Les Fleurs de Mort (18 x 24 canvas board)
My Way is Hidden (18 x 24 canvas board) RECYCLED
Les Fleurs (16 x 20 canvas board)
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10 December 2014
09 December 2014
On the Proper Use of Ample Friar-Bellies
Baby Leo says, "Ample friar-bellies are good for bouncing on!"
Pic: John Yike (Seminarian)
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Pic: John Yike (Seminarian)
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08 December 2014
Ineffabilis Deus: on the Immaculate Conception
From 2012:
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St Dominic Church, NOLA
1). The phrase “we declare, pronounce, and define that…” establishes Ineffabilis Deus as an infallible papal pronouncement. Not the first nor the last. Please note that papal infallibility wasn’t officially defined (i.e. “limited”) until 1870 at the First Vatican Council some sixteen years later.
2). The Holy Father is pronouncing infallibly on an existing doctrine. In other words, Pope Pius IX did not “invent” the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Our modern solemnity developed rather circuitously over the centuries from the second century oriental feast of The Conception of St John the Baptist. This feast and the feast of The Conception of St. Anne, Mary’s mother, carried the tradition in the East until we find in the eleventh century liturgical books the Feast of the Conception of Virgin Mary. The first Feast of the Immaculate Conception was celebrated by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.
3). Mary’s immaculate conception in her mother’s womb was achieved “by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God…” This was a unique gift to Mary, an individual dispensation made especially for her.
4). Mary’s preservation from O.S. was made possible by “the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race…” Mary did not save herself nor preserve herself from original sin. Like the rest of humanity, our Mother, very much a human woman, was “saved” by Christ.
5). Pius IX defines “immaculate” as “preserved free from all stain of original sin…” In other words, Mary was spared the effects of the Fall and was thus perfect in her humanity while living among us, remaining sinless her entire life, leading to her bodily assumption into heaven.
6). As already noted, the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception has always been believed by the Church. Pius IX’s 1854 declaration simply elevates the doctrine to the rank of dogma, teaching us that Mary’s sinless state at the instant of her conception “is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” Believing firmly and constantly in the truth of the Immaculate Conception is not optional for Roman Catholics; it is definitive of the faith, i.e. de fide.
That’s what the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches. What does it mean? Think about what Mary the virgin girl was asked to do by the angel Gabriel. She was asked to assent to conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to the Word of God, His only Son. Gabriel greets Mary with, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” Mary is scared nearly speechless by this and “ponders what sort of greeting this might be.” Gabriel, seeing her distress, says, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Mary assents to the angel’s request to be the Mother of the Word among us, saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Not only does the I.C. explain how the Son of God becomes the Son of Man w/o the stain of Original Sin, the dogma also foreshadows for us the conception of the Church.
Follow me here:
Mary gives the Christ his flesh and bone. The Church is the Body of Christ on earth, making Mary our Mother.
Mary gives birth to the Word made flesh. The Church in the flesh –that's all of us—preaches and teaches the Word to the world.
Mary, the deathless Mother of the Church, is raised bodily to heaven. The Church, our deathless Mother, will be raised bodily on the Last Day.
As members of the Body of Christ, we are given the dogma of the I.C. as more than a theological explanation, as more than an infallible definition of Catholic truth. The I.C. is for us a way of knowing our Father and the strength of His fidelity to His promises. Paul teaches us that God chose the Church, as he chose Mary “before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Immaculate. Like Mary, “we were also chosen…so that we might exist for the praise of His glory…” Mary is the exemplary church, the ideal body of believers assenting to the will of God; conceiving, carrying, giving birth to the Word daily, hourly before the world, for the world. And for this purpose, Mary and the Church were themselves conceived, carried, and birthed without the stain, the burden of sin. This solemnity is a singular grace, a gifted moment where we glimpse not in passing but in perpetuity the overwhelming power of our Father to accomplish through Christ the promises He made to our ancestors long ago: a virgin will conceive a son and he will be called “Emmanuel,” God-with-us, Jesus the Christ!
