I attended Ed Keefe's funeral yesterday at Our Lady's Immaculate Heart in Ankeny. Ed had written responses to my Blog a few times as '.ed', and showed in them his penchant for an intelligent and passionate faith. He was a Catholic with a Pentecostal soul. That is, he had a vivid awareness of the Spirit's volcanic potential in the spiritual life if one is willing to be unsettled by His promptings.
The funeral liturgy was really magnificent, even as it was heart-wrenching to see his wife and family grieve.
May the Lord grant him full access to the Furnace that Azariah prayed in today, which burned in the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Heart, and in .ed's heart.
Thank you, Ed for your fiery witness to our faith and your unyielding commitment to serve the suffering neighbor. You will be missed.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Woman at Nazareth, Woman at Sychar
A Friday Lenten Meat-fest?
Tomorrow, Friday, we will celebrate the awe-inspiring Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord which commemorates the Angel Gabriel's encounter with the Virgin Mary. We believe that at the moment Mary said 'yes' to his request, the eternal Word of God became human in her womb; God became a zygote. During the recitation of the Creed at Mass, we fall on our knees at the words "...came down from heaven...became man."
This lovely Orthodox hymn sings of Gabriel's stunned response to Mary (see English text under video).
Try to get to Mass, or at least pray the Hours.
ALSO: this feast overshadows the Friday abstinence law of Lent, and you are allowed to eat meat tomorrow. But when you eat, eat to honor the Incarnation of God!
Jacob's Well
This Sunday we will be confronted by the thirsty Samaritan woman at the well, who once found herself confronted by Israel's thirsty God. It is like a New Testament mini Song of Songs.
This melodious exchange between Jesus and the woman finds crescendo in an extraordinary story of the events at the end of her life. The Orthodox Church names this woman St. Photini, and Orthodox hagiography narrates her final journey from Samaria to Rome where she brings her Christ-witness to 'the ends of the earth;' even to the family of the mad Emperor, Nero.
Who's truly Mad?
There in Rome, diabolical madness meets divine madness. The first madness is a dissociation of the mind from communion with reality, while the other madness is a radical communion of the mind with the really Real.
In the language of Proverbs, one is the way of Madam Folly, while the other is the way of Dame Wisdom. Fools see Wisdom as life-limiting madness, while the wise recognize Folly as death-dealing madness.
In the New Testament, Christ, who is God's Wisdom-made-flesh, refines the concept of Dame Wisdom by showing her - fully manifest on the Cross - to be even more mad than the fools previously thought. The obedient, self-giving, self-sacrificing mercy and love that appears on the Cross is the pith of divine Wisdom, and those fools mad enough to pattern their lives on that holy Rood are indeed Perfect Fools.
St. Photini, a symbol of Madam Folly when she arrived at the Well, found herself at first bewildered by her dialogue with Wisdom; and Wisdom exposed her folly, showing her the life-giving Way that He is.
Wisdom allured her into the desert and spoke to her heart, breaking her pseudo-covenant with Folly by showing her she was both known and loved.
She arrived at the stale waters as Madam Folly bearing an empty jar, and left as Dame Wisdom bearing in her heart superabundant living waters.
May we, this Lent, open our mind-heart to Christ that He might expose our folly and lead us to wisdom. May we thirst for that Wisdom, who first thirsted for us.
Tomorrow, Friday, we will celebrate the awe-inspiring Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord which commemorates the Angel Gabriel's encounter with the Virgin Mary. We believe that at the moment Mary said 'yes' to his request, the eternal Word of God became human in her womb; God became a zygote. During the recitation of the Creed at Mass, we fall on our knees at the words "...came down from heaven...became man."
This lovely Orthodox hymn sings of Gabriel's stunned response to Mary (see English text under video).
Try to get to Mass, or at least pray the Hours.
ALSO: this feast overshadows the Friday abstinence law of Lent, and you are allowed to eat meat tomorrow. But when you eat, eat to honor the Incarnation of God!
Jacob's Well
This Sunday we will be confronted by the thirsty Samaritan woman at the well, who once found herself confronted by Israel's thirsty God. It is like a New Testament mini Song of Songs.
This melodious exchange between Jesus and the woman finds crescendo in an extraordinary story of the events at the end of her life. The Orthodox Church names this woman St. Photini, and Orthodox hagiography narrates her final journey from Samaria to Rome where she brings her Christ-witness to 'the ends of the earth;' even to the family of the mad Emperor, Nero.
Who's truly Mad?
There in Rome, diabolical madness meets divine madness. The first madness is a dissociation of the mind from communion with reality, while the other madness is a radical communion of the mind with the really Real.
In the language of Proverbs, one is the way of Madam Folly, while the other is the way of Dame Wisdom. Fools see Wisdom as life-limiting madness, while the wise recognize Folly as death-dealing madness.
