The Anti-Beatitudes

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Bible Reflections

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Last Monday my wife and I took our high school daughter to St. Louis, Missouri, for a campus tour of St. Louis University, a Jesuit university. The day began with all prospective students and parents meeting for an introduction in the student center. Before the presentation began I noticed several paintings on the walls depicting various people in abstract form. I was curious about them so, at a break, I looked at them more closely. There were eight paintings in all and I found them all to be very interesting. As I reached the end of the row there was a framed explanation of their subject matter and a blurb about the artist (unfortunately I do not remember the artist’s name)(* – See 4/28/13 note in comment below). Each painting was of someone representing an “Anti-Beatitude”, or in other words, the opposite of one of the Beatitudes.

I was intrigued by this because I have used a similar type of thought process to demonstrate the ridiculousness of various ideas to my children and to employees. When teaching my children about principles and virtues I would often explain the goodness of a principle by examining the opposite of that principle. For example, I would show them how honesty is a good principle because the opposite of honesty – lying, deceit, and thievery – is a bad thing. Even crooks who may regularly practice these anti-principles know they are bad things because of their reactions when they are on the wrong end of them. Likewise, I would use this method of looking at the opposite of that which is accepted ethical business practice to show employees the absurdity of unethical behavior. But, I had never before seen this idea put into visual form.

I wondered, “What would ‘Anti-Beatitudes’ look like in written form?” I thought this might be a good tool for teaching children about the real Beatitudes. So, with a thesaurus in hand and using a little imagination, it wasn’t too hard to come up with something to show how ludicrous these appear compared to our Christian morals. For comparison’s sake, I have listed below the actual Beatitudes first to help illustrate the preposterousness of their conjured-up opposites that follow:

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5 : 3-11)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men insult you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you for my sake.

The Anti-Beatitudes

Blessed are the proud and self-sufficient who believe they are the center of the earth, for theirs are the kingdoms of the world.
Blessed are the content and those who fail to see the suffering of others, for they shall know not of their ignorance.
Blessed are the arrogant, and the harsh in attitude, for they shall control the happiness of the less fortunate.
Blessed are they who gather expensive things undeservedly and flaunt them in the face of others, for they shall be filled with feelings of superiority.
Blessed are the bullies, the unforgiving, and those who force grievance, for they shall cause destruction and keep score.
Blessed are the perverted, the adulterers, and the lustful, for they shall be esteemed by Satan for growing his kingdom.
Blessed are the warmongers, the agitators and the vengeful, for they shall be the children of Satan.
Blessed are they who do evil but fail to get caught, for they shall be considered heroes.
Blessed are the liars, the gossipers, and those who make fun of others to cause them harm and embarrassment, for they shall have confidence and be placed ahead of others.

I was certainly not prepared for my fright when I noticed upon completion of this list how I, and just about everyone else I know, at one point or another in our lives, fit perfectly into most of these descriptions. Some of the trickery I’ve used on others to make a point backfired on me and hit me squarely in the side of the head. To put it bluntly, it was a shameful and embarrassing, but honest, realization. I think I will keep this list handy and, from this point forward, pull it out and dust it off from time to time and use it like a litmus paper to check my self-acidity, and as a tool to prepare for reconciliation. I’m feeling fortunate that my sins were forgiven through my recent baptism or else I would probably be packing supper and a midnight snack for both Father and me when I make my first real trip to the confessional!

(The post The Anti-Beatitudes first appeared on Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

No room for self-promoters in God’s kingdom, Pope says

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Uncategorized

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VATICAN CITY, April 22 (CNA/EWTN News) .- Pope Francis warned that some people, even in the Church, are “social climbers” that try to promote themselves, instead of seeking to glorify Christ.

“These social climbers exist even in the Christian communities, no? Those people who are looking out for themselves … and consciously or unconsciously pretend to enter but are thieves and robbers,” he said at an April 22 Mass for Vatican press office and Vatican Radio employees.

“Why? Why steal the glory from Jesus? They want glory for themselves and this is what (Jesus) said to the Pharisees: ‘You seek for each other’s approval,’” the Pope responded.

The result of this approach is that the faith becomes “something of a ‘commercial’ religion,” he reflected.

