Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Hans urs von Balthasar's girlfriend speaks
General responsibility for the Church and for all whom it must lead to the Lord must be given to someone. The Mother, who had volunteered for every responsibility, will surely assume this one. The Apostles have functions in the Church which are somehow divided and partial. The Mother is responsible for the whole. In her, the Apostles and their different missions have their unity, the unity of the whole catholic mission: to bring together all those who have gone astray or who are seeking, all those who are to be redeemed. It is starting from this Pentecost community of the Apostles – with the women and the Mother in their midst – that all the scattered are brought back to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Adrienne von Speyer
.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
the way things are going they're going to crucify me
here's something for the community to ponder
http://taylormarshall.com/2013/05/10-reasons-why-its-hard-to-become.html
Sunday, November 22, 2015
fellow pilgrims
The credibility of the Christian message would be much
greater if Christians could overcome their divisions and
the Church could realize “the fullness of catholicity proper
to her in those of her children who, though joined to her
by baptism, are yet separated from full communion with
her.” We must never forget that we are pilgrims journeying
alongside one another. This means that we must have
sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all
suspicion or mistrust, and turn our gaze to what we are all
seeking: the radiant peace of God’s face.
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 244
greater if Christians could overcome their divisions and
the Church could realize “the fullness of catholicity proper
to her in those of her children who, though joined to her
by baptism, are yet separated from full communion with
her.” We must never forget that we are pilgrims journeying
alongside one another. This means that we must have
sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all
suspicion or mistrust, and turn our gaze to what we are all
seeking: the radiant peace of God’s face.
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 244
Ilia Delio on catholicity
A beautiful little book arrived in the mail to me the other day from Amazon.com. I am not sure if it was ordered for me by my Dad or by his friend Nelson. The book is Making All Things New: Catholicity, Cosmology and Consciousness, by Franciscan sister, Ilia Delio. Dr. Delio is Director of the Catholic Studies Program and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. She holds doctorates in pharmcology and historical theology.
So far I have only read the introduction, and I am thoroughly intrigued. She presents the term catholicity as derived from the Greek work katholicos, meaning "of the whole," or "a sense of wholeness," describing attunement to the universe, in harmony with both the physical and spiritual order of the world. Early Christians later adopted the word catholic to describe the Church as disciples gathered in the name of Christ. Only over time did the emphasis of the word shift from wholeness to orthodoxy. Delio states "Catholicity does not mean that everyone is to become Catholic; rather to be catholic is to be aware of belonging to a whole and to act according to the whole, including the galaxies, stars, earth, animals, plants and human life."
My favorite part of the introduction to the book is an extended quote from a letter from Pope John Paul II to Father George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory. Saint John Paul II wrote "Science develops best when its concepts and conclusions can be integrated into the wider human culture and its concerns for ultimate meaning and value." Sister Delio adds to this, the observation that "Religion, too, develops best when its doctrines are not abstract and fixed in an ancient past, but integrated into the wider stream of life."
The quote from Pope John Paul II continues,
Although the late pope was speaking of science and religion, my mind turns toward the application of his words to Christian unity. Ever since I began thinking about requesting reception into the Catholic Church, I have struggled with a sense of how to embrace the goal of wholeness represented by the word "catholic", without compromising the integrity of my existing Christian life, formed in a variety of Protestant Churches. There is not yet a path, as far as I can tell, for a Protestant Christian to become united to the Catholic Church without becoming Catholic, that is without "becoming the other," which Pope John Paul II describes as ruinous. I did, in fact, experience a sense of ruin in my spiritual life--a disconnectedness from my true self, from that part of myself that was able to pray. My goal was not to "convert" to a different strand of Christianity but to broaden my understanding of what it means to be Christian. My motivation was very much like what John Paul II describes as "the drive of the human mind towards understanding and the desire of the human spirit for love." As John Paul II explains, genuine love moves toward union rather than assimilation. My experience of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in the Catholic Church was that it was designed for assimilation rather than for union. I wonder what a program designed for growth in mutual understanding and love would look like? Could there be a ritual by which Protestant Christians who desire greater unity with the Catholic Church could be formally recognized and welcomed by that Church while continuing their ongoing conversion to Christ both within the context of their original church, and also in communion with the Catholic Church?
