25 July 2010

Ain't no other way than to keep on knocking

17th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

The Colossian Christians are in trouble. They've been tinkering with the gospel, messing about with the apostles' teachings, and now their faith is in danger of being wrecked. Paul diagnoses the problem with a warning, “See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world, and not according to Christ.” If Paul has the right of it, the Colossians have surrendered themselves—body and soul—to the vacuous traditions of human philosophy and the hungry, elemental powers of the world. They have been intellectually seduced by the specious arguments of the Talking Heads of their day and driven to abandon Christ by taking part in the mystical rites of angels and the earth-bound gods. Having set aside Christ, they forget their new lives in him and crawl back to the darkness that promises enlightenment but delivers only death. Therefore, Paul must remind them of where they have been and where they must go: “Brothers and sisters: You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him. . .he brought you to life along with him.” When tempted by the lovers of worldly wisdom with promises of a life liberated from our old-fashioned and oppressive morality, do you recall where you were before Christ? After Christ? If not, here's a reminder: you were held captive by ignorance and sin; then, with Christ, you were dead and buried in baptism; raised along side him, washed clean; and then bought to new life in him. When challenged or tempted to forget where you have been with Christ and where are you going now that you follow him, turn to the prayer that Jesus taught us and remember. 

The prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples is more than a formula for petitioning God correctly. His prayer is a memorial, a status report, and a promise. Looking back, the prayer tells us where we were Before Christ. Fallen, lost, wandering, and dead. Looking around right now, the prayer serves as a measure for us to gauge the depths of our faith. Committed, hesitant, lukewarm, or zealous. Looking ahead, Jesus' prayer reveals our destination, our point of rest. Fullness, completion, forgiveness, and freedom. Regardless of where we choose to look, or how we are bound to see, Jesus teaches us to pray as he himself prays: with the wisdom to bring together in one moment the beginning, the middle, and the end. In other words, Jesus prays as one who stands with the Father at creation, suffers with us in our disgrace, and redeems us through the Holy Spirit. When we pray as Christ as taught us, we participate in his priestly ministry, if only imperfectly for now, standing with him at the throne—united as one Body, giving thanks and praise to our Father with one tongue; loving, forgiving, hoping with one heart; and seeking out His truth and goodness with one mind. Christ the High Priest teaches his priestly people how to offer themselves as a sacrifice, to partake in his life by giving themselves over to lives of holiness.

How does Jesus teach us to make such a sacrifice? We confess to our Father that he is indeed our Father in heaven. That His name is blessed among us. That His kingdom among us has arrived, is arriving, and will arrive in the fullness of time. That His will among the angels and saints is His will here on earth. That all we have and all we are comes to us as the daily bread of His grace. That His forgiveness of our debts moves us to forgive the debts owed to us. And that we are spared His final test of faith only by gracious will. If we will stand with Christ at the throne and offer ourselves as sacrifice, lifting ourselves up as those made holy through surrender, then Christ's prayer, the Lord's Prayer, must be for us a model of how to live now, right now, as we hope to live with him forever. From the start of our lives in Christ to our lives with him right now and on to our eternal lives in heaven, we must offer one holy sacrifice, one act of praise and thanksgiving—to serve one another in love so that the Father's love is made perfect in us. 

The Lord's Prayer is a memorial, a measure, and a promise. Paul accuses the Colossian church of forgetting their new births in Christ, of failing to take their measure against Christ's holiness, and of refusing to accept the truth of God's promise. Rather than persevere as the redeemed children of God, the Colossians listened to vain arguments of the lovers of worldly wisdom. They allowed themselves to be seduced by the mysteries of angels and the elemental powers. As they lived in the world, they became of the world and forgot both where they came from and where they were going. Worst of all, they let slip from memory the one sacrifice that saved them. They forgot that Christ obliterated the bond of the Law against them, a bond that opposed their eternal lives. He removed it from their midst, nailing it to the cross. Hoping perhaps to avoid the nails and the cross themselves, they cast around for alternatives, more pleasant, less painful alternatives for seeking and finding their salvation. They found none. And neither will we.

But what do we do when it appears that nothing we do brings us peace? Nothing we do or say seems to bring us closer to God, or takes us further away from sin? No doubt most of us here want to be closer to God, want to be further away from sin. But all the wanting and doing we can manage in a lifetime seems to go unheard, unanswered. Can we be blamed for turning away from the demands of a Christian life and seeking out a more pleasant, more attractive alternative? Or at the very least seeking to decorate the bare bones requirements of following after Christ with a little worldly wisdom or angelic mystery? What do we do when anything we do, when everything we do ends in apparent failure? We persist. Jesus tells the disciples that a friend who will not get out of bed to give you a loaf of bread b/c you are his friend, will eventually relent to your pleadings for no other reason than that you persist in asking! 

Spiritual failure is not remedied by forgetting who you are in Christ.  Running after worldly wisdom and exotic theologies is not the answer. The answer lies in persistent prayer and vigilance in your priestly sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus teaches us to seek then find; to ask then receive; to knock and knock and knock some more, and the door will be opened. The point of prayer is not to change God's mind about His blessings, but rather to better prepare the one praying to receive His blessings with gratitude. If you are not finding or receiving God's blessings, then perhaps you are not allowing your search, your requests for His blessings to transform you. You must seek and be transformed by the search. You must ask and be transformed in the asking. Persistent prayer is not about worrying God to death with your needs. Persistent prayer is about first remembering who you are as a redeemed child of the Father, then placing yourself on the altar of loving service as a sacrifice. If you think you are going to argue God into responding, or appease Him with fantastical, mysterious rites—think again! He wants a contrite heart surrendered to loving service. 

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray as he himself prays. His prayer is devoid of worldly philosophy, devoid of pagan babbling and occult meaning. There's no magic there, no mystical keys to open hidden doors. He teaches us to pray so that we are made ready to do our Father's will, to receive our daily blessing, to forgive as we ourselves are forgiven, and to rely on His promise that no temptation is stronger than our faith in Him. If we remember, if we persist, we will arrive at the throne, whole and perfect. There is no other way but Christ, no other altar on which to sacrifice, nothing else to do but seek him out and receive with gratitude all that he has to give us.

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24 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

Democrat John Kerry parks his multi-million dollar yacht in RI in order to avoid paying MA taxes. . .and the Dems wonder why there's so much resentment against their redistributive tax policy.

Heh. . .looks like the federal judge hearing B.O.'s suit against AZ anti-illegal immigration law is asking the DoJ some tough questions.

VA Dem Jim Webb pens a piece of lefty heresy:  the days of affirmative action/diversity programs are over.  The impatient crowd awaits the thunk of the axe and the bounce of his head down the gallows' steps.  

If you have an interest in Supreme Court church/state jurisprudence and the interpretative history of the mythical "wall of separation," you might like this book.  By reviewing notes, journal entries, and personal correspondence, the author attempts to demonstrate that the justices who invented the Wall used cherry-picked historical evidence in order to promote a pre-determined outcome.  

A question about the Harry Potter books and a lively discussion in the com box.  Yours truly participates.  The Devil tempts us to overestimate his power over us. . .that way, when we sin we can blame it on him. 

Liberal media fascists call for a gov't crackdown on blogs/media that they don't like.  Ah, for the good ole days of classical liberalism among our Enlightened Elite. 


One mean kung-fu throw!