“I give glory to you and you give glory to me. But these people did not enter through the true gate. The (true) gate is Jesus and those who do not enter by this gate are mistaken.”

Christians can know which way or gate is Jesus’ by looking for the marks of the Beatitudes, he said.

There are many paths that we can follow, he explained, some perhaps more advantageous than others in getting ahead, but they are “misleading, they are not real; they are false. The only path is Jesus. ”

“Some of you may say, ‘Father, you’re a fundamentalist!’” Pope Francis recalled.

“No, simply put, this is what Jesus said: ‘I am the gate,’ ‘I am the path.’ … It is a beautiful gate, a gate of love, it is a gate that does not deceive, it is not false. It always tells the truth, but with tenderness and love.”

But, he noted, “we still have … the source of original sin within us, is not it so? We still desire to possess the key to interpreting everything, the key and the power to find our own path, whatever it is, to find our own gate, whatever it is.”

“And this is the temptation to look for other gates or other windows to enter the Kingdom of God.

We can only enter by the gate whose name is Jesus,” he emphasized, reminding the congregation that any other path of entering is for ‘thieves and robbers.’

“He is simple, the Lord. His words are not complex. He is simple.”

Pope Francis concluded by encouraging every to ask for “the grace to always knock on that gate.”

“Sometimes it’s closed: we are sad, we feel desolation, we have problems with knocking, with knocking at that gate. Do not go looking for other gates that seem easier, more comfortable, more at hand. Always the same one: Jesus. Jesus never disappoints, Jesus does not deceive, Jesus is not a thief, not a robber. He gave his life for me. Each of us must say this: ‘And you who gave your life for me, please, open, that I may enter.’”

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White House: No comment on case against abortion provider Kermit Gosnell

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Uncategorized

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PHILADELPHIA – Over five weeks of testimony, Philadelphia prosecutors have painted Dr. Kermit Gosnell as an eccentric, detached boss who relied on untrained staff to perform abortions at his outdated, inner-city clinic.
Trial witnesses have described an abortion clinic, and perhaps a man, growing increasingly chaotic over the years.
One woman who died after a 2009 abortion had gone to several clinics near her Virginia home, starting when she was about 15 weeks pregnant. But each time, she was referred elsewhere, until she arrived at Gosnell’s clinic in her 19th week. Bhutanese refugee Karnamaya Mongar, 41, died of a Demerol overdose the next day.
Gosnell’s “nursing” staff included several women who were trained at a career school to be medical assistants, but were quickly shown how to perform ultrasounds and give anesthesia. To make the latter job easier, a 15-year-old worker used markers to draw up a color-coded chart that showed which drug cocktails should be given to which patients. Sometimes, it depended on how much they could pay, witnesses have said.
Prosecutors have filled the courtroom with Gosnell’s office equipment, including a seemingly ancient ultrasound machine, a busted defibrillator and a ripped, aging examining table.
The 546 exhibits also include dozens of patient files, one of which was handled with latex gloves because of a still-odorous stain. And an FBI agent recalled Gosnell, on the night of the 2010 law enforcement raid, eating dinner while they interviewed him.
“He was still wearing his bloody latex gloves. They had some holes in them,” Agent Jason Huff testified.
At the time of the raid, Gosnell had 47 fetuses stored in the freezer, authorities said, apparently because of a billing dispute with his medical waste company. The recovered bodies gave investigators a wealth of evidence to test, and prosecutors said in opening statements they could prove that at least seven babies were born alive.
Unlicensed doctor Stephen Massof and other staff members testified that Gosnell taught them to “snip” babies in the top of the spine after the abortion procedure.
“If you cut off the brain, the body will die. It’s that simple,” Massof testified.
Massof has pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder.
“I trusted him. I believed he knew what he was talking about,” said Massof, a Caribbean medical school graduate who could not get a U.S. residency. “I should have Googled.”
Medical assistant Kareema Cross said she saw babies move even after their spines were severed. McMahon disputed that account.
McMahon is also expected to challenge prosecutors’ claims that the autopsies of two of the recovered fetuses show they had taken a breath. The Philadelphia medical examiner stopped short of confirming that when he testified.
And only two of the 47 were arguably past the 24-week limit for abortions in Pennsylvania, McMahon has noted, attacking charges that Gosnell routinely performed illegal, late abortions.
Eight clinic employees have pleaded guilty in the case. The only remaining co-defendant, medical school graduate Eileen O’Neill, is fighting racketeering and false-billing charges, for allegedly billing as a licensed doctor.

