A few days ago in Mass the first reading concerned 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17, and it made me stop and remember what a former Protestant apologist once told me.  He said that in many Protestant versions whenever the word "tradition" is used with a positive connotation it is translated to "teachings" and whenever it's used in a negative connotation, it's translated as "tradition." He also pointed out that in both cases, it's the same word in the original texts.

I wanted to check it out for myself, so I checked out a very common translation that most of my non-Catholic friends use, the NIV version.  Just as he said, the word in 2 Thessalonians is translated as "teachings."  Yet, I was very pleased by the online version, which also provides the other translation of the word, "traditions," in the footnotes.

What's the big deal over words?  The Bible talks about two different kinds of traditions: the traditions of God and the traditions of men, the latter of which Jesus often bashes when it comes into conflict with God's teachings, laws, or spirit of the laws.  On several occasions in my life from friends and even relatives who are not Catholic, it seemed like there was always a misunderstanding of where our "traditions" and seemingly "non-scriptural" practices come from, namely, that they believed that those practices were of the traditions of men.  But it isn't.

What is God's tradition?  There are two pillars of it: written and oral.  The written tradition, obviously, is scripture.  The other part, which some people have accused us of making up, is actually supported in scripture such as in 3 John 13:14 and in several other places.  The apostles' primary way of teaching was not simply through letters, it was through preaching. But moreso than that, it's not just verbally saying "Hey Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, pass it on," as Fr. Dittmer mentioned in his homily.  Christianity is a faith of revelation, and that revelation does not die with the last book of the Bible or with the last apostle.  It's more than just living the message out and proclaiming the word, as all of us should be doing, but take it to the next level.  Pope Benedict XVI put it very succinctly in one of his general audiences when he said tradition is the "ongoing actualization of the presence of Jesus - through the work of the Spirit and through the Church’s apostolic ministry and fraternal communion."  Just as the written tradition is alive (scripture still speaks to us and about us), the oral tradition is alive: Jesus is still here through the work of the Holy Spirit and through the ministry that Jesus ordained - the Magisterium, the priesthood, Mass, and the Church (all of which are scripturally based as well).  Through the Holy Spirit and through these ministries that work by the power of the Holy Spirit, revelation continues.

And what a relief it is that we would have a living ministry that continues!  Something that Jesus sets up and tells us that we can trust in teaching matters of the faith.  Many communities with the label of "Christian" claim that they have interpreted scripture correctly because of the Holy Spirit, but how can two communities say that when they interpret scripture to mean two diametrically opposed ideas?  Look at our own country's history - one faction bent the word to "justify" slavery whereas another group used scripture to show that slavery is against what God desires for us and always has been although He has allowed it to happen for various reasons. . . clearly both groups cannot be correct.  It would be like arguing that a solid t-shirt is either blue or red.  It can only be one thing. 

But this isn't to say that only one group can correctly interpret scripture and all others are incapable of knowing truth.  After all, Christian communities overall have more similarities than differences.  We are made like God, by God, and for God.  The desire for the truth is planted in us and God gives us abilities to come to know truth.  God simply gives us a failsafe way to know truth when conflict arises.  Consider this: conflict over theological issues existed even in the time of the apostles even among those who had been baptized (who had the Holy Spirit dwelling within them).  How did they resolve it?  Scripture recounts that the apostles, who had been given authority by Jesus, would convene, discuss the matter, and pronounce a formal teaching on it to settle the disputes.  Wouldn't that be sucky if that authority to teach on matters and settle those disputes died with the apostles?  It's not like a book, although it is the Bible, could start talking verbal speech and say "Elly, while you're right about Me saying this, you're wrong about the other part, and Kristy is right when she interpreted My other teaching."  How would we know who could speak with authority on the issue if Jesus didn't ordain a way for us to know for sure?  We wouldn't.  Thank God He did set that up!

