Example #76,239 of sola scriptura in action

Not often I post twice on two related topics in the same day ....

Observe to your left two bumper stickers that would flunk a contestant on The Great American Bible Challenge. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

1. Jesus affirmed a gay couple.  No, he didn't — he healed a centurion's slave.   

The passage in question, Matthew 8:5-13, tells us nothing more than that the centurion wanted a particular slave healed, but didn't count himself worthy to receive Jesus as a guest. It doesn't tell us whether the particular slave was favored or not; in fact, the Greek word used, pais (παῖς), had the primary meaning of "child", and could be used of either male or female. While some slaves were used as sex toys by their owners in the classic world (as well as in any other culture where slavery has been found), not all slaves were sex toys; given that it's unlikely homosexual orientation was more prevalent in the Mediterranean culture of the Roman Empire than it is today, it follows that female slaves more than male slaves were targets of their masters' lusts. Moreover, slaves were not uniformly treated cruelly or inconsiderately; to be concerned for his servant's health, the centurion merely had to be a prudent man who took care of his possessions. 

In any event, Jesus said nothing about the centurion's relationship with the slave; he merely stated that he would heal the slave, and praised the centurion's faith for believing that Jesus could pull the healing off without even setting eyes on the man. Speculation is free and fun, but to turn speculation into an assertion of fact is to engage in wishful thinking.

Nothing to see here ....

That's right, I deleted my last post. It was written intemperately, and without full appreciation of the facts.

Anytime you write to be read publicly, you take the risk of looking like an idiot. I normally take more time to be sure of my facts ... which usually means that, when I do comment, the tide of affairs has already raced past me and I'm left stranded. Besides, when I don't wait for the facts to become clear ... this kind of thing happens.

I suppose I could have just deleted the post without further comment. ("What post is he talking about, anyway?" "Oh, the one about distributists bombing Boston, I think, and some crazy traditionalist.") But I owe it to the few but lovely people who actually read what I write to apologize for my goof.

Carry on with your normal surfing. That is all.

The Benedictines are back!

Click here to pre-order your copy!

If you liked their last album, Advent at Ephesus, then you're gonna love this! The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles are coming out with a new album, titled Angels and Saints at Ephesus, scheduled for release by Decca Records on May 7th.

The Benedictines are a traditional order of nuns based in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Originally formed in Scranton, Pa. under the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, their primary vocation is a life of prayer and manual work, according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Prayer means daily Mass, celebrated according to the Extraordinary Form (the traditional Latin Mass) and the Lectio Divina, or Liturgy of the Hours; work includes not only household chores and farm work but also making altar linens and vestments for the clergy, the sale of which goes to their support. They also run spiritual retreats for the clergy.

Singing, then, is not their primary concern; as one of the nuns says, they don't spend that much time in rehearsal. However, these amateurs spent six weeks in the #1 spot on Billboard's Classical Music chart, and ended up #1 Classical Traditional Artist(s) for 2012. That's because their sound is so pure and their harmony so spot-on it sends a frisson straight up your back.

Enjoy this promotional video from De Montfort Music. Then pre-order your copy through Amazon or through the Benedictines' website link above. A significant portion of the proceeds go to paying off their debt so they can begin some needed expansion (no, I don't get anything for the plug!). And give praise to God for their marvelous singing!

The Best is Yet to Come

I’d like to start with a story my cousin Greg sent me:

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

“There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the Pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the young woman continued.  “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

“That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young woman asked.

“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. “My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement.”

Read the rest at Catholic Stand!

"God forgives, I don't!"

Before Wolverine got a decent hair stylist ...
(© 1967 Cronocinematografica PEFSA)

No, the guy to the left is not Hugh Jackman in a test shot for X-Men. It's Terence Hill in a still from an obscure and ill-regarded Giuseppe Colizzi "spaghetti western" titled God Forgives ... I Don't! I don't think either Rick Ross or the printer of the T-shirt I saw today had this movie in mind; doubtless they thought they were being clever and original.

The T-shirt, oddly enough, didn't reference the rapper either; I say "oddly enough" because a Bing search of "god forgives i don't" overloaded the page with shots of the album cover. The T did, however, share a common color theme and font with another shirt the wearer's buddy sported, which announced "HATERS ARE MY MOTIVATION". Motivation for what we can only guess.

I didn't have time or opportunity to discuss their fashion (non)sense with them. But the first question would have been: "So ... you've decided you don't want God's forgiveness?"

Matthew 6:14-15: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Of course, these trousered apes may not have been Christian in any sense save that of being "cultural Christians" (i.e., just Christian enough to sing "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World" when Christmas rolls around, but not Christian enough to pray). But there are a lot of professed, church-going Christians out there who pride themselves on their Biblical knowledge but who act as though Jesus didn't draw a big "equals" sign between our regard for others and our regard for God.

Good Friday

First published April 22, 2011.

Dear God.

First, the frenzied, howling Sanhedrin. Slapping, punching, spitting all the while ... perhaps kicking him if he fell. During the night watch, his anxiety and fear for what he knew was coming was so great that the net of blood vessels around his sweat glands constricted, then hemorrhaged. Hematidrosis. As a result, his skin is extremely fragile and sensitive; every punch and slap is exquisitely painful.

The humiliation of the crowning as Rex Iudaeorum: not a wreath or circlet but a cap woven out of branches from the local thorn bushes, each thorn a nail in his scalp, with a staff made out of reed for a scepter ... a scepter with which he was struck like a club.

