This is the main photo-story at the Drudge Report right now, accompanied by the headline: THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON.
I don't know about that, but I do know that there's something very disconcerting, indeed quite outrageous, to see a Catholic nun in her religious habit being ignominiously groped by an airport TSA worker. Note that the picture shows what appears to be a hijab (head scarf) being worn by the TSA worker. Think about the irony of that juxtaposition. How many Catholic nuns do you know of who have committed acts of terrorism against an airliner and its passengers & crew? Hmm . . . I can't think of any. Can you? Of course, it's quite possible that it is not a hijab that the worker is wearing. But the picture gives that impression. In itself, it's an insignificant detail, but given the circumstances we're living in these days, it's certainly... remarkable, to say the least.
Every Sunday, millions of Christians around the world recite the Creed, professing their belief in the “communion of saints.” Few realize the importance of this phrase, which is sandwiched between other deep mysteries of the faith.
The Catholic understanding is denounced by many Protestants as “unbiblical.” It’s a bitter irony that the very doctrine of Christian unity has itself become a barrier to unity. The controversy revolves around the question, “Is it biblical to ask the saints in heaven to pray (intercede) for us?”
Catholics say yes. Since Christians are united with each other through Christ, and are commanded to love and pray for one another, Christians on earth can ask Christians in heaven for their prayers.
Protestants say no. They say that praying to saints undermines Christ’s unique mediatorship, pointing to 1 Timothy 2:5: “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” They think asking the saints to intercede for us is in direct conflict with this verse. The Anglican Reformers, under the leadership of Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said, “The Romish doctrine concerning . . . [the] invocation of saints is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but is, rather, repugnant to the Word of God” (39 Articles of Religion, article 22). Vatican II gave the Catholic position . . . (click to continue reading)
Several weeks ago, I heard that this debate was coming up, but I was unable to attend. Two people I know personally and respect, Dr. Peter Kreeft and Robert Spencer, debated the question of Islam. For those of you who know Dr. Kreeft's work, you know he is eminently reasonable, always irenic, and a deep thinker. In fact, as I have gone on record saying many times over the years, I regard Peter Kreeft as our generation's C.S. Lewis.
Robert Spencer, who, like Peter, is a fellow Catholic, has in recent years produced a serious body of in-depth critical scholarship on Islam. His website, jihadwatch.org, is very influential and both widely admired and widely reviled (mainly, though not exclusively, by Muslims). These two men have very different views of Islam and of Muslims, and this debate promises to be an excellent opportunity for both positions to be carefully examined, compared, and contrasted. That's the hallmark of any good debate, in my opinion. I say "promises to be" because I haven't watched this video of the debate yet, though I am just about to do so.
Catholic blogger (and one of my Twitter friends), Lisa Graas, alerted me to the video clip, which I post for you now on my blog. I'd also like to lead off with the beginning of her commentary on the debate (below). And, as ever, I am very interested in knowing what you think of this. So, please, post comments to your heart's content.
On Thursday, November 9, 2010, Robert Spencer and Peter Kreeft participated in an historic debate at St. Thomas More College on the topic “Is the Only Good Muslim a Bad Muslim?” Video of this debate is below.
Kreeft’s final remark:
“I suppose Bob must be right in saying that if everything in the Qur’an must be accepted literally and practiced then these are bad Muslims, so in that sense, I would have to agree with him that the best Muslim is a bad Muslim.”
Any Catholic who cares to understand this issue with any intelligence is strongly encouraged to watch this debate. I also recommend, of course, the catechism and Vatican II, particularly Nostra Aetate. Here are my thoughts on what Vatican II had to say about Jews, Christians and Muslims. . . .
Abortion Groups NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List Dejected After Election Oh, yeah, baby! I loved seeing that. And I loved seeing this quote from the same LifeNews.com article: “'Yesterday was a difficult day' for the pro-abortion movement, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards admitted in the opening of an email to supporters of the abortion business today.” Awww.
I find this picture from today's Drudge Report very poignant and thought-provoking.
Here we are, on the eve of the U.S. mid-term elections, and most people seem to sense the palpable unease that is in the air. A great tumult may be not be far off. Tumult and turmoil go hand in hand. And many pessimistic prognosticators have been prognosticating for the past year that something big and bad will happen in the U.S. that will shake things badly. An economic implosion, perhaps, or another successful terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or some kind of event that will provoke wide-spread civil unrest. God forbid!
I hope they're all wrong. I hope that tomorrow's election will help to stabilize things somewhat and maybe even move us back toward some kind of sanity in our fiscal and social policies. Heaven knows that the damage wrought in the last two years of the current regime's disgusting bacchanalia of spending and social engineering will be hard to correct. Some say impossible. But I am hopeful. Like many of you, I am worried and prayerfully cautious about how things will turn out. I don't put my trust in the princes and princesses of either political party, but I remain hopeful.
