When Talking Beasts.. Stop

In "The Magician's Nephew", Aslan gives a simple warning to the newly born Talking Beasts of Narnia: that they should not go back to the ways of beasts lest they cease to be Talking Beasts.

I was reminded of that in Catherine Deveny's article in The Age where she talks about having shed her faith (sandwiched between layers of exaggerated sarcasm and insults for Catholics and Catholicism). Ms. Deveny at some essay months ago casually mentioned that she was Catholic. Now it's clear: she was Catholic, but she became an atheist years ago. That liberating feeling she describes is indeed a form of freedom, but from what? Sadly, she may not have given that much thought.

Searching for human triumph

John F. Schumaker, clinical psychologist, makes very poignant observations and poses even more poignant questions in this article from The Age, "Triumph of the Trivial Life". He begins with this:

THE RESULTS of the cultural indoctrination stakes are not yet in but there is a definite trend — triviality leads, followed closely by superficiality and mindless distraction. Vanity looks great while profundity is bringing up the rear. Pettiness is powering ahead, along with passivity and indifference. Curiosity lost interest, wisdom was scratched and critical thought had to be put down. Ego is running wild. Attention span continues to shorten and no one is betting on survival.

Perhaps because the hope espoused by humanists cited were even flimsier than faith in God ever was:

	.. Erich Fromm .. forecast a utopian society based on "humanistic communitarianism" that would nurture our higher "existential needs".
	..
	.. Carl Rogers .. believed that we — those "people of tomorrow" — would minister over a growth-oriented society, with "growth" defined as the full and positive unfolding of human potential.
	..
	Maslow claimed that human beings naturally switch attention to higher-level needs (intellectual, spiritual, social, existential) once they have met lower-level material ones. In moving up the pyramid and "becoming", we channel ourselves towards wisdom, beauty, truth, love, gratitude and respect for life.

I do not consider myself a cynic, but the empirical data suggests that these hopes expressed by thinkers of the past century were futile. Perhaps in their exclusion of the supernatural, their conclusions have missed out by a mile. After all, premises count, and I suppose the incongruity between theory and experience can be explained by having assumed a false premise.

It isn't that I think mankind to be so far removed from nobility and greatness of spirit. It is only that what the Church has been saying for so long captures the true story. Man is made in the image of God, and so bears His greatness. But the Fall did compromise man's ability to be true to his own divine destiny. Without God to heal the rift, that destiny cannot be fulfilled, much less taken up deliberately.

In the end, Mr. Schumaker's essay seemed to me an incomplete story. His observations are as striking as his questions -- but the answer was left out. Man's greatness is obvious to anyone who is deliberately hates mankind, but this greatness is incomplete and insufficient. Our capacity for evil and savagery is a stark reminder of this. We bear a great wound in ourselves that separates us from the nobility we all share in varying degrees, but glimpsed among the greatest of our heroes. I sincerely believe that we are only healed through the One who took our fall into his body, by whose stripes we are healed. By his grace alone are we saved, and by His Spirit are we restored to who we are destined to be. Humanism is nice but let's call its greatest aspect by name: love. That which, beyond logic, beyond expectation, gives all for love.

But healing takes time -- a lifetime -- as well as nurture. If humanists were only to allow this thought: that the answer eludes mankind because that which will let us rise above the superficial is truly above us, that it is not natural but rather supernatural. That it has indeed come in the flesh and dwelt among us, in love, so that we, outsiders, may be co-heirs of all that is holy and all that is love. Then and only then will all our hopes of human destiny be fulfilled.

Prayer from the lips of children

I must say, I felt immensely joyful hearing my son Patrick reading from Psalm 85 (86) at bedtime tonight. And likewise when I saw that his older brother Justin had been filling up his reading journal (for school) with chapters from his children's Bible. Little saints in the making. If only their dad would stop getting in the way!

Thank you, Lord, for the three arrows in my quiver. They fill me with joy (when I stop taking myself too seriously), bring me to laughter, and fill me with hope. Through them, I catch a glimpse of the enormity of Fatherhood, a peek into the gift of Sonship, and a foretaste of holy Love. They hold up a mirror to me, confronting me with what it means to love and to be loved.

Sower and Seed, and the Soil

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio has an insightful essay about the parable of the sower and the seed.

Fr. Jerome Magat has his own insightful angle about being fertile soil.

Journalism has seen better days

If this is a measure of rigorous research among journalists, then how far they have indeed fallen:

• "Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links" from Reuters.
  