72 Members of Congress Demand Media Coverage of Gosnell Trial
Some 72 members of Congress have signed on to a letter demanding that the mainstream media provide coverage of the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell.

Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) were joined by 70 of their House colleagues late Wednesday demanding national broadcast news channels ABC, NBC, and CBS stop blacking out coverage on high-profile abortion controversies.

Their letters specifically reference two instances where the media has covered up the story of Planned Parenthood lobbying in support of infanticide in the Florida State Legislature and in the ongoing murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia. By many accounts, the Gosnell murder trial has become one of the most notorious cases of patient abuse of mothers and children in our nation’s history, they said.

“The broadcasters’ blackout of the Planned Parenthood infanticide lobbying scandal and the Gosnell ‘House of Horrors’ murder trial are the biggest and most politically-motivated media cover-ups in our nation’s history,” said Blackburn. “Censorship and media bias allows the corrupt abortion industry to profit at the expense of innocent women and children. The mainstream media has a responsibility to report the truth, not turn a blind eye to the biggest civil rights issue of our time.”

“If someone went into a hospital and shot seven babies and a mother with an AK-47, the media coverage surrounding the trial would rival a natural disaster,” Scalise said. “Yet seven babies and a mother are dead at the hands of an abortion doctor using a scalpel, and the mainstream media’s silence on this story is deafening. By failing to cover this story and turning their backs on the culture of abortion in this country, the media has failed in their duty to provide unbiased coverage of this horrific tragedy.”

The Breath of God

20 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Bible Reflections, Prayer

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Breath of God, Gospel of John, HolySpirit, Ruah

A while back a friend and I were lamenting about how hard it is when you pray to concentrate on clearing your mind of all the thoughts that are itching to be silently said and, instead, listening to the voice of God. And then, even when you’ve figured out how to turn off your internal voice, it’s difficult to maintain that concentration with the often disturbing ambient noise around you. My friend said he sometimes puts his hands over his ears to muffle the sounds and it helps him concentrate on the sound of his breathing.

“Whoa, wait a minute”, I thought, “The sound of his breathing?” There were bells going off here! At some point in the past year during my crash course in Catholicism and the formation of my faith, I had heard or read something that had to do with the voice of God or the name of God, and some connection with breathing or the wind blowing….or something along those lines. I racked my brain to remember what it was. I searched on-line to no avail and had about convinced myself I had dreamed it all when, with a smidgen of help from our good Deacon, I had a breakthrough. What I had been trying to think of was the Hebrew word “Ruah” which is translated into English as “The Breath (or Whisper) of God”. But, in Hebrew “The Breath of God” is synonymous with “The Holy Spirit”. In other words, the Jews considered the Holy Spirit to be the Breath of God.

Then, at Easter, I was thumbing through the Gospel of John and I stumbled upon John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

I am an engineer and, as such, I tend to be a linear thinker. It wasn’t hard for me to connect the dots in this thought process. Considering the fact that, as Catholics, we believe the Holy Trinity lives within us, the connection I was trying to make, and which I quite triumphantly suggested to my friend, was that while he is listening and concentrating on his own breathing as a focusing technique so as to better hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to him, maybe, just maybe, they are one and the same thing in that ultimate moment when true reverence is reached, and, perhaps, through that calmness, a translation occurs.

Think about it. I, for one, am going to give it a try.

Confession: Why Bother?

18 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by CWhittenburg in Confession, Prayer, Reconciliation

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Biblical Submission, Confession, Ephesians 5, Reconciliation, servant leadership

Psalm 25:11 “For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.”

Throughout late 2010 and into all of 2011, I worked to become a better spiritual leader to Elissa and my three daughters. However, I struggled with the guilt of my past sins and prayed for guidance frequently. The answer, of course, was in front of me every Saturday afternoon before 5:30 mass but I tried not to see it. In December of 2011, God finally got through my thick skull that I needed to reconcile with Him by confessing my sins to Him through the sacrament of reconciliation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The confession of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission, man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.”

