Friday, 9/1/17
The daily Theology lessons I went through between 1948 an 1952 were equally divided between Dogmatic Theology classes and Moral Theology classes. Our Dogmatic Theology classes schooled us in the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Our Moral Theology classes schooled us in avoiding the sins against God's Commandments and the Commandments of the Church.
The Second Vatican Council revolutionized our approach to Theology, replacing the old Moral Theology with an oft-oft-repeated exhortation for us to live lives of holiness.
In Chapter Twenty-Five of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gave us three parables which together describe a holy life. The first of the three, "The Parable of the Talents," checks on the use we have made of the advantages we were born with. The third of the three, "The Parable of the Sheep and Goats" checks on our truly loving our fellow men
Our Gospel today gives us the second of Our Lord's parables from Chapter Twenty-Five of Matthew's Gospel. His "Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins" checks on whether or not we have kept love for God alive in our hears, living lives of true holiness.
Each of us will be ready to die happy if we have become God-like.
Thursday, 8/31/17
The Gospel. in telling us that the Lord will come for us when we least expect it. Death may come on us when we thought we still had time to get the important things done.
We would like to have paid our debts, we could like to have reconciled ourselves to friends we had injured.We would like it if we had lived up to the saying "Be the best that you can be."
Let me tell you what I think would be a perfect life that you could be satisfied with.
Thirty-five years ago a Sixth Grade girl raised her hand, and asked, "If we are all made in God's likeness, how come some people are left-handed?"
My quick answer to that was, "My sister Peggy is left-handed, so maybe God makes all mean people left-handed so we can look out for them."
But that evening, I reconsidered that answer. For one thing, Peggy was a wonderful person. For another, the girl deserved an answer to the question "How can we all be like God, when we are so different from each other?"
I came up with this answer to that last question. It is this: we should picture God as being like a diamond with millions of facets. Each of us then was created with a potential of bringing ourselves to mirror our own facet of God.
Each of us can die happy if we have brought our life to mirror our unique facet of God.
Our Our Church's open-minded views contrasts with the narrow views of the Scribes and Pharsees. .
In its "Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" our Church contrasts its open-hearted views with the narrow views of the Scribes and Phartses,
"The joy and hope, the grief and the anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts."
And: "As Christians we cherish deep feeling of solidarity with the human race and its history."
"Man is not deceived when he considers himself as superior to bodily things and as more than just a speck of nature. For by his power to know himself in the depths of his being, he rises above the whole universe of mere objects. When he is drawn to think about his real self, he turns to this deep recesses of his being where God awaits him."
"The joy and hope, the grief and the anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts."
And: "As Christians we cherish deep feeling of solidarity with the human race and its history."
"Man is not deceived when he considers himself as superior to bodily things and as more than just a speck of nature. For by his power to know himself in the depths of his being, he rises above the whole universe of mere objects. When he is drawn to think about his real self, he turns to this deep recesses of his being where God awaits him."
Wednesday, 8/30/17
We could discuss the narrow-minded views of the Scribes and Pharisees, but instead, let's look at the open-minded views of our Vatican II, in its showing respect for the dignity of all men and women. The Council's "Constitution on the Church in the Modern world opens with the following sentence:
"The joy and hope, the grief and the anguish of the men off our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish off the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts."
And: "As Christians we cherish a deep feeling of solidarity with the human race and its history."
And: "The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. The invitation to converse with God is addressed to him as soon as he comes into being."
We could discuss the narrow-minded views of the Scribes and Pharisees, but instead, let's look at the open-minded views of our Vatican II, in its showing respect for the dignity of all men and women. The Council's "Constitution on the Church in the Modern world opens with the following sentence:
"The joy and hope, the grief and the anguish of the men off our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish off the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts."
And: "As Christians we cherish a deep feeling of solidarity with the human race and its history."
And: "The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. The invitation to converse with God is addressed to him as soon as he comes into being."
Do we share in the lack of character of those who put John to death?
The bad behavior of several people contributed to the death of John the Baptist, and we could ask why they did what they did. Let’s look at what motivated Herod, Herodias, her daughter, the executor and the birthday guests.
Herod really didn’t want to put John to death. John so fascinated him that he liked to sit close by to hear John speaking with his jailers, but he didn't want to be seen as a man who went back on what he promised.
Herodias had left her husband Phillip to marry the more influential Herod. She felt that her dignity put her above any right of John to question her behavior.
Her daughter seemed to have appreciated the applause of the dinner guests, and she had been raised in such a cruel household that she didn’t feel squeamish about asking for John’s head.
The dinner guests were so given over to enjoying themselves that they had lost any sense of common morality.
The man who took off John's head liked John, having enjoyed listening to him, but he would have to pay with his life if he disobeyed Herod.
So, each of the participants in John's death was moved to that wicked deed by one weak spot in his or her
character.
It is interesting to muse on what makes up a person with real character. He or she has no weak spot in their make-up.
What about you? Have you a moral weak spot that could leave you open to doing something quite wrong?
If you have no such weak spot, you are a person with real character.
The man who took off John's head liked John, having enjoyed listening to him, but he would have to pay with his life if he disobeyed Herod.
So, each of the participants in John's death was moved to that wicked deed by one weak spot in his or her
character.
It is interesting to muse on what makes up a person with real character. He or she has no weak spot in their make-up.
What about you? Have you a moral weak spot that could leave you open to doing something quite wrong?
If you have no such weak spot, you are a person with real character.
Today, in honoring St. Augustine, I'd like to repeat some of what I wrote about him in my history of Christianity.
Augustine was an expert in rhetoric (a facility in employing persuasive speech.) Augustine made a good living writing speeches for petitioners who were appearing before the emperor or for ones sponsoring bills in the Roman Senate.