  Good grief, you mean there's a link? And what, there's a Jewish origin for the whole notion of a suffering messiah who rises from the dead? Stop the press! Oh wait, don't the Jewish books of Wisdom (deuterocanonical), Isaiah and Jonah already include allegories or explicit prophecies about all that?
• "Higher CO2 levels may be good for plants: German Scientists" from AFP.
  
  Gotta love the comments about photosynthesis.

And I thought objectivity was all that got thrown out of the window for today's brave new breed of journalists.

So what's new?

I am reading The Imitation of Christ and find it immensely edifying. The advice on admitting the distractions of the world around us is most apt. I suspect that a substantial amount of my time is wasted on such distractions, reading up news from at least three continents each day, a handful of my favorite blogs, writing my own blog posts ..

! oops

Order and Discipline

It wasn't surprising that a 12-year-old would sue her own father for grounding her from a school trip for posting objectionable pictures of herself and chatting on websites against her father's objections. Just the logical conclusion of how things have been sliding down the politically correct slope where the superficial is replacing the substance of life, straining gnats while swallowing camels. Thankfully, the notions of order and discipline are intrinsic in human beings. Thus, there is hope, as when Kiwis have had enough of anti-spanking laws that take parenting away from parents.

Church of England no more?

The gospel has been attenuating in the Church of England, I suppose, but here is a turning point, an amplification of sorts:

Dr Jensen said that the Global Anglican Future Conference was acknowledging that a new state of affairs existed within the worldwide Anglican communion, in which the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury was no longer considered dominant. "My way of putting it is to say that the British Empire has now ceased to be, and the British Commonwealth of Nations has come into existence, or the nuclear family has turned into an extended family. This is the new reality."

[Source: The Age, 22/06/2008

Dr. Jennings said that they held the conference in Jerusalem in order to discern "what God's mind is on certain matters" -- and that, I think, is exactly what makes it a turning point. Returning to the root of Church mission -- God's will -- is the only true guide. It won't be easy for the Anglicans (it hasn't been), but there is always reason to hope when that hope springs from faith in God.

The Language of the Liturgy

One might have thought it obvious that great care should be taken that the language used in worshipping the Almighty; that reverence and awe, focusing on the God we are adoring, is only fitting. So why are some bishops seemingly unhappy with endeavors along those lines? Happily, the arguments for maintaining the dignity of liturgical language are not hard to understand, and here given most excellently by Bishop Seratelli (with emphasis and comments by Fr. Z).

The arguments for keeping things simple, resulting in keeping them too simple, remind me of arguments for keeping doctrines simple, which results in watering them down. Like arguments for doing away with homework and examinations in schools, with the result of dumbing down education. They do the intended beneficiaries a disservice, condescendingly treating them as lesser beings than they really are. Baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ, his grace gives us the impulse to be raised up to Heavenly heights. That, after all, is our calling. And if this is not reflected in our liturgy, then we're in trouble, aren't we?

Casting pearls amongst the swines

Or, in this case, a dog. I cannot see the logic of giving a dog 10 or even 2 million dollars when starvation ravages many parts of the world. Exceedingly bizarre.

Right to Life Australia is Protesting outside the office Maxine Morand

From RTLA's mailing list:

ABORTION IS NEVER HEALTHY! COME TO THE PROTEST The Brumby Government is attempting to redefine abortion from being a crime to a 'health procedure'. What is healthy about killing small babies and ruining their mothers' lives? Yet Maxine Morand, Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development and Women's Affairs - and a member of the notorious Emily's List - is guiding the Decriminalisation of Abortion Bill through Parliament. This Minister is supposed to care for children and women! We are going to let her know what we think of trying to pass abortion off as a 'health' item. Please come and join us outside Ms Morand's electoral office this Wednesday. Bring your children if you can! WHERE: 1/40 Montclair Ave, Glen Waverley 3150 MEL 71 B2 WHEN: Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18 at 11am

Faith versus works

Or the dog that never barked, perhaps. Or the issue that never was.

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio delivers as good an explanation as any, if not better, about this artificial confrontation between faith and works. Many Christians assert "faith alone, but this faith is never alone" (or some permutation), and still find fault in the Roman Catholic position. The obstinacy is sad and frustrating. There is already a common, orthodox understanding of faith and works, not as opposing systems but as necessary components of what is expected of us: a living faith. To nevertheless maintain that there remains a contention hides what the issue really is.

