Three new posts at my faith + science blog: suppl(e)mental.
Check 'em out!
22 March 2009
20 March 2009
Questions about habits (Updated)
[NB. Thank you all for the great comments on this post! I believe that my initial assertion--habit-wearing can stir conversation and controversy!--has proven to be true. I remember one thing my novice master told us the first time we met in a novice chapter, "Brothers, we can wear the habit as a weapon--to intimidate, to segregate, to hide. We can also refuse to wear the habit, and this too can be a weapon--to intimidate, to segregate, to hide. The habit can be made into a costume to hide who you are. It can be an outfit to accessorize. It can be a symbol of power and authority you do not rightfully have. It can also be a sign of your preaching." In my mind, "to wear or not to wear" is not the question. The question is: what is the Dominican habit to a Dominican?]
If you want to start an argument among Dominican friars you could not do it more quickly than to ask: "So, why don't you guys wear your habits all the time?" The next sound you will hear is the room exploding.
My first argument as a Dominican--during the pre-novitiate retreat, no less!--was about when and how often we should wear the habit. My first yelling match in the novitiate was over the habit. My first challenge to authority in the Order was about wearing the habit to class at our Dominican owned and operated school of theology (that's right, we were forbidden to wear our habit at our own school!). I've turned down teaching opportunities at Catholic schools where wearing the habit would be discouraged.
You might think then that I am almost never out of the habit. You'd be wrong. I spend most of my day in shorts and a tee-shirt. I go out shopping in street clothes. I travel in civvies. Generally speaking, I wear the habit here in Rome on three occasions: to class, to ministry, to liturgical celebrations (and when you consider that I am almost always doing one of these or all three, I'm in-habited more often than not). I have worn it to show visitors around town. And to dinner if someone is treating me.
Religious habits in Rome are like cats in the forum--many and variously colored. The white Dominican habit is very striking. Add the black cappa and you have what we like to call "The Cadillac of Habits." I'm told that we Dominicans must always wear the black part of our habit when walking around in Rome. Apparently, only the Holy Father may wear white in urbe. I've never seen this written down anywhere, but some of the friars insist on it and others dismiss it. The Norbetines and one other male religious group in Rome have habits almost identical to ours. Some of the African sisters' groups have bright pink habits. Some have a deep indigo. Others a pale yellow. The strangest habit I've ever seen belongs to the Heralds of the Gospel. These guys look like knights w/o their armor!
If you want to start an argument among Dominican friars you could not do it more quickly than to ask: "So, why don't you guys wear your habits all the time?" The next sound you will hear is the room exploding.
My first argument as a Dominican--during the pre-novitiate retreat, no less!--was about when and how often we should wear the habit. My first yelling match in the novitiate was over the habit. My first challenge to authority in the Order was about wearing the habit to class at our Dominican owned and operated school of theology (that's right, we were forbidden to wear our habit at our own school!). I've turned down teaching opportunities at Catholic schools where wearing the habit would be discouraged.
You might think then that I am almost never out of the habit. You'd be wrong. I spend most of my day in shorts and a tee-shirt. I go out shopping in street clothes. I travel in civvies. Generally speaking, I wear the habit here in Rome on three occasions: to class, to ministry, to liturgical celebrations (and when you consider that I am almost always doing one of these or all three, I'm in-habited more often than not). I have worn it to show visitors around town. And to dinner if someone is treating me.
Religious habits in Rome are like cats in the forum--many and variously colored. The white Dominican habit is very striking. Add the black cappa and you have what we like to call "The Cadillac of Habits." I'm told that we Dominicans must always wear the black part of our habit when walking around in Rome. Apparently, only the Holy Father may wear white in urbe. I've never seen this written down anywhere, but some of the friars insist on it and others dismiss it. The Norbetines and one other male religious group in Rome have habits almost identical to ours. Some of the African sisters' groups have bright pink habits. Some have a deep indigo. Others a pale yellow. The strangest habit I've ever seen belongs to the Heralds of the Gospel. These guys look like knights w/o their armor!
So, why not wear the habit all the time? There are many practical reasons: 1) it's white, so it gets very dirty, very quickly; 2) it's not the most utilitarian garb--lots of flowing material makes working in libraries, etc. difficult; 3) it's hot, sometimes very hot depending on the material. None of these alone nor all of them together are perfect reasons not to wear the habit all the time. More like a list of excuses, really. Sometimes wearing the habit draws the wrong kind of attention--anti-clerical types, religious nuts (and I mean the dangerous, mentally unstable types), people wanting to convert you, people demanding apologies for the abuse heaped upon them by Sr. Mary of the Five Wounds when they were in third grade, etc. However, you also get positive attention as well--kind comments about being a priest, requests for blessings and prayers, sometimes a quick confession, often simple questions about something Catholic in the news.
For the OP's there are no hard and fast rules for wearing the habit. I've noticed that among some of the European friars, the habit is pretty much dead. Here at the Angelicum, OP students and profs wear them to class. We wear them to meals and prayer. I often see the younger friars leaving the university in habit. Sometimes I will see a friar in the cloister hallway wearing just the tunic and belt, indicating to me that he's in habit while in his room. I've even seen friars coming out of the bathroom in full kit! That's dedication right there.
Some wear the habit as a sign of consecration. Others because it is a way to maintain poverty. Many because they need the reminder that they are religious. And even a few as a form of obedience. There may be one or two in the Order who wear it for all these reasons. There are some who refuse to wear the habit because they see it as a medieval garb inappropriate for the 21st century. The habit is a sign of male authority. The habit encourages clericalism. The habit is weapon, a shield, a barrier, a mask, an obstacle. It's too monastic. I've heard otherwise perfectly sane and highly intelligent OP's say all of these things. Fortunately, these friars are in a tiny, tiny (and shrinking) minority.
Now, watch the combox fill up with OP arguments!
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
For the OP's there are no hard and fast rules for wearing the habit. I've noticed that among some of the European friars, the habit is pretty much dead. Here at the Angelicum, OP students and profs wear them to class. We wear them to meals and prayer. I often see the younger friars leaving the university in habit. Sometimes I will see a friar in the cloister hallway wearing just the tunic and belt, indicating to me that he's in habit while in his room. I've even seen friars coming out of the bathroom in full kit! That's dedication right there.
