MERRY CHRISTMAS
and
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
A Christmas homily from 2013: The Triumph of Light over Darkness
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25 December 2014
21 December 2014
Spiritual But Not Religious
Hilarious. . .and oh-so-true!
Yes, I'm breaking my blogging fast to bring you this lovely piece of New Age nonsense b/c it is an on-point parody of the "I'm Spiritual But Not Religious" goofiness that infects so many postmodern Americans, including far too many Catholics of a Certain Generation.
H/T: Fr. Z. (of course)
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15 December 2014
A Time for Fasting. . .
I'm headed up to visit the Squirrels on Thursday.
Just a tiny bit of chaos in my life right now. . .getting a tad stressed out.
So, I'm fasting from Facebook and blogging 'til after the New Year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
And THANKS to Jenny K. for the paint. You're awesome.
God bless, Fr. Philip Neri, OP
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Just a tiny bit of chaos in my life right now. . .getting a tad stressed out.
So, I'm fasting from Facebook and blogging 'til after the New Year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
And THANKS to Jenny K. for the paint. You're awesome.
God bless, Fr. Philip Neri, OP
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14 December 2014
Rejoice, Pray, Gives Thanks. . .always!
3rd
Sunday of Advent
Fr.
Philip Neri Powell, OP
Lay
Carmelites/OLR, NOLA
Last
Sunday we heard a tough question from St Paul, “Since everything is
to be dissolved [by fire], what sort of persons ought you to be[?]”
This is the sort of soul-searching question we ask when it appears
that there is little else we can do to make things right. The sort of
question that cuts away the fat and exposes the meat of the matter.
When everything you know and love is rushing headlong toward a fiery
end, and there is nothing to be done, nothing to be said, and the
only thing that matters is the eternal disposition of your soul, you
ask yourself: “What sort of person ought I to be?” Of course, for
a follower of Christ, not knowing the time or place of the Lord's
return, every minute and every hour of everyday is an occasion to
ponder this question. Standing before us as Savior and Just Judge,
our Lord draws us toward our final judgment, our ultimate end. And
our response to his allure – how we choose to see and hear his
invitation – says everything that can be said about our
faithfulness to the mission and ministry we left us to complete. What
response from us best exemplifies our faithfulness? JOY!
Writing
to the Thessalonians, Paul straightens their spines with an
admonition, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In
all circumstances give thanks. . .” That's your plan for
next week, your plan to prepare for the coming of the Christ-Child.
First, rejoice always! Are you joyful, filled with joy? I
don't mean, “Are you a nice person who's always smiling and
laughing?” Ask any comedian – being funny, making others laugh is
not always a matter of joy. There's plenty to laugh at in a
despairing world, plenty to mock and disparage. Humor alone is not
joy. Joy is an act of charity, a willful-doing-of-love; conscious,
active behavior that give God the glory and increases the Good of
another. Joyfulness then is the disposition, the attitude from which
every truly loving act begins. Not all good deeds are loving. We can
do “good deeds” out of selfishness – to gain advantage, to
massage an ego, to put another in our debt, or to pay a debt. We can
say nice things in order to avoid an unpleasant confrontation or to
win someone to our cause. But every truly joyful act, every truly
loving act is done so that God's glory is made manifest and the Good
of another is perfected. To rejoice always is to live in a permanent
state of giving God the glory for the love He has shown us and
sharing His love abundantly, recklessly.
One
way – the best way – we can share God's love is to follow Paul's
second admonition to the Thessalonians: pray without ceasing.
Prayer, simply put, is talking to God; specifically, giving Him
thanks and praise for His many gifts, and receiving those gifts to
use for the benefit of others. But how do we give God thanks and
praise w/o ceasing? Do we walk around mumbling the Our Father all
day, or let the Act of Contrition run through our minds while we go
about our work? We could. But Paul is pointing toward a kind of
prayer that goes much deeper than mere recitation. To pray w/o
ceasing is to make every thought, word, and deed a prayer. Make
everything you think, say, and do an act of praise and thanksgiving
to God. We accomplish this by “putting on the mind of Christ,” by
wholly surrendering our hearts and minds to the mission and ministry
of Christ. To make a cup of coffee, hot water must be strained
through a filter of ground up coffee beans. To pray w/o ceasing, our
thoughts, words, and deeds must be strained through a filter of
sacrificial love. Is this thought, this word, this deed filtered
through self-giving charity, through the joy that comes with
receiving the Father's mercy?