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Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St Dominic Church, NOLA
I have heard the dogma of the Blessed Mother’s immaculate conception
called everything from “unnecessary political propaganda” to “Mary’s
crowning as the fourth Person of the Blessed Trinity.” Our Marian dogmas
tend to get folks a little overexcited: Mary is a Catholic goddess.
Catholics believe that Mary is equal to Christ as our Redeemer. Since
Mary is the Mother of God, it is actually her flesh and blood we consume
at the Mass. No doubt some of these errors are the products of
overeager amateur theologians. Some are intentional misrepresentations
made for scoring points against the Church. Others are half-heard,
misheard, or re-heard rumors and poorly memorized fifth grade
catechesis! So, let's set the record straight on the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception.
We are here this evening to celebrate one of those oft-misheard,
misunderstood Marian dogmas: the Immaculate Conception. On this day in
1854, Pope Pius IX issued an encyclical titled, Ineffabilis Deus
(“Ineffable God”). In this letter our Holy Father writes: “We declare,
pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most
Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a
singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the
merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free
from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and
therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”
Let’s look at what this statement says and then look at what it means.
Here’s what we need to notice:
1). The phrase “we declare, pronounce, and define that…” establishes Ineffabilis Deus as an infallible papal pronouncement. Not the first nor the last. Please note that papal infallibility wasn’t officially defined (i.e. “limited”) until 1870 at the First Vatican Council some sixteen years later.
2). The Holy Father is pronouncing infallibly on an existing doctrine. In other words, Pope Pius IX did not “invent” the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Our modern solemnity developed rather circuitously over the centuries from the second century oriental feast of The Conception of St John the Baptist. This feast and the feast of The Conception of St. Anne, Mary’s mother, carried the tradition in the East until we find in the eleventh century liturgical books the Feast of the Conception of Virgin Mary. The first Feast of the Immaculate Conception was celebrated by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.
3). Mary’s immaculate conception in her mother’s womb was achieved “by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God…” This was a unique gift to Mary, an individual dispensation made especially for her.
4). Mary’s preservation from O.S. was made possible by “the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race…” Mary did not save herself nor preserve herself from original sin. Like the rest of humanity, our Mother, very much a human woman, was “saved” by Christ.
5). Pius IX defines “immaculate” as “preserved free from all stain of original sin…” In other words, Mary was spared the effects of the Fall and was thus perfect in her humanity while living among us, remaining sinless her entire life, leading to her bodily assumption into heaven.
6). As already noted, the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception has always been believed by the Church. Pius IX’s 1854 declaration simply elevates the doctrine to the rank of dogma, teaching us that Mary’s sinless state at the instant of her conception “is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” Believing firmly and constantly in the truth of the Immaculate Conception is not optional for Roman Catholics; it is definitive of the faith, i.e. de fide.
That’s what the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches. What does it mean? Think about what Mary the virgin girl was asked to do by the angel Gabriel. She was asked to assent to conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to the Word of God, His only Son. Gabriel greets Mary with, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” Mary is scared nearly speechless by this and “ponders what sort of greeting this might be.” Gabriel, seeing her distress, says, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Mary assents to the angel’s request to be the Mother of the Word among us, saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Not only does the I.C. explain how the Son of God becomes the Son of Man w/o the stain of Original Sin, the dogma also foreshadows for us the conception of the Church.
Follow me here:
Mary gives the Christ his flesh and bone. The Church is the Body of Christ on earth, making Mary our Mother.
Mary gives birth to the Word made flesh. The Church in the flesh –that's all of us—preaches and teaches the Word to the world.
Mary, the deathless Mother of the Church, is raised bodily to heaven. The Church, our deathless Mother, will be raised bodily on the Last Day.