In the New Testament, Christ, who is God's Wisdom-made-flesh, refines the concept of Dame Wisdom by showing her - fully manifest on the Cross - to be even more mad than the fools previously thought. The obedient, self-giving, self-sacrificing mercy and love that appears on the Cross is the pith of divine Wisdom, and those fools mad enough to pattern their lives on that holy Rood are indeed Perfect Fools.
St. Photini, a symbol of Madam Folly when she arrived at the Well, found herself at first bewildered by her dialogue with Wisdom; and Wisdom exposed her folly, showing her the life-giving Way that He is.
Wisdom allured her into the desert and spoke to her heart, breaking her pseudo-covenant with Folly by showing her she was both known and loved.
She arrived at the stale waters as Madam Folly bearing an empty jar, and left as Dame Wisdom bearing in her heart superabundant living waters.
May we, this Lent, open our mind-heart to Christ that He might expose our folly and lead us to wisdom. May we thirst for that Wisdom, who first thirsted for us.
Monday, March 21, 2011
What’s wrong with the modern world?
On Sunday, April 3, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, West Des Moines, Dr. Chris Baglow of Notre Dame Seminary will tackle this question in a penetrating look at the monstrous mentality of scientific atheism and its antidote - the Catholic approach to faith, science and reason. Drawing on saints, scientists, philosophers and theologians, Baglow will show how to rescue reason from the straightjacket of materialism and set it back on its journey to God.
Belief Under Assault: Rescuing Faith & Reason from Monstrous Mentalities, will be held in the large meeting room at St. Francis. The event is FREE and open to the public and is co-sponsored by St. Joseph Educational Center and St. Francis of Assisi Young Adults & Friends (YCAF). For more information, call 222-1092 or visit SJEC Iowa.
Belief Under Assault: Rescuing Faith & Reason from Monstrous Mentalities, will be held in the large meeting room at St. Francis. The event is FREE and open to the public and is co-sponsored by St. Joseph Educational Center and St. Francis of Assisi Young Adults & Friends (YCAF). For more information, call 222-1092 or visit SJEC Iowa.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ashes, Dust
Ashen Joy
Lent is upon us, let us rejoice!
Does that not sound oxymoronic?
If you have internalized the world of the beatitudes, where that extreme-joy we call 'blessedness' is to be found in poverty, hunger and mourning, Lent is a season ripe with chance for extreme joy.
In fact, repentance opens the doors to joy as it unties the tangled web of sin; harmonizes distorted thinking; opens a self-absorbed life to self-giving life by the path of self-denial.
Pray, Fast, Give Alms
Lent is a call to plunge deeper into the Baptismal Grave that is, in Christ, at once a Tomb for the dead and a Womb for the risen. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three modes by which we die to self and live for Christ the God-neighbor.
In other words, we cultivate the theological virtue of charity.
In prayer, we open to love for God by cultivating intimacy with Him.
In fasting, we love ourselves rightly by cultivating self-mastery.
In almsgiving, we love neighbor by cultivating the good of the neighbor in need.
Do Penance
In addition to intensifying Prayer-Fasting-Almsgiving, Catholics often also choose a select penance to carry out with special intensity. Giving up something, or doing something.
I recommend the extraordinary insight offered last week on the Bishop's radio show by Deacon James Keating: during Ash Wednesday's Mass, ask Christ what He wishes your special Lenten penance to be. During the Liturgy, be attentive especially to the readings and homily, and listen to your heart to see if the Lord raises in your mind's eye some particular area of your life where you have an obstacle to growing in Christian virtue: a particular bad habit that needs special attention, a broken relationship that needs healing, an addiction, unhealthy attachments; or maybe you need to cultivate some new habits of prayer, self-discipline, holy reading, more silence, time management more in keeping with your life's primary commitments, etc.
Listen, and see what Jesus has to say.
Blog Deprivation
I will be away from my Blog until March 22, so you will be spared my tirades and rants for a time.
Benedict XVI
To conclude, I leave you with B16's Lenten Message. As ever, it rocks. Appropriate for Cephas, I guess.
Lent is upon us, let us rejoice!
Does that not sound oxymoronic?
If you have internalized the world of the beatitudes, where that extreme-joy we call 'blessedness' is to be found in poverty, hunger and mourning, Lent is a season ripe with chance for extreme joy.
In fact, repentance opens the doors to joy as it unties the tangled web of sin; harmonizes distorted thinking; opens a self-absorbed life to self-giving life by the path of self-denial.
Pray, Fast, Give Alms
Lent is a call to plunge deeper into the Baptismal Grave that is, in Christ, at once a Tomb for the dead and a Womb for the risen. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three modes by which we die to self and live for Christ the God-neighbor.
In other words, we cultivate the theological virtue of charity.
