Samstag
Spent Saturday in the nascent sun drinking Warsteiners with my brother and helping him put together the parts of a rather elaborate swing-set set. Then we had an aperitif and cursed Montaigne, blaming the world's skeptism on him. We sat trading witicisms just as our ancestors did in County Sligo, engulfed in the smoke of a turf fire equivalent (a couple fine hand-rolleds).
But I shamelessly embellish. Actually we talked about our jobs and watched in disbelief as our little four year old nephew began dismantling the neighbor's stone fence. We sat dumb - "is he really doing what I think he's doing" - before calling down from the high deck upon which we were seated and telling him to stop, like voices from heaven correcting a miscreant. And he stopped.
April 20, 2003
April 17, 2003
It's a Physical Universe After All
Fr. William Most on the distinction between physical evil & moral evil:
A world without physical evils, if a material world, would have to be comprised of one miracle after another, simply because material things can go to pieces, can come apart, can slip, as common sense testifies. Now it is not really rational for God to work miracles routinely, for a miracle is extraordinary, and the extraordinary cannot become ordinary.
Fr. William Most on the distinction between physical evil & moral evil:
A world without physical evils, if a material world, would have to be comprised of one miracle after another, simply because material things can go to pieces, can come apart, can slip, as common sense testifies. Now it is not really rational for God to work miracles routinely, for a miracle is extraordinary, and the extraordinary cannot become ordinary.
April 16, 2003
Poetry
The Irish have a fatalistic, morbid streak to which I occasionally succumb to...
Tis not ours to know beyond
“Es regnet!” we called
our bellies full of German laughter,
“It is raining!” we called
like impish stewards.
Bare we knew the trouble ahead,
the horizon fixed at twenty blessed miles.
***
Survey of Stones
the sunny hill brought forth
a bitter fruit –
a hailstone of tombstones
grey with eager miens and jaunty minders
from thick tree roots gestated.
I looked upon the sober dates they cried
‘what have you to show! I lived far less than you!”
'Are you like me?' asked the Federalist
gowned in Resurrection palms
and atrophied script.
'Are you like me?' asked the Victorian
draped in frank and maudlin prose:
"as you are now, I was once."
'Are you like me?' asked the Modern
impersonal as marbled ice
giving nothing but emptiness.
The Irish have a fatalistic, morbid streak to which I occasionally succumb to...
Tis not ours to know beyond
“Es regnet!” we called
our bellies full of German laughter,
“It is raining!” we called
like impish stewards.
Bare we knew the trouble ahead,
the horizon fixed at twenty blessed miles.
***
Survey of Stones
the sunny hill brought forth
a bitter fruit –
a hailstone of tombstones
grey with eager miens and jaunty minders
from thick tree roots gestated.
I looked upon the sober dates they cried
‘what have you to show! I lived far less than you!”
'Are you like me?' asked the Federalist
gowned in Resurrection palms
and atrophied script.
'Are you like me?' asked the Victorian
draped in frank and maudlin prose:
"as you are now, I was once."
'Are you like me?' asked the Modern
impersonal as marbled ice
giving nothing but emptiness.
Kairos guy struggles with his conscience concerning Lenten regulations. Our Dominican father has spoken about this before; I believe it was to allow exceptions such as the situation he described but I can't recall. I remember going to a rehersal dinner at an area Dutch kitchen (run by the local Mennonites, a subspecies of Amish) during a Lenten Friday. Not having the broasted chicken at the Dutch Kitchen is like going to an Irish pub and skipping the stout.
Personally, I wrestle with items like this occasionally, which I imagine always gets big guffaws in heaven. Why? Because I could see them saying, "you sure are awfully concerned about this potential very venial sin...we wish you'd just treat your [boss, stepson, etc..] with more charity". In that sense, my preoccupation with having the right position on the Iraq war is disingenuous given that whatever degree of sin that might be imputed to me would be significantly less than what I inflict on myself by my failure to radically love others.
Personally, I wrestle with items like this occasionally, which I imagine always gets big guffaws in heaven. Why? Because I could see them saying, "you sure are awfully concerned about this potential very venial sin...we wish you'd just treat your [boss, stepson, etc..] with more charity". In that sense, my preoccupation with having the right position on the Iraq war is disingenuous given that whatever degree of sin that might be imputed to me would be significantly less than what I inflict on myself by my failure to radically love others.
Quote Corner
"...one of the most powerful examples of that is the Christian belief (spelled out in St. Anselm's terrific treatise Cur Deus Homo) that the Incarnation and Crucifixion were God's way of marrying justice and mercy, being both fully just and fully merciful. In the words of the Psalmist, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10).
