Thoughts and opinions from a Priest in the PNCC
St. George the Great, Martyr, (303)3
St. Adalbert, Martyr, (997)
Saints Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus, Martyrs, (212)
“Liberator of captives,
and defender of the poor,
physician of the sick,
and champion of kings,
O trophy-bearer,
and Great Martyr George,
intercede with
Christ our God that
our souls be saved.”
— Troparion of St. George
Chrystus Zmartwychwstał
Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Christ is risen
Truly He is risen! Alleluia
—We gave you strict orders, did we not,
to stop teaching in that name?
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.—
Everybody is worried about Jesus.
The Sanhedrin, which had persecuted Jesus and had sought His death were concerned. They were obviously not believers. They figured that Jesus was just another dead crazy man or con artist, another of a group of Messiahs that showed up at the gates of Jerusalem on a regular basis.
They thought they were rid of Him, but here are these crazy Galilean fishermen, with their crude ways, and funny accents, talking Him up. And people believe them!
It’s enough to make the most diehard politician crazy.
I was on a train, returning from New York City this past Tuesday. The people behind me were having one of those conversations.
Why do people talk about Jesus so much? You know, as long as you’re good and fair, and live as you see fit, everything is ok. Why do I have to hear about Jesus?
The Sanhedrin lives in all those who find their shared mission in telling people to shut up about Jesus already.
But Peter and the apostles said in reply,
—We must obey God rather than men.”
And that’s the point, but not like you might think.
The —Christians— of this country and many parts of the world, and I put the word —Christian— in quotation marks, have done more than enough to sully the name of Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. You know them. They are the folks who espouse the Republican, Democrat, or Green Party Jesus, the gun loving Jesus, the warmonger Jesus, the gay Jesus, the non-drinking Jesus, or the wine loving Jesus. They are the folks who tell the world about the Jesus made in their image, the Jesus who loves them because of their sinfulness.
—We must obey God rather than men.”
Yesterday we happened to commemorate St. Anselm of Canterbury, a great saint and the father of scholasticism.
For those unfamiliar, scholasticism literally means “that [which] belongs to the school.” It is a method of learning taught by academics in medieval universities between 1100 and 1500. It is not a philosophy or theology in itself, but a tool and method for learning that puts emphasis on dialectical reasoning, i.e., point, counter-point arguments used to reason out an answer to a question.
One of Anselm’s famous quotes was:
—I hold it to be a failure in duty if after we have become steadfast in our faith we do not strive to understand what we believe.—
The Apostles had that down. Their knowledge came from Jesus Christ who was their teacher. Their strength and courage came from the Holy Spirit. All their gifts came from God. They understood Who they believed in.
What the Apostles had, and what St. Anselm understood was that our argument for Christ is rooted in faith. Our faith is strengthened by our leaning about Christ. Our honesty comes from proclaiming Christ not as we see Him, but as He is.
Listen to Peter’s testimony before the Court:
—We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.—
God raised Jesus from the dead though He had died by crucifixion. Jesus sits in the place reserved for the Son, the right hand of God. He is exalted. Salvation is through Him. He grants all of us repentance and forgiveness of sins. We saw it. The Holy Spirit saw it, and His gifts are given to all who obey God.
Pretty simple in content, deep in message, no fluff.
Today is about witnesses and a message. It is the clear, concise, boiled down message of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and Sisters,
Begin in faith, study what He teaches. Take the example of the Apostles, certainly not poets. These simple words are the food that is ever before us. Simple words that are an unending fountain of riches. We will never get enough.
Repent of your sins and you have forgiveness. Acknowledge Me as what I am. Obey Me and you obey the Father. You have the gift of the Holy Spirit to carry out your work.
There is no Jesus of mixed messages and muddled metaphors. He has one simple question:
Do you love me?
Please stand and join me in saying the words that fill our hearts right now:
—Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.—
Saints Soter and Caius, Bishops and Martyrs, (174 and 296)
St. Leonides, Martyr, (202)
St. Agapitus of Rome, Bishop, (536)
St. Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop, 1109
Saints Simon Barsabae and Companions, Martyrs, (341)
St. Anastasius of Antioch, Bishop, (599)
“Negligentiae mihi esse videtur, si, postquam confirmati sumus in fide, non studemus quod credimus, intelligere.”
“I hold it to be a failure in duty if after we have become steadfast in our faith we do not strive to understand what we believe.”
— St. Anselm of Canterbury
St. Marcellinus, Bishop, (374)
St. Marian, Abbot, (488)
St. Caedwalla, King, (689)
St. Leo of Rome, Bishop, (1054)
St. Ursmar, Abbot and Bishop, (713)
St. Alphege of Canterbury, Martyr, (1012)
At least that’s the way it is in Turkey – the long time EU aspirant, that touts its facade of democracy and its religious freedom, but does nothing to engender those values in its people or national consciousness. From the LA Times and elsewhere: 3 killed in attack on Bible publisher in Turkey:
Five youths — all with notes that say, ‘They are attacking our religion’ — are held at the scene.
