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Sunday, April 20, 2003
Heresy oh Heresy Our local Christian radio station plays the usual
set of evangelical preachers, many of whom wander into rank heresy on a fairly
frequent basis. The worst is generally John MacArthur, a rather egocentric
gentleman who fancies himself some sort of infallible conduit to God (he once
stated that because he didn't want to leave his financially successful, coastal
California position for a position somewhere out in the desert, it was obvious
that God didn't want him to either. His argument being that since he was a
Christian, his "feelings" were effectively driven by the Holy Spirit. It never
occurred to him that perhaps he was being a bit
carnal!).
At any rate, the other day, I was able to listen to Charles Stanley. He had two points, one was that since we are going to rule with Christ some day, that perhaps, if God has created hundreds of thousands of planets He might put us in charge of one (golly, isn't that what Joseph Smith taught?). Then, in order to become a Christian, we needed to merely recite the sinners prayer. Just ignore the rest of the New Testament on that subject (and the early Church). So, let me see, if we simply recite the sinners prayer, we get a planet to rule? And I thought Irenaeus had a bunch of kooks to deal with. Saturday, April 12, 2003 The Truth about the Eucharist There are many that hold that the Eucharist is
merely symbolic. Everyone from Baptists to Calvinists, to some very annoying
anti-catholics. They argue interpretations of Scripture which are interesting,
but contrary to that held by the Church up until the time of the reformation. I
find most interesting the following passage from St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop
of Constantinople, and arguably one of the greatest of the Church
Fathers:
Let us draw nigh to Him then with fervency and with inflamed love, that we may not have to endure punishment. For in proportion to the greatness of the benefits bestowed on us, so much the more exceedingly are we chastised when we show ourselves unworthy of the bountifulness. This Body, even lying in a manger, Magi reverenced. Yea, men profane and barbarous, leaving their country and their home, both set out on a long journey, and when they came, with fear and great trembling worshipped Him. Let us, then, at least imitate those Barbarians, we who are citizens of heaven. For they indeed when they saw Him but in a manger, and in a hut, and no such thing was in sight as thou beholdest now, drew nigh with great awe; but thou beholdest Him not in the manger but on the altar, not a woman holding Him in her arms, but the priest standing by, and the Spirit with exceeding bounty hovering over the gifts set before us. Thou dost not see merely this Body itself as they did, but thou knowest also Its power, and the whole economy, and art ignorant of none of the holy things which are brought to pass by It, having been exactly initiated into all. Let us therefore rouse ourselves up and be filled with horror, and let us show forth a reverence far beyond that of those Barbarians; that we may not by random and careless approaches heap fire upon our own heads. But these things I say, not to keep us from approaching, but to keep us from approaching without consideration. For as the approaching at random is dangerous, so the not communicating in those mystical suppers is famine and death. For this Table is the sinews of our soul, the bond of our mind, the foundation of our confidence, our hope, our salvation, our light, our life. When with this sacrifice we depart into the outer world, with much confidence we shall tread the sacred threshold, fenced round on every side as with a kind of golden armor. And why speak I of the world to come? Since here this mystery makes earth become to thee a heaven. Open only for once the gates of heaven and look in; nay, rather not of heaven, but of the heaven of heavens; and then thou wilt behold what I have been speaking of. For what is there most precious of all, this will I show thee lying upon the earth. For as in royal palaces, what is most glorious of all is not walls, nor golden roofs, but the person of the king sitting on the throne; so likewise in heaven the Body of the King. But this, thou art now permitted to see upon earth. For it is not angels, nor archangels, nor heavens and heavens of heavens, that I show thee, but the very Lord and Owner of these. Perceivest thou how that which is more precious than all things is seen by thee on earth; and not seen only, but also touched; and not only touched, but likewise eaten; and after receiving It thou goest home? Make thy soul clean then, prepare thy mind for the reception of these mysteries. For if thou wert entrusted to carry a king's child with the robes, the purple, and the diadem, thou wouldest cast away all things which are upon