As members of the Body of Christ, we are given the dogma of the I.C. as more than a theological explanation, as more than an infallible definition of Catholic truth. The I.C. is for us a way of knowing our Father and the strength of His fidelity to His promises. Paul teaches us that God chose the Church, as he chose Mary “before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Immaculate. Like Mary, “we were also chosen…so that we might exist for the praise of His glory…” Mary is the exemplary church, the ideal body of believers assenting to the will of God; conceiving, carrying, giving birth to the Word daily, hourly before the world, for the world. And for this purpose, Mary and the Church were themselves conceived, carried, and birthed without the stain, the burden of sin. This solemnity is a singular grace, a gifted moment where we glimpse not in passing but in perpetuity the overwhelming power of our Father to accomplish through Christ the promises He made to our ancestors long ago: a virgin will conceive a son and he will be called “Emmanuel,” God-with-us, Jesus the Christ!
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07 December 2014
(Place Holder for Homily Audio) UPDATED
UPDATE: Got to the pulpit, turned on the recorder, it flashed "Batt Low" once and then died. It was fine this morning.
I'll be preaching w/o a text at OLR this evening. I'm too distracted/busy/exhausted to write with any kind of enthusiasm or authenticity.
I'll be preaching w/o a text at OLR this evening. I'm too distracted/busy/exhausted to write with any kind of enthusiasm or authenticity.
Faculty evals to write; seminarian evals to write; three sets of homilies to grade; a CCC final exam to grade; final grades to calculate, 24 paintings to pack and ship, etc., ad. nau.
I could recycle an old homily, but that's a lazy dodge. . .one I've used too often lately.
I've put my recorder in my habit breast pocket so that it's not forgotten.
Watch this post for a link to the audio.
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Two More Just Finished
Finished these two this morning. . .
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Exodus (18 x 24 canvas board) RECYCLED
The Flood (16 x20 canvas board)
_______________________
3 New Paintings and 2 Re-runs
Here are three new paintings and two re-runs. These were taken with the Surprise Package I rec'd last week from a Secret Santa.
Moses in the Bullrushes (16 x 20 canvas board) SOLD
Go to the Lost (16 x 20 canvas board) RECYCLED
He is Gracious (18 x 24 canvas board)
Twelve Tribes (16 x 20 canvas board) RECYCLED
Tongues of Fire (16 x 20 canvas board)
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Coffee Cup Browsing
The UVA gang-rape hoax and the goals of "Narrative Journalism." This is how our universities are teaching your kids to think.
UVA Prez collectively punished all fraternities based on nothing more than the ideological fantasies of a Lefty with a By-line.
3 Things about Senator Mary from Louisiana. . .actually, there should be 4 things: she'll be job-hunting Monday morning.
Yup, Mary's out of a job. She'll get a plush lobbyist job, so don't worry about her. My parish (county) Orleans voted for her 85%.
Yup, Mary's out of a job. She'll get a plush lobbyist job, so don't worry about her. My parish (county) Orleans voted for her 85%.
Crucifix stolen during Mass. . .
D.C. repeals religious schools' exemption from sexual orientation law. . .
Document on the visitation of American religious women to be released on Dec. 16th. It will be a white-wash, I'm sure. (NB. this is not the CDF investigation of the LCWR)
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04 December 2014
Coffee Cup Browsing
Reactions and overreactions to the Ferguson Fracas based on class prejudice not racial prejudice?
Sheriff is not a fan of Holder and his race-baiting gimmicks.
HHS:
$186,129,786 to the Baptist Children and Family Services for four months
of care for thousands of illegal aliens.
BO fundraiser and founder of the Human Rights Campaign, Terence Bean, is arrested for child-rape. Media: *crickets* Of course, if he were "Fr. Terry" we'd never hear the end of it.
Tactics of the Devil: an on-going series of posts on how the Devil wars against God and the human soul.
One way to fight the Devil's tactics: Dominican nuns of Summit, NJ!
Political biases of major professions. . .no shocker here: MSM overwhelming leftist. It's not even close.
03 December 2014
What a Sorry Excuse for a Blogger I Am
Mea culpa!
I've not been a dutiful blogger lately.
Teaching four classes, advising 22 seminarians, the painting hobby, etc. have kept me away from the keyboard.
Next week will be better! But then I head off to visit the Squirrels Dec 18th.