--Eve Tushnet, via Hernan Gonzalez, via Camassia
***
Even in this age, in which moral precepts are widely undervalued, great importance is attached to 'self-improvement'...We seem to take it for granted that there are steps that we can take to enhance our lives. In such a culture, the idea of being saved by another is likely to be unpopular...Yet we cannot cure ourselves; we need to look to another for that service. There is a simple workd that summarizes the whole earthly career of Jesus. It is the Greek preposition hyper, usually translated "for the sake of."
The condemnation of Jesus was not an accident, but happened for our sake. Perhaps we cannot understand how it is that the life of Jesus was a remedy for our sins, but this is what we believe. Jesus lived and died and rose again so that we might have life more abundantly.
--Fr. Michael Casey, O.C.S.O.
"...one of the most powerful examples of that is the Christian belief (spelled out in St. Anselm's terrific treatise Cur Deus Homo) that the Incarnation and Crucifixion were God's way of marrying justice and mercy, being both fully just and fully merciful. In the words of the Psalmist, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10).
--Eve Tushnet, via Hernan Gonzalez, via Camassia
***
Even in this age, in which moral precepts are widely undervalued, great importance is attached to 'self-improvement'...We seem to take it for granted that there are steps that we can take to enhance our lives. In such a culture, the idea of being saved by another is likely to be unpopular...Yet we cannot cure ourselves; we need to look to another for that service. There is a simple workd that summarizes the whole earthly career of Jesus. It is the Greek preposition hyper, usually translated "for the sake of."
The condemnation of Jesus was not an accident, but happened for our sake. Perhaps we cannot understand how it is that the life of Jesus was a remedy for our sins, but this is what we believe. Jesus lived and died and rose again so that we might have life more abundantly.
--Fr. Michael Casey, O.C.S.O.
April 15, 2003
Jesus, the Pharisees & Muslims
Good review of Bernard Lewis & his book "What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response".
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Islamic Near East was the mightiest military, economic, political, scientific, and cultural power in the world. The majesty of the Islamic empire seemed to confirm the Prophet’s claim to have completed and surpassed the messages of Judaism and Christianity. The infidels of Europe, it was thought, could have nothing of significance to teach Muslims. How much less could they represent a threat?
The early signs of Europe’s rise were therefore ignored. Secure in their assumption of superiority, Muslim diplomats never bothered either to learn European languages or to post permanent ambassadors in European countries.
The mindset that "I can't learn anything from them" is the same one the Pharisees might've had towards Jesus. "I can't learn anything from him," they probably thought, because they were the chief priests and the leaders and he was from Galilee (of all places!) and he should be coming to them. Perhaps if it were more widely known that he was born in Bethlehem the chief priests would've been more humble. Interesting that God doesn't like to provide a "smoking gun" - one must come by faith. It would perhaps not require much faith from the Pharisees if Jesus had been known to have been born in the city of David, from whence the Messiah would come. Coupled with the miracles, his role would've been perhaps too clear for a proper environment of faith.
Good review of Bernard Lewis & his book "What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response".
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Islamic Near East was the mightiest military, economic, political, scientific, and cultural power in the world. The majesty of the Islamic empire seemed to confirm the Prophet’s claim to have completed and surpassed the messages of Judaism and Christianity. The infidels of Europe, it was thought, could have nothing of significance to teach Muslims. How much less could they represent a threat?
The early signs of Europe’s rise were therefore ignored. Secure in their assumption of superiority, Muslim diplomats never bothered either to learn European languages or to post permanent ambassadors in European countries.
The mindset that "I can't learn anything from them" is the same one the Pharisees might've had towards Jesus. "I can't learn anything from him," they probably thought, because they were the chief priests and the leaders and he was from Galilee (of all places!) and he should be coming to them. Perhaps if it were more widely known that he was born in Bethlehem the chief priests would've been more humble. Interesting that God doesn't like to provide a "smoking gun" - one must come by faith. It would perhaps not require much faith from the Pharisees if Jesus had been known to have been born in the city of David, from whence the Messiah would come. Coupled with the miracles, his role would've been perhaps too clear for a proper environment of faith.
The Narrow Path to Our Hearts
Nice meditation on the strategy of Jesus at Disputations with regards to the Jewish leaders.
He also touches on whether part of Jesus's agony was that more Jews didn't follow him. It has been said that if there is a strong enough reason for suffering, you can endure anything. To the extent it seems meaningless it is much less bearable. Someone told that they can save their child by suffering some trial will suffer it more easily than a trial that has lower stakes. In this way, the Passion works against the notion of Universalism - if it is true that some will not be saved, then Christ must've been thinking of them too. As the Good Shepherd, he would forsake the 99 for the lost one. Was the "I thirst" on the Cross also a thirst for souls?