My dad and younger brother would run over people to get to WalMart for one of these.

On the importance of not living life metaphorically.

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23 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

Heh. . .that USDA official turned out to be kinda nutty. . .I was ready to count her among the thousands of others B.O. and his "post racial" admin have thrown under the Bus of Nasty Racial Politics. 

Anglican Church giving communion to pets. . .well, it's not it's communion-communion.

Christianity on the rise in China. . .while still a Marxist-feminist Episcopagan and teaching English in China, I attended Catholic services in Beijing and Shanghai.  The churches were packed every time.  And prominently positioned in a pew:  several commie bureaucrats monitoring the event.  I wouldn't be surprised if churches in the U.S. end up with federal Diversity Officers assigned to our parishes to monitor compliance with anti-"hate speech" codes.

Training religion teachers:  "You can keep your catechism!"  In my seminary days it was a common practice among the enlightened faculty when confronted with students hungry for sound doctrine to bark out, "This isn't catechism class!"  Though true, strictly speaking, the outburst revealed a deeply planted suspicison of all things orthodox.

Context for Me but not for Thee:  Left-liberal "journalists" caught red-handed manipulating the news to elect B.O. are crying foul and claiming that their remarks are being taken out context.  Fair enough.  Let's see how concerned these folks are about context when it comes to their own reporting on political positions they disagree with

English Catholic dinosaurs will moan at the Holy Father when he visits the post-Christian nation in September.  Their burning issue?  The long settled question of women's "ordination."   Apparently the near total collapse of the Church of England over this issue has escaped their notice.  Keep hope alive!

Not only have atheists become less profound in their arguments for rejecting the existence of God, heretics have become decidedly less interesting and robust.  Sober, well-read, and intelligent atheists and heretics provide an important service to orthodox theists:  they keep us on our toes! 

Are we losing the ability to think clearly?  Probably.  I don't see much of this sort of thing at U.D., but I see a lot of it in the culture at large. 

Finally!  An explanation for that ridiculous B.O. Nobel Peace Prize.  It all makes sense now.

More mean humor directed at vegetarians.  Really, can be too much? 

Proof that Barney the Dinosaur is Satan.

Uh. . .apparently Wolverine of the X-Men is Jewish.

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21 July 2010

A review of my second prayer book. . .

Check out Jeff Miller's review of Treasures Holy and Mystical over at The Curt Jester.

He gets it. . .he really gets it!

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Coffee Mug Browsing

Remember that black USDA official who was caught on tape confessing at a NAACP meeting that she didn't help a farmer b/c he was white?  She was forced to resign.  Now, it looks like an unedited version of the tape has surfaced and it supports her claim that her comments were not racist.  More evidence that the Racist Card is being used willy-nilly.

Conservative blogs are reporting on the full video and admitting that her remarks are not racist.  Compare and contrast this honest reporting to what you find in the MSM when they are caught with their pants down, e.g. Rathergate, Global Warming Scandal, the plagarized Tea Party video, etc.

BTW, the USDA official blames the NAACP for getting her fired.  Oy!

The all-white MSNBC news line-up, a vocal critic of the allegedly racist FOXNews, revamps its image to include one black woman on its logo.  At least they are listening to critics.

The MSM/State Run Media is neither mainstream nor state run.  Let's start referring to it as the One Party Media. Hmmmmm. . .

Are the police and media in France covering for militant Muslim street gangs?  The most recent "Fall of the Roman Empire" comparison. 

The Communist vs. The Wounded Marine:  an election to watch!

"A fact which cannot be changed."  USCCB comments on the recent rule change regarding how cases of the attempted "ordination" of women are handled. 

Elite colleges discriminate against Christians in admissions.  All the more reason to send your kids to colleges like the University of Dallas!

Even more reasons to send your kids to schools like the University of Dallas:  the background story on the Univ of IL's firing of a Catholic professor.  None of this surprises me at all.  Anti-Catholicism, especially in the academy, is the last acceptable prejudice.

Shameless self promotion alert:  OSV gives you a chance to nominate You Can't Leave Home Without It Catholic blog!  So far, HancAquam doesn't appear on the list (hinthint).

Oh my. . .a whole site devoted to cuteness.  I need some insulin.  Stat!

GM's 2011 model: the Obummer.  You gotta love the side view mirrors.

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New Blogger Features

Blogger has added a new feature for its hosted blogs.  Check under each post for options to share the post on Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.  There's also an option to "buzz up" the post, meaning that you can click the Buzz Up button and increase the buzz about the post.  So, use 'em!  Please.

I wish blogger included a podcast option. . .

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20 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

This is HUGE:  The Daily Caller has obtained emails from the infamous lefty media listserve, Journolist, that prove a concerted media effort during the 2008 Presidential campaign to protect B.O. by killing reports of Jeremiah Wright's racist condemnation of the U.S.  Surprise!  Not.

Big Journalism is on the case with on-going coverage

This cannot be repeated often enough:  Mel Gibson is NOT Catholic!

Female Lutheran bishop resigns.  So much for the "relational wisdom" of women in the handling of sexual abuse accusations.  Jepsen is a darling of the religious left, i.e. she supports All the Right Causes in the relentless pursuit of gutting the faith.

Fr. Z. reports on the new website, Protect the Pope.  Unfortunately, in post-Christian Britain the Holy Father needs protection.

On characterizing the postmodern cultural elites who rule us. 

Want to smuggle 18 monkeys into Mexico?  Don't follow this guy's example.


Well, you can't say that you weren't warned.

Axioms of the Cynical & Depraved.  My fav: "He's not dead, he's electroencephalographically challenged." 

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19 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

Yawn, no surprises here.  Individual mandate to buy health insurance is a tax. . .so says B.O.   Oh, and your taxes will pay for abortions despite the 30 pieces of silver that B.O. used to buy off Stupak.  Oh, one more thing:  you probably won't be able to keep your doctor either. 

The Anchoress is a little frustrated with the Vatican's recent P.R. blunder.  Their mistake?  They issued new canonical guidelines on how the Church will handle cases of clerical sexual abuse. . .and included in the same document new rules on dealing with the attempted "ordination" of women to the priesthood.  Probably not brightest move.  The MSM has focused almost exclusively on the ordination rules. 

Mark "Scary Beard" Shea takes on the goofy meme, "Science Works, Religion Doesn't."  He addresses the incoherence of the materialists' non-definition of "religion."

Lefty propaganda outfit plagiarizes a Tea Party video to prove that the Tea Party is racist.  Wow.  That has to be the definition of desperation.

Speaking of plagiarism. . .Michael Moore, that wealthy, anti-American socialist who made his millions manipulating the capitalist markets and the truth, apparently stole a story from a Knoxville reporter.  Fortunately, for Moore, he's too big to fail.  Pun intended.

Right-wing violence:  these Tea Party radicals are getting out of control. . .er, I mean these union activists are getting out of control.  Obviously, these so-called "union goons" are really Tea Partiers dressed up in union outfits.
B.O. is shutting down blogs all over the country.  NB.  rather than attack individual blogs for abuse, the gov't shut down an entire server network, meaning some 73,000 blogs were closed. 

A review of Predators.  Let's see:  aliens (check), explosions (check), exploding aliens (check).  Yup, I'll be seeing this one.

Just call me "Joe."  How would you like to have 746 letters in your name

You might be a grad student if. . .