Look at that poor man in the picture. He is not hopeful. He personifies the despair that so many are experiencing these days. See how he kneels (kneels!) in the gutter, hands folded and face set like flint in grim mask of supplication as the presidential limousine whisks by him. I don't know what was in his heart at that moment, and I don't know what his political views are or what he hopes will happen in tomorrow's election. But I am quite moved by this picture. This man represents something very sad to me about the way America has been changing in recent decades, certainly since I was born in 1960. His face reflects an abject servility that is very disconcerting when I think of how cringing and servile so many Americans have become in their attitude toward The Government. How bad can it get, and how long can it go on?
What makes me so sad — and angry, too — is that this disconsolate man should feel so hopeless that he is reduced to kneeling in the gutter in hopes that the occupant of that armored limousine will take notice of his plea for help. I see a look that says, “Please look at me! Live up to your promises. Don't betray me. Don't leave me here in the gutter after you promised to help me me up.”
The Government (certainly not this one) can't save him. It can't save us. It can't even save itself from itself. It devours. It's a necessary evil that seems bent on becoming ever more unnecessary.
Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about this poignant image is that it might just as well portend the calm before a storm -- one man's last, ditch effort to get help. And when the limousine passes him by once again, and things just continue getting bleaker, what then?
The Mormon Church has been on an ambitious temple-building spree for the past 30 years. With 134 currently operating temples and nine under construction, the group recently announced 14 new temples, including one in the Eternal City. This, of course, is something they consider to be a milestone in their expansion, in part because Italy has been a country where Mormon missionaries have not had great success in finding converts.
The two major reasons for their overall lack of proselytism progress there is, in my view, 1) because Italy is more than just ostensibly a Catholic nation and, 2) because Mormonism is so very, very “American” that Italians, as with other Europeans who tend to look down on America and Americans, are even less interested in buying what the Mormon missionaries are selling than they might otherwise be.
In any case, I am disappointed but by no means dispirited by the news of this new temple. It may well be that Catholics in Italy who are still serious about explaining, sharing, and defending the True Faith will see in this development an opportunity to renew their efforts to reach out and evangelize Mormons and others. I certainly do pray for that and hope that the appearance of this new Mormon temple in Rome serves as a much-needed catalyst for Catholics to stand up for the Truth in the face of a Made-in-America theological off-brand.
Meet the BeaTrips. I love their Engrishy tag line: "The Beatles Real Cover Band." These boys don't look the part, but they nailed the song — except, perhaps, for the very last line, which to me doesn't sound much like, "I've got blisters on my fingers!" Maybe I should try to catch their act, next time I'm in Japan.
Now, feast your ears on the exquisite Engrishstylings of "John," as he warms up the cloud for this next number. Once they start playing, I can pretty much groove with them all the way down the line (again, Parr's baseline is frawrress), but the Yoko-esque vocals that keep peeking through around the edges are disorienting. Still, their technical musical proficiency means that a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
This next one both attracts and repels. Technically, the music is good, especially Parr's bass rendition, though "George's" vocals suggest, somewhat creepily, how the Beatles might have sounded if (shudder) Yoko had completely taken over the band.
“Blessed are You, Lord, God of all creation. Through Your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink.”
A new era of grace. Revelations of Jesus never before seen by the eyes of the Church. The possibility of a holiness beyond that of saints. An Italian mystic who rivals the Blessed Mother in importance and sanctity. Sound intriguing? Good. We're about to take a trip through the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Hang on, it could get bumpy.
Divine Will Hunting
By Fr. Terrence Staples
Church history is littered with strange movements; those that have passed away and those that still remain. Just about all of them started with a single individual who, through charismatic presence or seductive writing, managed to gather a flock of believers. The Divine Will movement is no different.
Enter Luisa Piccarreta. Born in 1865, bedridden for most of her life, she claimed to receive locutions from Jesus. Evidently, the communications were lengthy and frequent, filling 34 volumes by the time of her death in 1947.
According to Piccarreta's writings, there were three great eras in salvation history which corresponded to, and followed from, three great "fiats." The first was the creative fiat: God created all things by His Word. This initiated the "Age of Creation." The second fiat came from the Blessed Virgin Mary: "Let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). This ushered in the "Age of Redemption."
Finally, after many years of turmoil in the Church, God has completed the work of creation and redemption by inspiring the third fiat: Piccarreta's own surrender to God. Her submission, which is presented as being on par with the fiat of creation and that of our Blessed Mother, brought the Church to a new level of sanctity. We have now entered the "Era of Sanctification." Through Piccarreta, the Kingdom of the Divine Will came to earth and is available to all who welcome it. Eventually, this new gift to the Church will spread to all Her members and creation will be restored to its pre-Fall state.