Today was absolutely amazing!  I got completely spoiled today by God. . . little things of divine providence and just wonderful weather and a wonderful time overall.  God woke me up this morning because I forgot to set my alarm, and thankfully enough, I woke up on time.  I met up with Corey to go to morning daily Mass at his church and then we went up the street to St. Cyril to a really cool grotto to say morning prayer.  And what was this grotto of?  None other than JPII kneeling before Mary with the inscription "Totus Tuus."  Sweeeet.

Then it was off the Mundelein.  It was nice to catch up with him considering he had been in St. Louis for the entire summer, and I had been up in the Winona diocese.  It was kinda nice, too, that because I had been in Winona I met a lot of his friends up there, so we could converse about the latest things happening with them as well as what was going on in central IL.  Anyway, once we got to the seminary, despite the "no trespassing" signs, we went in since it said that it was ok to be at the chapel between certain hours, and that's where we went.  We halfway hoped that we'd run into someone we knew around there so we could explore more, but no such luck.  I should have looked Bobby K or Patrick up the night before to see if they were in the area since they go to seminary there. . . oh well.  So we didn't run into anyone we knew just yet.

Corey's jaw pretty much dropped when he saw how beautiful the campus was. . . beautiful architecture, Latin inscribed on all the buildings, a nice overlook of a lake, etc.  Even though there were a ton of cars on the campus for some reason (which we later discovered that there was a conference going on for priests and seminarians regarding healing and other interesting stuff), the chapel was empty.  We spent a little bit of time trying to decipher the Latin, and it was kind of cool how each marble step of the sanctuary had an inscription of the "steps" toward the priesthood (ie. the highest step had "priest" inscribed in Latin, then below it "subdeacon" then "deacon" etc.)  I discovered I was actually able to read quite a bit of the Latin even though I'd never taken a class on it.  I guess it comes with taking Spanish for so many years and trying to teach myself a little bit of Italian.  Corey was tempted to go play the organ, but he resisted, lol. We putzed about by the lake for a bit. . . there was a bunch of construction going on. . . and we had the pleasure of listening to one of the construction workers belch a huge one.  How. . . attractive.  Then we did a rosary at the grotto.

The good weather persisted as we left to find a spot to eat some lunch that we packed. . . we actually stumbled upon a park right in front of a Catholic church (what a treat!), so we ate there then tossed the frisbee and football around for a while. . .I actually got a little better at throwing a frisbee - woot!

Then off to the St. Maximilian Kolbe shrine at "Marytown."  In attempting to find it on the grounds, we ended up going to the giftshop to ask for information, but for the longest time the people working the register were occupied. . . not that it mattered.  There was a ton of cool stuff in there.  And while we were in there, lo and behold, but we ran into Jake Vermicak (sp?) another one of the P-town seminarians.  He was attending the conference at the seminary and was putzing about at the shrine until he had to be back.  Whaddya know, there WAS someone there that we knew!  But not only that, as Corey was buying an incensor (yes, a mini thingy you burn incense in), he ran into a few priests who must have asked if he was a seminarian, and after some more conversation, we found out that he knew Jake Valle!  Then we found out that the shrine was in the main chapel.  We figured we'd check out the shrine and then go say the chaplet somewhere at 3. . . perhaps outside if people were using the chapel.  We entered the chapel, Corey genuflected and moved on.  I genuflected thinking wow, there's a sizable number of people here.  I wonder why.  It seems like a little bit more than a usual crowd of pilgrims praying. . .OH MY GOSH!!!!  Suddenly thrilled, my eyes grew wide.  "Corey!!" I whispered.  "HE's out!!!"  Corey replied, "Noooooo."  "YES!  Yes, He is!  He's exposed in the monstrance!!!"

Corey and I stumbled upon adoration in a BEAAAAUUUUUUTIFUL chapel.  So, we checked out the shrine for a bit then we prayed in adoration.  Three o'clock drew near, and this brother brought out a microphone.  "I wonnnnder. . ." I whispered, glancing over to Corey.  The brother disappeared, and after a moment reappeared with a huge picture of the divine mercy Jesus.  Corey and I just looked at each other in surprise almost as if to say, "Holy cow, this is awesome!!"  We got to pray the chaplet in adoration with a ton of other people.  Sweeeet.