Some wear the habit as a sign of consecration. Others because it is a way to maintain poverty. Many because they need the reminder that they are religious. And even a few as a form of obedience. There may be one or two in the Order who wear it for all these reasons. There are some who refuse to wear the habit because they see it as a medieval garb inappropriate for the 21st century. The habit is a sign of male authority. The habit encourages clericalism. The habit is weapon, a shield, a barrier, a mask, an obstacle. It's too monastic. I've heard otherwise perfectly sane and highly intelligent OP's say all of these things. Fortunately, these friars are in a tiny, tiny (and shrinking) minority.
Now, watch the combox fill up with OP arguments!
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
19 March 2009
Seminarians: do NOT be bullied! (Updated)
[NB. Mar 30: Again, thanks so much for the informative comments in the combox. I am delighted to hear that the CPE has not always been an odious task for seminarians. I still maintain that our American bishops need to re-evaluate and reform the CPE process for Catholic seminarians so that the unique character of the priestly charism is honored and developed. Though CPE programs have tempered their more abusive practices in recent years, the focus is still too narrowly placed on the therapeutic restructuring of the student's fundamental belief system to accord with mainstream-liberal Protestant norms for counts as ministry to the sick. IOW, too often Catholic seminarians are pressured to hold and practice an essentially anti-sacramental view of ministry to the sick and dying. Why? Because the Catholic sacramental system requires ordained priests to be licit and valid and mainstream-liberal Protestant theology/eccesial politics (both deeply committed to secular-feminist ideology) abhor the all-male, celibate Catholic priesthood.]
[NB. Mar 20: Re-reading this post I am a little nervous about the tone. . .I wrote it under the influence of Polaramine--an Italian OTC version of Benadryl--and a nasty head cold. However, I'm not going to change it. What's said needed to be said. I would encourage those who have had good CPE experiences to leave comments. A little balance to my negative experience couldn't hurt!]
__________________________________________________________
This post is intended to incite a rebellion.
I want to encourage and embolden any seminarian--diocesan or religious--who is being forced to complete a course in Clinical Pastoral Education to decide here and now to resist the indoctrination and ideological brainwashing that the Liberal Prot CPE process encourages.
You will be required to complete one summer of this ridiculous zombification. You have no choice. Go in fighting. Wear your habit. Wear your clerical garb. Insist on being authentically, fully, faithfully Catholic. Don't let the moonbat sisters or the Prot "ministers" or the "social justice" priests warp your dedication to the Church's mission to teach and preach the gospel.
During my horrific summer of CPE I was told many times by hospital chaplains that hospital chaplains are the "misfit toys" of the Church. They are the rejects of their denominations. This doesn't mean that they are bad people or bad Christians. But it does mean that they are unfit to form the hearts and minds of Catholic seminarians.
Let's be absolutely clear here: Clinical Pastoral Education is nothing more than a systematic "weeding out" of orthodox seminarians through a process of enforced radical leftist indoctrination. I survived b/c I was 37 years old and had years of working in mental health institutions under my belt. I was able to manipulate the system using the rhetoric and strategy of victimization that seemed to garner the attention of the administration. In other words, I knew how to position myself as the underdog in a system dominated by radical leftist queer/liberationists supervisors. They didn't dare push me into a corner. I knew the system too well. In fact, at the end of my ordeal, I received an apology from the director of chaplaincy services and a glowing CPE report. Anything less would have resulted in a lengthy and detailed report from me to Archbishop Rigali.
To the seminarians who are embarking on CPE: do NOT let these people intimidate you or in any way dissuade you from being fully, authentically Catholic. Listen. Learn. Take what you will. But DEMAND that your Catholic identity be respected. DEMAND that your understanding of your priestly vocation be respected. Do NOT let these people bully you. If they try, call them out. Tell them to stop bullying you. Report them to your bishop. Keep detailed records. Names, dates, times, quotes. I wish I had done this. Do not hesitate to bring bullying incidents to your supervisor and your bishop.
These people have power over you and they will use it to derail your vocation if you dare to oppose them. Document, document, document!
Can you learn something from CPE? You better believe it! I did. But I learned in spite of the goofy new-agey bullshit that passed for Catholic pastoral care at SLUH. I learned from the patients and their families. I learned from the nurses and doctors. I also learned from the chaplains. . .I learned exactly how NOT to be a Catholic minister.
Go in confident. Assured. Eager to learn. Open to being wrong. But go in with a clear sense of being Roman Catholic. And don't be duped by lefty Prot religious psychologies and purely political ideologies.
Write to me if you have any problems. . .I will gladly advise and assist any seminarian who is approaching this gauntlet. No names. Leave a comment with contact info, and I will contact you privately. We will assume the seal!
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
You will be required to complete one summer of this ridiculous zombification. You have no choice. Go in fighting. Wear your habit. Wear your clerical garb. Insist on being authentically, fully, faithfully Catholic. Don't let the moonbat sisters or the Prot "ministers" or the "social justice" priests warp your dedication to the Church's mission to teach and preach the gospel.
During my horrific summer of CPE I was told many times by hospital chaplains that hospital chaplains are the "misfit toys" of the Church. They are the rejects of their denominations. This doesn't mean that they are bad people or bad Christians. But it does mean that they are unfit to form the hearts and minds of Catholic seminarians.
Let's be absolutely clear here: Clinical Pastoral Education is nothing more than a systematic "weeding out" of orthodox seminarians through a process of enforced radical leftist indoctrination. I survived b/c I was 37 years old and had years of working in mental health institutions under my belt. I was able to manipulate the system using the rhetoric and strategy of victimization that seemed to garner the attention of the administration. In other words, I knew how to position myself as the underdog in a system dominated by radical leftist queer/liberationists supervisors. They didn't dare push me into a corner. I knew the system too well. In fact, at the end of my ordeal, I received an apology from the director of chaplaincy services and a glowing CPE report. Anything less would have resulted in a lengthy and detailed report from me to Archbishop Rigali.
To the seminarians who are embarking on CPE: do NOT let these people intimidate you or in any way dissuade you from being fully, authentically Catholic. Listen. Learn. Take what you will. But DEMAND that your Catholic identity be respected. DEMAND that your understanding of your priestly vocation be respected. Do NOT let these people bully you. If they try, call them out. Tell them to stop bullying you. Report them to your bishop. Keep detailed records. Names, dates, times, quotes. I wish I had done this. Do not hesitate to bring bullying incidents to your supervisor and your bishop.