The problem was that I hadn’t been to confession in over 30 years and couldn’t even remember what to do. I had to look up the rules on-line and re-memorize an act of contrition. It seemed simple enough: Walk in, say hello Father it has been 30 years since my last confession. He’ll then ask me to state my sins. I figured that might take awhile for me. After that, he might ask me questions for clarification and then ask me to make an act of contrition, give me penance, and say a prayer of absolution. Why was it so hard for me to step into the confessional?

During Advent of 2011, I finally worked up the nerve to go. I did not tell Elissa in advance just in case I chickened out. I went to 7 a.m. mass downtown at the cathedral, spoke with the priest after mass, and confessed the worst of my past. When I was done, I felt a wave of relief and lightness in my soul that I had never felt before. Elissa and I had always joked that if I ever went, the poor priest’s head would explode with all my sins. I sent a simple text to Elissa “The priest’s head didn’t explode.”

Ephesians 4:22-24 “You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

Reconciliation brought me great relief and a renewed desire to grow in my faith. It brought me closer to God, and made me want to amend my life in several ways.

Reconciliation made me want to grow in my faith. I signed up for a Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) weekend in April 2012. Hearing the stories of the men during my receiving weekend moved me deeply. I realized that I was not alone in my troubles and that there was hope for a sinner like me. I attended reconciliation that weekend and felt a new sense of peace. I also did something I never thought I would do, join a CRHP giving team. Those six months were a blessing in my life as I came to know, love, and respect all the men on my giving team. Those blessings continued in March of 2013 when I joined several other men in Morristown, Tennessee to present CRHP for the very first time to 19 men at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

Reconciliation made me want to be a better husband to Elissa. To help with that, Elissa and I attended a marriage encounter weekend in May 2012. If you have not gone to one, I highly recommend it. We learned so much about each other, improved our communication, and renewed our commitment to each other. During that weekend, we promised each other that we would try couples prayer. Neither of us had much experience with spontaneous prayers said aloud. I am happy to say that we have prayed together for a year now and it continues to bring us closer to each other and to God.

Reconciliation made me want to be a better father to my girls. Dr. Meg Meeker, in her book, “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters” wrote, “Our daughters need the support that only fathers can provide—and if you are willing to guide your daughter, to stand between her and a toxic culture, to take her to a healthier place, your rewards will be unmatched…The only way you will alienate your daughter in the long-term is by losing her respect, failing to lead, or failing to protect her. If you don’t provide for her needs, she will find someone else who will.”

In the summer of 2012, I started date night with Daddy for the girls. Each month, one of my daughters picks an activity for just the two of us. I have taken them to baseball games, fancy dinners at the Golden Lamb, and putt-putt golfing at the Web on Cincinnati-Dayton Road. What we do together isn’t really the point. What is important to the girls is that they get one-on-one time with their father. I do this to try to demonstrate what love is to my girls so that as they get older they do not seek love from others in inappropriate ways.

Reconciliation made me want to be an active participant at our parish. I did that by becoming a lector last year. It has helped me focus on God’s word and set a leadership example to my wife and daughters. One benefit I got from lectoring is that on August 26, 2012, I got to read Ephesians 5 to the congregation. God spoke to me in August 2010 through that passage, urging me to serve my family by leading them to Him. I read it from the heart because it has had such a strong and lasting impact on my marriage.

I am still a sinner, always will be, but with the sacrament of reconciliation and God’s grace, I can now confidently, and without hypocrisy, lead my family in our spiritual life. I thank Him every day for another opportunity to do His will.

If you have avoided this sacrament, I encourage you to step out in faith and step into the confessional. You will not regret it.

Fear is Easy, Love is Hard (1) / Nothing is Wasted (2)

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Prayer

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Boston Marathon, Fear, Jason Gray, Love

“Turn on the T.V. for the evening news / They got plenty of fear and nothing to do / Another somebody’s gone too far / Makes you want to put up your guard / Fear is easy, love is hard”.