Monica, his mother, a Christian, told him that Ambrose, the bishop in Milan, was the most persuasive speaker she had ever known, and she talked Augustine into going to the cathedral to pick up some Rhetoric tips from Ambrose.
Augustine was a man with a mistress, and he had no interest in narrow spiritual messages; but after he heard Ambrose speak, he was drawn again and again to the cathedral. Even when hiding behind a pillar, Augustine could not block out the message.
He broke off relations with his long-time girl friend, giving her enough land to support herself; and he began living a Christian life. But then (and this really surprised me) he had a relapse, falling into another extra-marital relationship.
Disgusted with himself, Augustine was pacing his little garden one afternoon when he heard the refrain, “Tolle lege, tolle lege,” and he thought he was overhearing a chant that went with a children’s game. Stumped as to what game went with the refrain, he turned to the literal meaning of the words. That way, the words, “Tolle lege” were telling him, “Pick up, and read.” Looking around, he noticed a little book that was a copy of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Picking it up, he read, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.”
On reading that verse from Romans, Augustine asked for Baptism, and he never turned back. His conversion had him taking up the “Life of St. Anthony” penned by Athanasius, and that gave him a strong desire for living as a monk. He found seclusion by returning to Africa and setting up a monastery near the city of Hippo.
But though Augustine tried restricting himself to the monastic life, he could not ignore the church troubles around him.
In 391, he gave in to the Church’s needs, letting North Africa’s bishops consecrate him as Bishop of Hippo. He served there for almost forty years, dying in 430 A.D. on a day when the Vandals were breaking down the walls of Hippo.
There are limits to the pope's powers.
Sunday, 8/27/17
In the Gospel, Jesus called
Peter the rock on which he would build his church, and he went on to say,
"Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
However, Jesus was not saying
that our popes stand alone as God's voice on earth. Two chapters on in
Matthew's Gospel we read where Jesus, speaking to his other disciples said,
"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven."
After the year 100, Europe was overrun by pagan peoples from the
East. There were the Goths, the Visigoth, the Francs, the Vandals; and all of them saw their kings as possessing unlimited authority directly from heaven. Then, as those
nations adopted Christianity, the popes too were being seen as possessing all authority
directly from heaven.
But, Jesus was also speaking to Peter when he said, "You know how among the Gentiles those who exercise
authority lord it over them but it cannot be that way with you."
St. Cyprian in 255 had two
things to say about the preeminence of the popes. On one hand, he said that
Christian communities everywhere, if they were to be seen as belonging to the
Catholic Church, must stay united to Rome and to the popes. On the other hand, St'
Cyprian denied the pope's right to appoint bishops to African dioceses.
Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David.
Friday, 8/25/17
Today and tomorrow we have the story of Ruth, who although
she was a pagan girl, as the great-grandmother
of their King David. she forced the Jews to honor her.
Back in 1200 B.C the twelve sons of Jacob drew lots to see
what portion of the Promised Land would belong to each of their descendants
forever. In that drawing, Judah won all the land from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.
Following on that, the heads of the twenty families in the tribe of Judah, drew
lots for apportioning out the fields of the land of Judah.
The family of a man named Elimelech drew the land around
Bethlehem, and although they prospered there for a time, two years of draught forced
Elimelech to take his wife Naomi to the fertile land across the Dead Sea in
Moab.
They had two sons there, and the boys married the pagan
girls Orpah and Ruth. But, when Elimielech and his sons died, Orpah returned to
her own people; but Ruth stayed with Naomi, saying, "Wherever you go, I
will go; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God."
I had intended laying out the full story of Ruth today, but
with time running out, I will have to pick up the rest of the story tomorrow.
Today we will pick up the first part of he story of Ruth.
Friday, 8/25/17
Today and tomorrow we have the story of Ruth, who although
she was a pagan girl, as the great-grandmother
of their King David. she forced the Jews to honor her.
Back in 1200 B.C the twelve sons of Jacob drew lots to see
what portion of the Promised Land would belong to each of their descendants
forever. In that drawing, Judah won all the land from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.
Following on that, the heads of the twenty families in the tribe of Judah, drew
lots for apportioning out the fields of the land of Judah.
The family of a man named Elimelech drew the land around
Bethlehem, and although they prospered there for a time, two years of draught forced
Elimelech to take his wife Naomi to the fertile land across the Dead Sea in
Moab.
They had two sons there, and the boys married the pagan
girls Orpah and Ruth. But, when Elimielech and his sons died, Orpah returned to
her own people; but Ruth stayed with Naomi, saying, "Wherever you go, I
will go; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God."
.322
I had intended laying out the full story of Ruth today, but
with time running out, I will have to pick up the rest of the story tomorrow.
Like Nathaniel we should spend time alone with God when we are completely honest with ourselves.
Thursday. 8/24/17
Today we honor the Apostle Nathaniel, who was also known as
Bartholomew, because he was the son of Tolmeus. (Peter was identified as Simon,
and as Simon Barjona, son of Jona.)
Jesus identified Nathaniel as a man with no duplicity. We
will come back to that, but first, let's look into Nathaniel's amazement over
Jesus saying he saw him under the fig tree.
What amazed Nathaniel there was his certainty that only God
could have seen him when he was alone under the fig tree. That brought
Nathaniel to say, "You are the Son of God."
Coming back to Jesus saying that Nathaniel had no duplicity
in him, Jesus was saying that Nathaniel was a hundred percent honest with
himself.
So, two things we should take away from this story are first,
that we should strive to experience being alone with God; and secondly that we
should be completely honest with ourselves, putting aside both all animosity
towards others, and suppressing all inflated motions of our own worth