A Kind & Generous Soul sent me a surprise gift -- a good digital camera! So, pics of the newer smearings will actually look like the smearings and not CCTV footage of a hit and run.
As always I am deeply grateful to my benefactors. Particularly: Michelle R., Michelle M., Dale N., Andrew G., Christine L., and all of those who have sent books, paint, canvases, and a camera (!) my way.
God bless, Fr. Philip Neri, OP
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30 November 2014
Five New Paintings
Fomes Peccati (16 x 20 canvas board) INCOMPLETE
Hidden (18 x 24 canvas board)
RECYCLED
RECYCLED
Tongues of Fire (16 x 20 canvas board)
Do Not Let Us Wander (16 x 20 canvas board)
Moses in the Bullrushes (16 x 20 canvas board)
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Know where you stand
1st
Sunday of Advent
Fr.
Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our
Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
We
begin with a lament: “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your
ways, and harden our hearts so that we [do not] fear you?” So, it's
God's fault that we wander from His ways and do not fear Him? God
hardens our hearts against Him? Isaiah's lament leaves us to wonder
whether or not God truly wants us to follow His Word, to be awed by
His glory. The prophet wails to God: “. . .we are sinful; all of us
have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted
rags; we have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away
like the wind.” And our sins, our polluted deeds, our guilt, all of
it is God's doing? How? Why? No one calls on your name. No one clings
to your Word. No one seeks out your face, Lord; so, Isaiah says, “.
. .you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our
guilt.” Sin separates us from God. We cannot call upon His name nor
hear His Word nor seek out His face in sin. In other words, while we
dwell in sin – willful disobedience – it is as if God has
abandoned us. Jesus tells his disciples (and us): “Be watchful! Be
alert! You do not know when the time will come.” The time for what?
The time of his return and our judgment. We wait for The End.
The End comes for us when Christ comes again in glory to judge the
living and the dead. We celebrate his first arrival – his birth –
at Christmas. So, the Advent season pulls double-duty: 1) a time of
expectation before the birth of the Christ-Child at Christmas, and 2)
a dry run for his second coming in glory. Advent is set aside in the
Church year for waiting. Waiting with anticipation. Not just hangin'
around, twiddlin' our thumbs but real, conscious, active waiting.
I'll confess right now that I do not Wait Well. Watch me drive btw
the seminary on S. Carrollton and the priory on Harrison any
afternoon. I start wishing for roof-mounted rocket launchers on my
car. Or watch me at 4am while I stand dazed, confused, and frustrated
in front of the priory's slowly dribbling coffee maker. Nothing sets
off my impatience like inattentive drivers or slow-working machines.
Or meandering customers at Winn-Dixie. Or pointless meetings. No, I
definitely do not wait well. Do you? And I don't just mean “are you
impatient generally?” I mean, when it comes to being attentive to
your spiritual life, your intimate relationship with God, do you wait
upon Him eagerly, joyfully, without expectation? Advent is our chance
to examine ourselves thoroughly and find out.
In
this sense, Advent has a penitential edge to it. We might think that
Advent is a season of joy, a pre-season of cheeriness gearing up for
the Real Cheer of Christmas. But on this First Sunday of Advent, we
began with a sobering reminder of exactly what Advent is. We heard
Isaiah's confession: God's people are sinful, unclean; even our good
deeds are like polluted rags; and our guilt carries us away like a
wind! Then Jesus tells us to be watchful and alert for his coming in
judgment. “Watch, therefore;” he warns, “you do not know when
the Lord of the house is coming.” Advent is a time of expectancy,
anticipating the Lord's nativity, but it is also a time of
examination, penance, conversion, and growing in holiness. And it is
a season for us to live out Isaiah’s confession: “O Lord, we are
the clay and you the potter; we are all the work of your hands.” If
Advent is going to be a season of good spiritual fruit, if we are
turn away from disobedience and receive God's mercy, then we must
bring fresh to our hearts and minds the wisdom of Isaiah’s
confession: we are made from the stuff of the Earth, breathed into
life by the divine breath, shaped, and given purpose by a God Who
looks upon us as works of art, creations to be loved and saved and
brought back to Him unblemished and whole.