These people have power over you and they will use it to derail your vocation if you dare to oppose them. Document, document, document!
Can you learn something from CPE? You better believe it! I did. But I learned in spite of the goofy new-agey bullshit that passed for Catholic pastoral care at SLUH. I learned from the patients and their families. I learned from the nurses and doctors. I also learned from the chaplains. . .I learned exactly how NOT to be a Catholic minister.
Go in confident. Assured. Eager to learn. Open to being wrong. But go in with a clear sense of being Roman Catholic. And don't be duped by lefty Prot religious psychologies and purely political ideologies.
Write to me if you have any problems. . .I will gladly advise and assist any seminarian who is approaching this gauntlet. No names. Leave a comment with contact info, and I will contact you privately. We will assume the seal!
Many questions. . .
1). How was the Greece trip?
2). The Pope spoke the truth on condom use in Africa! Now he's in trouble.
More later!
Wonderful! We had a few problems with running late. . .some of the students got very sick. . .the boat was tossed around on the sea rather dramatically. . .two students got pick-pocketed. . .a strike kept us off the Acropolis. . .I was verbally assaulted in Athens for being an American. . .we had to deal with several large groups of loud, obnoxious Italian tourists at various sites. . .the food was good but predictable. . .HOWEVER, the students were fantastic. . .smart, funny, wise beyond their years, compassionate with one another. . .the profs did an excellent job in their presentations. . .the R.A.'s were both professional and caring with the students. . .all the sites were fascinating, especially Delphi and Olympia. . .I would move to Greece tomorrow and never look back.
2). The Pope spoke the truth on condom use in Africa! Now he's in trouble.
Yea, what's new? Never for a second believe that the media are pressing the Church to allow the use of condoms b/c they believe that condoms prevent the transmission of STD's. The media and our dissidents are pressuring the Church to change her teaching on artiufical contraception so that they can then point to this change as a precedent for changing other so-called "unchangeable" teachings, i.e. women's ordination, same-sex marriage, etc. Like petulant teenagers for generations, the media and our ecclesial whiners are testing limits.
Also, dissidents constantly point to the fact that very few Catholics actually follow the Church's teaching on artifical birth-control. If this is the case, why push so hard for a change in the teaching? Simple: the point of the push is to see a change for the sake of change so that more change will be easier down the line.
3). The Pope's letter to his fellow bishops on the SSPX controversy?
A truly classy move. The letter is magnificent in its sense of truly catholic collegiality and shows our Holy Father at his humble-best. This man impresses more and more every day. Of course, the "controversy" is media-made and the hysterical bluster among E.U. bishops is more about reacting so as not to look complicit in the eyes of their "betters." Holocaust denial is plainly stupid, bordering on the freakish; but it isn't a sin. Nor is it a theological error. We do not excommunicate Catholics (or refuse to un-excommunicate them) because they hold stupid opinions about historical events. Williamson's readmission into communion with the Church did not establish him as a Catholic bishop in good-standing. He wasn't given a diocese and put in charge of souls. His Holocaust denial shows him to be imprudent in the extreme, possibly incapable of making sound judgments, and should prevent him from ever serving in the Church as a sitting bishop. However, none of that should prevent him being a Catholic.
4). The new Mass translations being "accidentally" used in South Africa?
Yea, right. Sorry. I don't believe for a second that these new (and unapproved) translations were accidentally used. Yes, it's possible and charity requires that we assume that this was an accident until proven otherwise, but my stipend won't be on the line in that bet! Here's my guess: an opponent of the new translation, possessed by the Spook of Vatican 2, intentionally released the new translations to parishes where the language would be rejected rather dramatically. The controversy that followed was intended to be a "preview" for the Pope of how people more broadly will react to this attempt "to turn back the clock on Vatican Two" (what a tiresome phrase!). This was a staged usurpation. Am I willing to be convinced differently? Yes, of course.
I also find it highly amusing that the every people who shoved the abysmally clunky and trite langauage of the 1970 missal down the Church's throat are the same ones now screaming that the new translation will be unfamiliar to the average Catholic. Where was this concern for average Catholics when these same Liturgical Revolutionaries were wrecking churches and trashing missals, vessels, and vestments in the 70's? Irony, uh?
Also, dissidents constantly point to the fact that very few Catholics actually follow the Church's teaching on artifical birth-control. If this is the case, why push so hard for a change in the teaching? Simple: the point of the push is to see a change for the sake of change so that more change will be easier down the line.
3). The Pope's letter to his fellow bishops on the SSPX controversy?
A truly classy move. The letter is magnificent in its sense of truly catholic collegiality and shows our Holy Father at his humble-best. This man impresses more and more every day. Of course, the "controversy" is media-made and the hysterical bluster among E.U. bishops is more about reacting so as not to look complicit in the eyes of their "betters." Holocaust denial is plainly stupid, bordering on the freakish; but it isn't a sin. Nor is it a theological error. We do not excommunicate Catholics (or refuse to un-excommunicate them) because they hold stupid opinions about historical events. Williamson's readmission into communion with the Church did not establish him as a Catholic bishop in good-standing. He wasn't given a diocese and put in charge of souls. His Holocaust denial shows him to be imprudent in the extreme, possibly incapable of making sound judgments, and should prevent him from ever serving in the Church as a sitting bishop. However, none of that should prevent him being a Catholic.
4). The new Mass translations being "accidentally" used in South Africa?
Yea, right. Sorry. I don't believe for a second that these new (and unapproved) translations were accidentally used. Yes, it's possible and charity requires that we assume that this was an accident until proven otherwise, but my stipend won't be on the line in that bet! Here's my guess: an opponent of the new translation, possessed by the Spook of Vatican 2, intentionally released the new translations to parishes where the language would be rejected rather dramatically. The controversy that followed was intended to be a "preview" for the Pope of how people more broadly will react to this attempt "to turn back the clock on Vatican Two" (what a tiresome phrase!). This was a staged usurpation. Am I willing to be convinced differently? Yes, of course.
I also find it highly amusing that the every people who shoved the abysmally clunky and trite langauage of the 1970 missal down the Church's throat are the same ones now screaming that the new translation will be unfamiliar to the average Catholic. Where was this concern for average Catholics when these same Liturgical Revolutionaries were wrecking churches and trashing missals, vessels, and vestments in the 70's? Irony, uh?
