Free Tell A Friend
Pages
Categories
Friends
Recent Comments
Twitter Updates
Error: Twitter did not respond. Please wait a few minutes and refresh this page.
Log In
Monthly Archives: December 2009
With a Mother’s Love
To many around the world she is known as Mary–the mother of God, the mother of Jesus. She was the girl who God loves, freeing her from the stain of sin. She is the girl whose “yes” changed the face of the world. She said “yes” when others would have asked questions, or rationalized. She said “yes” almost without thinking, for this was who she was created to be. She was the second Eve. She produced the fruit of a new tree, the tree of eternal life. And so with her “yes” God came into the world and she was trusted to guide Him, protect Him, and love Him. Mary’s life wasn’t without suffering and hardship though. She saw the nails pierce, she saw him hang upon the cross, and she saw Him die. This was who He was. This is what He was created for. And yet, we do not hear of her complaining or questioning. Tradition tells of a look between a mother and a son as Jesus carried His cross towards Calvary. A look and only a look–words were not expressed; everything was said. Who was consoling whom? Who was giving whom strength? They were there together, mother and Son, each having said “yes.” Mary was there at the beginning of Jesus’ life and now she would be there for the end. In a way, Mary walked to her Calvary. She suffered with her Son, she yearned to take His pain, and her heart ached as if pierced by a spear. When he died that day, so also did she. All of Christianity can be summed up as a love story between a mother and a son.
Papacy in Scripture V: Extra-Biblical Context
I was not sure what to entitle this post, since it does not directly deal with texts from the canonical Scriptures, hence the subtitle: “Extra-Biblical Context.” At the same time, I wanted to highlight its continuity with the previous four posts on this topic, hence the misleading title: “Papacy in Scripture V.” I hope this post serves as a sort of transition into the NT material where we will dive into the Gospels.
Why examine extra-biblical 2nd Temple Jewish literature if we don’t consider it inspired by God? For many reasons, chief among them such literature often provides insightful commentary to earlier OT texts and shows ways in which Jews living before, during and after Jesus interpreted the OT. What I hope to do in subsequent posts is show how the NT material shares some of the interpretive judgments found in the 2nd Temple texts below, and how this relates to the office of the papacy.
Posted in Bible, Papacy
2 Comments
Prayer Tips
As we are running around preparing for the birth of our Savior, I thought I would take a moment to offer a reflection on prayer. This is a bit of a departure from the series on the papacy that Dr. Jeff Morrow has been posting and my discussion of orthodoxy. While a departure, I hope that you find it helpful during these remaining days of Advent.
Prayer Tips:
1) Tweet God, because he is tweeting us.
![PopeComputer[1]](http://caritasetveritas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/PopeComputer1-150x150.jpg "PopeComputer[1]")
Do you like Twitter? I must be honest that I personally find no enjoyment in tweeting others about the moment by moment ongoings of my life and in many ways, I am not so interested in the every detail of others lives. However, in our relationship with God, we are called to “pray without ceasing” or put another way, we are called to ”tweet” God. Our communication with God should be ongoing and regular. Unlike me, he wants and desires to have a constant dialogue with us, and loves every detail. Furthermore, do you realize that he “tweets” us on a regular basis. This leads to the second tip–listening.
2) Listen to God
Review: Face Forward
Evangelization is taking new forms through new media and at times we hope to feature good examples of these. I learned recently of a new Facebook application called Face Forward designed by the vocations office of the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio. This app really meets the youth where they are. Fr. Jeff Coning, vocations director for the Diocese of Columbus, seems to really get that if we are going to increase vocations we need to be where the kids are and engaging them on their level.
Face Forward is more than just a social network for youth to engage with one another and priests in a safe environment, it is also a very good tool for catechesis of the youth. They have a quiz challenging kids to know their faith, they have a section called “Mass Musings,” and the vocation director even has his play list up for the kids to listen. As another example, recently they posted a video on the “O Antiphons” for Advent. This is really instructive for the youth! I spoke with Father Jeff who described interesting and engaging features to come and discussed that he is going to get the seminarians to help write on the site. I am excited to watch this site grow and expand, and I will be interested to see its effects on vocations for years to come. For readers with teenage kids, I encourage you to check out Face Forward. While the events and the information is local to Columbus, Ohio, I think the idea is worthy of mention as a great example of the new evangelization and something I hope spreads across the nation.
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Diocese of Columbus, Face Forward, Facebook, New Evangelization, Youth Ministry
Leave a comment
Where’s That in the Bible?