In prayer, we open to love for God by cultivating intimacy with Him.
In fasting, we love ourselves rightly by cultivating self-mastery.
In almsgiving, we love neighbor by cultivating the good of the neighbor in need.
Do Penance
In addition to intensifying Prayer-Fasting-Almsgiving, Catholics often also choose a select penance to carry out with special intensity. Giving up something, or doing something.
I recommend the extraordinary insight offered last week on the Bishop's radio show by Deacon James Keating: during Ash Wednesday's Mass, ask Christ what He wishes your special Lenten penance to be. During the Liturgy, be attentive especially to the readings and homily, and listen to your heart to see if the Lord raises in your mind's eye some particular area of your life where you have an obstacle to growing in Christian virtue: a particular bad habit that needs special attention, a broken relationship that needs healing, an addiction, unhealthy attachments; or maybe you need to cultivate some new habits of prayer, self-discipline, holy reading, more silence, time management more in keeping with your life's primary commitments, etc.
Listen, and see what Jesus has to say.
Blog Deprivation
I will be away from my Blog until March 22, so you will be spared my tirades and rants for a time.
Benedict XVI
To conclude, I leave you with B16's Lenten Message. As ever, it rocks. Appropriate for Cephas, I guess.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Fire
A Blazing Grace
My son will soon be sacramentally Confirmed by Bishop Pates, sealing the grace of Baptism.
What a joy to see him come to this final initiation into Christ and His Church!
All those young people will receive the immaterial Fire, who at times calls us to quench fire; but at other times calls us to kindle fire.
A Pentecostal Pyromaniac's Paradise.
To become fire.
Of greater interest to me is the fire spoken of by the Desert Fathers, who urge us to 'become flame':
‘Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’ Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you desire, you can become all flame.’
Meaning: God's purifying, loving, transforming love is a fire that has as its 'end-game' the total consumption of our life.
Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord
That night on which my son is Confirmed, I will pray for those young people that they will experience an awakening in their spiritual imagination: may they feel the caress of heaven's Zephyr, see the bright glory of Pentecostal Flames, and hear the whisper of God's still small Voice-made-flesh, incarnate for their salvation.
Veni!
Come, Holy Spirit.
Let the Fire fall!
My son will soon be sacramentally Confirmed by Bishop Pates, sealing the grace of Baptism.
What a joy to see him come to this final initiation into Christ and His Church!
All those young people will receive the immaterial Fire, who at times calls us to quench fire; but at other times calls us to kindle fire.
A Pentecostal Pyromaniac's Paradise.
To become fire.
Of greater interest to me is the fire spoken of by the Desert Fathers, who urge us to 'become flame':
‘Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’ Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you desire, you can become all flame.’
Meaning: God's purifying, loving, transforming love is a fire that has as its 'end-game' the total consumption of our life.
Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord
That night on which my son is Confirmed, I will pray for those young people that they will experience an awakening in their spiritual imagination: may they feel the caress of heaven's Zephyr, see the bright glory of Pentecostal Flames, and hear the whisper of God's still small Voice-made-flesh, incarnate for their salvation.
Veni!
Come, Holy Spirit.
Let the Fire fall!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Bow Down and Give Alms
The Soul of Worship
Today's Mass readings argue a powerful point: that a life of virtue, of obeying the commandments, is an act of worship most pleasing to God.
Very much an insight the sage Sirach extracted from the age of the great Prophets. Just read the very first chapter of Isaiah!
This same point, made by both Prophet and Sage in the Old Testament, is made forcefully by Jesus and the early Christian authors in places too many to mention.
Eat, Drink, Love
In particular, the link between right-action and right-worship is the leitmotif of the Last Supper in John 13-17 where the Eucharist is instituted as the central act of worship of the New Covenant.
Golden Mouth's Golden Soul
St. John Chrysostom wonderfully worded this link of worship and a life of justice and charity.
Count it all joy
So today, let's do a Sirach: "Add a smiling face to all your gifts, and be cheerful as you dedicate your tithes." Sir 35:8
Today's Mass readings argue a powerful point: that a life of virtue, of obeying the commandments, is an act of worship most pleasing to God.
Very much an insight the sage Sirach extracted from the age of the great Prophets. Just read the very first chapter of Isaiah!
This same point, made by both Prophet and Sage in the Old Testament, is made forcefully by Jesus and the early Christian authors in places too many to mention.
Eat, Drink, Love
In particular, the link between right-action and right-worship is the leitmotif of the Last Supper in John 13-17 where the Eucharist is instituted as the central act of worship of the New Covenant.
Golden Mouth's Golden Soul
St. John Chrysostom wonderfully worded this link of worship and a life of justice and charity.
Count it all joy
So today, let's do a Sirach: "Add a smiling face to all your gifts, and be cheerful as you dedicate your tithes." Sir 35:8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