This raises the obvious question: What does this gift entail? According to Piccarreta's revelations, to "live in the Divine Will" is to literally possess the Divine Will in such a way that one's actions become purely divine. Before the "Era of Sanctification," all that could be achieved by the saints was a "poor and lowly union with God." They could, by grace, do God's will, but were not capable of possessing the Divine Will itself.
This new union with Deity was introduced to the Church by Jesus through Piccarreta (though Adam, Eve and the Blessed Mother had this gift as well). One alleged locution has Jesus saying, "When a soul acts in My Will, her humanity is, as it were, suspended. Then the Divine Life of My love takes its place and acts; and, as it acts in a creature, My love finds itself unburdened of its desire for expression" (Book of Heaven, 94).
Contrasting the traditional way of holiness (ie. obedience to God's will by grace) with the new way (ie. possession of the Divine Will), Jesus tells Piccarreta, ". . . to live in My Will is to reign in It and with It, while to do My Will is to be at My orders . . . To live in My Will is to live with a single Will — God's Will — a Will all holy, all pure, all peace." In this way, the traditional Catholic means of holiness is denigrated as mere servitude, over and against the new life in the Divine Will.
How, then, is one to receive this sublime gift? Two things must be done . . . (continue reading article)
[Also . . . read the letters to the editor written for and against this article, as well as Fr. Terrence Staple's lengthy, point-by-point response to challenges to his view of Luisa Piccarreta and the "Divine Will" movement.]
Sure, this could be some kind of high-tech digital hoax, and maybe that's just what it is. No problem. But if it's not, then I don't know how to account for it. What do you think?
Today has been another crisp, gorgeous fall day in Central Ohio. I love it here, and while I love all the seasons, I think I love fall the best. As I've gotten older, the changing color of the leaves always evokes in me a happy-sad, bitter-sweet, contentment alloyed with an ever-keener sense of unrequited longing in my soul.
I know that it's the Triune God I long for, and the arrival of the fall colors is a quiet, beautiful harbinger of the eventual end of this earthly life and the commencement of the life to come. Nature's resplendent colors during this season are, at least for me, a reminder that those of us who are fortunate enough to live the allotted "three score and ten" years (I've only lived two score and ten of them, thus far, but I have my fingers prayerfully crossed that more will follow) must not forget that winter is . . . not far off.
With gratitude, joy, and peace, I want to welcome the approaching winter of my life, even though it may be a ways away just yet. But most of all, I pray the Lord will grant me the graces necessary to be ready to go be with Him on that day when all the leaves of my life have fallen and the snow lays thick upon the frozen ground. How I want to be with Him and His friends forever in that land of eternal spring!
“I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” (Psalm 27:13)
“The glory of young men is their strength, but the beauty of old men is their gray hair” (Proverbs 20:29).
The autumn leaves are a reminder to me of the time of life I am in now. Turning 50 this year, my ever-graying hair is analogous to the leaves turning from deep green to red and orange. Winter will be here soon enough, and the leaves will fall to the ground. The endless cycle of life.
Rural Ohio, where we live, experiences a beautiful explosion of color each autumn. It's a glorious time of year. I learn something new and deeper, each year. These colors are a faded signpost of muted glory pointing off into the distance, down this road I am travelling, toward a fog bank topped by a dark cloud with a piercingly brilliant, radiant, golden explosion of light beyond it.
The leaves are bright and beautiful, but not for long. Winter will be here soon.
This is a house I pass by on my short drive into town. This particular tree is quite spectacular.
These are a few of the lovely sunset maples in our front yard that grace the landscape with their magnificent fall colors. Soon, their leaves will all be gone. Just a memory of what once was and the barest hint of the glory yet to come. But first, winter, frigid and gray. Bleak. And then . . . can you feel it? Spring is not far off . . .
There's no need to obsess the way you are over what a tiny handful of people may think about Medjugorje. If some, like I, doubt that it's an authentic apparition, so what? Why does that rob you of your peace? Your most recent behavior indicates that you are unsettled, anxious, and worried about the fact that some are skeptical about Medjugorje. This turmoil and defensiveness exhibited in your recent public comments is not from the Holy Spirit.
Pause, take a deep breath, and ponder these words from Scripture:
“If this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38-39)
Please remember that this passage is just as important for you as it is for anyone who doubts Medjugorje. Think about that. Just pray for God's will to be done in this matter.
And then, spend some time thinking prayerfully about this wise advice from Saint Teresa of Avila:
“Let nothing disturb you, let nothing afright you. Nothing is wanting in whom God possesses. God alone suffices. All things are passing. God never ceases. Patient endurance attains all things.”
