Editor’s note: In Lent 2013, Father Rich Adam’s Sheltie Maggie Sue embarked upon a new career of writing a special column “Maggie Sue’s Dogmatic Theology” (with emphasis on the dog!) to help fellow parishioners at Sacred Heart Cathedral understand what they believe in the Catholic Church.
Answering a variety of questions pertaining to the liturgical season, the Church, or why Catholics sometimes do what they do, Maggie explains in her own words answers people can read, enjoy, and maybe even learn from. Maggie writes, “My dad says, ‘if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything!’” So it’s important to know what it is that Catholics believe. Her special columns began as a Lenten project but she hasn’t stopped writing. I’ve heard it more times than not, people read her column before they even look at mine!
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Last month Bishop (Martin) Amos celebrated with all the folks here at Sacred Heart the namesake of our cathedral — The Feast of the Sacred Heart — which is really the remembrance and celebration of God’s great love for each one of us, even Shelties! The message of the whole of the Bible is best summed up in John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave us His only Son!” Sometimes people ask and wonder, “What is love anyways?” (Squirrels don’t really know real love, I don’t think.) I found this really cool poem on my dad’s desk that puts a perspective on love that I think is good for everyone. It goes like this:
Love is:
Silence – when words would hurt,
Patience – when another’s curt,
Deafness – when another’s mad,
Gentleness – when another’s sad,
Promptness – when need is seen,
Courage – when life is mean.
I’m wondering two things: Which of these virtues do I score the highest on? Or the lowest? And, what is one concrete thing I can do to make my love more like the ideal that Jesus set before his followers? So there’s something for everyone to think about through this week, as we continue to make Sacred Heart Cathedral a place where God’s love is really seen!!