Paul's third admonition to us is probably the most difficult: “In
all circumstances give thanks. . .” Rejoicing always and
praying w/o ceasing are too easy when compared to giving thanks in
all circumstances. We understand the need for thanksgiving when we
receive a gift or a compliment. Saying, “thank you” is a habit
our parents instilled in us from day one. However, Paul says that we
must give thanks in all circumstances not just when we receive
something we want. Is it possible to give thanks for disease and
disaster? Yes. For loss and setbacks? Yes. These are the times when
thanksgiving to God is the most efficacious in strengthening our
relationship to the Father. How? The whole point of giving thanks to
God is to acknowledge our total dependence on His grace for
everything we have and everything we are. If we are alive – even in
the worst circumstances – then we are alive to give thanks. We are
alive to serve, alive to love, and to forgive. In other words, we are
alive to carry on growing in holiness and bearing witness to the Good
News. Circumstances, by definition, change. We change. Our reactions
change. God, however, never changes. He is steadfast in loving us and
drawing us closer and closer to Himself.
As
God draws us closer to Himself, we respond by rejoicing always; by
praying w/o ceasing; and by giving thanks in all circumstances. When
we do these things, we not only heed Paul's admonitions, we also
begin to imitate the ministry of John the Baptist. John is sent ahead
to announce the coming of the Christ. He's not Christ himself nor is
he an ancient prophet reborn. Like John, we are forerunners,
harbingers of the Christ. Like John, we go out and bear witness to
the mercy of Father, announcing the need for repentance, and
rejoicing at the coming of the Lord. This season of preparation is
set aside so that we might pre-pare; that is, pare away before
he comes. Cut away anything that stands btw us and the Christ –
pride, despair, vengeance, old wounds, jealousy, spite, anger –
whatever might pull us away from Christ and toward the desolation of
the Enemy. Like John, we were made to go back to God; we were re-made
in Christ to preach and teach his Good News. In about ten days,
Christ will come as a child – vulnerable, needy, small. When his
hour comes, he will come again as Savior and Just Judge – powerful,
merciful, majestic. Between now and then, btw this 3rd
Sunday of Advent and his awaited return, we are drawn into the
mission and ministry of John the Baptist – to preach, to praise, to
bless in Christ's name any and all who see and hear the Word of the
Father. As followers of Christ, our job is to make sure – with our
rejoicing, our praying, and our thanksgiving – to make sure that
His Word is clearly see and clearly heard.
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12 December 2014
Coffee Cup Browsing
The Dems' self-exonerating CIA torture report backfires. . .releasing this "report" was just a political stunt by the out-going Dem cmte chair anyway.
An examination of conscience for torture defenders. . .
DOJ report explodes the feminist "1 in 5" rape stat: "The rate of rape and sexual assault was 1.2 times higher for nonstudents (7.6 per 1,000) than for students (6.1 per 1,000). Needless to say -- 6.1/1000 is 6.1/1000 too many.
No. Pope Francis did NOT say that animals go to heaven. Never, never, never believe a word the media report about the pope, the Church, or much of anything else for that matter.
A 3rd century refutation of astrology. . .
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10 December 2014
Coffee Cup Browsing
Behold! The ethics of Narrative Journalism: ". . .to let fact checking define the narrative would be a huge mistake.”
Delicate Snowflake law students allowed to postpone exams due to trauma caused by the the justice system working.
B.O. has done one good thing in six years. . .
Community enraged: rape allegations against nine men. . .we must learn from history!
7 Basic Errors of Secular Humanists believers. . .
Senate Dems issue report written by Senate Dems that exonerates Senate Dems of any responsibility for Bush-era torture policies.
John "Americans Are Stupid" Gruber gets grilled by Rep. Trey Gowdy. Cringe-worthy.
The GOP learned nothing from the mid-term election. Nothing.
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7 Basic Errors of Secular Humanists believers. . .
Senate Dems issue report written by Senate Dems that exonerates Senate Dems of any responsibility for Bush-era torture policies.
John "Americans Are Stupid" Gruber gets grilled by Rep. Trey Gowdy. Cringe-worthy.
The GOP learned nothing from the mid-term election. Nothing.
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Three More Paintings
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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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)
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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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