the earth. But now that it is no child of man how royal soever, but the only-begotten Son of God Himself, Whom thou receivedst; dost thou not thrill with awe, tell me, and cast away all the love of all worldly things, and have no bravery but that wherewith to adorn thyself? or dost thou still look towards earth, and love money, and pant after gold? What pardon then canst thou have? what excuse? Knowest thou not that all this worldly luxury is loathsome to thy Lord? Was it not for this that on His birth He was laid in a manger, and took to Himself a mother of low estate? Did He not for this say to him that was looking after gain, "But the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head?" (St. Matthew chapter 8, verse 20) This is from one of his homilies on 1 Corinthians. Nothing he says here contradicts anything held by the Church prior to his time, and, in fact, either directly agrees, or builds on that which was held. This passage should give pause to both those who do not hold to Christ's real presence, and even to all of us who do. We should remember these words before we next attend Mass. Monday, April 07, 2003 Thank You, Mr. Bloom. David Bloom died suddenly this
weekend. There are not a lot of reporters in this day and age that can be
considered inspirational. Mr. Bloom was one of the exceptions. I have to say
that his coverage of the advancing Coalition forces was reminiscent (along with
Bob Arnot's) of some of the great reporters of WW II. To hear the testimonials
of his colleagues, as well, leads me to believe that he was one of the greats.
The father of three young children myself, I can at least appreciate the pain
his family is going through, and our prayers will be with them. Although it is,
I'm sure, small comfort, his children can grow up extremely proud of the work
their father did. The world of journalism suffers now. For they are left without
someone who would have been a great educator, I'm sure. Fortunately for all, in
this modern age, everyone is left with at least a little bit of Mr. Bloom,
caught on video and in print.
Thursday, April 03, 2003 Some Great Words from Colin Powell There's a bit of an urban legend wandering around
about Colin Powell's response to a question from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The sense of the legend is true, but the Secretary's words were adjusted a bit,
as were the words the Archbishop used. You can see the whole story here .
However, there are a couple of quotes from Secretary Powell's actual speech
worth quoting here. As a former competitive speaker, I much prefer his remarks
as they represent a more extemporaneous response than the word-smithed urban
legend:
I mean, it was not soft power that freed Europe. It was hard power. And what followed immediately after hard power? Did the United States ask for dominion over a single nation in Europe? No. Soft power came in the Marshall Plan. Soft power came with American GIs who put their weapons down once the war was over and helped all those nations rebuild. We did the same thing in Japan. And then a little bit later: We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in. I guess that answered the Archbishop. Tuesday, April 01, 2003 Moral Fog? Our beloved North County Times here in San Diego,
hardly the bastion of great journalism, published an article entitled "The Moral
Fog of War". This article was yet another attempt to resurrect the ghost of
Vietnam's past by describing the struggle that soldiers are facing with the
death's of civilians, and essentially trying to draw the reader to some
ill-conceived view that there was an underlying moral dilemma with this
war.
Then, I was privileged to hear some "reality TV" tonight - with Dr. Bob Arnot, embedded with the 1st MEF approaching Baghdad. The group he was with was in an intense firefight with Republican Guard units. I have a friend in the 1st MEF. His wife is bravely managing the homefront with two young girls here at home like so many other wives and mothers. In the midst of this battle, an Iraqi family escaped from the building where they had been held hostage by the Republican Guard. It would have been bad enough had it simply been a husband and wife. No, the Republican Guard had them, their 9 year old son, and their 3 year old daughter. Contrast the Republican Guard behavior with the Marines. The family was put in a fox hole, then the Colonel himself came over to check on them. He had them moved behind a berm, where it would be safer, got them some rations to eat, and assigned a Marine to guard them and ensure their safety. Words fail me when attempting to describe what the Republican Guard did to that family. Words don't fail me with regard to the response of the Marines. I think the best word is Saintly. The only Moral Fog is the one that those who think that Saddam and his band of pond scum have some right to remain in power a day longer. |