Thanks to my friend, Virginia, for sending along some good and challenging thoughts for Lent ...
Fast from judging others; Feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; Feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of all light.
Fast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; Feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; Feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; Feast on God's providence.
Fast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; Feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; Feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; Feast on non-resistance.
Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; Feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; Feast on verities that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; Feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; Feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from shadows of sorrow; Feast on the sunlight of serenity.
Fast from idle gossip; Feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that sustains.
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Young Boy, The Rattlesnake, The Path, The Journey
Once upon a time there was a young boy, a young Native American Indian boy, and in his tribe the custom was to send the young men out into the wilderness at the age of fifteen to fend for themselves. So, the young man, he set off on his journey, and after thirty days all the men in the tribe would come and find him in the wilderness and bring him back and initiate him into the tribe … into full adulthood.
So, he began to wander in the wilderness and for the first few days there were no problems, there was plenty of food. There were no wild animals, and he found comfortable places to sleep … and everything, for the most part, was fine … but about the sixth or the seventh day food became scarce … and on the eighth day, the young man, he found no food at all and he went to bed hungry that night. On the ninth day he found no food, either, … and the tenth, and the eleventh, and the twelfth, … and on the thirteenth day, when he hadn’t eaten for several days he was starving … and he came to a mountain … and he looked up the mountain and he thought to himself, “Perhaps if I wander up that mountain, somewhere on the mountain, I will find some food”.
So, the boy began to wander up the mountain, and as he wandered up the mountain he discovered a path and he began to follow the path to the top of the mountain.
As he got to the top of the mountain he still had found no food. So, he became a little discouraged and right towards the summit of the mountain a rattlesnake came across the path in front of him. The boy saw the rattlesnake and the rattlesnake saw the boy. They stood head to head and stared at each other for a long moment and then the snake said to the boy,
So, he began to wander in the wilderness and for the first few days there were no problems, there was plenty of food. There were no wild animals, and he found comfortable places to sleep … and everything, for the most part, was fine … but about the sixth or the seventh day food became scarce … and on the eighth day, the young man, he found no food at all and he went to bed hungry that night. On the ninth day he found no food, either, … and the tenth, and the eleventh, and the twelfth, … and on the thirteenth day, when he hadn’t eaten for several days he was starving … and he came to a mountain … and he looked up the mountain and he thought to himself, “Perhaps if I wander up that mountain, somewhere on the mountain, I will find some food”.
So, the boy began to wander up the mountain, and as he wandered up the mountain he discovered a path and he began to follow the path to the top of the mountain.
As he got to the top of the mountain he still had found no food. So, he became a little discouraged and right towards the summit of the mountain a rattlesnake came across the path in front of him. The boy saw the rattlesnake and the rattlesnake saw the boy. They stood head to head and stared at each other for a long moment and then the snake said to the boy,
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
How To Change The World
Anthony De Mello writes of a man he’d met who reflected on his days – he entitles it
CHANGE THE WORLD BY CHANGING ME
“I was a revolutionary when I
was young and all my prayer to God was
‘Lord, give the energy to change the world.’
“As I approached middle age and realized
that half my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
prayer to ‘Lord, give me the grace to
change all those who come in contact
with me. Just my family and friends,
and I shall be satisfied.’
“Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbered, my one prayer
is, ‘Lord, give me the grace to change
myself.’ If I had prayed for this right
from the start I should not have wasted
my life.”
CHANGE THE WORLD BY CHANGING ME
“I was a revolutionary when I
was young and all my prayer to God was
‘Lord, give the energy to change the world.’
“As I approached middle age and realized
that half my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
prayer to ‘Lord, give me the grace to
change all those who come in contact
with me. Just my family and friends,
and I shall be satisfied.’
“Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbered, my one prayer
is, ‘Lord, give me the grace to change
myself.’ If I had prayed for this right
from the start I should not have wasted
my life.”
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Opinion Piece On WWJC? [sic]
Retrieved from http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1365610 on 6/12/11.