These song lyrics by Christian singer/songwriter Jason Gray came over my car stereo this evening as I was in the middle of a two-hour drive on a business trip. The sadness in them could not have been more appropriate or timely. Like most every other American on this fifteenth day of April, 2013 my mind was on the senseless terroristic acts of violence that unfolded today in Boston, Massachusetts during the Boston Marathon. I intentionally chose not to listen to any more news reports – I had heard enough and nothing they said could change what had happened. My thoughts vacillated between anger at whoever was responsible for the death and destruction, and heartfelt sympathy for all the human beings who were tragically affected. It was painful to think in the present.

It was no less painful when flashback images and emotions from September 11^th, 2001 coursed through my heart and mind’s eye. But, one of the advantages of my age is in understanding that history tends to repeat itself and, thus, if you pay attention and learn as you go, you are better prepared for when evil will again, inevitably, raise its ugly head. I no longer believe in coincidence, so when the next song on the CD, Nothing is Wasted, came up I smiled for the first time in a couple hours:

“The hurt that broke your heart / And left you trembling in the dark / Feeling lost and alone / Will tell you hope’s a lie / But what if every tear you cry / Will seed the ground where joy will grow / And Nothing is Wasted / It’s from the deepest wounds / That beauty finds a place to bloom / And you will see before the end / That every broken piece is / Gathered in the heart of Jesus / And what’s lost will be found again / And Nothing is Wasted….”

There’s no doubt we Americans have been down this road before. To forget or not use what we learned almost twelve years ago would indeed be a waste. So, my thoughts turned to the future and I wondered, “What are we going to do about this?” I’ve learned there are many things about which I can do absolutely nothing. How to tackle the issue of terrorism is one of those things. Our government is supposed to do that for us. A terrorist’s most lethal weapon is their hatred for what is good and just, and the primary goal of terrorism is to spread fear and that same hatred. Their bombs are simply a means to that end. Let the government figure out how to stop them from using their physical weapons.

But, as citizens, and Christians, we have learned we can do something. We have to take the hard road, the difficult task of ensuring our spirit is not broken. We have to stand up to the cowardice of terrorism with the courage to continue what is right and just in accordance with our faith. We can be there for each other. We can love each other. We can support and encourage each other. We can pray for those who have suffered and who are suffering. (Psalm 147:3 “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds”) We can pray for those who are fearful and help them overcome their fear by finding love in the only one Who has enough love for all of us (Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the Lord your God who grasps your right hand; It is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you’”). And, by doing so, we can send a clear message that, even though we may have been set back a step or two, we won’t be knocked out by the one-two punch of fear and hatred. We’re not going to take the low, easy road, we’re going to take the hard, high road. We did it almost twelve years ago and we can do it again. And, finally, we can do what is feared most by our enemy, “Pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28).

“When fear is easy and love is hard / It’s hard to bring your heart to a world that can break it / To offer love to those you’re afraid will forsake it / But a well defended heart is always looking for a fight / In a lonely war against an endless night / But love can bring a light / …It comes down to a simple choice / Shouting devils or a still small voice / One is spreading fear and dread / Oh, but love has always said / Do not be afraid / Fear is easy and love is hard.”

Thank you, Jason Gray, for your beautiful insight! I hope you don’t mind me borrowing some of it.

Peace be with you all, and with your spirit.

How we respond to Prayer Request

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Prayer

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Prayer

I often get prayer requests from friends or friends of friends similar to this one:

“A Co-worker of mine has a son Oliver who has been diagnosed with a tumor in his brain that is in-operable. Listed below is a description of his condition. He will most likely be starting radiation on Monday the 22nd, and will be (hopefully) outpatient, taking only 1.5 hours each day Mon-Fri for 6-7 weeks. The chemo and other meds will start a couple weeks into the radiation treatment and continue on beyond. Please send out a request for prayers for Oliver.”

Typically, my immediate response is to send a quick reply of sympathy and an offer to pray, and then I offer up an immediate prayer for the intention I just received. I do this because I believe in the efficacy of prayer and because I know myself well enough to understand that if I don’t offer the prayer immediately on the spot, I will forget to include the intention later during my personal prayers. But I have friends who do much better and have the ability to offer more of themselves. Mike, a dear friend of mine, will often say a rosary and fast for people he doesn’t know, but for whom he has been asked to pray. Jim, the spiritual Godfather of our men’s group, recently commented that he writes down those he has been asked to pray for so he has the list ready when he prays. He said it is in those quiet, prayful moments that God speaks to him. God speaks by giving Jim an inkling of what the person needs, or what may offer the person comfort in their time of need, and Jim responds. Jim asks the Lord to help those in need, but also offers himself up as an instrument of God’s grace and love.