What do puppies, bulldozers, and Hell's Angels have in common? 

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Love first, then a sign (Podcast)

16th Week OT (M)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

I spend most of my year living in Rome with 80 or so friars from all over the world. Though most of the brothers speak some intelligible version of English, the language of the priory is Italian. For example, notices of community events posted on the bulletin board are in Italian. Out on the streets of Rome, unsurprisingly, billboards and store signs are all written in Italian. So are street signs. So, if you want to navigate the city, you will need to know just enough Italian to get around. The whole point of signs is to inform, direct, and warn their readers. Whatever the purpose of signs in general or any sign in particular, signs are only able to do their jobs if those who need the signs can read them. For example, about 99% of the notices posted on the community bulletin board in my Roman priory are useless to me. This is not the fault of the notices. For all but the most practical, simplest purposes, I am illiterate in Italian. Just so, those heckling Jesus for a sign to confirm his identity and power are illiterate as well. While I can't read Italian, they can't read the signs of the Messiah's ministry among them. My deficiency is due to age, laziness, and general disinterestedness. Theirs seems to be a more profound lacking. Jesus says that those wanting signs of his identity are illiterate because they are “evil and unfaithful.” The lesson is here? Don't ask for signs you can't or won't read.

If you pay any attention at all to skeptical or atheistic objections to religious belief, you will notice that the principal demand made by our intellectual opponents is the demand for evidence. Evidence of God's existence. Evidence of an afterlife, miracles, the existence of angels, etc. Basically, what they are asking for is some sort of material sign from God that something of what we believe as Christians is true. Most of them claim that they will become believers when the stars align in the sky to spell out the message, “God exists.” They should get credit for being open to the possibility that God exists. However, not all atheists are so open-minded. The Canadian atheist and philosopher, Kai Neilsen, for example, has this to say about such miraculous evidence, “We are no better off with the stars in the heavens spelling out GOD EXISTS that with their spelling out PROCRASTINATION DRINKS MELANCHOLY. We know that something has shaken our world, but we know not what. . .”* He goes to say that such an unusual event might be “big trick or some some mass delusion.” In other words, there's likely little chance that Prof. Neilsen can be taught to read the signs of God's presence in His creation. But if he could be taught divine literacy, how would he go about learning it?

What Jesus makes painfully clear in his reply to those clamoring for a sign of his identity is that so long as they persist as an “evil and unfaithful generation,” no sign will tell them what they want to know. For Jesus to demand of them goodness and faithfulness before he gives a sign seems like question-begging or special pleading. They must believe and then the signs will be legible. Faith informs, makes possible, renders intelligible all the signs one needs to believe. This is exactly backwards for unbelievers. But that's the power of Jesus' demand. Believing in him on the basis of material evidence requires nothing more than intellectual assent, saying yes to a well-evidenced argument. That's knowledge not faith. Few of us—if any of us—are raring to die in defense of a proposition; suffer torture, persecution, and death to attain a conclusion properly deduced in a valid syllogism. Our relationship with the God through Christ in the Spirit is fundamentally a relationship between Father and child, Maker and made. This is not the sort of relationship that comes about as a result of evidence, proof, and deduction. When you ask a friend for proof of his or her love, you admit that their love is secondary to your need for evidence, thus providing evidence that you do not love. 

First, you love; then you read all the signs through that love. Without this initial commitment, this primary allegiance, all signs of love shown to you will be illegible, and you will be as illiterate as the clamoring crowd and our friend, Prof. Neilsen.

*Taliaferro, Charles.  Evidence and Faith:  Philosophy and Religion since the Seventeenth Century, 345.


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18 July 2010

At the feet of Christ (Podcast)

16th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

If you check the fiction bestseller list you will find listed among the top fifty books a high percentage of mystery novels. Whodunits set in ancient Rome, medieval Europe, 18th century Japan, and even our science-fictional future. Police dramas that draw in viewers with the mystery of an unsolved criminal case dominate the TV listings. The nightly news is filled with reports of the mysteries of our collective drive to both get along and get ahead—terrorist plots, political intrigue, predictions of economic ups and downs. Perhaps nowhere more prominent does mystery appear than in our day to day efforts to come to, to serve, and to understand the nature of the divine, the workings of heaven here on earth. We Christians have whole libraries packed with books that identify and attempt to explain one mystery or another: the Incarnation, the Holy Trinity, Divine Providence, transubstantiation. And even with all this collected knowledge and our collective wisdom to interpret it, we often find ourselves explaining the faith to the skeptic with one, terribly unsatisfying sentence: “It's a mystery.” Sure, the Church has some profound ideas, a useful method, a set of reasonable assumptions, centuries of logical arguments, and even some intriguing evidence from the world of science, yet mystery remains. And always will. Why? Because teaching and being taught the mysteries of our faith is the business of a truly humble heart, an inquisitive mind, and a meek and merciful soul. All that we must learn, we learn at the feet of Christ. 

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul identifies himself as a minister of the Body of Christ; one given stewardship over the mission “to bring to completion for [the Church] the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.” He writes that this mystery “has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the [mystery's glory]. . .” What is this mystery that Paul must bring to completion? God's Self revelation, first given to the Jews, must be made manifest among the Gentiles. He writes that the mystery to be revealed “. . .is Christ in you, the hope for glory.” Why must the Gentiles be made privy to the mysteries of salvation? Paul says that he proclaims the mystery of Christ, “admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, [so] that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” He understands his commission as one that will fill up “what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body . . .” In order words, the Body of Christ is not complete until every tongue, tribe, nation, and people have heard and seen the mystery of Christ proclaimed and accomplished in the Church. We know that this apostle to the Gentiles dies a martyr's death, preaching God's Word. His task, his commission falls to us, the Body of Christ he nourished with both his life and his death. So, how do we continue on?

We have in the sisters, Martha and Mary, two models, two paradigms for how we might proceed to reveal Christ's mystery to the world. When Jesus visits the sisters, Martha begins to fuss about, trying her best to prepare a suitably hospitable meal for their guest. Frustrated that Mary is ignoring her domestic duties in order to dote on Jesus, Martha complains to Jesus and asks him to admonish Mary for her apparent laziness. Instead of scolding Mary for her inattention to duty, Jesus turns Martha's complaint back on her, saying, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” When should notice here that Jesus doesn't chastise Martha for griping nor does he seem ungrateful for her work on his behalf. Rather than soothe Martha's hurt feelings by telling Mary to get to work, rather than tempering Martha's anger with a lecture on patience, Jesus goes straight to the root of her fussiness. Martha is anxious; she is worried. Faced with the presence of Christ in her home, Martha chooses to get busy; she deflects her anxiety by “doing stuff,” hoping, perhaps, that by staying busy she will burn off the fretting worry. Mary, on the other hand, sits at Jesus' feet and listens to his instruction. She too might be anxious. She might be just as wound up and nervous as her sister in the presence of Christ, but she chooses “the better part,” attending to Jesus as he teaches her the mysteries of his Father's revelation. 