Keep Jesus out of your socialism (Part 1)
Dr. Michael Youssef 6/9/2011 9:35:00 AM
The headline of the full-page ad asks, "What Would Jesus Cut? -- A budget is a moral document." The text continues, "Our faith tells us that the moral test of a society is how it treats the poor."
The ad was produced by Sojourners, a self-described "evangelical" organization whose slogan is "Faith in Action for Social Justice." The ad was signed by Sojourners president Jim Wallis and more than two dozen Religious Left pastors, theologians, and activists. They urge our legislators to ask themselves, "What would Jesus cut?" from the federal budget.
How would you answer that question? My answer would be, "It's a nonsense question. Your premise is faulty. Your priorities are not His priorities."
Keep Jesus out of your socialism (Part 1)
Dr. Michael Youssef 6/9/2011 9:35:00 AM
The headline of the full-page ad asks, "What Would Jesus Cut? -- A budget is a moral document." The text continues, "Our faith tells us that the moral test of a society is how it treats the poor."
The ad was produced by Sojourners, a self-described "evangelical" organization whose slogan is "Faith in Action for Social Justice." The ad was signed by Sojourners president Jim Wallis and more than two dozen Religious Left pastors, theologians, and activists. They urge our legislators to ask themselves, "What would Jesus cut?" from the federal budget.
How would you answer that question? My answer would be, "It's a nonsense question. Your premise is faulty. Your priorities are not His priorities."
Monday, August 2, 2010
Catholicism and Galileo
The following article is transcribed from the January 7, 2001 edition of Our Sunday Visitor.
On Galileo, “conventional wisdom” is bunk
Church authorities erred in judging the 16th-century astronomer’s views. Now, if only today’ Catholic-bashers would deal with the facts of the case
It was one of the most dramatic moments in the history of science. It was 1633. And there was Galileo, bent and broken by the tortures of the Inquisition, retracting that which he knew to be true – that the earth orbits the sun and moves on its own axis. Blind religion had conquered science.
Yet, as he leaves the court for life imprisonment in the dungeons of the Inquisition, he musters on last moment of courage. The he promised never to teach again that the earth is anything but a motionless orb in space, he defiantly mutters aloud, “Eppur si muove!” (“And yet it does move!”) It would take 360 years – not until the 1990s – for the Church to apologize and admit that the astronomer had a point.
That’s the conventional wisdom on the trial of Galileo. And it is all bunk.
Galileo was never tortured and never spent a day locked in a prison cell. The famous quote attributed to him was invented by a writer 125 years later. And within 100 years of Galileo’s death on Jan. 8, 1642, well before science was capable of proving his theories, his published works received an imprimatur from the Church.
On Galileo, “conventional wisdom” is bunk
Church authorities erred in judging the 16th-century astronomer’s views. Now, if only today’ Catholic-bashers would deal with the facts of the case
**********
By Robert P. Lockwood
**********
It was one of the most dramatic moments in the history of science. It was 1633. And there was Galileo, bent and broken by the tortures of the Inquisition, retracting that which he knew to be true – that the earth orbits the sun and moves on its own axis. Blind religion had conquered science.
Yet, as he leaves the court for life imprisonment in the dungeons of the Inquisition, he musters on last moment of courage. The he promised never to teach again that the earth is anything but a motionless orb in space, he defiantly mutters aloud, “Eppur si muove!” (“And yet it does move!”) It would take 360 years – not until the 1990s – for the Church to apologize and admit that the astronomer had a point.
That’s the conventional wisdom on the trial of Galileo. And it is all bunk.
Galileo was never tortured and never spent a day locked in a prison cell. The famous quote attributed to him was invented by a writer 125 years later. And within 100 years of Galileo’s death on Jan. 8, 1642, well before science was capable of proving his theories, his published works received an imprimatur from the Church.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Last Day by Bob Perks
"This is to inform you that today will be your last day. Please make every effort to get your affairs in order and take care of all last minute contacts."
He knew it was coming, but still he was shocked.
"Time seemed to fly by," he thought to himself. "I had so many great things going. I don't understand why this should happen now."
But often this happens with no particular explanation, rhyme or reason.