Earlier
I suggested that Isaiah seems to blame God for our sinfulness. This
is a lament. Isaiah is mourning; he's grieving the apparent loss of
God's favor in His people. But God did not turn away from His people.
His people turned away from Him and then experienced their turning
away as being abandoned by God. Believing themselves abandoned, they
reveled in disobedience, fooling themselves into thinking that their
words and deeds would go unjudged by the Just Judge. Isaiah's lament
is a plea to God's people to turn around and face the Lord once more.
. .before they condemn themselves to live forever with the
consequences of their sin. Jesus' admonition to us – be watchful,
be alert – is more than a warning to be on guard for his coming
again; it's a plea to be ready, to be prepared to live forever in
whatever state he finds us in when he comes. If you wait well, if you
wait with a holy anticipation, having examined yourself thoroughly
and turned away from sin, receiving His mercy, he will find you
well-prepared, ready to go with him back to the Father. Like an
individual piece of fine art – handcrafted and preserved – he
will find you beautiful, ready for heaven.
No
fewer than four times in our readings this evening, the Lord tells us
that he is returning. He is coming back. Just as our fall from Eden
preceded his coming to redeem us then, so our sinfulness now precedes
his second coming to judge us. How we understand the coming judgment
makes all the difference in how we prepare for it. If you see the
Christ's second coming as a frightful event, a terrifying spectacle
of hell-fire and tortured souls, then your preparation will be
panicked and loaded with dread. However, if you see his coming again
as the mystical arrival of universal salvation for all, then your
preparation will likely be non-existent. Why bother to prepare for a
judgment where no judgment actually takes place? What will the second
coming and final judgment look like? No one knows exactly. The one
who died for us will pass judgment upon us. Most likely, my final
judgment before Christ and yours will look a lot like how we have
lived our lives in his name: how we have ministered to the least of
his; how we have shared his Good News of God's mercy; how we have and
have not forgiven those who sinned against us. In other words, our
judgment will reflect how we have and have not received the gift of
Christ's death on our behalf.
We
won't know what the second coming of Christ and the final judgment
looks like until it happens. So, be watchful, be alert! We don't know
when the master of the house will return. But we do know that he will
return. Will he find you waiting in holiness? Will he find you
reveling in disobedience b/c you believe that He's abandoned you?
Make these weeks of Advent your time to thoroughly examine where you
stand with Christ. And if you need to, turn back to Him, receive His
mercy through confession and get to work being Christ for others.
Know where you stand. Because when he comes again in glory that's
where you likely remain. . .forever.
______________________
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26 November 2014
Testimony I & II
Two I finished last night. . .
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Testimony I (16 x 20 canvas board)
Testimony II (16 x 20 canvas board)
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25 November 2014
All My Abstracts! (UPDATED)
Light of the Nations SOLD
Wondrous Deeds (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
Awash (16 x 20 framed canvas) SOLD
Brought to Life (16 x 20 canvas board)
Comtemplata (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
Dark Night of the Soul (16 x 20 canvas board) SOLD
Shrouded (16 x 20 framed canvas)
Monet Goes to the Beach (16 x 20 canvas board) RECYCLED
Temple -- Rought Draft (16 x 20 framed canvas)
Worthy Are You (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
All in All (16 x 20 framed canvas)
SOLD
Ancient Doors (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Inferno (16 x 20 framed canvas)
SOLD
SOLD
Les Fleurs du Mal (16 x 20 canvas board)
Rock Rolled Away (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Stand Up and Go (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
5000 (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Four Living Creatures (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Psalm 24 (18 x 24 canvas board)
RECYCLED
RECYCLED
Perfecting Grace (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Emmaus Road (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Psalm 23 (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Leaving Eden Again (16 x 20 canvas board)
RECYCLED
RECYCLED
Discipleship (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Pentecost (16 x 20 framed canvas)
SOLD
SOLD
Feast (16 x 20 framed canvas)
My Hour (16 x 20 canvas board)
RECYCLED
RECYCLED
Eccles 1 (16 x 20 canvas board) RECYCLED
Votive II (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Votive I (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Pillar of Cloud (16 x 20 canvas board)
RECYCLED
RECYCLED
Jericho (16 x 20 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Noah's Covenant (18 x 24 canvas board)
SOLD
SOLD
Temple Falls (16 x 20 canvas board) RECYCLED
Canvas board: medium weight cotton canvas glued on hard cardboard.