Why does Jesus consider Mary's rapt attention to be better than Martha's distracted busyness? Let's ask this question another way. Who is most likely to learn: a student who sits in class tuned in to her iPod, her Facbook chat, and her doodling; or the student who attentively listens to the teacher—no distractions, nothing to cloud her mind or burden her heart? If you have ever tried to teach a child a difficult math problem, or convey a set of relatively boring facts, then you know the answer to this question! Mary has the better part because she is more likely to learn, more likely to “get it,” more likely to become the better teacher and preacher of the mysteries herself. Martha will get quite a lot done, but will she be open to seeing and hearing the mystery that Jesus has to reveal? Jesus tells Martha, “There is need of only one thing.” There is only one needful thing, only one thing we need: to listen to the Word, the Word made flesh in Christ.

When you take up Paul's commission to preach the mystery of Christ to the world, do you first listen to the Word; or do you get busy “doing stuff” that looks Christian, sounds Christian? Do you really hear what Christ has to say about God's mercy, His love? Do you attend to the Body of Christ in action during the celebration of his sacraments? Do you watch for Christ to reveal himself in those you love, in those you despise, those you would rather ignore or disparage? Can you set aside the work of doing Christian things and just be a follower of Christ, just long to be filled with the Spirit necessary to teach with all wisdom? It's vital that we understand that Martha isn't wrong for doing stuff. Her flaw rests solely in her anxiety and her worry while she's doing stuff. Being anxious and worried about many things while doing God's work is a sure sign that we are failing to grasp the central mystery of our commission to preach the Good News: it is Christ who preaches through us, not only with us, along side us, but through us. If we have truly seen and heard the mystery of our salvation through God's infinite mercy, then there is nothing to fear, nothing to be anxious about, nothing that can or will defeat the Word we are vowed to spread. Why? Because everything we do and say reveals Christ to the world. If the Church is the sacrament of God's presence in the world, and we are members of the Body of Christ, the Church, then we too are sacraments of God's presence. Individually imperfect, together we are made more perfect on the way to our perfection in Christ. 

To do what you have vowed to do, to preach and teach the Good News of Christ Jesus, choose the better part, choose to sit attentively at the feet of the Lord and take in the mystery of God's mercy; choose to surrender your anxiety and worry, and come peacefully, patiently closer and closer to the unfolding mystery of having been set free from sin and death. Bring to the feet of Christ a truly humble heart, an inquisitive mind, and a meek and merciful soul. This is the best part of being his student: nothing learned in Christ's classroom will ever be taken from you, even as you persevere in giving it all away.

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15 July 2010

Smoothing the Way (Podcast)

Arrrrgggg. . .I'm beginning to think that I am going to have to be either a philosopher or a preacher.  This homily made perfect sense while I was writing it.  Once I started preaching. . .all sense was lost.  You can probably hear it in my voice.  Sigh.  Also, I was completely distracted by the rivers of sweat flowing down the back of the neck. 

Memorial of St. Bonaventure
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

Jesus tells the disciples that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Is this how we experience our lives in Christ? Light and easy? It's a fair question and one no few of us have asked. But no blame should fall on us for doubting that the life we have chosen in Christ is light and easy. True, the demands of growing daily in holiness are few. All we need do is love God and others as God Himself loves us. Be merciful, avoid evil, witness with our every word and deed the way to salvation through Christ. The demands are few, but they are relentless—unwavering and constant. Even the smallest task done all day every day for years will eventually exhaust the strongest body, the purest soul. It's not the weight of our work toward holiness that burdens us but the repetition this work requires that can send us into despair. Anyone can be holy, do holy work for an hour or a day. But being holy, doing holy work for a lifetime is much, much more difficult, if not impossible—well, impossible, that is, if holiness were measured by what we manage to accomplish in a lifetime, or measured against the perfection of achieved by Christ. His yoke is easy and light, and so is the life in Christ to which we have vowed ourselves. Isiah shares the secret of being a follower and doing God's work: “The way of the just is smooth; the path of the just [God makes] level.”

If we experience our lives in Christ as a heavy burden is it probably because we believe that our work toward holiness includes the arduous task of clearing away the wreckage of our sin. How can I come to Christ and do and be what and who he demands if I am loaded down with the garbage of a dissolute life? Don't I need to be clean before I start down the Christian path? It makes sense to hold that nothing clean can come from a filthy source. Nothing good can come from evil. And this would make sense if we were talking about human goodness, human evil. But we're not. Isiah says it plainly, it is God Himself who levels the steep hills, straightens the crooked paths, and sets us right by washing us clean. It is God Himself who prepares us for the work we must do. Christ's yoke on our shoulders is light and easy not because we come to him as self-made, ready-made holy men and women, but because the really hard work of our holiness has already been done for us. All we need do is persist, endure in the work. And even then we persist and endure only because of His grace.

If Christ's yoke is heavy and difficult around our necks it is likely because we ourselves weigh it down, because we ourselves have tried to put it on without Christ's help. Knowing that only Christ forgives us our sins, does it make sense to believe simultaneously that we are burdened by sin and that we must come to Christ cleansed of that sin? Can sin remove sin? If you believe that you cannot take on Christ's yoke until you are strong enough to bear it, then how do you get strong enough while you are weak? Can weakness strengthen weakness? Obviously not. The burden our Lord lifts is not only the actual sin that we carry but also the heavy and false belief that the job of lifting this burden is ours alone. It is not. Never has been. It is God's job to smooth the steep hills and straighten the crooked paths. Let Him do His work. It is your job to travel His smoothed-out, straightened-upped Way. Now, that your work is light and easy and the yoke around your neck is a joy, count yourself among the loved ones of the Lord, hurry to Him and find your rest.

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Coffee Mug Browsing

Church of England considers allowing its male bishops to become nuns.  You can't make this stuff up.  Seriously.

Should the bar exam be abolished?  I got a mediocre GRE score when I took the thing in 1986.  My MA/PhD GPA was not predicted by this score.  Generally, standardized tests don't really test much more than how well students take tests. . .especially multiple-choice tests.  If you really want to test grad school potential, require students to write an extended essay. 

Hmmmm. . .author wants the Holy Father to condemn the "errors" of Vatican Two.  This looks incredibly dodgy to me.  Certainly there are interpretations of VC2 teaching that need condemning, but to suggest that the Pope should condemn the Council is highly controversial.

How one Catholic preacher struggles to compose his Sunday homily.  I'm learning how important it is for a good preacher to be connected to regular Catholics!  The stuff I spend my time thinking about all week is greatly removed from what 99.9% of Catholics worry about.

I listened to a debate on NPR yesterday about the ban on face veils in France. . .found myself waffling with each side.  Is it about religious freedom?  Or is it about undermining an Islamic fundamentalist tool of social control?

Check out reactions from black writers/thinkers to yesterday's clueless resolution from the NAACP condemning Tea Party "racism." 

In so far as the Tea Party movement opposes the statist ambitions of both the Dems and the GOP, I am sympathetic.  However, billboards like this one only serve to fuel the MSM meme that the TPM is controlled by a fringe ideology.  Let's support a moratorium on Hitler comparisons.  Like the accusation of racism, they've become largely meaningless.

So much for ObamaCare will NOT use your tax dollars to fund abortions!  Of course, most of us knew they were lying.  Opposition to BOCare is still high and unchanging.  Guess the snake-oil salesman pitch isn't working.

Oh the irony!  The Civil Rights Commission wants to question the DoJ lawyers about the dept's alleged refusal to prosecute cases with black defendants and white plaintiffs.  Why is this ironic?  Well, we might expect that the CRC would the natural political ally of the US's first black president.  I guess the folks on the CRC are more interested in their sworn duty than playing politics.