Then we went outside and admired the beautiful grounds.  As we were doing this, we ran into a nun that we met earlier.

"How are you enjoying your stay here?" she asked us.
"We're loving it!  We've been totally spoiled by God today!!" I answered.

In conversation, we discovered that she was actually from Minnesota on a 10 day retreat.  She was actually from St. Paul.  Iiiitt's a smalll world affffter all.  I told her I just came back from serving the diocese of Winona and that one of my teammates was actually from that area and attended school at St. Thomas.  Then she told us about a St. Maximilian Kolbe museum in the building. . . which we had no idea was there!  So of course, we went in and asked someone to take us there.

My gosh, what a treat today was!  Mass.  Liturgy of the Hours in a sweet "totus tuus" grotto.  Spending time with a good friend.  Beautiful weather.  Beautiful chapel at the seminary.  Rosary in a grotto.  Discovering that I could read a heck of a lot more Latin than I thought I could. . . to the extent that Corey finally turned to me and exclaimed, "HOW THE HECK CAN YOU READ ALL THIS??!"  Football.  Frisbee.  Running into people we know.  Running into priests who know people we know.  Another beautiful church.  A cool shrine.  Surprise adoration.  Surprise divine mercy chaplet.  Running into a sister from MN who told us about the St. Maximilian Kolbe museum.  Not a bad way to spend the day.  How could you not want to spend a day like this??

Yesterday night as Marissa and I were driving over to hang out with the men after work, I lost control of my car.  Gravel roads are very tricky; we had been told by some country folk at another parish that when we drive on a gravel road, we need to make sure that we drive in the middle of it.  I was doing that and only going at about 45mph on it when suddenly I felt the van veering a little more than usual.  "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!  Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus!!!" I exclaimed instinctively, knowing that I was quickly going to lose complete control of the car.  Rather than letting go of the wheel as if hitting a patch of ice and gently correcting it, I firmly but slightly turned the wheel in one direction.  Holy Mary, Holy Mary, Holy Mary, Mother of God!! I continued praying silently.  That firm correction of the wheel was a mistake; I lost attitude control and my van began fishtailing in the middle of the road.  Then began my panicked process of overcorrecting it, which of course, did not help the situation.

"No!" Marissa yelled as the van spun out of control.  I can't remember if she was telling me "no" because the way I was correcting the van was incorrect or not.  I perceived the "no" as such though, attempted to straighten the wheel and let go.  But by then it was too late.  I watched the world go bumpy and crooked first to the left and then to the right as my car was off the road first on the left side and then the right side of the road and then I looked at corn for a while as it fishtailed abruptly and even turned the van momentarily so that it was completely facing the reverse direction in either a 360 or a weird fishtaily 180.  I thought about one time when I was camping with my family in our OLD Winnebego in the west and how there was a car that lost control, hit a ditch and ended up flipping over several times into the field.  I wondered if that would happen or something like that to us.  Hopefully not since this is a minivan and it wasn't going very fast.  Whatever happens, God's will be done.  We'll get out of this, and if the van is damaged, God's will be done, too.  It may suck if it's damaged and it delays our team in our mission and is expensive to repair, but we'll all get through it, I thought to myself.

The van ended up slightly on and slightly off the road.  Hoping to tap the breaks, my foot tapped the accelerator instead and brought us a bit further into the ditch, but perceving what was happening, I switched my foot quickly and hit the brakes so as to prevent the van from going any further into the ditch.

There we were, on a gravel road in the middle of a cornfield with no lights in any walkable distance.  It's times like these that I'm glad I never watched movies like Children of the Corn, I silently thought to myself.  Especially since I'm currently in an area that gets me almost no signal.  Please don't let anything underneath the van be damaged.  I began to worry as my attempts to get out of the ditch failed and my gas light came on.  Oh crap.  I really hope nothing ruptured.  Neither of us smelled gas though.