So far I have only read the introduction, and I am thoroughly intrigued. She presents the term catholicity as derived from the Greek work katholicos, meaning "of the whole," or "a sense of wholeness," describing attunement to the universe, in harmony with both the physical and spiritual order of the world. Early Christians later adopted the word catholic to describe the Church as disciples gathered in the name of Christ. Only over time did the emphasis of the word shift from wholeness to orthodoxy. Delio states "Catholicity does not mean that everyone is to become Catholic; rather to be catholic is to be aware of belonging to a whole and to act according to the whole, including the galaxies, stars, earth, animals, plants and human life."
My favorite part of the introduction to the book is an extended quote from a letter from Pope John Paul II to Father George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory. Saint John Paul II wrote "Science develops best when its concepts and conclusions can be integrated into the wider human culture and its concerns for ultimate meaning and value." Sister Delio adds to this, the observation that "Religion, too, develops best when its doctrines are not abstract and fixed in an ancient past, but integrated into the wider stream of life."
The quote from Pope John Paul II continues,
The church does not propose that science should become religion or religion science. On the contrary, unity always presupposes the diversity and integrity of its elements. Each of these elements should become not less itself but more itself in a dynamic interchange, for a unity in which one of the elements is reduced to the other is destructive, false in its promises of harmony, and ruinous of the integrity of its components. We are asked to become one. We are not asked to become each other. ... Unity involves the drive of the human mind towards understanding and the desire of the human spirit for love. ... We move towards unity as we move towards meaning in our lives. Unity is also the consequence of love. If love is genuine, it moves not toward the assimilation of the other, but toward union with the other. Human community begins in desire when that union has not been achieved, and it is completed in joy when those who have been apart are now united.
Although the late pope was speaking of science and religion, my mind turns toward the application of his words to Christian unity. Ever since I began thinking about requesting reception into the Catholic Church, I have struggled with a sense of how to embrace the goal of wholeness represented by the word "catholic", without compromising the integrity of my existing Christian life, formed in a variety of Protestant Churches. There is not yet a path, as far as I can tell, for a Protestant Christian to become united to the Catholic Church without becoming Catholic, that is without "becoming the other," which Pope John Paul II describes as ruinous. I did, in fact, experience a sense of ruin in my spiritual life--a disconnectedness from my true self, from that part of myself that was able to pray. My goal was not to "convert" to a different strand of Christianity but to broaden my understanding of what it means to be Christian. My motivation was very much like what John Paul II describes as "the drive of the human mind towards understanding and the desire of the human spirit for love." As John Paul II explains, genuine love moves toward union rather than assimilation. My experience of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in the Catholic Church was that it was designed for assimilation rather than for union. I wonder what a program designed for growth in mutual understanding and love would look like? Could there be a ritual by which Protestant Christians who desire greater unity with the Catholic Church could be formally recognized and welcomed by that Church while continuing their ongoing conversion to Christ both within the context of their original church, and also in communion with the Catholic Church?
Monday, September 28, 2015
ontology lends itself to theology
The “Theology of the Body” is St. John Paul II's integrated vision of the human person. The human body has a specific meaning, making visible an invisible reality, and is capable of revealing answers regarding fundamental questions about us and our lives:
- Is there a real purpose to life and if so, what is it?
- What does it mean that we were created in the image of God?
- Why were we created male and female? Does it really matter if we are one sex or another?
- What does the marital union of a man and woman say to us about God and his plan for our lives?
- What is the purpose of the married and celibate vocations?
- What exactly is "Love"?
- Is it truly possible to be pure of heart?
....
Friday, September 25, 2015
from the horses' mouth...boker yom kippur
VIDEO MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
ON THE OCCASION OF THE DAY OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
[PHOENIX, 23 MAY 2015]
ON THE OCCASION OF THE DAY OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
[PHOENIX, 23 MAY 2015]
Brothers and sisters, may the peace of Christ be with you.