On how not to restore credibility to your profession:  Pro-Cap and Trade/Global Warming Theory columnist is frustrated with the pathetic white wash of the the Climate Gate Scandal review committees. 


When social engineering Leftists lose the debate at the Supreme Court they go to the World Court in order to get their agenda imposed.  Good luck with that.

Excellent advice.  Simple and straight to the point.

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14 July 2010

Only the child-like (Podcast)

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast  (Please let me know if you're having trouble with these podcasts)

The Psalmist sings, “The Lord will not abandon his people!” If we need to be assured of this promise, we have the birth of Christ Jesus among us; his suffering, death, and resurrection. We have the assurance of the his body, the Church; the assurance of his sacraments, most especially the sacraments of our baptism and the saving sacrifice of his Body and Blood in this Eucharist. And if we need to be assured even beyond these rock-solid promises, he has given us his word, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father. . .no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." The only question for us is this: are we ready, willing, and able to receive the truth of the Father that His Son freely reveals? Though worldly wisdom and worldly learning might help us to clarify and better understand Christ's revelation after we have received him; neither nor both together can prepare us to accept all that the Son has to give. 

If the wisdom and learning of human history cannot prepare us to receive the revelation of Christ Jesus, who or what can? Jesus teaches his disciples that only the child-like can see and hear all that he has to disclose. Only the child-like. Only those unencumbered by the worries of the days and weeks and years that come with living in the world. Only those who live perfectly trusting in the Father's love. Only those who show mercy as the Father shows mercy. Before the glory of God, we must be child-like: innocent, trusting, open to instruction, eager to please, and utterly without guile. In other words, we must be sweating hot with the desire to learn the truth, to put off our anxieties; the desire to be transformed. We can begin this program of spiritual exercise by hearing and believing the Psalmist's refrain: “The Lord will not abandon his people.”

Imagine for a moment what you could learn about God's revelation if you would set aside for just one day, even just one hour, your need to be right, your need to be safe, your need to be in charge. Imagine if you set these aside and fully, truly accepted that the Lord would never leave you to destruction, never forsake you to an eternal death. What could you learn? How would you grow? Think for a moment about the locks you put on your trust, on your love, on your hope. How many are there? Can you count them? Do you believe that hoarding the gifts God has given you will earn you compound interest in heaven? Or that a cautious, meager charity will benefit you in the long run? Gifts left unused for the good of your neighbors will eventually atrophy and die, leaving behind a bitter waste, an angry, soured soul. There is nothing child-like about living your life in resentment and disappointment. Our Father will never abandon us. What is there for us to fear? Nothing. Nothing at all.

The Father created all things to reveal Himself to us; all things reveal the truth of God. But before we can see and hear all He has to tell us, we must be ripe for the revelation; fully prepared to have the seeds of His wisdom planted in our hearts and minds. And only those who watch and listen without anger, bitterness, or guile; without resentment or disappointment; only those who present themselves as students ignorant of pride and envy, only these can be the soil rich enough, fertile enough to grow His Word into a magnificent harvest. The Lord will not abandon us. He has already given us everything we need to remain steadfast along The Way. So, receive His gifts and give thanks; we are His.

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13 July 2010

Scientific Materialism and Cultural Naturalism

First Things (R.R. Reno):  The Gospel of Scientific Materialism, "The basic thrust of a reductive science of the mind involves a move from cultural categories—'I have an obligation to care for my children'—to biological ones—'I only feel an obligation because human DNA has evolved to promote species survival.'  It is a way, in other words, to deny the reality and authority of culture."

If I were a scientific materialist I would object:  No, SM doesn't seek to replace the cultural with the biological, but rather it seeks to explain the cultural with the biological.  In other words, the cultural imperative to care for my children is derived from the biological imperative to promote species survival.  In so far as SM seeks to explain the physical world we live in, it generally eschews drawing neat conclusions about social phenomena (e.g., family obligations).  A scientific materialist would simply shrug her shoulders at a question about the nature of the family, or the cultural norms embedded in communal practices. 

Those who hope to replace cultural imperatives with biological explanations are committed philosophically to more than scientific materialism; they are committed to a kind of cultural  naturalism that argues against the existence of truths knowable apart from materialistic-naturalistic explanations (in this case, objectively knowable moral truths).  

The $15 name for this is Non-eliminative reductive ontological naturalism.*  NEON argues that  the reality of the world we live in includes only those things that the natural sciences can describe and explain.  This means that all cultural, social, economic categories are reducible to naturalistic categories (genetics, etc.). 

Scientific materialism, when limited to its proper field of expertise, is culturally, socially neutral; that is, it makes no claims on the existence or nature of non-material entities or categories.

*cf. Paul Moser, The Evidence for God, pg. 71.

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"abortion is a blessing and our work is not done"

You have to wonder, if abortion is all its supporters say it is, why don't we see more vids like the one posted below shown on CNN, MSNBC, etc?

Also, watch the vid if we are curious about what sort of education a $100,000 will buy you at the  Episcopal "Divinity" School these days.   This woman is their Dean.

Is it any wonder my old home, The Episcopal Church, is nearly dead? 




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12 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

Think you might be called to serve God and His Church as a priest or religious?  Try out the Discernment Tester!   I'd love to hear from anyone who tries this.

LibDems whining about the colossal failure of their liberalism, especially the disappointment they feel about B.O.  Sorry, you guys never had any good reason to think that he was anything but just another Chicago politician. 

Hope for all of us aging geezers:  chemical to regrow brain cells.  All the braincells I killed in my first two years of grad school thank you.

Iran's human rights chief defends the sentence of stoning that an Islamic court gave a confessed adulteress.  Remember:  Iran sits on the U.N.'s Commission on Women's Rights.

As the Church of England abandons yet another tenet of western catholicism, hundreds of Anglican clergy contemplate swimming the Tiber.  I just hope they learned the lessons of 1994 and work over the heads of the Catholic bishops of England & Wales.  IOW, go straight to the Holy Father!

The governmental "War on Science" is continues unabated under the enlightened stewardship of B.O. 


Cupcakes for the Zombies in your family.  Um, should we be feeding these guys?

These graphs fully express my own sense of social/intellectual inadequacy.  Sigh.

The iPhone comparison checklist.  iPhone wins!  But just barely.

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11 July 2010

New podcast

The homily for the 15th Sunday in OT has been uploaded as a podcast. 

Not sure if it's working though. . .I can't get the thing to play.

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Coffee Mug Browsing

On Kagan's free-speech double standard:  free for the right kind of speech.

B.O. has finalized plans for his third vacation since April 20.  I guess presiding over the political, economic, social, and diplomatic failure of one's country is pretty exhausting.  Didn't the lefty MSM scream bloodly murder every time "W" went to Crawford?

Lots of sabotage suggestions from one of the web's funniest bloggers, Iowahawk.

Spanking Oliver Stone for his Chavez propaganda.

"All told, the feds have deputized 1,100-plus cops in 26 states to round up illegals. . ."  So, why is the DoJ suing AZ for doing what the federal gov't is already paying them to so?

Another clerical betrayal:  CT pastors a whole lotta parish money on rent boys.  NB.  procedures are in place in this diocese to prevent this sort of thing. . .they weren't followed.  IOW, policies and procedures in and of themselves prevent nothing.  People do.

Anglicans still wrangling over women "bishops."  Can there be any doubt that the Church of England is thoroughly Protestant?

