Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wacky Wednesday, Wednesday, June 29, 2011, Ozzie Explains Women To Rick
It's Wednesday, we've made it half way through the week, it's time to sit back and enjoy a laugh from Ozzie and Harriet. Enjoy.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Miscellaneous Musings, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, Joyless Catholics?
From William Barry, God’s Passionate Desire:
I have to admit, my first impression on entering a Catholic church to attend mass was how quiet and sedate, almost joyless, it was compared to my old Presbyterian church. That’s saying something; Presbyterians pride themselves on doing everything decently and in order. On being asked, at an evangelical conference held some years ago, what the Presbyterian contribution to evangelism had been, one famous Presbyterian minister said simply, "restraint!"
Yet, as I began attending Mass, I began to pay attention to details. The little old lady who always sat in the back, very old, very poor, with the Rosary in her hands praying to her Mother, one of the holiest people I think I've ever seen. There were middle-aged people, on their knees, on a hard floor, silently in prayer, in preparation for the Mass soon to begin. It was striking because, in all the years I was a Presbyterian I never saw anyone pray, one on one, to God. It struck me how strange that was, how could there be any better place to pray than in God's own house? It seemed too obvious to miss, yet I had.
I concluded that while it’s true people aren’t bounding around most Catholic parishes in joyful abandon, it’s also true that there is present in most Catholic parishes a living spirit and tradition of a sacred place where any of us sinners can meet God.
No one can deny that many things in the Church have gone wrong since Vatican II. At the same time, I’m not sure we should beat ourselves up for things we have that are good, in favor of some imagined ideal. I understand what Fr. Barry is getting at, but I'm grateful for what we have, and are.
I have to admit, my first impression on entering a Catholic church to attend mass was how quiet and sedate, almost joyless, it was compared to my old Presbyterian church. That’s saying something; Presbyterians pride themselves on doing everything decently and in order. On being asked, at an evangelical conference held some years ago, what the Presbyterian contribution to evangelism had been, one famous Presbyterian minister said simply, "restraint!"
“In today's world, it does not always seem so. Take, for instance, our liturgies. To be truthful, we would have to admit that a stranger visiting most of our liturgical "celebrations" would wonder about our use of language. We do not look as though we are enjoying ourselves or celebrating anything. How many of us go regularly to the Sunday liturgy because we feel that we have to go-in other words, because we know what pleases God? If we did not "have to" go, would we? In my work as a spiritual director, I have met many people whose prayer brings them no sense of being blessed. When asked why they continue to try to pray, they answer, "Because I have to, because God wants me to."
Yet, as I began attending Mass, I began to pay attention to details. The little old lady who always sat in the back, very old, very poor, with the Rosary in her hands praying to her Mother, one of the holiest people I think I've ever seen. There were middle-aged people, on their knees, on a hard floor, silently in prayer, in preparation for the Mass soon to begin. It was striking because, in all the years I was a Presbyterian I never saw anyone pray, one on one, to God. It struck me how strange that was, how could there be any better place to pray than in God's own house? It seemed too obvious to miss, yet I had.
I concluded that while it’s true people aren’t bounding around most Catholic parishes in joyful abandon, it’s also true that there is present in most Catholic parishes a living spirit and tradition of a sacred place where any of us sinners can meet God.
No one can deny that many things in the Church have gone wrong since Vatican II. At the same time, I’m not sure we should beat ourselves up for things we have that are good, in favor of some imagined ideal. I understand what Fr. Barry is getting at, but I'm grateful for what we have, and are.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Desert Fathers, Sunday, June 26, 2011 – St. Symeon the New Theologian
Image via WikipediaWhen a man walks in the fear of God he knows no fear, even if he were to be surrounded by wicked men. He has the fear of God within him and wears the invincible armor of faith. This makes him strong and able to take on anything, even things which seem difficult or impossible to most people. Such a man is like a giant surrounded by monkeys, or a roaring lion among dogs and foxes. He goes forward trusting in the Lord and the constancy of his will to strike and paralyze his foes. He wields the blazing club of the Word in wisdom.
St. Symeon the New Theologian, The Practical and Theological Chapters
Friday, June 24, 2011
Founders Friday, Friday, June 24, 2011, Charles Carroll
Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Early Church Fathers, Sunday, June 19, 2011, Cyril of Jerusalem
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Miscellaneous Musings, Saturday, June 18, 2011, A Weiner Spectacle
Some scandals are just too miserable to deserve comment; others, in the downfall of the principle actors offer can offer valuable insight into the faults and weaknesses of society at large. The recent sorry spectacle of a U.S. Representative with the unfortunate name of Weiner is one of the latter.
For a long time, I was convinced that the affair deserved no comment, as the news coverage was sufficiently describing the sorry details. I changed my mind when then Rep Weiner announced he was seeking time off to get treatment, as if his problems were of a medical nature. I submit they’re not, the man’s problem is spiritual and moral; he is plainly a man in search of fulfillment and has looked in all the wrong places. He’s a victim of his own leftist world view that he is his own man, not accountable to anyone else, or even more, not accountable, much less dependent upon, God. He’s been shown how wrong he is, but he seems to lost, or too self-absorbed, to see the truth.
The truly sad thing is that he isn’t alone in society; he also serves as a vivid example of the cancer that has been eating away at our society for a very long time. It’s one that we’re in danger of succumbing to, I fear. I find it striking that the situation was described quite clearly by Thomas Merton nearly 60 years ago in his book, Thoughts in Solitude:
This particular political scandal shows what happens when a man loses sight of his, and others, integrity as a person. It is, indeed, a sorry spectacle, but one we shouldn’t soon forget.
For a long time, I was convinced that the affair deserved no comment, as the news coverage was sufficiently describing the sorry details. I changed my mind when then Rep Weiner announced he was seeking time off to get treatment, as if his problems were of a medical nature. I submit they’re not, the man’s problem is spiritual and moral; he is plainly a man in search of fulfillment and has looked in all the wrong places. He’s a victim of his own leftist world view that he is his own man, not accountable to anyone else, or even more, not accountable, much less dependent upon, God. He’s been shown how wrong he is, but he seems to lost, or too self-absorbed, to see the truth.
The truly sad thing is that he isn’t alone in society; he also serves as a vivid example of the cancer that has been eating away at our society for a very long time. It’s one that we’re in danger of succumbing to, I fear. I find it striking that the situation was described quite clearly by Thomas Merton nearly 60 years ago in his book, Thoughts in Solitude:
No amount of technological progress will cure the hatred that eats away the vitals of materialistic society like a spiritual cancer. The only cure is, and must always be, spiritual. There is not much use talking to men about God and love it they are not able to listen. The ears with which one hears the message of the Gospel are hidden in man’s heart, and these ears do not hear anything unless they are favored with a certain interior solitude and silence.
In other words, since faith is a matter of freedom and self-determination—the free receiving of a freely given gift of grace—man cannot assent to a spiritual message as long as his mind and heart are enslaved by automatism. He will always remain so enslaved as long as he is submerged in a mass of other automatons, without individuality and without their rightful integrity as persons.
This particular political scandal shows what happens when a man loses sight of his, and others, integrity as a person. It is, indeed, a sorry spectacle, but one we shouldn’t soon forget.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Founders Friday, Friday, June 17, 2011, Gouveneur Morris
"Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God."
Gouveneur Morris
Gouveneur Morris
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