Whatever that/those might be, the disappointments, heartache and frustrations that brought them on are real.

There is the city on a hilltop

I feel less and less inclined to wade into ecumenical debates. There's been one brewing at Cum Ecclesia between the Catholic and Lutheran positions. The primary issues at hand are authority and the question of where the Church is.

I can't count the number of times that I had prepared a lengthy comment in the comment box only to find myself aborting the comment in the end. Not because I wasn't sure of what I wanted to say, but because my comments seem futile in the end. The Lutheran position does not hold much hope to me of dialogue. It is too subjective, it seems, and the Lutheran sentiment of one's unbending stand gets in the way.

In the end, lazy as it seems to be, I am inclined these days to simply lift my arm and point to the Church Magisterium: there she is, the city on a hilltop. Don't take my word for it, take hers. In any other Christian denomination, my interpretation of the Bible is the sure foundation of my arguments. In the Catholic Church, the interpretation of Scripture and Tradition that is offered by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church is the sure foundation. I have had the Iglesia ni Kristo or the Jehovah's Witnesses thrown at my face before, as an answer to this assertion of mine. Let me be clear then that I refer to Christian denominations who share the Nicene Creed and the pronouncements of the councils up to about the first millennium at least. Those who hold to the inerrancy of Scripture, the closing of revelation with the death of the Apostles, the Trinity, the hypostatic union of Christ's nature.

In predicting the demise of Jerusalem, the Lord told his disciples to scatter away. Going against prevailing practice at that time, they were to depart from Jerusalem, rather than to hide within and wait out a siege. No such warning is recorded about the Church that he built on the rock of Peter. He declares a promise that asserts the opposite: "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." St. Paul confirms this when he calls the Church the pillar and foundation of Truth.

If you pose a difficult dogma to me, I'll point to that city on the hilltop. I may not understand everything she tells me, I may fail to uphold my avowed obedience to her judgments, but I trust my Lord, who told me to trust that city. Even if I don't feel like it, even when I don't understand it -- even when I feel like dissenting. You see, at the end of the day, I just don't feel comfortable with the idea that I know better than all those popes, bishops, clergy, scholars, doctors and ordinary Catholics down through the centuries. Even if I were to consider that many of those popes, bishops, clergy, scholars, doctors and ordinary Catholics were individually sinful, and perhaps often individually wrong in word and deed, I'd be loathe to dissent. The Lord has already warned of what fate awaits those false teachers and leaders. I shall observe whatsoever the Magisterium teaches, but there will be times when I shall not do as they (of the Magisterium) do. God have mercy on them if they cause scandal, but I shall not make of myself a rebel. Some hats are simply too big for my head.

Prayer for Unity

Acts of unity such as these are always signs of grace:

Vatican, May. 9, 2008 (CWNews.com) - At a midday meeting on May 9 with the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) looked forward to Pentecost Sunday and said, "we will pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church." ... "Striving for Christian unity is an act of obedient trust in the work of the Holy Spirit."

Amen!

The shortsightedness of self-centeredness

The headlines of MX Melbourne today asks the question: what are we willing to pay for the future generation? The issue lies with government plans to share the burden of paid maternity leaves to the public, to the tune of $5.70 per week for those who earn about $50,000 AUD per year. The comments included in the report seemed to come only from those who consider the idea unfair to them, i.e., single people. Lack of reflection is evident. They have not considered that they did not pay for their own public education and healthcare. Nor do they consider who will pay for their public healthcare and pension. They have not considered the people those babies will become. Nor do they consider who will care for them in hospitals, drive them around in buses and trains, serve them in restaurants, health clubs, libraries, cinemas, banks and various places of recreation.

Just as long as they don't ask my kids for services and tax dollars.

Still alive, but barely blogging

Luckily, that doesn't mean I stop reading. News and other blogs, mostly. Here, for example, is a sad case of a Catholic judging a Catholic convert (from Protestantism). Jimmy Akin happens to be an inspiring Catholic writer/blogger, whose lucid writing is always a welcome light when .. well.. emotional mayhem is ensuing around religious discussions. He understands the catechism very, very well, likewise canon law (though not a canon lawyer himself, I think), the Church Fathers, and of course, Holy Scripture.