How onions make us cry.  I've found that it's best to wear ear plugs.

Cute fix for today. . .and the rest of this week.

M&M Darwinism. . .which color of M&M is worthy to survive?

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OP Conference on Thomism

Fair Warning!  Dominicans getting together to think out loud!!!


A conference on contemporary Thomism held in Warsaw, Poland just last month.  
Site includes audio files.

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10 July 2010

Love your neighbor: Just do it!

I need some feedback on this homily.  I preached at the vigil Mass this evening and something didn't seem quite right.  Preachers are generally bad judges of their own preaching. . .Help!

15th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Podcast

Moses tells his people that they must return to the Lord their God with all heart and all their soul. To do this all they need do is keep His commandments and statutes. What could be easier? The Lord's commandments are not mysterious or remote; they are not hidden nor are they difficult to follow. Every commandment is written in the book of the law. Every commandment directs God's people to behave a certain way. His laws are not up in the sky or across the sea. No one has to climb to the clouds or swim the oceans to retrieve them. The will of the Father is very near to them; in fact, what He wants for them all is already in their mouths and in their hearts. All they have to do is do what the Father has asked them to do. What's so difficult about that? Why is simply doing what God wants us to do so hard? If we could ask the priest and the Levite why they refused to help the traveler who was robbed and left for dead in a ditch, what would they say? I was in a hurry. Things to do. I'm not a doctor. What could I do? He may have been unclean. I didn't want to contaminate myself. Whatever their reasons, however sensible those reasons may be, the priest and the Levite tossed their Father's law up into the clouds. Out of reach. They threw His will across the sea. Why? A remote and mysterious law is easily ignored, more easily thought of as optional. Perhaps the question we need to ask is not why do we find God's will so difficult to follow but rather how do we arrange our lives so that His will seems impossible to follow?

If Moses is correct and God's commandments are already in our mouths and on our hearts, then doing God's will should come naturally to us. Not only should we not have to think about the right thing to do, we should do it as a matter of course. No deliberation. No agonizing over options. No weighing consequences. Just do the right thing. Just do it. But how many of us experience moral choices in this way? How many of us find ourselves in a situation where we are called upon to act with compassion yet we hesitate or even fail to act because we feel the need to think it through. We believe that the situation needs analysis; we need time to contemplate all the options and ponder the likely effects of our actions. If it sounds like I am disparaging rational deliberation on moral questions, let me dispel this worry: thinking through our actions and their consequences is what rational creatures do. However, when we use intellectual problems or legalistic dithering in order to avoid compassionate action because such action is inconvenient or expensive, we effectively refuse to love as God Himself loves us. 

We have an example of this in the scholar of the law who confronts Jesus with a sensible question: what's it gonna take for me to get into heaven? Since this guy is a lawyer, Jesus ask his own sensible question: what's written in the law? The lawyer rattles off the relevant verses about loving God, yourself, and your neighbor. Jesus says, good, do that and you will live. Just do it. But the lawyer wants to clarify a point of interpretation. He wants to wrangle a bit over the definition of terms and see if he could wiggle around this painfully straightforward command. Luke writes, “. . .because [the scholar] wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'" What sort of question is this? Luke says that he asks the question in order to justify himself. What exactly is he after? Remember that the Mosaic Law was filled with strict definitions, clear cut lines and limits on who, what, when, and how the Law was to be applied. His question may have been asked in order to avoid responsibility for loving his neighbor but it is also asked as a way of trying to get at the limits of his responsibility. Surely Jesus didn't mean to say that everyone is my neighbor! Surely lepers and prostitutes and money-lenders and Samaritans aren't my neighbors! Unfortunately, for the lawyer, that's exactly what Jesus means. The case Jesus lays out for the inquisitive lawyer bears this out.

The story of the Good Samaritan is a familiar one, so we don't need to go into detail here. But let's look at the sequence of events to see what Jesus is teaching our lawyer friend. Notice a few details. Jesus never reveals the race, religion, ethnicity, or social class of the robbers' victim. These details would influence the lawyer's answer because each would define the term “neighbor” in a conventional way for the lawyer. Jesus portrays the Good Samaritan as acting compassionately without considering anything but the humanity of the victim. Only after telling the story all the way through, detailing good deeds of the Samaritan, does Jesus ask: who was neighbor to the victim of the robbers? He didn't ask, which of three passers-by treated the victim like a neighbor? He asks, which of the three was himself a neighbor to the victim? Do you see the difference? Defining “neighbor” is not about trying to figure out who out there gets my compassion. When I act compassionately I am a neighbor to whoever it is that receives my compassion. Jesus is telling the lawyer that he is to stop thinking about who fits the legal definition of “neighbor” and instead start being a neighbor to anyone who needs help. In other words, “being a loving neighbor and acting like one” is a condition each of us carries in our heart and mind—an internal state—and not a classification we impose on others—an external state. 

We know how the story ends. The lawyer, finally hearing Jesus' teaching, says that the Samaritan was the good neighbor because he was the only one of the three who treated the victim with mercy. Jesus responds, “Go and do likewise.” Treat others with mercy, love others like the compassionate neighbor that you are, and you will have eternal life. Go and do likewise. Don't merely treat others. Don't simply show mercy. But treat with mercy. Act with compassion. Acting, doing is not enough. Compassion, feeling is not enough. It takes both. 

Now, back to our original question: how do we arrange our lives so that God's commandment to love seems so impossible to follow? Do we love as God loves us, or do we spend time and energy trying to figure out who deserves our love? Do we act compassionately, or do we hesitate and ask questions about the nature of mercy and who truly merits our forgiveness? Do we go and do what the Good Samaritan did, or do we find perfectly plausible, even sensible reasons to cross to the opposite side of the road and disobey our Father's will? Knowing how we avoid loving God and our neighbor will take us a long way toward knowing why we will not to do what the Father has commanded us to do. Moses tell his people that they already have the law in their mouths and in their hearts. All they need do is carry out the Father's command to love. Lifting up the compassionate deeds of the Good Samaritan, Jesus says to the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.” 

You know what it is to love because God loved you first. Go and do likewise. Just do it.

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Prof fired for teaching the Catholic faith in a class on Catholicism.  NB. the money quote from the complaining student's email.  He/she has absolutely no idea what the natural law is. . .yet his/her complaint is sufficient to get this prof fired.

Tom Peters, the American Papist, has issued a call to arms to hold U.I. responsible for firing this Catholic prof. . .he provides the relevant ammo and delivery system.

10 Facts All Catholics Should Know. . .these are paragraph-sized explanations of a few controversial facts about Catholicism.  Don't expect in-depth analysis, but these could lead you to explore the issues more.

Do the states have the power to nullify federal law?

55% of likely voters say B.O. is a socialist.  Duh.  Only 54% believe the sun is hot and that rain is wet.

Retired Episcopalian priest offers us "Ten Highly Effective Strategies for Crushing Your Pastor's Morale."   Some of these wouldn't fly in a Catholic parish, but they are funny none the less.

Dems/B.O. didn't listen to the Tea Party in 2009.  Will the GOP listen in 2010?  I seriously doubt it.

NASA's "primary mission" to improve Muslim self-esteem.  Hilarious cartoon.

Analysis of the DOJ's suit against AZ.  The DOJ has an uphill battle to fight against Supreme Court precedent and common sense.  Of course, neither precedent nor common sense has ever prevented a judge from imposing his/her political will on the people.