More later!
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
17 March 2009
Podcast question...
Anyone else having trouble getting the podcasts on "Roman Homilies" to play?
"Texas Homilies" seems to be working just fine. . .
"Texas Homilies" seems to be working just fine. . .
Podcasts & Texts for Kenrick Conferences (updated)
Fr. Thomas McDermott, OP, director of spiritual direction at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St Louis, MO, invited me to be the speaker at the seminary's day of recollection in April 2008. I was tremendously honored to be invited. Kenrick is one of the church's fast-growing seminaries. It is one of the very, very few semimaries in the U.S. that is expanding its physical plant to accommodate an upsurge in priestly vocations!
My two talks are based on the post-synodal exhortation, Sacramentum caritatis, written and issued by Pope Benedict XVI. This exhortation comes from the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October of 2005. The document was issued in March of 2007.
I believe that this document is greatly underappreciated by theologians and lay folks alike. It could easily serve as the text for an adult faith formation class or the series of parochial talks. It is, quite simple, a brilliant piece of historical and theological reflection.
My two talks are based on the post-synodal exhortation, Sacramentum caritatis, written and issued by Pope Benedict XVI. This exhortation comes from the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October of 2005. The document was issued in March of 2007.
I believe that this document is greatly underappreciated by theologians and lay folks alike. It could easily serve as the text for an adult faith formation class or the series of parochial talks. It is, quite simple, a brilliant piece of historical and theological reflection.
One: "figura transit in veritatem: Jesus' radical novum
Two: "Penetrating the hearts of all things": Eucharist as Moral Fission (partial)
Recollection Day homily
Complete text for Conference One
Complete text for Conference Two
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Suffering from the Grudges
3rd Week of Lent (T): Dan 3.25, 34-43; Matt 18.21-35
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
[NB. Also podcasted. . .right sidebar under "Roman Homilies."]
Why is it so difficult to forgive those who have sinned against us? Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones who find forgiving others to be an effortless joy, a pleasant boon to be given away like peppermints at Christmas or chocolates at Easter. Perhaps you are willing and able to toss pardons at your enemies like paraders toss beads at Mardi Gras. Your reward will be great in Heaven. The rest of us, however, suffer from the Grudges, that obstinate refusal to release anger, hurt, annoyance; that inordinate love of nursing a wound, or spending time petting the devil of vengeance. Our prayer is: “You will pay.” For us—unlike the angels among us—for us, the commandment to love is absolutely necessary; we need the admonition to forgive and the threat of eternal pain and darkness to pry open our pouting hearts to forgiveness. Once those creaky, rusting hinges grind open, the light of God’s mercy sears the grudging fungus of offense, and we are able to see a bit more clearly the way out of our hellish labyrinth. But getting in there, parting those corroded doors can be a life’s labor. Why? Why is forgiveness so difficult? And why is Jesus so insistent that forgiveness be a bottomless cup of infinite mercy?
First, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to suggest that the sin was of no consequence, meaningless or harmless. In my grudge, I say, “No! Your sin hurt me!” To forgive it minimizes my pain.
Second, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to imply that we are OK with being sinned against again. Wouldn’t forgiving a sin imply that that sin could easily be repeated because it caused no real harm in the first place?
Third, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to imply that I must forget your sin, never bring it up again, not dwell on it, or let it influence my view of you or our relationship. How can I forget a sin?
There are many other reasons that forgiveness is difficult, but these three are the most common. They make up the unholy trinity that rusts the hinges of our heart and keeps the doors of mercy corroded and closed. Now, I suppose, you expect me to give you a tidy way of dispelling each one of these corrupting ghosts. What’s the magic pill that will wipe my memory clean? Make me never worry about consequences again? Leave me free from anxiety about being offended in the future? No such thing. Jesus never once promises that forgiving others their sins against us will magically erase our doubts about the wisdom of that forgiveness. Like his commandment to love God, neighbor, and self, we are told to forgive. Ordered to do it, in fact. We have no option. Practice makes a habit and habits ordered to love quickly become virtues. And who among us can’t make us of a virtue?
If you have difficulty forgiving others, think on this: forgiveness is impossible for those who have no sense of their own sinfulness. Holding a grudge, refusing to forgive, is very often our way of refusing to confess our sins, a self-righteous cover for our own transgressions. If I can delude myself into thinking that my hurt, my anger, my annoyance is righteous, then my own sins seem somehow less immediate, less important. Eventually, I may even find a way to turn my sins into virtues while seeking justice for my hurts. Unfortunately, while I am chasing self-righteous justice, God’s mercy goes uncollected and I go unforgiven.
Fine. What I will not allow the light of Christ to illuminate, the fires of Gehenna will burn eternally.
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
[NB. Also podcasted. . .right sidebar under "Roman Homilies."]
Why is it so difficult to forgive those who have sinned against us? Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones who find forgiving others to be an effortless joy, a pleasant boon to be given away like peppermints at Christmas or chocolates at Easter. Perhaps you are willing and able to toss pardons at your enemies like paraders toss beads at Mardi Gras. Your reward will be great in Heaven. The rest of us, however, suffer from the Grudges, that obstinate refusal to release anger, hurt, annoyance; that inordinate love of nursing a wound, or spending time petting the devil of vengeance. Our prayer is: “You will pay.” For us—unlike the angels among us—for us, the commandment to love is absolutely necessary; we need the admonition to forgive and the threat of eternal pain and darkness to pry open our pouting hearts to forgiveness. Once those creaky, rusting hinges grind open, the light of God’s mercy sears the grudging fungus of offense, and we are able to see a bit more clearly the way out of our hellish labyrinth. But getting in there, parting those corroded doors can be a life’s labor. Why? Why is forgiveness so difficult? And why is Jesus so insistent that forgiveness be a bottomless cup of infinite mercy?
First, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to suggest that the sin was of no consequence, meaningless or harmless. In my grudge, I say, “No! Your sin hurt me!” To forgive it minimizes my pain.
Second, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to imply that we are OK with being sinned against again. Wouldn’t forgiving a sin imply that that sin could easily be repeated because it caused no real harm in the first place?