Fulton Sheen once said he thought maybe the agony in the garden was a sort of "making holy" all mental suffering and mental illness, while Good Friday represented the making holy of all physical suffering & illness.
Nice meditation on the strategy of Jesus at Disputations with regards to the Jewish leaders.
He also touches on whether part of Jesus's agony was that more Jews didn't follow him. It has been said that if there is a strong enough reason for suffering, you can endure anything. To the extent it seems meaningless it is much less bearable. Someone told that they can save their child by suffering some trial will suffer it more easily than a trial that has lower stakes. In this way, the Passion works against the notion of Universalism - if it is true that some will not be saved, then Christ must've been thinking of them too. As the Good Shepherd, he would forsake the 99 for the lost one. Was the "I thirst" on the Cross also a thirst for souls?
Fulton Sheen once said he thought maybe the agony in the garden was a sort of "making holy" all mental suffering and mental illness, while Good Friday represented the making holy of all physical suffering & illness.
April 14, 2003
In Search of Balance
...I was also disturbed by some of my ultramontane friends (particularly converts) who put down any attempt to think through the nature of just war in the present day because the pope said no. They're in danger of what someone called "creeping infallibilism." The Catholic Church is a more subtle and complex organism than that.
Theologically creative ideas tend to come from below, to be tested by those high and low, who may or may not get the answer exactly right, and eventually to be approved or not by the high. The Catholic is committed to the belief that the final judgment is correct, but not to the belief that every judgment before that is.
—David Mills(via Amy)
...I was also disturbed by some of my ultramontane friends (particularly converts) who put down any attempt to think through the nature of just war in the present day because the pope said no. They're in danger of what someone called "creeping infallibilism." The Catholic Church is a more subtle and complex organism than that.
Theologically creative ideas tend to come from below, to be tested by those high and low, who may or may not get the answer exactly right, and eventually to be approved or not by the high. The Catholic is committed to the belief that the final judgment is correct, but not to the belief that every judgment before that is.
—David Mills(via Amy)
They Ain't Heavy, They're Our Bishops
Excellent, excellent point from the Contrarian, via Disputations:
I am no leftist and I usually disagree with most pronouncements and press releases on social justice issues that emanate from diocesan chanceries and bishops' conferences. Yet, I am not particularly perplexed or angered by those pronouncements with which I disagree so long as they flow directly from a belief that ... "if God took flesh, then this has social implications" and not out of allegiance to purely secular ideologies as a substitute for lapsed faith.
Bishops are not exempt from the powerful undertow of culture, the relentless pull of the Zeitgeist. That is precisely the dilemma we face, in trying to discern whether their statements flow from the lapsed faith of the elites (they are know to hobnob with the Georgetown set and acquire some of their politics that way), or whether their statements reflect a greater understanding and development of the social implications of the gospel. Tricky business indeed.
Here is an eye-opening read concerning the American bishops. But, as the mutual funds say, past performance does not predict future results. In other words, even if the bishops (as the book argues) have been unduly influenced by American culture in the past, that does not predict whether a given statement made now, or in the future, is of lasting worth. In that sense you have to look at every statement as if there were no past, which isn't easy given the validity of the old saying: "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". I actually have much sympathy for the bishops, seeing in their weakness (i.e. a lack of faith & courage) a reflection of myself.
Excellent, excellent point from the Contrarian, via Disputations:
I am no leftist and I usually disagree with most pronouncements and press releases on social justice issues that emanate from diocesan chanceries and bishops' conferences. Yet, I am not particularly perplexed or angered by those pronouncements with which I disagree so long as they flow directly from a belief that ... "if God took flesh, then this has social implications" and not out of allegiance to purely secular ideologies as a substitute for lapsed faith.
Bishops are not exempt from the powerful undertow of culture, the relentless pull of the Zeitgeist. That is precisely the dilemma we face, in trying to discern whether their statements flow from the lapsed faith of the elites (they are know to hobnob with the Georgetown set and acquire some of their politics that way), or whether their statements reflect a greater understanding and development of the social implications of the gospel. Tricky business indeed.
Here is an eye-opening read concerning the American bishops. But, as the mutual funds say, past performance does not predict future results. In other words, even if the bishops (as the book argues) have been unduly influenced by American culture in the past, that does not predict whether a given statement made now, or in the future, is of lasting worth. In that sense you have to look at every statement as if there were no past, which isn't easy given the validity of the old saying: "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". I actually have much sympathy for the bishops, seeing in their weakness (i.e. a lack of faith & courage) a reflection of myself.
Syria Next?