Framed canvas: medium weight cotton canvas stretched over a wooden frame.
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23 November 2014
Subjects of the King
Christ
the King
Fr.
Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our
Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Kings
judge. It's in their job description. They also tax and spend; wage
war and make peace; they take counsel and give it. But more than
anything else, a king's rule is defined by how well he passed
judgment on his subjects. Is he fair-minded? Even-handed? Both just
and merciful? When disputes arise among his nobles, does he think
first of his people and their needs, or does he immediately think
about how to take advantage of the chaos to increase his power? Kings
embody the spirit of their land, the spirits of their people, and
define for everyone under their rule what it means to be loyal and
honest. Some rule wisely, with justice for their people. Others
abuse their authority for personal gain and glory. When the king goes
bad, so does his kingdom. If the source of authority and civil power
is corrupted, then the whole kingdom is soon corrupted as well. Who
can trust the judgment of a corrupt king? His eyes are focused on
taking the prize for himself not for others, not for us. So, on this
Solemnity of Christ the King, we are reminded that though we are
citizens of this world, we are first subjects of His Majesty in
heaven.
Paul
writes to the Corinthians on the coming of the kingdom of God, “For
just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to
life. . .” Christ is first. Then those who belong to Christ. Then
comes the end when Christ hands the kingdom over to his Father. When
does this happen? Paul answers, “. . .when [Christ] has destroyed
every sovereignty and every authority and power.” Why destroy these
authorities and powers? “For he must reign until he has put all his
enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
And that's why we honor and celebrate Christ as not only our Savior
but as our King as well: he is the destroyer of death, the last
tyrant to hold us in thrall. Death's destruction is not yet finished,
not yet final on this earth. So, we live still under the rule
of living and dying as flesh and bones creatures who hope in the
resurrection. But in celebrating Christ as our King now, we
anticipate death's end, we work toward and look forward to that time
when Christ comes to establish a new heaven and a new earth. While
still here – in the world – we subjects of His Divine Majesty
live and breath the hope and loyalty that Christ inspires. His
sacrificial love for us, his sacrifice for us is his judgment of us,
and we are sworn to bring his judgment to this world.
Kings judge. It's in their job description. And as King of the
Universe, Christ is our just judge. He says to his disciples: “When
the Son of Man comes in his glory. . .he will sit upon his glorious
throne. . .and he will separate them one [Gentile nation] from
another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” The
sheep he will invite into their eternal inheritance, the kingdom of
God. To the goats he will say, “'Depart from me, you accursed, into
the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'” What
distinguishes the sheep-nations from the goat-nations? Good
intentions? Social entitlement spending? Religious freedom? Number of
churches in the phone book? No, no, no, and no. Christ says to the
condemned nations: “. . .what you did not do for one of these least
ones, you did not do for me.” What distinguishes those nations
bound for heaven and those nations condemned to hell is the
difference btw how each nation treated the gospel messengers sent to
them – the hungry, the imprisoned, the stranger, all those who went
out with the Good News are among the least of Christ's brothers.
Where we end up as a nation, a people is determined by how we choose
to receive the Good News of the Father's mercy to sinners.
It
might seem a bit strange that Christ, King of the Universe would take
such a personal, one-on-one interest in the treatment of his
messengers by the nations. But look again at the Lord's words to
Ezekiel. Over and over again in that prophecy, the Lord uses a phrase
that rings out: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
. .I will rescue them. . .I myself will pasture my
sheep; I myself will give them rest. . .The lost I will
seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I
will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the
strong I will destroy. . .I will judge between one
sheep and another, between rams and goats.” In the promises made to
Ezekiel, the Lord does not delegate the work of kingship to another.