How many times have you heard someone respond to a specific Catholic teaching, say on Mary or on the papacy, with the question, “Where’s that in the Bible?” So often the intent of this question is to imply that these Catholic teachings are in fact not found in Scripture, and are therefore not to be believed.
But where’s that in the Bible? Where does the Bible teach that what Christians should believe must be found in Scripture? The theological assumption here is often called by its technical Latin name, sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone, and amounts to something like, “the Bible is the only authority on matters of Christian doctrine.”
Certainly 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (NIV). That all Scripture is God-breathed, or inspired, is of course true and is not something only taught by Protestants; the Catholic Church equally affirms this teaching, and in fact cites this passage, e.g. in the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, Dei Verbum (no. 11; see also the Catechism of the Catholic Church, ftnt 70 to no. 105).
Vatican Council: The Sequel
In an earlier post, I discussed the definational meaning of orthodox. In subsequent articles, I hope to lay out some of the guiding principles that define Catholic orthodoxy. The first being, how we understand and read the Second Vatican Council. (How did it become referred to as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II anyway? I think it would have been cooler to refer to it as “The Vatican Council: The Sequel.” I digress.)
If you have never read the documents of the Second Vatican Council – read them! The council is a gift and a blessing to the Church, and the documents are beautiful! We should embrace them, understand them, and get as many people to read them as we can. We should not run from the council or blame the council, but rather to be orthodox is to embrace the council, realizing that it is still being interpred and implemented. But, when you do pick up these documents, read it by the letter guided by the spirit for understanding and deeper reflection. This distinguishes orthodoxy from others who read the Second Vatican Council looking for what is written between the lines, or read it as a political account of the conversatives in the Roman Curia versus those progressives who wanted change. We don’t read it by the spirit, but rather we read it IN the Spirit. We don’t look for what is between the lines, but what is right there on the page. That is a huge difference.
Posted in Orthodoxy
Tagged Catholicism, Orthodox, Second Vatican Council, Vatican II
Leave a comment
Papacy in Scripture IV: Israel’s Royal Steward
We’ve already taken a look at the basic structure of the Davidic Kingdom, but now I want to highlight a passage in the OT that focuses on the royal steward to the Kingdom of David (which in 1 & 2 Chronicles is called the Kingdom of YHWH, or the Kingdom of the Lord).
Isaiah 22:20-24 reads: “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots–all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars” (NIV).
Posted in Bible, Papacy
7 Comments
Organic Family Planning
NFP is 100% natural, has no artificial preservatives, is completely organic and is the only green option!
In my working with couples preparing to be married I have discovered that while many of them know that the Church is “against” birth control, pre-maritial sex, and cohabitation, they have no idea why. They hear the Church saying, “No, no, no” but are not taught what the Church is for and what the Church is saying, “Yes, yes, yes” to. The couples seem to believe the Church is out of touch and out to lunch on these issues. And they certainly have never heard that within marriage there is an alternative that embraces the openness to life, and allows the couple to be a discerning, co-creator with God. This alternative is called Natural Family Planning (NFP).
However, one of the many reasons I give, as a male working with couples, is that Natural Family Planning is pro-women. It respects the femininity of the female and does not ask her to be something she is not. In articulating my point, I have changed the name from “Natural Family Planning” to “Organic Family Planning.” I even joke that my wife and I are “Organic Certified” and I have thoughts of producing t-shirts to wear to that effect.
Posted in Natural Family Planning
Tagged Birth Control, Contraceptives, Natural Family Planning, NFP
2 Comments
Papacy in Scripture III: Give Us a King Like the Nations
In this third post on the roots of the papacy in Scripture, I want to highlight that Joseph’s high position in Egypt is actually significant for understanding the administrative structure of the Kingdom of David, and therefore of the Church which is the fulfilled Davidic Kingdom.
After the people of Israel have entered the Promised Land, they eventually ask Samuel for a king to rule over them: “appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5, NIV). And this is exactly what happened. First under King Saul, and then under King David, the people of Israel became a kingdom. The Kingdom of David became an everlasting kingdom, and in the New Testament, was transformed into the Church.
Moreover, the Davidic Kingdom was called the Kingdom of YHWH, e.g. in 1 Chronicles 28:5 and in 2 Chronicles 13:8. Thus, in a very real way, the Kingdom of David was the Kingdom of God, what is meant by the New Testament phrase, Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew’s Gospel) or Kingdom of God (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Moreover, in the Davidic Kingdom, the worshipping community of Israel was often called (in 1 and 2 Chronicles) the qahal (in Hebrew), which was translated in the Greek Septuagint as ekklesia (the word for Church in the New Testament).
Posted in Bible, Papacy
10 Comments