I'm not sure why we are rattlin' the saber against Syria unless we really intend to use it. Making a public demand of an Arab country like Syria seems counterproductive, doesn't it? Reverse psychology would surely work better - say to Syria, "do the wrong thing! Hide Saddam and his weapons!" That may actually get them to come clean. Israeli intelligence reports that the weapons of mass destruction were carted to Syria before the war, much as his planes were moved to Iran to avoid their destruction.
All of this, of course, presumes we are not serious about going into Syria. If we are, then it is understandable to make our greviance public first....
I'm not sure why we are rattlin' the saber against Syria unless we really intend to use it. Making a public demand of an Arab country like Syria seems counterproductive, doesn't it? Reverse psychology would surely work better - say to Syria, "do the wrong thing! Hide Saddam and his weapons!" That may actually get them to come clean. Israeli intelligence reports that the weapons of mass destruction were carted to Syria before the war, much as his planes were moved to Iran to avoid their destruction.
All of this, of course, presumes we are not serious about going into Syria. If we are, then it is understandable to make our greviance public first....
April 13, 2003
Beware the 'Rebound Effect'
If each action has an equal and opposite reaction, beware the tendency that I sometimes experience. After periods like Lent, when I more closely guard my thoughts, rebuffing feelings of anger, there seems to be a period of "negativity rebound" where the spiritual blessings acquired are squandered. One tends to become acclimatized to a certain amount of prayer; when it decreases there is a 'withdrawal' period as there would in whenever you experience a loss of time with your loved one.
If each action has an equal and opposite reaction, beware the tendency that I sometimes experience. After periods like Lent, when I more closely guard my thoughts, rebuffing feelings of anger, there seems to be a period of "negativity rebound" where the spiritual blessings acquired are squandered. One tends to become acclimatized to a certain amount of prayer; when it decreases there is a 'withdrawal' period as there would in whenever you experience a loss of time with your loved one.
CCC 2847
The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.
God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us."
-Origen quoted in CCC 2847
The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.
God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us."
-Origen quoted in CCC 2847
April 12, 2003
Particulae
Minute Particulars has a particularly (couldn't resist) interesting piece entitled "The Union of Wills...Not Opinion":
The modern conflation of consensus of opinion with concord, the union of wills in the love of a common object, has, ironically, spawned both breezy relativisms that cannot consistently object to any affront to human dignity and rigid objectivisms that often exclude different approaches to the same truth.
Great thought. St. Blog's has been a real eye-opener for me, as far as manifesting the variety of opinion out there. I thought, naively I suppose, that orthodox Catholics thought pretty much the same. Au contraire! We've seen the splits in St. Blog's over the war and the "Situation" to name just two, but also over a variety of more or less academic matters.
Part of this I think may be a case of natural contarianism; everyone wants to be thought an "independent thinker". The very fact that we are practicing Catholics in a post-Christian age suggests a native contrariness in us. But even without that characteristic there is always a drive towards division, if not over the major things than over the peripherals. We could see this happening writ large in the Protestant world. Thirty years ago the Baptists would not speak to the Methodists, and their differences would surely seem small to a Catholic. The fact that there are now non-denominational churches is an understanding that there are bigger challenges out there than the Protestant next door - like secularism and atheism.
I sometimes imagine an even greater unity with my spouse & stepson if they converted to Catholicism but I shouldn't look at it in that light but in terms of the benefits they would accrue in entering Christ's Church. Charity is something one can never, it seems, relax in practicing. Not even among fellow Catlickers!
Minute Particulars has a particularly (couldn't resist) interesting piece entitled "The Union of Wills...Not Opinion":
The modern conflation of consensus of opinion with concord, the union of wills in the love of a common object, has, ironically, spawned both breezy relativisms that cannot consistently object to any affront to human dignity and rigid objectivisms that often exclude different approaches to the same truth.
Great thought. St. Blog's has been a real eye-opener for me, as far as manifesting the variety of opinion out there. I thought, naively I suppose, that orthodox Catholics thought pretty much the same. Au contraire! We've seen the splits in St. Blog's over the war and the "Situation" to name just two, but also over a variety of more or less academic matters.
Part of this I think may be a case of natural contarianism; everyone wants to be thought an "independent thinker". The very fact that we are practicing Catholics in a post-Christian age suggests a native contrariness in us. But even without that characteristic there is always a drive towards division, if not over the major things than over the peripherals. We could see this happening writ large in the Protestant world. Thirty years ago the Baptists would not speak to the Methodists, and their differences would surely seem small to a Catholic. The fact that there are now non-denominational churches is an understanding that there are bigger challenges out there than the Protestant next door - like secularism and atheism.
I sometimes imagine an even greater unity with my spouse & stepson if they converted to Catholicism but I shouldn't look at it in that light but in terms of the benefits they would accrue in entering Christ's Church. Charity is something one can never, it seems, relax in practicing. Not even among fellow Catlickers!
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