And, my arrogance of thinking that I could possibly argue with 2000 years of the tradition, learning, and practice of the faithful, even in the worst and corrupt of times, because humility. I could no longer argue with the statement of the very being of the Church. If I was to call God’s Word, His Son, Jesus something as profound a “Lord,” I could no longer deny that Authority of Apostleship and the cooperation of those who practiced the discipline and order of the Holy Spirit through them that brings about discipleship.

I found that the “truth” could be discovered through all reality and that reality was the faith choice I embrace. How can you find out the truth? You know something? After having you read all this, I honestly don’t know. But there are a few clues in all of this.God bless, Father Amaro

Father:

I am a 64 year old single (divorced)woman who has had to retire early due to health problems and the employment situation around here and now lack of transportation. I have been contributing a minimal monetary amount to my parish for the last couple of years due to my financial situation.  I try to contribute as much as I can in time and talent but now am not going to be able to do that much there either without transportation.   I just received my record of contributions (financial) for 2005 and my pastor had written a note on there that hopefully I could increase my contribution this next year.   He is probably not fully aware of my financial situation as I have not asked for help or anything.  I am not sure what my response should be if any? – Geraldine

Dear Geraldine:

I know the situation very well. Think about the number of families in your parish. Do you really think that you're the only one who received this letter? I really doubt it.

I have about 300 families in my parish. That's a rather small parish. Most have at least 1000. We just did a mass mailing.  I signed each one individually. But can you imagine what it would be like if I had written a special note on each one of them? I'd never have time to be a priest.

Before I would get upset, I'd call the pastor and ask if he sent the same note to everyone. I would suspect he did. However, if he sent this note to you personally, I would kindly send him a letter  or tell him of your circumstances and how it made you feel when you know you'd like to be doing more. While we pastors have the pressure of expanding ministries and helping parishes survive, we often forget our pastoral responsibilities of consideration.

When I first got ordained, it drove me nuts that people would sit way in the back. It was rather rude considering that people have to come all the way to the front to receive Holy Communion. Oh, I gave a few "fire and brimstone" homilies. Then someone told me of a psychological disorder that she had and that she mustered all the strength she had just to get there. She could not sit with crowds. I realized how I was pointing the finger at her without knowing and that she might never receive the sacraments at all if she were forced to follow my commands. That would be on my head at judgement time. 

We priests don't know everything just out of the seminary...or even years later. A gentle reminder of authentic human conditions helps a learn.

Teach your pastor. Hopefully his enthusiasm for learning is as zealous as his filling the checkbook.  God bless, Father Amaro