tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-107595732024-03-14T02:47:48.176+11:00One Bread, One Body<small><i>"The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body: all that partake of one bread."</i> (1 Cor 10:16-17)</small>Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.comBlogger1334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-67798342337741591612023-12-13T13:22:00.004+11:002023-12-13T13:22:24.534+11:00An ecumenical miracle Perhaps a hint?In the Cathedral’s Chapel of the Treasury, where the sacred relics of Naples’ patron saint, Januarius (known as San Gennaro in Italian) are housed, a momentous event occurred. Saint Januarius, martyred around 305 A.D. during Emperor Diocletian’s reign, is venerated here, with his relics including two glass ampoules containing his dried blood. When Patriarch Bartholomew I Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-80564800907706987442023-05-28T12:43:00.002+10:002023-05-28T12:43:54.779+10:00What is the center of one’s life, one’s universe?This video sermon by Bishop Robert Barron is marvelous in its entirety, but something struck me in particular at about the 11th minute when he talks about the center of one’s life being, well, one’s own life. It reminded me of astronomers in many centuries past considering the movement of celestial bodies. Geocentrism was prevalent for a long time, holding that the earth was the center around Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-62802050884913687102023-02-03T09:56:00.002+11:002023-02-03T09:56:54.052+11:00Suffering To “glory in the cross of Christ” is, firstly, about his cross, his sacrifice and his love. As similes of Christ, what about our daily and not-so-daily crosses? Saint Teresa of Avila had some thoughts that I found helpful, certainly to remind me to look to Christ, who suffered so much more. If that daily cross ties with the cross on which Christ died, then likewise our suffering. If one hadJeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-56936318715420592021-08-13T08:49:00.002+10:002021-08-13T08:49:14.948+10:00Avarice and luxury, and the end of empiresThis is a thoughtful piece on what can go wrong even when (or because) one has great wealth. From NCRegister.com.Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-64160682981117486532021-07-10T17:39:00.000+10:002021-07-10T17:39:05.596+10:00Christian mission todayhttps://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/method Yup, sounds right to me. However, we typically have simultaneous goals of thriving in this world and kerygma, whereas the former makes the latter rather inconvenient. Even when we consciously reject much of the postmodern world, its moral flaws and its love of comfort, its gravity exerts such an enormous influence pulling away from Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-82052336906567171642021-04-17T18:09:00.004+10:002021-04-17T18:09:32.907+10:00More on Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and how goes the Church in Germany (not so good)Father Raymond de Souza at the National Catholic Register:
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/pope-benedict-xvi-the-anchor-that-kept-germany-rooted-in-christJeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-85606192184046528292021-04-17T16:16:00.002+10:002021-04-17T16:16:10.245+10:00On Pope Benedict XVIMr. Worner is onto something:
https://www.todworner.com/pope-benedict-xvi/6zx0gmpodt11bs67yvu5bqa7dinklr
And yes, I also have great respect for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and his writings.Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-9618285545573385562019-11-12T20:16:00.001+11:002019-11-12T20:16:08.927+11:00Keeping it simple and wise — quotes from Padre Pio
If I can keep even half of these all in mind..
Tough love and what I’d call simple wisdom from Padre Pio:
https://epicpew.com/tough-love-and-wisdom-from-the-words-of-st-pio-of-pietrelcina/
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-80598186472957059532019-07-19T19:56:00.001+10:002019-07-19T19:56:50.101+10:007 Mind Blowing Life Hacks from St. Josemaria that we All Need7 Mind Blowing Life Hacks from St. Josemaria that we All Need:
I can honestly say that if I had paid more attention to my interior life years and years ago, life would have been so much better for my wife and children. God had given me so many opportunities to get ahead, St. Josemaria Escriva and the Opus Dei Center among them, but I did not pay enough attention. Thank God His grace kept coming!Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-5620254954520992072019-03-21T08:54:00.003+11:002019-03-21T08:54:52.244+11:00Whom shall I fear?Second Reading
From a sermon by John the Serene, bishop
Love the Lord and walk in his ways
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? How great was that servant who knew how he was given light, whence it came, and what sort of man he was when he was favoured by that light. The light he saw was not that which fades at dusk, but the light which no eye has seen. Souls brightened by Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-31512854644577477672019-01-25T10:18:00.001+11:002019-01-25T10:18:15.828+11:00St. Francis de Sales and the Love HeresySt. Francis de Sales and the Love Heresy: “It is a heresy in sacred love to make choice among God’s commandments, which to observe, and which to violate.”Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-74860741817325718072018-12-14T13:03:00.001+11:002018-12-14T13:03:01.261+11:00Why Would Christians Want the World to Love Them? | Word on FireWhy Would Christians Want the World to Love Them? | Word on Fire
Am I ready? I probably whine and worry too much, but the author of the above is correct: that the non-Christian world would dislike Christians like me should be expected. We were told to expect it, after all, and now that I think about it, this dislike is no more than the first reaction to a massive challenge against how the Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-17490275589708594822018-08-02T19:00:00.001+10:002018-08-02T19:00:52.055+10:00Great first homilyFrom our newly installed Archbishop of Melbourne.