Third, forgiveness is difficult because to forgive a sin seems to imply that I must forget your sin, never bring it up again, not dwell on it, or let it influence my view of you or our relationship. How can I forget a sin?
There are many other reasons that forgiveness is difficult, but these three are the most common. They make up the unholy trinity that rusts the hinges of our heart and keeps the doors of mercy corroded and closed. Now, I suppose, you expect me to give you a tidy way of dispelling each one of these corrupting ghosts. What’s the magic pill that will wipe my memory clean? Make me never worry about consequences again? Leave me free from anxiety about being offended in the future? No such thing. Jesus never once promises that forgiving others their sins against us will magically erase our doubts about the wisdom of that forgiveness. Like his commandment to love God, neighbor, and self, we are told to forgive. Ordered to do it, in fact. We have no option. Practice makes a habit and habits ordered to love quickly become virtues. And who among us can’t make us of a virtue?
If you have difficulty forgiving others, think on this: forgiveness is impossible for those who have no sense of their own sinfulness. Holding a grudge, refusing to forgive, is very often our way of refusing to confess our sins, a self-righteous cover for our own transgressions. If I can delude myself into thinking that my hurt, my anger, my annoyance is righteous, then my own sins seem somehow less immediate, less important. Eventually, I may even find a way to turn my sins into virtues while seeking justice for my hurts. Unfortunately, while I am chasing self-righteous justice, God’s mercy goes uncollected and I go unforgiven.
Fine. What I will not allow the light of Christ to illuminate, the fires of Gehenna will burn eternally.
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
15 March 2009
We're Back!
We are back from Greece!
Lots of waves, bumps, pickpockets, rude Italians, loud teenagers, a strike. . .
Also, lots of great food, wonderful sights, good friends, and lots to learn!
Thank you for your prayers and your good wishes.
Now. . .back to work. . .(bleech). . .
OH! And thanks for the WISH LIST activity while I was away. . .
Lots of waves, bumps, pickpockets, rude Italians, loud teenagers, a strike. . .
Also, lots of great food, wonderful sights, good friends, and lots to learn!
Thank you for your prayers and your good wishes.
Now. . .back to work. . .(bleech). . .
OH! And thanks for the WISH LIST activity while I was away. . .
03 March 2009
Rebels Without a Clue
Many of you have asked me to comment on the recent email from Sr. Sandra Schneiders concerning the upcoming apostolic visitation of U.S. religious sisters. The email is long and whiney and chocked full of delusional meanderings on the reality of women's religious life in the U.S. I don't intend to fisk the whole thing. This is Lent after all.
As I read the email though I was reminded of my years working in adolescent psych. Most of our teen patients were drug and alcohol abusers and most had been sexually molested. By far the most common diagnosis was ODD, "oppositional defiant disorder." Below you will find a description of this affective-mental disorder. Read it and then click over to Sandra's missive and see what you think.
As I read the email though I was reminded of my years working in adolescent psych. Most of our teen patients were drug and alcohol abusers and most had been sexually molested. By far the most common diagnosis was ODD, "oppositional defiant disorder." Below you will find a description of this affective-mental disorder. Read it and then click over to Sandra's missive and see what you think.
In children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), there is an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with the youngster's day to day functioning. Symptoms of ODD may include:
- frequent temper tantrums
- excessive arguing with adults
- active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules
- deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people
- blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
- often being touchy or easily annoyed by others
- frequent anger and resentment
- mean and hateful talking when upset
- seeking revenge
Check all the above.
Here's my take on the whole thing. . .most of the dissident women's orders in the U.S. have spent the last four decades destroying their history, dismantling their faith, and deluding themselves into believing that they are somehow leaders in the vanguard of an ecclesial revolution. Well, they are leaders of a sort, leaders of a devolution into non-existence. We don't need to recount the stats that trace their rapid disappearance from the Church scene. As I have said many times before, "Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. . ." Fr. Z. rightly calls this the "biological solution" to the problem of New-Agey priests and religious.
What's interesting to me about these groups is their oppositional-defiant relationship with Church authority. You see, when I worked with ODD teens in the hospital, it was often the case that the teens would act out when discipline on the unit grew lax. When staff and clinicians got a little lazy about the rules, the teens would let us know--through their bad behavior--that they felt unsafe and needed the boundaries to be enforced. When the staff got tough again, there was a little sassy lip and the occasional time-out, but most of the teens quickly dropped back into their polished disinterest in authority. . .all the while carefully crafting for themselves and for their peers attitudes that let them be safely contra staff.
Sandra and sisters like her have spent the last forty years establishing themselves as oppositional-defiant figures in the Church. Their entire identity as Catholics, religious, women, and human beings is so deeply entangled in being O-D to the Church that they no longer know how to exist outside their comfortable (i.e., well-funded, tenured) bubbles of oppositional nastiness.
If I had to bet this month's stipend on a sure thing, I would bet on this: Sandra and her sisters are thrilled to hear about this visitation! It gives them something to oppose, something to rally against, something TO DO that ratifies their already self-confirming identity as courageous ecclesial rebels. There will be workshops, conferences, websites, petitions, "calls-to-action," oh but the phone trees and email lists will be lit up, rallying opposition to the visitation.
Why?
Because in the absence of any identifibly Catholic characteristics in their "religious lives," Sandra, et al only have the reassuring warmth of their communal temper tantrums and the thin gruel of their rebellion to sustain them in the few winter years they have left. Without this Evil Vatican Visitation--heck, without the Evil Vatican!--Sandra and her goddess-worshipping sisters, would be rebels without a cause.
As it is, their whining is little more than adolescent snarking from the time-out room.
Here's my deadly serious challenge to Sr. Sandra and her ilk: Leave. Simply, leave. Go to another ecclesial communion that will celebrate your wingnut religiosity. If the Roman Catholic Church is so horribly oppressive, so unjustly bigoted, so irrecoverably patriarchal, and these features cause you so much distress and anguish, then leave! But see, you won't leave. Why? Because you have an ODD relationship with Church authority. If you join the Episcopalians, a group that will embrace you and all your moon-batness, if you join the Episco-pagans, you become the establishment. You become the norm, the regular. . .and since you are constitutionally incapable of forming a positive identity, you will cling for dear life to your oppositional-defiant identity in the RCC. You need the Pope. You need the hierarchy. You need the haunting spectre of an Evil Vatican Visitation. You need the orthodox sisters of the CMSWR. You need bloggers like me writing posts like this. . .ah well.