He was angry, confused and saddened by it all. But after some reflection and a few tears he began gathering his belongings.
Then pulling out his address book he started with the "A's" and made his final phone calls.
He knew it was coming, but still he was shocked.
"Time seemed to fly by," he thought to himself. "I had so many great things going. I don't understand why this should happen now."
But often this happens with no particular explanation, rhyme or reason.
He was angry, confused and saddened by it all. But after some reflection and a few tears he began gathering his belongings.
Then pulling out his address book he started with the "A's" and made his final phone calls.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
What is Ash Wednesday? A Concise Explanation by Jimmy Akin
Few write with the precision and clarity of Jimmy (James) Akin regarding Catholic matters. Mr. Akin's work in Catholic apologetics is thorough and through his writings he presents and articulates ideas and concepts with an understandable expertise. He is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers and is heard frequently on the Catholic Answers radio program. More of his writings may be found at Catholic.com, as well as his own blog, http://jimmyakin.org/.
The Day of Ashes
By James Akin
Ash Wednesday, the day Lent begins, occurs forty days before Good Friday. Some Fundamentalists claim Ash Wednesday is based on a pagan festival, but it originated in the A.D. 900s, long after Europe had been Christianized and the pagan cults stamped out.
Ash Wednesday is actually a colloquial name. The official name is the Day of Ashes, because on that day the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.
In the Bible, a mark on the forehead is a symbol of ownership. By having his forehead marked with the sign of a cross, a person symbolizes that he belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a cross. This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism, when he is delivered from slavery to sin and the devil and made a slave of righteousness and Christ (Rom. 6:3-18). It also imitates the way the righteous are described in the book of Revelation: "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads" (Rev.7:3). Or again, "Then I looked, and, lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). This is in contrast to the followers of the beast, who have the number 666 on their foreheads or hands.
The Day of Ashes
By James Akin
Ash Wednesday, the day Lent begins, occurs forty days before Good Friday. Some Fundamentalists claim Ash Wednesday is based on a pagan festival, but it originated in the A.D. 900s, long after Europe had been Christianized and the pagan cults stamped out.
Ash Wednesday is actually a colloquial name. The official name is the Day of Ashes, because on that day the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.
In the Bible, a mark on the forehead is a symbol of ownership. By having his forehead marked with the sign of a cross, a person symbolizes that he belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a cross. This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism, when he is delivered from slavery to sin and the devil and made a slave of righteousness and Christ (Rom. 6:3-18). It also imitates the way the righteous are described in the book of Revelation: "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads" (Rev.7:3). Or again, "Then I looked, and, lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). This is in contrast to the followers of the beast, who have the number 666 on their foreheads or hands.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
St. Valentine's Day
This article is pulled from the 1912 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia. No doubt, since the original publication a notable amount of secularization has occurred to the holiday.
At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.
Saint Valentine's Day
The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice. Perhaps the earliest to be found is in the 34th and 35th Ballades of the bilingual poet, John Gower, written in French; but Lydgate and Clauvowe supply other examples. Those who chose each other under these circumstances seem to have been called by each other their Valentines. In the Paston Letters, Dame Elizabeth Brews writes thus about a match she hopes to make for her daughter (we modernize the spelling), addressing the favoured suitor:
And, cousin mine, upon Monday is Saint Valentine's Day and every bird chooses himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion.
Shortly after the young lady herself wrote a letter to the same man addressing it "Unto my rightwell beloved Valentine, John Paston Esquire". The custom of choosing and sending valentines has of late years fallen into comparative desuetude.1
1MLA citation. Thurston, Herbert. "St. Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 14 Feb. 2010.
APA citation. Thurston, H. (1912). St. Valentine. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 14, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul Knutsen.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.
Saint Valentine's Day
The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice. Perhaps the earliest to be found is in the 34th and 35th Ballades of the bilingual poet, John Gower, written in French; but Lydgate and Clauvowe supply other examples. Those who chose each other under these circumstances seem to have been called by each other their Valentines. In the Paston Letters, Dame Elizabeth Brews writes thus about a match she hopes to make for her daughter (we modernize the spelling), addressing the favoured suitor:
And, cousin mine, upon Monday is Saint Valentine's Day and every bird chooses himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion.