ISTANBUL, Turkey — In a gruesome attack that sent shockwaves through Turkey’s tiny Christian community, assailants Wednesday slit the throats of three men at a publishing house that distributes Bibles and other Christian literature.
Five youths were detained at the scene in the conservative eastern city of Malatya, Turkish authorities said. One news report said the suspects carried notes indicating their motive was right-wing nationalism.
Turkey’s sometimes hostile stance toward its own religious and ethnic minorities has been a persistent source of concern to Western governments as the country presses ahead with its campaign for European Union membership.
Although the government officially preaches tolerance, it historically has failed to rein in virulent ultra nationalist groups. Authorities were accused of ignoring repeated death threats against Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian newspaper editor who was gunned down outside his offices in Istanbul in January. Prosecutors later said a teenager confessed to the shooting.
At the Zirve publishing house in Malatya’s city center, police discovered the three victims bound hand and foot and tied to chairs with their throats cut. Two were dead; the third died later at a hospital…
And speaking of freedom, the Young Fogey points to an article on our country’s efforts in Iraq and how our “Christian” President has brought pain and suffering to the Christians of Iraq.
From Asia News: Islamic group in Baghdad: —Get rid of the cross or we will burn your Churches—.
In the Dora quarter threats continue to be made against Christians. In the last two months Christian parishes have been forced to give in to extremist pressure, only the Church of Sts Peter and Paul has withstood so far. A fatwa forbids the practice of Christian ritual gestures.
—Get rid of the cross or we will burn your Churches—. This is the threat aimed at the Chaldean Church of Sts Peter and Paul, located in the ancient Christian quarter of Baghdad, Dora. Local sources say an unknown armed Islamic group is behind the threats which are inseminating terror in the capital. The Arab website Ankawa.com and Aina news agency speak of a campaign of persecution in act in the area. Even Mosul, a Sunni stronghold, the Christian presence is being gravely threatened.
Msgr. Shlemon Warduni, Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, tells AsiaNews —in the last 2 months many Churches have been forced to remove their crosses from their domes—. In the case of the Church of St. George, assira, Muslim extremists took the situation into their own hands: they climbed onto the roof and ripped out the cross…
Well maybe they’re just not his kind of Christians…
The Young Fogey also points to the following LRC Commentary: Does Anybody Care About the Christian Arabs?
Short answer, NO!
If you are a Christian in the Middle East, whether in Israel or the Muslim lands, you may not practice your religion.
Any Christians proselytizing Jews or Muslims in Israel proper? Nope, forbidden.
Anyone reading bibles, wearing crosses, or praying in public in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt? Nope, forbidden.
Have a Church and want to keep it, sorry, forbidden – it is being converted into a mosque (most especially in Turkey and the Turkish controlled areas of Cyprus.
Israel – allies and friends? Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey – partners? Iraq – bastion of freedom and democracy?
From The State: Justices affirm ban on partial-birth abortions:
The Supreme Court Wednesday broke new ground in upholding federal restrictions on abortion, with President Bush’s two appointees joining a court majority that said Congress was exercising its license to —promote respect for life, including the life of the unborn.
—The court’s 5-4 decision upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress in 2003 marked the first time justices have agreed a specific abortion procedure could be banned, and the first time since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that justices approved an abortion restriction that did not contain an exception for the health of the woman.
—The government may use its voice and its regulatory authority to show its profound respect for the life within the woman,— wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy. He said the ban on the controversial method of ending a midterm pregnancy was valid because other abortion procedures were still available to a woman. It provides an exception to save the woman’s life…
While it isn’t a panacea for the ills that have been created since Roe v. Wade, this is the beginning of some kind of common sense.
The most interesting comments I’ve heard are from the abortion fanatics out there, pandering by saying women’s health will be put at risk.
I’m wondering, how? Is Doctor Kildare still delivering babies? You mean we can’t save a mother and a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 month old baby?
I really do not believe anything these folks say about health. They simply want to use dead babies as score sheets. Twenty dead in the last hour, twenty victories.
The key is that a baby can’t be killed when medical technology has shown us that many, if not all of these infants can be saved.
You’re giving birth by one or another means to a child and killing it just as it’s partially born, a child that, if placed in an incubator and properly cared for under today’s technology would live. I’d wonder, why make the choice to kill?
Now to me all life is sacred, from conception onward, but even if you’re a complete dolt, and can’t reason beyond the obvious, you have to see that this is nothing more than murder for the sake of murder.
More on this issue from the Pro-Life Action League and Priests for Life. A lot more screaming elsewhere.
Blogged with Flock
St. Apollonius the Apologist, Martyr, (185)
Saints Elutherus and Companions, Martyrs, (200)
St. Molaisse, Bishop, (639)
St. Anicetus, Bishop and Martyr, (165)
St. Innocent, Bishop, (350)
Saints Mappalicus and Companions, Martyrs, (250)