If that weren't so sad, it would be funny.
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
Here's my take on the whole thing. . .most of the dissident women's orders in the U.S. have spent the last four decades destroying their history, dismantling their faith, and deluding themselves into believing that they are somehow leaders in the vanguard of an ecclesial revolution. Well, they are leaders of a sort, leaders of a devolution into non-existence. We don't need to recount the stats that trace their rapid disappearance from the Church scene. As I have said many times before, "Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. . ." Fr. Z. rightly calls this the "biological solution" to the problem of New-Agey priests and religious.
What's interesting to me about these groups is their oppositional-defiant relationship with Church authority. You see, when I worked with ODD teens in the hospital, it was often the case that the teens would act out when discipline on the unit grew lax. When staff and clinicians got a little lazy about the rules, the teens would let us know--through their bad behavior--that they felt unsafe and needed the boundaries to be enforced. When the staff got tough again, there was a little sassy lip and the occasional time-out, but most of the teens quickly dropped back into their polished disinterest in authority. . .all the while carefully crafting for themselves and for their peers attitudes that let them be safely contra staff.
Sandra and sisters like her have spent the last forty years establishing themselves as oppositional-defiant figures in the Church. Their entire identity as Catholics, religious, women, and human beings is so deeply entangled in being O-D to the Church that they no longer know how to exist outside their comfortable (i.e., well-funded, tenured) bubbles of oppositional nastiness.
If I had to bet this month's stipend on a sure thing, I would bet on this: Sandra and her sisters are thrilled to hear about this visitation! It gives them something to oppose, something to rally against, something TO DO that ratifies their already self-confirming identity as courageous ecclesial rebels. There will be workshops, conferences, websites, petitions, "calls-to-action," oh but the phone trees and email lists will be lit up, rallying opposition to the visitation.
Why?
Because in the absence of any identifibly Catholic characteristics in their "religious lives," Sandra, et al only have the reassuring warmth of their communal temper tantrums and the thin gruel of their rebellion to sustain them in the few winter years they have left. Without this Evil Vatican Visitation--heck, without the Evil Vatican!--Sandra and her goddess-worshipping sisters, would be rebels without a cause.
As it is, their whining is little more than adolescent snarking from the time-out room.
Here's my deadly serious challenge to Sr. Sandra and her ilk: Leave. Simply, leave. Go to another ecclesial communion that will celebrate your wingnut religiosity. If the Roman Catholic Church is so horribly oppressive, so unjustly bigoted, so irrecoverably patriarchal, and these features cause you so much distress and anguish, then leave! But see, you won't leave. Why? Because you have an ODD relationship with Church authority. If you join the Episcopalians, a group that will embrace you and all your moon-batness, if you join the Episco-pagans, you become the establishment. You become the norm, the regular. . .and since you are constitutionally incapable of forming a positive identity, you will cling for dear life to your oppositional-defiant identity in the RCC. You need the Pope. You need the hierarchy. You need the haunting spectre of an Evil Vatican Visitation. You need the orthodox sisters of the CMSWR. You need bloggers like me writing posts like this. . .ah well.
If that weren't so sad, it would be funny.
Bountiful desert of Lent
First Week of Lent (T): Is 55.10-11; Mt 6.7-15
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
[NB. Also podcasted. . .right sidebar under "Roman Homilies."]
Our Lord says to Isaiah, “My word,” falling like rain and snow from the heavens, watering the earth, “shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it…[to give] seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats.” Rain and snow watering the earth. Bread to eat. Sowing seed on fruitful soil. Can we see the desert sands of Lent as rich, fertile ground, abundantly sown with well-watered seed? Is this how we should be imagining our fasting and prayer? Isn’t this a time for cutting away, cleaning up, setting aside, and trimming down? Aren’t we suppose to find ourselves wounded and weak, in need of rescue and restoration? Is Lent the proper time for us to be thinking about planting well-watered seed in fertile ground? As any good farmer will tell you: you cannot plant a field choked with weeds and brush…first, you have to clear the land, then you start to plant.
Let’s clear some spiritual land this morning! Starting with prayer. How do you pray? Jesus tells his disciples not to babble like the pagans when they pray. Don’t babble? That’s right, don’t babble. He says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” So, how then should we pray? We ask for what we need. Nothing more. Daily bread. Forgiveness. Rescue from temptation, deliverance from evil. And for these we are to give constant thanks and praise. Why ask for what we need when the Father already knows what we need? We are completely dependent on God for everything. Asking for what we need exercises our humility, thus making our prayer all the more fruitful for understanding ourselves as creatures loved by our Creator.
How about fasting? First, why are you fasting? Are you taking advantage of Lent to lose a little weight for summer? Maybe trim down for the beach? Are you fasting to acquire a good habit? Or perhaps to lose a bad one? Are you following the rules merely to follow the rules? If your fasting is something other than a means of clearing away the spiritual brush, a way of pulling the noxious weeds that strangle your fruitful growth, then your fasting is without good purpose. Fasting is a discipline, that is, it is a way of learning. What are you learning from your Lenten fast? Come Easter, what will you know about your life in Christ that you do not know now? What can fasting teach us? Like praying for our needs, fasting can teach us about our dependence on God, about our need to acknowledge our dependence and give God thanks for His generosity. Fasting is not about “going without” food or drink or shopping. Fasting is about “going with” God instead of food or drink or shopping.
The Lord tells Isaiah, “[My word] shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” If the Word of the Lord is to achieve its end for you, it must do so with you. The Word must find in your heart and mind a field cleared of strangling weeds and choking brush. The Word waters thirsty ground, and the seed finds welcome in rich soil. We have forty days to turn a Lenten desert into a verdant field. Pray, fast, and never forget, never forget: gives thanks, always give thanks!
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
[NB. Also podcasted. . .right sidebar under "Roman Homilies."]
Our Lord says to Isaiah, “My word,” falling like rain and snow from the heavens, watering the earth, “shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it…[to give] seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats.” Rain and snow watering the earth. Bread to eat. Sowing seed on fruitful soil. Can we see the desert sands of Lent as rich, fertile ground, abundantly sown with well-watered seed? Is this how we should be imagining our fasting and prayer? Isn’t this a time for cutting away, cleaning up, setting aside, and trimming down? Aren’t we suppose to find ourselves wounded and weak, in need of rescue and restoration? Is Lent the proper time for us to be thinking about planting well-watered seed in fertile ground? As any good farmer will tell you: you cannot plant a field choked with weeds and brush…first, you have to clear the land, then you start to plant.