The Times Watch. . .a great site that watches a once great newspaper.

Steven Wright quotes:  "If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?"

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09 July 2010

Coffee Mug Browsing

SSM supporter warns his fellow liberals about applauding the recent decision against DOMA:  "Yea, it's the result we wanted, but the way we got it is not something to be happy about."  NB.  DOMA is not a ban on SSM.  DOMA exempts states from the having to recognize SSM performed in other states.  It also rules out federal benefits for same-sex couples in such a "marriage."

An analysis of the judge's decision.  Everyone seems to be intrigued by the judge's use of the Ten Amendment to strike down DOMA and worried at the same time.

More lefty Nanny State social engineering. . .this time in the so-called "financial reform bill."

B.O. has even lost the Jet-setting Eco-Egghead Hypocritical Elites of the Aspen Ideas Festival.  Poor Bambi.

Yet another Harvard Train Wreck appointment from B.O.  This one wants wealth redistribution through a UK-like NHS system.  NB.  he uses the term "planning the supply" when talking about providing health care services.  That's code for "rationing."

NAACP spokesman says that it is OK for racist whites to beat up blacks who aren't "black enough."  Dr. King must be so proud right now.

New Vatican norms will deal with clerical sexual abuse and the sin of the attempted ordination of women.  Strange combo indeed.  These issues should have been dealt with in separate documents.

Good story on the ex-Dominican Beat poet, William Everson

Another reason to cast a suspicious eye on the U.N.

Our Holy Father is writing an encyclical on faith.  This will bring to a conclusion a cycle of works on the three infused virtues (love, hope, faith).


"Reverse racism" at the DoJ.  There is no such thing as "reverse racism."  The term implies that only whites can be racists. 


Mitch Hedberg. . .weirdness personified.

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08 July 2010

As if free

NB.  There's a first time for everything, I guess.  This homily is from 2008 (with a few changes).  Though I have re-posted homilies before, I've never actually preached a homily for the day more than once (except when I celebrated two Masses on the same day).  In 2008, this one didn't get recorded.  Today, it will be. 

Update:  My recorder died.  I didn't notice until it was time to switch it on.  The Devil is out to get me!

14th Week OT (T)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Univ of Dallas

Though I have been an English teacher now for some twenty-two years, I’m not one of those fussy grammarian types who go around correcting “who” for “whom,” nor do I wag my finger at the barbarians who have killed the subjunctive mood of our verbs: “If I were going” not “If I was going…” Maybe I don’t do this sort of thing b/c I am a bad grammarian; regardless, there is one grammatical abuse that gets my school-marm bun in a twist:  "free gift” offered with purchase. First, if it is truly a gift it is free by definition, so the adjective “free” in “free gift” is redundant. Second, if you have to purchase something to get the free gift, it is not a gift but a bribe. Marketers aren’t stupid; I mean, they aren’t uneducated in the ways that people respond to language, so why do you think that they make this mistake over and over again in their advertising? "Gifts” must be labeled “free” b/c how many of us really believe that anything anymore is truly free?

That question leads us to this one: why would anyone upon hearing the proclamation of the coming of God’s kingdom and the gracious wish of peace upon one’s household, refuse to receive that word and the wish of peace by listening? Jesus tells the disciples that they are to proclaim the kingdom in whatever town or village they find themselves in. Upon entering the house of their host, “wish [the household] peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace be upon it…” If the house is not worthy, Jesus tells his friends, “let your peace return to you…go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.” In other words, let nothing of their disobedience stay with you. They have refused the gift of peace that comes from hearing and doing—that is, listening—to the Word of God. Why would anyone refuse to listen?

Before instructing his friends on how to go out and proclaim the kingdom, Jesus reminds them, “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” How many of those who hear the disciples proclaim the kingdom truly believe that the message is a “free gift”? The cynics will say, “Yea, free, suuure.” The pessimists will say, “Who needs a gift that promises to kill us?” The optimists will say, “I’m happy now; besides happiness can’t be given?” And the truly world-wise will say, “What do I have to buy to get this allegedly ‘free gift’”? Like the modern consumer, these folks do not believe anything is truly free. If they cannot believe that the proclamation of the gospel message is a gift, then how will they ever come to believe that something as infinitely valuable as their rescue from sin and death is a “free gift” from God? 

We have to wonder even now if we, the teachers and preachers of that freely given gospel, perpetuate the prejudice against the gospel being truly free. Jesus tries to help us now by telling his friends then not to preach with silver or gold or copper rattling around in our pockets; to go out preaching without a sack for the journey or a change of clothes or an extra pair of shoes. In other words, when we go out proclaiming the kingdom we are to appear as though the message we preach is free. So, the better question here might be: do those who refuse to listen to the freely given message of salvation through Christ see us as messengers who really believe that the message we bring is free? If the medium is the message, then we must look like the gospel we proclaim. Otherwise, those who hear but do not listen can say, “Looks like an expensive Way to go to me.”

The psalmist prays, “Let us see your face, Lord, and will shall be saved.” Looking at His preachers, how much do you reckon folks think they will have to pay just to glimpse His face? What is the price of salvation if we who believe live as if there is a price for all to pay?

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B.O.'s DoJ:  It's OK for militant black activists to intimidate white voters at the polls.  A vid of the fun-loving, racially tolerant cretin B.O. is using your tax dollars to protect.

Teaching the Bible in public schools?  This could be a very bad idea.  Do we really want public school teachers instructing our children on the literary, cultural, and historical value of the Bible?  I find it hard to imagine that the Word is going to come out sounding all that appealing to the kids.

"Down with Doom": Remember the doomsday scenarios of overpopulation, acid rain, the new Ice Age? 

B.O. is suing Arizona for pre-empting the Federal gov't's authority to enforce immigration law.  Rhode Island has been enforcing immigration law for years now.  Why didn't he sue RI?

Shredding the latest NYT hit-piece on the Holy Father. 

More liturgical nonsense from Austria:  an American Wild West Mass.  I have to wonder what my Dominican brother, Crdl Schonborn was thinking when he approved this travesty.

Ironic facial hair?  Checklist for the Hipster's moving day.

Cute Fix for the day.

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Philosophy amongst the squirrels and mosquitos

Quick note on the books sent to my parents' place in MS. . .

All the books ordered from the Wish List arrived safe and sound.  My nieces helped me open them.  Though they enjoyed ripping into the packages, they were less than thrilled to discover philosophy books inside.  :-)  

Of the 14 books sent to MS, only two had shipping invoices with return addresses. (This is almost always the case with used books.) One had an email address and one had only a partial name (thanks to Sylvia B.!)

Thank You notes were promptly sent. . .with Scuba Becky reminding me to do so with her loving motherly scowl.  She knows better than anyone what a procrastinator I am!

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07 July 2010

Mass Times and Places

Q:  Where and when are you saying Mass, Father?
A:  I will be celebrating the noon Mass at the Church of the Incarnation, Univ. of Dallas on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

Also, this Saturday (10th) I will have the 5pm Mass at U.D. and this Sunday (11th) I will have the 11am Mass.  I think Fr. Rudy and I will be switching off on the weekends.

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Seeking & Finding the Face of the Lord

Mea culpa:  I forgot to bring my recorder to Mass with me, so no podcast of this homily.  Also, someone kidnapped my Liturgical Fan. . .no ransom note yet.