Marissa got out of the car to try to call our host family and then the men.  I told her not to get back in in case something happened to the car.  Likewise I didn't want to move in case something else happened to the car.  I threw the parking break on and thought to myself, What a blessing!  I know, people would probably think I'm insane, but think about it, really.  I lost control of the car, but the van wasn't too deeply in the ditch even though I couldn't get it out, it was going to be ok.  Nothing was visibly damaged at the moment. . .  No one else was around to hit, Marissa and I were both ok, we knew where we were on the country road, and we got ahold of our host family.

I shut the engine off, rolled my window down and looked up into the sky.  How beautiful the night was!  A million stars must have been out, I could clearly see the Milky Way, and more stars than I ever have seen even when camping out in remote country parts.  Thank you, God, I began.  Thank you for all these blessings and letting everything be ok.  Thank you for letting us get ahold of the host family.  Lord, please, please don't let this situation get worse.  Please don't let my car battery die out before they find us.  Please don't let the gas tank be ruptured so that I am unable to take the car to our destination or to a repair shop.  Please, please, let someone find us soon.  I prayed a few more prayers.

And sure enough, two guys who lived nearby randomly showed up on that gravel road.  I threw on my emergency lights again (I had them on and turned them off after seeing that probably no one would be out on the road for a while; might as well save the battery in case it takes some time for someone to find us).

"Hi," one said to me.  "How's it going tonight?"

Almost in a half smile I said, "Very blessed" and mentioned a few of the blessings.  I was also noting the current blessing that they were driving a huge pick-up truck.  We told them that someone was coming to get us, hopefully soon, but we weren't sure how long it would take.  I was almost afraid that at that knowledge they were going to leave us since someone was coming, but they stayed with us until Doug (our host dad) came.  In my mind I thought, well, what if he can't find us right away?  We're pretty darn sure we're on 290th, but what if for some odd reason this happened to be some other street?  Doug also came with a pick-up truck, but it turned out the men there figured another way to get it out.  Doug drove my van deeper into the ditch until it came to a more shallow area on the road and he was actually able to drive it out of the ditch.  Praise be the Lord!

We ended up going to the guys' place and on the way back home I thought to myself, Thank you Lord for blessing us so much.  Thank you Lord for letting me think about You and Your holy Mother in a time of need.

This particular trip to this town and parish has been absolutely crazy with driving conditions.  First there was a CRAZY storm that we hit en route to this town.  Then there was extremely dense fog.  (These interesting stories will come later, too.) And then there was this. . . losing control of my car.  But in each situation all of us have been very blessed, and I am counting these blessings.  I am thankful for the situations turning out favorably, and I am thankful, too, for the gift of trust.  Even though I would get really uptight in these situations, worried, or concerned, however you want to call it, I've never truly been scared that I wouldn't make it through.  I'm not naive; I know I'm not invincible, but I know that God has me in all situations.  (Which, by the way, that knowledge doesn't give you license NOT to pray for His help or put it off. . .)  I know that when I drive, I drive 95% of the time as carefully as I can.  All we can do is live out our life, drive as safely and prudently as we can literally and metaphorically, and the rest is up to God.

This morning's reading from morning prayer was a real eye opener for me.  I mean, I knew the ideas in the passage, but it was almost as if God was kicking me in the butt saying, "Elly, come on!  Do more!!!"  Man, I can't wait to go to Winona this summer. . . but in the meantime, I suppose I have to keep looking for less conventional ways to exhibit faith and works.

"Always speak and act as men destined for judgement under the law of freedom.  Merciless is the judgment on the man who has not shown mercy; but mercy triumphs over judgment.

My brothers, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it?  Such faith has no power to save one, has it?  If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food for the day, and you say to them, 'Good-bye and good luck! Keep warm and well fed,' but do not meet their bodily needs, what good is that?  So it is with the faith that does nothing in practice.  It is thoroughly lifeless." --James 2:12-17