Forgive me if I speak in Spanish, but my English isn’t good enough for me to express myself properly. I speak in Spanish but, above all, I speak in the language of the heart.
[in Spanish:]
I have the invitation you sent me for this celebration of Christian Unity, this day of reconciliation. And I wish to join you from here. “Father, may we be one so that the world may believe you sent me”. This is the slogan, the theme of the meeting: Christ’s prayer to the Father for the grace of unity.
Today, Saturday May 23rd, from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, I will be with you spiritually and with all my heart. We will search together, we will pray together, for the grace of unity. The unity that is budding among us is that unity which begins under the seal of the one Baptism we have all received. It is the unity we are seeking along a common path. It is the spiritual unity of prayer for one another. It is the unity of our common labour on behalf of our brothers and sisters, and all those who believe in the sovereignty of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, division is a wound in the body of the Church of Christ. And we do not want this wound to remain open. Division is the work of the Father of Lies, the Father of Discord, who does everything possible to keep us divided.
Together today, I here in Rome and you over there, we will ask our Father to send the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and to give us the grace to be one, “so that the world may believe”. I feel like saying something that may sound controversial, or even heretical, perhaps. But there is someone who “knows” that, despite our differences, we are one. It is he who is persecuting us. It is he who is persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us with (the blood of) martyrdom. He knows that Christians are disciples of Christ: that they are one, that they are brothers! He doesn’t care if they are Evangelicals, or Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic…he doesn’t care! They are Christians. And that blood (of martyrdom) unites. Today, dear brothers and sisters, we are living an “ecumenism of blood”. This must encourage us to do what we are doing today: to pray, to dialogue together, to shorten the distance between us, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood.
I am convinced it won’t be theologians who bring about unity among us. Theologians help us, the science of the theologians will assist us, but if we hope that theologians will agree with one another, we will reach unity the day after Judgement Day. The Holy Spirit brings about unity. Theologians are helpful, but most helpful is the goodwill of us all who are on this journey with our hearts open to the Holy Spirit!
In all humility, I join you as just another participant on this day of prayer, friendship, closeness and reflection. In the certainty that we have one Lord: Jesus is the Lord. In the certainty that this Lord is alive: Jesus is alive, the Lord lives in each one of us. In the certainty that He has sent the Spirit He promised us so that this “harmony” among all His disciples might be realised.
Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you warmly, with an embrace. I pray for you. I pray with you.
And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Because I need your prayers in order to be faithful to what the Lord wants from my Ministry.
[Blessing]
God bless you. May God bless us all.
....sans video
///
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
intercession through the communion of saints, yes! (but for the right reasons)
This year's Bridgefolk conference (grass roots Mennonite-Catholic
dialog) focused on the theme of the communion of saints and intercessory
prayer. Over the course of the weekend we heard multiple perspectives
on the story of a Japanese Mennonite man, Jun Yamada, studying at a
Catholic university in Japan, who was miraculously healed of leukemia a
quarter-century ago, following the combined prayers of Mennonites and
Catholics together. This miracle was investigated and validated by the
Vatican, leading to the canonization of St. Joseph Freinadametz (a 19th
century Catholic missionary in China), whose intercession for Jun had
been invoked by Jun's professor, Fr. Fauzone. Both Fr. Fauzone, and
Jun's brother, Nozomu Yamada were present at this year's Bridgefolk
conference, enabling us to hear the story first hand. The conference
was held at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), in Elkhart,
Indiana, where NozomuYamada had been a student when he received the call
communicating the expected, imminent death of his brother, Jun. We
learned that at the canonization ceremony, Pope John Paul II
remarked that "we should have this type of miracle more often,"
referring to the ecumenical nature of the prayer that led to the
miracle.