14th Week OT (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Irving, TX

While resting up in Mississippi and filling up on good home cooking, I took time to do some reading for my dissertation. The big argument in the philosophy of religion these days is a debate about whether or not religious skepticism is justified given God's choice to maintain largely hidden from His creatures. Skeptics claim that “divine-hiddennes” is evidence that a perfectly loving God does not exist. After all, a perfectly loving God would do everything in His power to make sure that His existence was plainly evident. That this evidence is not apparent indicates that a perfectly loving God does not exist. Setting aside the many excellent retorts to the spurious assumptions of this argument, let's ask a question that should be worrying Christians all over the world: are we evidence of God's existence; that is, do we live out our Christian lives in such a way that a skeptic could point to us and say, “Well, I guess a perfectly loving God exists after all!”? If you are failing in this, listen again to the prophet Hosea, “. . .break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord. . .” 

It is time to seek the Lord for the Kingdom of God is at hand; therefore, seek always the face of the Lord! And while you seek His face, show Him to all those who seek with you. Seeking God is not difficult. We are hard-wired to long after the perfect love that God is. Though we love imperfectly, loving things that are not God, that we love at all is the immediate result of God loving us first. In fact, that we are here at all, that we merely exist in the first place is His gift. So, looking for Him is something we do naturally aided by supernatural grace. The more difficult task, the seemingly impossible task is to live day to day in a way that shouts out to the world—to anyone who will see and hear—you are loved! An impossible task? No, not really. Difficult, maybe. Certainly, onerous. There's no trick to being convincing evidence of God's perfect love. But there may be a good way of doing what's difficult while you do what comes naturally.

Think of your daily spiritual work like this: showing God's perfect love to all those who seek Him IS the way I myself seek after the face of the Lord. In other words, the best way for you to find God is to help others find Him. Do you tend to think that you must first find God in order to show Him to others? How can I show others what I myself have not yet found? Are you waiting to “get it right,” waiting to become holy before you love others as God loves you? If you answered yes, then please remember: any act of genuine love, anything you do or say that reflects mercy, compassion, forgiveness; every sign you give that you are grateful for your own redemption through Christ Jesus, all of these are done and said only in virtue of the fact that God loved you first. Therefore, any evidence you present can be convincing testimony to those hunger to see the face of the Lord. 

The Kingdom of God is at hand. Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord. It is time to seek Him by bringing out of hiding the love He has always shown you. By your every word, every deed, every thought give evidence to His people “till he comes and rains down justice upon you.”

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Coffee Mug Browsing

And we're back!  Why "Coffee Mug Browsing"?  Well, the bowl won't fit in the $9.00 coffee maker I bought at WalMart.

Fascinating video detailing several socio-economic contributors to the fall of the Roman Empire.  Hint:  high taxes and bloated state bureaucracies were at the top of the list.

Why is B.O. not "doing something" about the Gulf oil spill?  A selection of sane/paranoid/raving mad answers.  I like the paranoid answers. . .but, then again, I'm a troublemaker.

Why liberals should love the Second Amendment. . .

Not a discouraging word. . .lib blogs clamp down on combox dissent regarding Dear Leader.

John Allen drags us through the news with "Seven days that shook the Vatican."  Repeat after me:  The Gates of Hell shall not prevail. . .the Gates of Hell shall not prevail. . ."

Self-referential, brain-twisting cartoon on analogies, metaphors, and similes

Yet another bullet to the head in the long, slow suicidal decline of Anglicanism. 

New boss at the Congregation of Bishops in Rome, Crdl Ouellet of Canada.  From what little I know about the Good Cardinal, this is an excellent appointment. . .though Crdl Pell would have been an even better choice.

Mark Shea explores clericalism. . .both the More Catholic than the Pope variety and the Spirit of Vatican Two Peace Bong variety.  NB.  he cribs my saintly invention, St. Narcissus!

If we had to tolerate one or the other, which should we tolerate:  heresy or schism?  My vote: heresy.  Keep the heretics in the Church and pray for their conversion.

A future Catholic husband in the making?  Oh, I think so.

Groan Alert!  Puns-a-plenty.

The luckiest people alive. . .some of these are gut-wrenching. 


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06 July 2010

Back in TX

I made it back to Texas!

There's no internet access in my room. No phone service either. So, no postings until the internet thing is fixed.


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20 June 2010

Why is the LCWR covering up sexual abuse by sisters?

Fr. Z. rips into a NCR article about the allegedly superior "relational wisdom" of women and the Church's refusal to admit them into its hierarchical governance.   We've all heard ad nauseum the mantra, "If women could be priests, there would be no abuse scandal!"

Oh really?

Here are a few paragraphs from ecclesial gadfly Fr. Tom Doyle on the allegedly superior relational wisdom of the LCWR-crowd of sisters:

The sexual and physical abuse by nuns is far more widespread than most people are aware of. The nuns have been protected by the inability of most people to believe that such things were possible but I can assure you, they were possible and the reality is far worse than one could imagine.

In light of the highly visible and vocal support of most contemporary nuns, including their leadership in LCWR for victims of social injustice both inside and outside the Church, we would certainly expect that they would quickly respond openly, honestly and with compassion to victims of religious women. The opposite has been true. The religious congregations of women who have been sued have fought the victims with a viciousness that was equal to or exceeded that of many bishops. The LCWR has treated the victims who have tried to communicate with them in a disgraceful and downright unchristian manner. They have been as cold, as clerical, as arrogant and as dishonest as the bishops.

They have refused to even consider cleaning the mess in their own house. They have treated those who have brought the mess to their attention with cruelty and disdain. 

To quote Fr. Z., "Zowie!"  Zowie, indeed.  The LCWR has repeatedly refused to allow victims of sexual abuse by sisters to speak at their annual conferences.  Odd, the LCWR sisters constantly tells us that they are all about justice for the marginalized and the oppressed.  Sisters, justice starts at home.

So, the next time you hear a LCWR sister grousing about the hierarchy and it's Old Boys' Club mentality, send them an email reminding them that there's nothing special about women that prevents them from sexually abusing children.  This scandal is about HUMAN sin. . .not celibacy, or the all-male priesthood.  It's sin.  Plain and simple.


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Care for elderly friars

Q:  Where do Dominicans go when they get old? 

Sounds like the start of a bad joke, uh?  Like, "How many Jesuits does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer:  "Thirteen.  One to change the bulb and twelve to write articles in America condemning papal infallibility!"  

You will sometimes hear religious say, "We don't retire.  We just drop dead."  True enough. 

Seriously, as long as a friar is not in need of 24/7 nursing care, he can live in his assigned priory.  We have one friar in my province who is 95 and still going!  

If intensive nursing care is necessary, most provinces have facilities where friars can live and receive the care they need.  About ten years ago, my province joined with several other congregations of religious to build a facility in New Orleans called "Our Lady of Wisdom."  It serves as a traditional nursing home and as a place for friars to get temporary intensive care.  It's nothing like the nursing homes we imagine--sterile hospital smell, bright surgical lighting, etc.  OLW is very homey--lots of plants, warm colors, wood, etc.  It's organized into "neighbors" based on the intensity of care the residents need.  There's a large chapel, library, and outdoor space for walks. 

Thanks for the question.  Please pray for the brothers and sisters at Our Lady of Wisdom!

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