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-75417134952741337042018-07-11T22:41:00.003+10:002018-07-11T22:41:38.578+10:00So you think you know about euthanasiaConcluding that there is a slippery slope doesn't get much easier than this. In this day and age of available information at one's fingertips, what possible excuse can there be to miss it?
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-11268857677492838722018-07-11T22:41:00.001+10:002018-07-11T22:45:41.552+10:00Healing hearts with the gift of FaithPope St. Leo the Great, writing about St. Peter healing the lame (Acts 3:6), notes how, healing the man's legs, he also, by the power of God, and only by the power of God, healed the hearts of the multitude who then received the gift of Faith. Earlier I pondered at the idea what this gift of supernatural Faith was for. Why do I pray for an increase in Faith? For many months I prayed for the powerJeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-8786727121302474862018-06-20T19:04:00.001+10:002018-06-20T19:05:43.719+10:00To Christians bewildered by this agnostic generationI once heard a magnificent talk given by Bishop Robert Baron where he points out the irresistible power of the Church, promised by Jesus at Caesarea Philippi: "and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." And Bishop Baron points out that gates do not attack, so this is not about the Church being impregnable, but rather it is the Church that marches onward, and the gates of Hades must giveJeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-7269685641589516662018-06-19T10:33:00.001+10:002018-06-20T19:06:15.532+10:00Utter destruction of one's enemies - by loving themKeeping in mind that love does not refer here to an emotion, but an active will to the good of the other, Christian charity (caritas, love, aggape) becomes they most potent form of destroying one's enemies by making them enemies no more. This is in keeping with how Christ exceedingly fulfills the old Law in every way, and God's way is not our way.
From dailygospel.org:
Saint Hilary (c.315-367), Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-23415030970526874602018-05-31T18:23:00.001+10:002018-05-31T18:25:42.687+10:00Quo vadis?After the disastrous but salt unsurprising results from the Irish referendum on protecting the unborn (the answer was apparently "No."), my mind keeps turning to the question of where we go from here. Wiser heads than mine have answers, if not matching orders, e.g., evangelize like hobbits would. Or by domestic church. The practical reality though cannot exclude other means: in schools and in Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-81577286947098495442018-05-28T18:43:00.001+10:002018-05-28T18:43:56.345+10:00Cultural Catholicism?He's got a point.
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-73545740393408054142018-05-28T18:13:00.001+10:002018-05-28T18:13:36.571+10:00The 7 gifts.. in an infographic.
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-12053078315537543622018-05-18T09:44:00.001+10:002018-05-18T19:17:50.857+10:00Why does God permit evil?An answer came to me in prayer, the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, and in the sorrows of my own life: God permits evil so that we may reject it and choose good.
Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-89001916860331576662018-05-02T10:05:00.001+10:002018-05-18T19:18:40.586+10:00From a Marian devoteeI thought this beautifully written excerpt would be thought-provoking reading for Christians who wonder at Catholics who pray to Mary. This was written by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, who was a true Marian devotee and advocate of the same. It was the gospel commentary from dailygospel.org from today's Mass. The Gospel reading is from John 15:1-8.
[Jesus] is our only master, who Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-48207156467289236372018-04-24T09:47:00.001+10:002018-04-24T09:47:52.628+10:00The prayer of a pastor"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me"
O Jesus, Good Shepherd, a shepherd who is truly good, shepherd full of lovingkindness and gentleness, the cry of a poor and wretched shepherd rises up to you: a weak and clumsy shepherd, an unprofitable shepherd (cf. Lk 17:10) and yet, in spite of all, a shepherd of your flock. Yes, Good Shepherd, the cry of this shepherd who is far Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-45279508344043978482018-04-18T18:15:00.001+10:002018-04-18T18:15:18.257+10:00Preach it, (Msgr) Pope!http://blog.adw.org/2018/04/ancient-biblical-sermons-break-modern-rules-maybe-rules-reexamined/Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10759573.post-74401483578190583672018-04-01T13:44:00.001+10:002018-04-01T13:44:08.933+10:00Risen, just as he saidChrist is Risen! Alleluia!
While I love the Mass in general, there's nothing like the celebration of the Easter vigil. The darkness, the Paschal candle and then people lighting their candles from it and then from their neighbors, and the growing sea of tiny flames as they keep going until every person's candle is lit. And then the readings, starting from the creation account in Genesis, then the Jeff Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10766263101941796485noreply@blogger.com0