In the discussion that followed one of the presentations, one Catholic of Mennonite origin explained that seeking the intercession of saints had been one of the easiest of his initial objections to Catholicism for him to let go of. In his view, the "cloud of witnesses" mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, coupled with Protestant willingness to seek intercessory prayer from living Christians, especially from those one considers to be holy, laid ample foundation for seeking intercession from faithful Christian witnesses throughout the ages. Another Mennonite responded that it was still important to him to affirm that Christians can go directly to God in prayer, without the aid of an intercessor.
I appreciated and could identify with both comments. I like the idea that when we die and go to live with God eternally, joining the cloud of witnesses, that God allows us to continue to cooperate with his salvation of the world through our prayers for and with those still struggling on Earth. I find that more appealing than the thought of having my individuality merely absorbed into God after I die.
The second comment touched on my own distaste, not for the practice itself of seeking intercession from the communion of saints, but for the way it is sometimes explained and defended, suggesting that God is more likely to answer our prayers if they go through someone important, through someone holier than us. This seems to present an image of God as distant and difficult to access, which runs counter to Jesus's story about the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican, and to his teaching on prayer, which presents God as eager to give us what we need, as a Father would give his son a loaf of bread rather than a scorpion. Nothing I can think of in the Bible, portrays God as someone who is reluctant to answer prayer and who needs to be sweet-talked by those who are close to him on behalf of ordinary Christians. To encourage Christians to entrust their prayers to a saint because that saint is closer to God than we are seems to encourage us to cultivate a greater sense of our own distance from God, under the guise of greater reverence for God.
I see intercession as a gift that Christians give to each other. It is an expression of love. Sometimes the only thing we are able to do to help someone we love is to pray for them. When we ask a friend to pray for us, it is not because we think that God does not hear our own prayers, but because we want the support of our friends. We want to know that they are one with us in what we are asking. There may very well be some sense in which God's grace is able to flow more freely when Christians pray together, united in their desire for God's work. This may be true whether it is Christians alive today who unite themselves in prayer, or whether it is Christians on Earth today uniting themselves to Christians who are living now in God's presence.
I have found that in times of great distress or serious illness I sometimes feel too overwhelmed to pray myself, and it is a comfort in those times to know that others are praying for me. This was especially true when I underwent a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in 1997. I remember expressing concern to my family and friends as I lay in a hospital bed, facing an uncertain future, that I felt unable to pray. I was quite disconcerted about this, for it seemed to me that of all the times in my life, this was a most important time to be deeply engaged in prayer. I was reassured by the words of someone close to me who said, "That's ok. This is a time when you can relax in the knowledge that we are all praying for you." And I did gratefully relax into that knowledge.
In a similar manner, I have found comfort recently in entrusting difficult situations to the intercession of Mary, the Undoer of Knots. Sometimes I find myself trapped in my own thoughts that go round and round without reaching clarity, unsure of how to move forward, and unsure, even, of how to pray. In these situations, I may be unsure whether my prayers are genuine or self-deceiving, and I may be painfully aware of my own forgetfulness and inattentiveness to prayer throughout the day. In these times, it can be comforting to entrust my need to the intercession of Mary or of some other saint I have read about who seems like they might understand my situation. It's not that this replaces my own efforts to pray to the Holy Trinity, but it supports and complements my own prayer, and comforts me knowing that others are praying for me during those moments and hours when I am too distracted or angry or tired or bored or confused to pray to God myself. It is my hope that the intercession of the saints helps to sustain and develop my relationship with God by praying, when I am unable to do so myself, for precisely those things that will draw me back into a direct relationship of prayer with God.
There was a time when I wanted to ask my Catholic friends, "How do you decide when to pray to Mary and when to pray to God?" I never had the nerve to actually ask that question, but today I would answer it for myself, that I pray to God whenever I can and as much as I can, and I ask for the prayers of friends living and dead when I feel stymied, unmotivated, blocked or unable to sense God's presence in my life--not because God is, in fact, distant, but because I feel distant from God and desire the support of others to help facilitate my reunion with God.