It is the response that I find telling. Jim and Mike offer more of themselves than just a hurried prayer. They openly offer themselves to God as humble servants for the benefit of their neighbor in need. It is a beautiful testimony to how we are called to be brothers and sisters in faith and to minister to each other. The truth is that they are not only helping the person in need more, but they are both getting much more in return by being true servants of Christ. They are great role models for me.

Scripture tells us that the efficacy of prayer involves the action of the Holy Spirit: Luke 6:13.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

“Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man.” ^[67] “The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise.”^[68] “Christian prayer is a communion of love with the Father, not only through Christ but also in him“. “The father gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus ‘another Counselor, to be with [us] for ever’, the Spirit of Truth.” ^[69] “The [Holy] Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sights too deep for words.” ^[70]

“One enters into prayer by the narrow gate of faith. It is the face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep”^[71] “Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to ‘seek’ and to ‘knock’, since he himself is the door and the way.^[72]

I can only hope to learn from my brothers in faith and enter into deeper, more meaningful prayer. Christ himself prayed constantly; there is no better role model. In his book A Call to Joy, Living in the Presence of God, Matthew Kelly says that the change that had the greatest effect of his life was that he started to really pray. “Over time it became clear to me that the greatest act available to us is to be like God–to imitate Christ the perfect man. I had always been taught that to aim for perfection in whatever I did was good and noble. Why shouldn’t I aim to perfect my whole person?” (26). While we all fall short of perfection, Kelly is correct that the endevor for perfection is not only noble, but it is our calling. We are called to be Christ like. But only through prayer and the grace of God can we grow. “The [Holy] Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes.”

A Monk’s Chronicle: 15 April MMXIII — The Dictator and the Doubter

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Uncategorized

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Father Eric Hollas, OSB

A Monk's Chronicle

The Dictator and the Doubter

Travel has its surprises, and certainly one of the biggest for me happened on a trip to Albania three years ago. Our small group had come to Albania more as an afterthought than as a destination, and it did not fall short of our expectations. Albania may have been a vibrant place once upon a time, but Communist dictator Enver Hoxha had taken care of that. In his forty-year reign he had convinced his citizens that their country was the envy of the world, and he left the countryside dotted with pillboxes and airfields to defend against invaders coming from every direction. He also left the country impoverished and dispirited. But during his rule the isolated citizens knew no better, and the cult of his personality allowed for no other domestic or foreign gods.

When our guide announced a visit to the National Museum, we…

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April 14th 2013 – 3rd Sunday in Easter

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Bible Reflections

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St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology.

Fire of Love

Readings:
Acts 5:27-32,40-41
Psalm 30:2,4-6,11-13
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

There are two places in Scripture where the curious detail of a “charcoal fire” is mentioned.
One is in today’s Gospel, where the Apostles return from fishing to find bread and fish warming on the fire.

The other is in the scene in the High Priest’s courtyard on Holy Thursday, where Peter and some guards and slaves warm themselves while Jesus is being interrogated inside (see John 18:18).

At the first fire, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, as Jesus had predicted (see John 13:38; 18:15-18, 25-27).

Today’s charcoal fire becomes the scene of Peter’s repentance, as three times Jesus asks him to make a profession of love. Jesus’ thrice repeated command “feed My sheep” shows that Peter is being appointed as the shepherd of the Lord’s entire flock, the head of His Church (see also Luke 22:32).

Jesus’ question: “Do you love me more than these?” is a pointed reminder of Peter’s pledge to lay down his life for Jesus, even if the other Apostles might weaken (see John 13:37; Matthew 26:33; Luke 22:33).

Jesus then explains just what Peter’s love and leadership will require, foretelling Peter’s death by crucifixion (“you will stretch out your hands”).

Before His own death, Jesus had warned the Apostles that they would be hated as He was hated, that they would suffer as He suffered (see Matthew 10:16-19,22; John 15:18-20; 16:2). We see the beginnings of that persecution in today’s First Reading. Flogged as Jesus was, the Apostles nonetheless leave “rejoicing that they have been found worthy to suffer.”