Why on earth would anyone decide that being a Catholic convert is not Catholic enough? I don't really get it. After all, we're all converts. Not one of us was born a Catholic, not one of us was born a saint (with the exception of the Blessed Mother and, in a way, St. John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb of his mother). We are also called to conversion everyday, and in a special way during Lent. The problem isn't in a convert like Jimmy Akin (or Mark Shea, or Scott Hahn). The problem is the pride of Catholics who have become Pharisees, whose distrust of converts to Catholicism outweighs their charity and trust in God's gracious call for all his children into the fullness of truth.

Am I a convert, you might ask? Oh, yes I am. Ideally, right after every trespass against God and against even the least of his children.

Taking AIDS less than seriously

It is incredible how AIDS is both taken seriously and not seriously enough. In this typical example, with a global warming spin on it, there's the rightly somber tone that says "this is a serious problem that needs to be fixed!" And then the supposed solutions (after considering how long it will be before modern medicine can find a vaccine) are listed as such:

"He said it was important to strengthen preventative measures proven to work, like condoms and circumcision, and continue to investigate other more hopeful avenues, like microbicide sex gels and anti-viral drugs to block infection."

Apparently, they don't take human beings seriously enough to consider that they might actually be capable of simply abstaining from sexually promiscuous lifestyles. Nor do they take the risks seriously enough to consider that the supposedly small risk of HIV contraction in spite of condoms is compounded by the unabated promiscuity that modern day morals and their apologists are tolerating, and, in effect, promoting.

There is something seriously wrong about this unwillingness to face the unpleasant and fatal truth: AIDS kills, and sexual promiscuity is a major vehicle of contraction.

Pray for a Bishop in South Africa

I realized with some horror a few days ago that I do not pray enough for those who dissent from the Catholic faith, and/or oppress Catholics/Christians. Sometimes, the grace of God shines through and I do pray, but rarely so, since I have made myself dense through an excessively but unnecessarily busy life.

Well.. here's one to pray for. Bishop Kevin Dowling from South Africa needs prayers. His concerns over the HIV epidemic is not the problem. It is commendable, but he doesn't realize that promoting condom use promotes HIV transmission. Condoms are only effective by a percentage that fluctuates somewhere between 85-95%, it seems, and the increased use of condoms means a compounding of the chances of HIV contraction. He imagines the pope as the Pharisees who refuses to lift a finger, and himself as the non-Pharisee who practices genuine compassion. Pray that he realizes before it is too late that, rather than saving these women, he is instead pushing them onto the path of greater harm.

Authority

Authority has always been the key issue when it comes to the fullness of truth among Christians. Truth is a person, of course, and that person, Jesus Christ, is unassailable. But while he does not leave us orphans, he is not here in the person. So what do we do when Biblical scholars call into question the inspiration of canonical Scripture?

Michael Holmes, a professor at Bethel University, doesn't consider the story [of the adulterous woman] inspired Scripture. But he said he would include the story in the Bible, because of its long history and because the verses bear the marks of an authentic story about Jesus.

I'm not quite sure how one can be certain that it is an authentic story about Jesus if one is also certain that it is not inspired Scripture. But, moving on..

Such judgments raise questions about what words like canonicity and inspiration mean for evangelicals. If we reserve the word inspired for the text in the earliest manuscripts, yet accept that other material (such as the pericope adulterae) should be included in our biblical canon, are we implying that select biblical passages may be canonical yet not inspired? If so, what should we do with this distinction? Biblical scholars do agree on two things: The Bible story should be set apart with a note, and Christians should be cautious when reading the passage for their personal devotions.

While these scholars (and those in the comment box of CT) may have had (or continue) to grapple with such issues, I think I'll just be grateful that Mother Church can resolve this for me. I have constant recourse to the teaching authority of the Church (the Magisterium) so as to free me from such worries. Almost as if (gasp) I had recourse to the authority of Christ in the Body. But why should this present any difficulty? After all, where does authority lie if not in that Body, the Church, the pillar and foundation of the Truth? (Timothy 3:16)

A conversion story to ponder

I love conversion stories, and I don't think it's the same thing over and over again. Jennifer's story is particularly thought-provoking in both simple and profound terms. He shares his train of insights that led him ultimately to the Catholic Church, and the path they took is striking.

He ponders the implications of human intervention in the form of Biblical translation, exegesis and preaching, and our own private judgment. And not only does he experience contradictions from different exegetes (whom we assume are all baptized, sincere and prayerful Christians), he actually sees that this is a non-trivial problem. But ultimately, the marvel in this story is the grace of God, who prompts a hunger for truth, uses a skeptic's quest for the truth, and brings him home.

[Link found via the Catholic Converts blog.]