Shortly after the young lady herself wrote a letter to the same man addressing it "Unto my rightwell beloved Valentine, John Paston Esquire". The custom of choosing and sending valentines has of late years fallen into comparative desuetude.1
1MLA citation. Thurston, Herbert. "St. Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 14 Feb. 2010
APA citation. Thurston, H. (1912). St. Valentine. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 14, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul Knutsen.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Parable of the Cross
All the people who had ever lived were assembled before the throne of God. They were a sullen lot. They all had complaints, and they began to murmur among themselves. Who does God think He is, anyway?
One of the groups was composed of Jews who had suffered persecution. Some had died in gas chambers and concentration camps - and they grumbled; how could God know of the suffering they had been through?
Another group was slaves - black men and women with brands on their brows, great hosts of them, who had suffered indignities at the hands of those who called themselves "God's people" - What could God know about their plight?
There were long lines of refugees driven from their lands - homeless people, who had never on this earth been able to make ends meet.
There were sick ones and sufferers of all kinds, hundreds of groups, each with a complaint against God. What could He know of what human beings were forced to endure?
From each group a leader was chosen and a commission appointed to draw up the case against the Almighty Himself. Instead of God judging them, they began judging Him. And the verdict was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a human being with no safeguards to protect His Divinity. And here was a bill of particulars:
Let Him be born a Jew. Let Him be born poor. Let even the legitimacy of His birth be suspect. Give Him hard work to do and poverty that He might know the pinch. Let Him be rejected by His people. Give Him for friends only those who are held in contempt. Let Him be betrayed by one of His friends. Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, convicted by a cowardly judge. Let Him be abandoned by His friends and see what it is to be terribly alone. Let Him be tortured, and then let Him die at the hands of His enemies.
As each group announced its sentence on God, roars of approval went up from the throng. When the last had finished, the raucous noise had become almost deafening ... and then everyone turned toward the throne. And suddenly heaven was filled with shocked penitent silence. For where there had been a throne, now could be seen a Cross.
- Andrew Armstrong
From Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR book "Arise from Darkness" - (ISBN - 0898705258).
Father Groeschel notes - "I have been unable to discover any information about the author [Andrew Armstrong], but surely a Christian capable of writing this will rejoice to have it shared. - BJG."
One of the groups was composed of Jews who had suffered persecution. Some had died in gas chambers and concentration camps - and they grumbled; how could God know of the suffering they had been through?
Another group was slaves - black men and women with brands on their brows, great hosts of them, who had suffered indignities at the hands of those who called themselves "God's people" - What could God know about their plight?
There were long lines of refugees driven from their lands - homeless people, who had never on this earth been able to make ends meet.
There were sick ones and sufferers of all kinds, hundreds of groups, each with a complaint against God. What could He know of what human beings were forced to endure?
From each group a leader was chosen and a commission appointed to draw up the case against the Almighty Himself. Instead of God judging them, they began judging Him. And the verdict was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a human being with no safeguards to protect His Divinity. And here was a bill of particulars:
Let Him be born a Jew. Let Him be born poor. Let even the legitimacy of His birth be suspect. Give Him hard work to do and poverty that He might know the pinch. Let Him be rejected by His people. Give Him for friends only those who are held in contempt. Let Him be betrayed by one of His friends. Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, convicted by a cowardly judge. Let Him be abandoned by His friends and see what it is to be terribly alone. Let Him be tortured, and then let Him die at the hands of His enemies.
As each group announced its sentence on God, roars of approval went up from the throng. When the last had finished, the raucous noise had become almost deafening ... and then everyone turned toward the throne. And suddenly heaven was filled with shocked penitent silence. For where there had been a throne, now could be seen a Cross.
- Andrew Armstrong
From Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR book "Arise from Darkness" - (ISBN - 0898705258).
Father Groeschel notes - "I have been unable to discover any information about the author [Andrew Armstrong], but surely a Christian capable of writing this will rejoice to have it shared. - BJG."
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