Their joy is based on their faith that God will change their “mourning into dancing,” as we sing in today’s Psalm. By their sufferings, they know they will be counted worthy to stand in heaven before “the Lamb that was slain,” a scene glimpsed in today’s Second Reading (see also Revelation 6:9-11).

Scholar says European fight against porn shows depth of problem :: (CNA)

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by richbrewers in pornography

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Pornography

Scholar says European fight against porn shows depth of problem

Catholic News Agency (CNA).

By Carl Bunderson

Reykjavik, Iceland. Credit: Mark Turner (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Denver, Colo., Apr 11, 2013 / 04:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Recent public efforts to oppose pornography in two European countries reveal that porn is problem not only for religious reasons but universal human reasons, according to a professor.

“The hyper-sexualization of children, the constant exposure of children to these very sexual images…is very damaging to their image of themselves and of what their potential future relationships are supposed to be like,” Dr. Susan Selner-Wright, a philosophy professor at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colo., told CNA.

Her remarks come as Iceland’s legislative and executive branches are considering bans on internet pornography in the country out of concerns about the effects on children of having been exposed to violent pornography.

In the U.K., the teachers’ union Association of Teachers and Lecturers recently advised that students be warned of pornography’s risks and its abnormal depictions of sexuality – a move Selner-Wright called “spot on.”

“We are noticing a much more explicit vocabulary emerging and types of games amongst the very young that are quite sexually explicit,” Alison Sherratt told her fellow teachers at the conference, according to the BBC.

Speaker Helen Porter added that “it is crucial that youngsters develop an understanding of sex in the media and pornography, so that they can recognize the abnormal nature of these sexual expectations and appreciate the dangers of accepting the values portrayed by the sexualized media.”

Iceland has banned strip clubs and forbids the printing and distribution of pornography in the nation, but it has not yet dealt with pornography on the internet.

Efforts to ban access to it stem from concerns for the civil rights of women and children, particularly focusing on children’s exposure to violence in pornography.

Selner-Wright explained to CNA that while humans “have a natural tendency toward relationship with each other,” a problem now is that “people have become so reductive, that they see all relationships in terms of sexual relationships.”

In the media, intense relationships are presented as sexual, and intimacy has been replaced by sexuality, the professor observed.

“In film and TV, we’ve really lost the category of a non-sexual but really important human relationship,” she reflected. But “the fact is, that most of our relationships are not meant to be sexual. It’s really is a huge force for loneliness.”

“If you think the only category for me to have an intense relationship is a sexual one, then that means that almost all the relationships I could have, now have to be superficial.”

“If we buy into this idea that all intense relationships are sexual, then we’ll start having sex early, often, and with a bunch of different people, and we’ll ultimately lose our capacity to have a really meaningful and peculiarly sexual relationship.”

Pornography, Selner-Wright said, “really is the objectification of whoever the images are of…it’s the reduction of those women to their sexuality, it’s one-dimensional: the only important thing about the woman in the image is in what way is she sexually arousing.”

Speakers at the U.K.’s Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference agreed that children are being de-sensitized to the objectification of women and of themselves. “They are routinely taking sexual photographs of themselves and sending them to others,” said teacher James Schlackman.

“It’s radically disrespectful of the wholeness of whoever’s image it is,” Selner-Wright added, “and even if the person whose image it is agrees to have themselves displayed this way…they are objectifying themselves, they’re disrespecting themselves.”

Addressing pornography in terms of human rights, she said that human persons “have a right not to be reduced to their sexuality, and that’s’ a right you hold even in relation to yourself. It’s an inalienable right.”

Iceland is concerned about pornography and strip clubs out of a concern for the rights of women and children, and is unique among European countries in pursuing a ban of pornography. Selner-Wright expressed hope that Icelandic legislators don’t “lose their nerve” in their fight.

“There’s a lot more to any human being than their sexual arousing-ness, and when they are reduced to that, that’s a fundamental violation of their nature, which then is inevitably going to have a lot of repercussions.”

“We’re reaping them: in broken relationships, in the explosion of single parent households, in this real disconnect between marriage and children. All of that is fruit of that misunderstanding of (human) nature,” she explained.