Let’s clear some spiritual land this morning! Starting with prayer. How do you pray? Jesus tells his disciples not to babble like the pagans when they pray. Don’t babble? That’s right, don’t babble. He says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” So, how then should we pray? We ask for what we need. Nothing more. Daily bread. Forgiveness. Rescue from temptation, deliverance from evil. And for these we are to give constant thanks and praise. Why ask for what we need when the Father already knows what we need? We are completely dependent on God for everything. Asking for what we need exercises our humility, thus making our prayer all the more fruitful for understanding ourselves as creatures loved by our Creator.
How about fasting? First, why are you fasting? Are you taking advantage of Lent to lose a little weight for summer? Maybe trim down for the beach? Are you fasting to acquire a good habit? Or perhaps to lose a bad one? Are you following the rules merely to follow the rules? If your fasting is something other than a means of clearing away the spiritual brush, a way of pulling the noxious weeds that strangle your fruitful growth, then your fasting is without good purpose. Fasting is a discipline, that is, it is a way of learning. What are you learning from your Lenten fast? Come Easter, what will you know about your life in Christ that you do not know now? What can fasting teach us? Like praying for our needs, fasting can teach us about our dependence on God, about our need to acknowledge our dependence and give God thanks for His generosity. Fasting is not about “going without” food or drink or shopping. Fasting is about “going with” God instead of food or drink or shopping.
The Lord tells Isaiah, “[My word] shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” If the Word of the Lord is to achieve its end for you, it must do so with you. The Word must find in your heart and mind a field cleared of strangling weeds and choking brush. The Word waters thirsty ground, and the seed finds welcome in rich soil. We have forty days to turn a Lenten desert into a verdant field. Pray, fast, and never forget, never forget: gives thanks, always give thanks!
Why is Jesus tempted?
First Sunday of Lent: Gn 9.8-15; 1 Pt 3.18-22; Mk 1.12-15
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
Jesus is driven into the desert. Not invited or called. Not lured or encouraged. But driven. With the waters of the Jordan still running off his head and the Spirit’s proclamation of his divine Sonship still ringing in his ears, Jesus is sent forth, by that same Spirit, into the wilderness sands to be tempted by Satan for forty days and nights. This is not a very dignified way to celebrate the baptism of the newly announced Son of God. This is not the welcome we would expect for the freshly washed, the newly purified. Nonetheless, Jesus is driven into the wilderness to live among wild beasts and to be ministered to by angels. What purpose does this indignity serve? What possible good could come from allowing Jesus to be tempted by the Devil?
Let’s understand what all this business about being “driven into the desert” implies about Jesus and his baptism. How is he driven into the wilderness? It seems as though he goes out into the sand reluctantly, under compulsion by the Spirit. Other English translations use “sent forth into,” “impelled to go out,” “put forth” instead of “driven out.” What’s missing from these other translations is the sense of immediacy and urgency Jesus feels. But using “driven out” leaves the impression that Jesus goes unwillingly. In fact, his baptism and the announcement of his divine Sonship by the Father—events immediately prior to his going out into the desert—are so profoundly definitive of Jesus’ ministry, mission, and identity that he is “driven into” the desert in the same way that athletes are driven to competitive perfection and artists are driven to creative expression. Gifted at his incarnation with both a human nature and a divine nature, the one person, Jesus, perfects his gift of Sonship in the crucible of the desert so that that gift might be used for God’s greater glory in the service of others—the salvation of all creation.
This first chapter of Mark clearly indicates the incarnational nature of Jesus’ Sonship by marking the divine with his baptism and marking the human with his temptation in the desert. After the forty days with the devil, Jesus is a finely honed, razor-sharp weapon of gospel preaching and miracle-working. Having been shown the limits of human loyalty to the Word and tempted to violate them, and having been shown the limits of angelic loyalty of the Word and tempted to violate them, Jesus walks out of the desert victorious over the devil, proclaiming: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” How much more forceful is this proclamation once we know that its clarity and simplicity were forged in the heat and sweat of the devil’s wilderness by “a man like one of us.” And how much more are we encouraged to hear this proclamation knowing that it comes from a man like one of us, and not only a man like one of us, but also the Father’s only-begotten Son. Fully human, fully divine—the gift of divine Sonship perfected in the trials of the desert—Christ Jesus comes to us as John prophesied, and we hear the gospel preached from the Word himself.
Jesus proclaims, “This is the time of fulfillment,” this is the moment of consummation, of satisfaction and completion; this age is the age of achievement and conclusion, of having done and being done. Every contract has its terms to be fulfilled. Every promise comes due. Every I.O.U. waits to be made right. We have a covenant with the Lord that surpasses Law, that surpasses Promise, that surpasses even the words of the Prophets. Our covenant with the Lord is the Lord himself in human flesh. The terms of our covenant, if you will, are etched on his skin, signed with a whip, and sealed with nails. Peter puts it rather succinctly: “Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.” If our sins were to be healed, Christ had to become sin for us. If our sufferings were to be relieved, Christ had to become suffering for us. If our temptations were to be defeated, Christ had to become temptation for us, standing in the stead of our dis-ease, so that health might triumph. Origen gets it exactly right, “The whole man would not have been saved, unless Christ had taken upon himself the whole man.”
In as much as the man Jesus goes into the desert to try the limits of his humanity against the enticements of evil, so we are driven into that same desert to test the limits of our divinely-gifted end. All too familiar with the devil’s lures, we should look instead for the enchantments of our loving Creator, our God Who made us to come to Him and live with Him forever. Of course, the devil will lurk as he always does, but our attention, our focus and energy are wasted fighting the Loser. Christ has beaten the devil. But the devil refuses to concede the fight. Though he has lost, he can still find some satisfaction in convincing you that there is something to fight him about! And if he can convince you to spend your Lenten retreat fighting him, then he has succeeded in preventing you from glorying in God’s gifts of mercy and care.