But that wasn't enough. Two Roman soldiers with flagella: whips of leather, with small bones tied to the ends which ripped the skin off his back and tore pieces of muscle out. Tied to a post, there was no way he could move, even involuntarily, that would avoid the clawing fragments that shredded his back. There's no way I can not hear him screaming his agony; slaves had been known to die as a result of the forty lashes.

Ask Tony: Why doesn't the Catholic Church give away its wealth?—UPDATED

Manipulative image-mashing, meet scriptural cherry-picking.

I'm sure that this question is coming up more frequently with the election of Pope Francis, who seems determined to continue to live according to his vow of poverty as much as is practical. 

 If you've been to Vatican City, and walked through St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum, your mind just boggles at the treasure of artwork contained there. Then again, you could go to any cathedral and see the bishop perform the Eucharistic Rite with gold or silver chalice and paten.

The Catholic Church is wealthy, you think. But that doesn't seem right; it doesn't seem to be in keeping with the Founder who had no place to lay his head (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58). So why doesn't the Church give it all away?

The answer isn't as simple as some people would like you to believe.

The words "rich" and "poor" are properly used only of people, not of businesses or institutions. There are a lot of people who really don't understand business finance or how it differs from personal finance; you really need to take at least an Intro to Accounting course to appreciate it. They hear a bank has $2 billion in assets and don't really realize that that same bank may have $1.8 billion in liabilities, that some of those assets will consist of buildings, equipment and other physical items that can't be easily or quickly converted to liquid funds. All they know is that $2 billion is a lot of money. But asset is not just another word for cash or money.

The same problem obtains for the Church. You don't run homeless shelters and soup kitchens out of tents and RVs; house basements are rather impractical church spaces for all but the smallest congregations. Eventually you're gonna build churches for your congregations and offices for your charitable work and diocesan organization, and all these things must appear as entries in the accounting books. In personal finance, that may be wealth; for a non-profit organization, these are costs of doing business.

Style vs. Substance—UPDATED

Pretty soon, the phenomenon Simcha Fisher calls the "papamoon" will be over — if it's not over already, as secularists and progressivists are starting to catch on to the fact that Pope Francis is Catholic (surprise!). But there are still people who are using Papa Bergoglio as "good pope" to tear down Papa Ratzinger as "bad pope" to serve their own agendas.

Michael Voris occasionally irritates me. He can come off as too pompous, too self-righteous, and too vulnerable to conspiracy theories. (And maybe this is just my capillary envy talking, but the hair — don't get me started.)

But when he's right, he's so right.

Should we be "desirable" ... or "sexy"?

Sexyadj. /ˈsɛksi/ From sex (Middle French sexe < Latin sexus (“gender”); thought to be connected with Latin seco, secare (“divide, cut”) by the concept of division, or “half” of the race) + -y — 1: sexually suggestive or stimulating; erotic. 2: generally attractive or interesting; appealing.
Desirableadj. /di-ˈzī-rə-bəl/ From desire (Middle English desiren < Old French desirer < Latin desiderare, orig., prob., to await from the stars < de-, from + sidus, star) + -able — 1: having pleasing qualities or properties; attractive. 2: worth seeking or doing as advantageous, beneficial, or wise; advisable.

If there’s a clear line between sexy and desirable, finding it is challenging enough.

Consider Penélope Cruz: There’s no doubt she’s one of the most beautiful women in the world today. Sexy, yes, beyond shadow of a reasonable doubt. But without unnecessarily vilipending Ms. Cruz (since I don’t know her personally) — is she really desirable?

A certain kind of trousered ape, a type all too familiar to us, would answer, “Well, yeah! Duh! Who wouldn’t like to wake up to that in the morning?” This is precisely the attitude that gets us the perennial female complaint, “Men are pigs!” And, unfortunately, even the best of us aren’t so far from the trousered ape that we don’t wonder what Ms. Cruz would look like with bed hair, no makeup and the sleep still in her eyes.

Read the rest at Catholic Stand!

Too Catholic? Not Catholic enough?—UPDATED

So what do I think of our new pontiff, Francis?

It's funny — within two hours of his election I started seeing both sides try to claim him for their own, then two hours later I began seeing both sides damn him as belonging to the other side!

That having been said, it's tough to get a read on Francis. It goes beyond a "son of Ignatius" — a Jesuit — naming himself not after a co-founder of his own order, St. Francis Xavier, but after the founder of the mendicant Friars Minor, St. Francis of Assisi.  

He quotes Henri de Lubac, a contemporary of Teilhard de Chardin and presumed an influence in Vatican II (thus making him near schismatic in the eyes of traditionalists). As provincial for Argentina, according to John L. Allen, Jr., he resisted the movement towards liberation theology and insisted on a more traditional reading of Ignatian spirituality — not a plus in the eyes of the "Spirit of Vatican II" crowd.

He's on record as having openly and vocally opposed abortion and euthanasia, which was apparently forceful enough to warrant a rebuke from the Argentinian government as "ideological malfeasance" ... but not forceful enough for Marcelo González of Panorama Católico Internacional, who says "he has not fought against abortion and only very weakly against homosexual 'marriage'" ... which Francis called a "destructive pretension against the plan of God ... a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God." He has also ministered to AIDS victims and drug addicts as part of his episcopal duties.

In other words: Too Catholic for the progressives, not Catholic enough for the traditionalists. So probably just right for me.