In the discussion that followed one of the presentations, one Catholic of Mennonite origin explained that seeking the intercession of saints had been one of the easiest of his initial objections to Catholicism for him to let go of. In his view, the "cloud of witnesses" mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, coupled with Protestant willingness to seek intercessory prayer from living Christians, especially from those one considers to be holy, laid ample foundation for seeking intercession from faithful Christian witnesses throughout the ages. Another Mennonite responded that it was still important to him to affirm that Christians can go directly to God in prayer, without the aid of an intercessor.
I appreciated and could identify with both comments. I like the idea that when we die and go to live with God eternally, joining the cloud of witnesses, that God allows us to continue to cooperate with his salvation of the world through our prayers for and with those still struggling on Earth. I find that more appealing than the thought of having my individuality merely absorbed into God after I die.
The second comment touched on my own distaste, not for the practice itself of seeking intercession from the communion of saints, but for the way it is sometimes explained and defended, suggesting that God is more likely to answer our prayers if they go through someone important, through someone holier than us. This seems to present an image of God as distant and difficult to access, which runs counter to Jesus's story about the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican, and to his teaching on prayer, which presents God as eager to give us what we need, as a Father would give his son a loaf of bread rather than a scorpion. Nothing I can think of in the Bible, portrays God as someone who is reluctant to answer prayer and who needs to be sweet-talked by those who are close to him on behalf of ordinary Christians. To encourage Christians to entrust their prayers to a saint because that saint is closer to God than we are seems to encourage us to cultivate a greater sense of our own distance from God, under the guise of greater reverence for God.
I see intercession as a gift that Christians give to each other. It is an expression of love. Sometimes the only thing we are able to do to help someone we love is to pray for them. When we ask a friend to pray for us, it is not because we think that God does not hear our own prayers, but because we want the support of our friends. We want to know that they are one with us in what we are asking. There may very well be some sense in which God's grace is able to flow more freely when Christians pray together, united in their desire for God's work. This may be true whether it is Christians alive today who unite themselves in prayer, or whether it is Christians on Earth today uniting themselves to Christians who are living now in God's presence.
I have found that in times of great distress or serious illness I sometimes feel too overwhelmed to pray myself, and it is a comfort in those times to know that others are praying for me. This was especially true when I underwent a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in 1997. I remember expressing concern to my family and friends as I lay in a hospital bed, facing an uncertain future, that I felt unable to pray. I was quite disconcerted about this, for it seemed to me that of all the times in my life, this was a most important time to be deeply engaged in prayer. I was reassured by the words of someone close to me who said, "That's ok. This is a time when you can relax in the knowledge that we are all praying for you." And I did gratefully relax into that knowledge.
In a similar manner, I have found comfort recently in entrusting difficult situations to the intercession of Mary, the Undoer of Knots. Sometimes I find myself trapped in my own thoughts that go round and round without reaching clarity, unsure of how to move forward, and unsure, even, of how to pray. In these situations, I may be unsure whether my prayers are genuine or self-deceiving, and I may be painfully aware of my own forgetfulness and inattentiveness to prayer throughout the day. In these times, it can be comforting to entrust my need to the intercession of Mary or of some other saint I have read about who seems like they might understand my situation. It's not that this replaces my own efforts to pray to the Holy Trinity, but it supports and complements my own prayer, and comforts me knowing that others are praying for me during those moments and hours when I am too distracted or angry or tired or bored or confused to pray to God myself. It is my hope that the intercession of the saints helps to sustain and develop my relationship with God by praying, when I am unable to do so myself, for precisely those things that will draw me back into a direct relationship of prayer with God.
There was a time when I wanted to ask my Catholic friends, "How do you decide when to pray to Mary and when to pray to God?" I never had the nerve to actually ask that question, but today I would answer it for myself, that I pray to God whenever I can and as much as I can, and I ask for the prayers of friends living and dead when I feel stymied, unmotivated, blocked or unable to sense God's presence in my life--not because God is, in fact, distant, but because I feel distant from God and desire the support of others to help facilitate my reunion with God.
Monday, July 13, 2015
mirror with water spots
I guess this proves I am communally challenged
can't even keep a decent discussion going
what the hell is my problem
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