We asked early on: what possible good could come from allowing Jesus to be tempted by the Devil? Simply put: our good, that is, the good of all the Father’s children who strive to reach and grasp His promise of divine life beyond this life. Without the bridge of the incarnation, without the sacrifice of Christ—fully human, fully divine—and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we would be left to our natural end: death and decay. Christ’s defeat of the devil’s enticements in the desert marks just the beginning of our recovery as loved creatures destined for divine union!
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma
Jesus is driven into the desert. Not invited or called. Not lured or encouraged. But driven. With the waters of the Jordan still running off his head and the Spirit’s proclamation of his divine Sonship still ringing in his ears, Jesus is sent forth, by that same Spirit, into the wilderness sands to be tempted by Satan for forty days and nights. This is not a very dignified way to celebrate the baptism of the newly announced Son of God. This is not the welcome we would expect for the freshly washed, the newly purified. Nonetheless, Jesus is driven into the wilderness to live among wild beasts and to be ministered to by angels. What purpose does this indignity serve? What possible good could come from allowing Jesus to be tempted by the Devil?
Let’s understand what all this business about being “driven into the desert” implies about Jesus and his baptism. How is he driven into the wilderness? It seems as though he goes out into the sand reluctantly, under compulsion by the Spirit. Other English translations use “sent forth into,” “impelled to go out,” “put forth” instead of “driven out.” What’s missing from these other translations is the sense of immediacy and urgency Jesus feels. But using “driven out” leaves the impression that Jesus goes unwillingly. In fact, his baptism and the announcement of his divine Sonship by the Father—events immediately prior to his going out into the desert—are so profoundly definitive of Jesus’ ministry, mission, and identity that he is “driven into” the desert in the same way that athletes are driven to competitive perfection and artists are driven to creative expression. Gifted at his incarnation with both a human nature and a divine nature, the one person, Jesus, perfects his gift of Sonship in the crucible of the desert so that that gift might be used for God’s greater glory in the service of others—the salvation of all creation.
This first chapter of Mark clearly indicates the incarnational nature of Jesus’ Sonship by marking the divine with his baptism and marking the human with his temptation in the desert. After the forty days with the devil, Jesus is a finely honed, razor-sharp weapon of gospel preaching and miracle-working. Having been shown the limits of human loyalty to the Word and tempted to violate them, and having been shown the limits of angelic loyalty of the Word and tempted to violate them, Jesus walks out of the desert victorious over the devil, proclaiming: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” How much more forceful is this proclamation once we know that its clarity and simplicity were forged in the heat and sweat of the devil’s wilderness by “a man like one of us.” And how much more are we encouraged to hear this proclamation knowing that it comes from a man like one of us, and not only a man like one of us, but also the Father’s only-begotten Son. Fully human, fully divine—the gift of divine Sonship perfected in the trials of the desert—Christ Jesus comes to us as John prophesied, and we hear the gospel preached from the Word himself.
Jesus proclaims, “This is the time of fulfillment,” this is the moment of consummation, of satisfaction and completion; this age is the age of achievement and conclusion, of having done and being done. Every contract has its terms to be fulfilled. Every promise comes due. Every I.O.U. waits to be made right. We have a covenant with the Lord that surpasses Law, that surpasses Promise, that surpasses even the words of the Prophets. Our covenant with the Lord is the Lord himself in human flesh. The terms of our covenant, if you will, are etched on his skin, signed with a whip, and sealed with nails. Peter puts it rather succinctly: “Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.” If our sins were to be healed, Christ had to become sin for us. If our sufferings were to be relieved, Christ had to become suffering for us. If our temptations were to be defeated, Christ had to become temptation for us, standing in the stead of our dis-ease, so that health might triumph. Origen gets it exactly right, “The whole man would not have been saved, unless Christ had taken upon himself the whole man.”
In as much as the man Jesus goes into the desert to try the limits of his humanity against the enticements of evil, so we are driven into that same desert to test the limits of our divinely-gifted end. All too familiar with the devil’s lures, we should look instead for the enchantments of our loving Creator, our God Who made us to come to Him and live with Him forever. Of course, the devil will lurk as he always does, but our attention, our focus and energy are wasted fighting the Loser. Christ has beaten the devil. But the devil refuses to concede the fight. Though he has lost, he can still find some satisfaction in convincing you that there is something to fight him about! And if he can convince you to spend your Lenten retreat fighting him, then he has succeeded in preventing you from glorying in God’s gifts of mercy and care.
We asked early on: what possible good could come from allowing Jesus to be tempted by the Devil? Simply put: our good, that is, the good of all the Father’s children who strive to reach and grasp His promise of divine life beyond this life. Without the bridge of the incarnation, without the sacrifice of Christ—fully human, fully divine—and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we would be left to our natural end: death and decay. Christ’s defeat of the devil’s enticements in the desert marks just the beginning of our recovery as loved creatures destined for divine union!
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
28 February 2009
New suppl(e)mental posts
Two new posts at suppl(e)mental. . .
"Big Bang, Lemaitre, and scientific dogma"
and
"Biblical basis for western science"
Check 'em out!
"Big Bang, Lemaitre, and scientific dogma"
and
"Biblical basis for western science"
Check 'em out!
26 February 2009
The Devil preaches on Lent
Back in Lent 2006, I preached one of my more experimental/literary homilies, "With the Devil in the Desert."
Some loved it, some hated it, and some thought I had gone over the edge into the diabolical by preaching a homily in the voice of the Devil.
Since the homily got exactly one comment on the blog, I'm curious about what folks might think about it now. . .I thoroughly enjoyed writing and preaching this homily. It's one of my favorites!
Give it a read/listen and let me know. . .
Some loved it, some hated it, and some thought I had gone over the edge into the diabolical by preaching a homily in the voice of the Devil.
Since the homily got exactly one comment on the blog, I'm curious about what folks might think about it now. . .I thoroughly enjoyed writing and preaching this homily. It's one of my favorites!
Give it a read/listen and let me know. . .
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
24 February 2009
Godzdogz: English OP's "do" Lent
Unsigned comments will be deleted. Permission is given to re-post or reprint with attribution for non-commercial use only.
Seminar report on science, theology, philosophy
I had decided not to post my science, philosophy, and theology seminar report b/c it needed some re-working.
Then I thought, "You're just being fastidious. Post it."
So, I did: Polkinghorne's Complementarity.
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