He doesn't pawn the tough stuff off on a vicar or a steward. He
Himself promises to heal, tend, shepherd, and judge. Our Savior, the
one who died for us, is our King, our Judge and jury. Christ will –
at his coming again in glory – look upon us and delve into our
hearts and minds and weigh how we have received his Good News; how we
treated the ones he sent out to bring us his gospel news.
Individuals, groups, nations, whole continents will be held
accountable to him for how his tender offer of mercy is received.
And
b/c we are first subjects of His Divine Majesty, our wills are
bent to his, and we are sworn to bring his justice to this world
while we are still here. Christ's justice is the swift, terrible
sword of mercy. He died so that our sins – past, present, and
future – are forgiven. Justice was done – once for all – on the
Cross, and now, we are bound by the blood of the Cross to be merciful
ourselves, to show mercy one to another, and all of us as a Church to
any and all who ask. Mercy is not a weakness nor is it a sign of
approval or indifference to sin. Mercy comes after the conviction,
after the plea of guilty. Mercy granted before confession or
conviction is no mercy at all; it's a pitiful admission of spiritual
laziness on our part, a sign of our own self-satisfaction. A sinner
seeking mercy is like a starving man needing good food. Do you feed a
starving man generic brand cat food? No. So, do not feed a
mercy-seeking sinner cheap mercy. Our Just Judge will want to know
upon his coming again in glory: did you feed, clothe, welcome the
ones I sent you to receive my mercy? Did you house, bathe, visit the
sinners I sent you for forgiveness and reconciliation? Or did you
dismiss them in their misery b/c you no long care about the
difference btw wickedness and righteousness?
If
our Lord will personally see to our judgment in the Last Days,
then we are well advised to see to his good work while we live. He
sends among us the least of his brothers and sisters. Not to test us,
but to give us every chance, every opportunity to be
Christ-for-another. This is how we grow in holiness; it's how we come
closer and closer to his perfection. As citizens of this world, we
are rewarded for frugality, security, and wealth. As subjects of
Christ the King, we are made perfect in love, one sacrifice at a
time.
_________________________
First World Problem: my shopping entropy field
Anyone who's ever been shopping with me knows that I project an entropy field -- an area of energy that draws wacky customers, wackier cashiers, and causes machinery to break.
Yesterday, I went to WalMart to pick up a few things. I noticed that the register in the electronics department had one customer who was in the process of paying. . .so, I got behind her, thinking that I'd avoid the long lines at the front of the store. Little did I know that Ms Early Christmas Shopper was going to pay for her haul with cash, four gift cards, and a credit card.
She received her receipt, checked it thoroughly, and then announced that she needed to pay for an item in lay-a-away. She spent a good five minutes digging around in her enormous purse looking for the paperwork. She paid -- again with an assortment of cards, cash, and coupons.
FINALLY! She's done. No. The cashier stepped away from the register, looked at me sympathetically, and said, "I have to go in the back to get her lay-a-away. Be back in a sec." I nodded and walked to the front.
At the front, I got in the 20 Items or Less [sic] line behind a couple who were in the process of paying. They had eight items. And used six debit cards to pay! Each card was rejected a couple of times b/c the woman kept putting in the wrong PIN code for the card. Then the machine rebelled and wouldn't work. The cashier got it running again. . .and they had to start over.
When this circus finally concluded, I dropped my items on the scanner. Just then, a manager walks up and begin changing out the cash drawer while chatting casually with the cashier. They hooted and giggled and talked about their upcoming lunch break, etc. The drawer swapped out, the cashier decides that she needs some change, so we have to wait for the manager to go get another drawer to make change.
By this time, I'd been waiting to check out twice as long as it took me to find my items.
Nine out of ten times, this is how my shopping experiences go. Penance for a multitude of sins, no doubt.
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