PWJ: S1E20 – MC B3C7 – “Forgiveness”

ForgivenessLewis had previously said that he thought chastity was the most unpopular thing in Christianity. In today’s episode, he changes his mind, suggesting that it is, in fact, forgiveness.

If you enjoy this episode, you can subscribe manually, or any place where good podcasts can be found (iTunesGoogle PlayPodbeanStitcher and TuneIn). Please send any objections, comments or questions, either via email through my website or tweet us @pintswithjack. Be sure to follow our new Instagram account!

Episode 20: “Forgiveness” (Download)

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Resisting Happiness

resistI woke up this morning and smiled when I remembered that I didn’t have to read any of the Qur’an this morning! So, instead of reporting on another chapter of Islamic scripture, I thought I’d write a little bit about one of the books I’m reading, Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly.

I’m only about six chapters through “Resisting Happiness” so far, but since we’re at the beginning of a new year, I thought it would be a good time to share the book’s central message.

Resistance

Matthew Kelly opens the book by describing what he calls “resistance”:

It’s that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you, it’s the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you… It’s the desire and tendency to delay something you should be doing right now.

– Resisting Happiness, Chapter 1

Hopefully it’s clear why I think this subject is appropriate to discuss. We are at that time of year when everyone makes New Year resolutions which will, unfortunately, probably not last beyond February…

As with most of Mr. Kelly’s books, I’m sure his hypersensitive critics will complain about the style of this book. It doesn’t use hefty theological terms and, at least in the opening few chapters, it doesn’t identify “resistance” as “the world, the flesh and the devil”, the three enemies of the soul which are traditionally identified in Christian theology. Even though it’s not described in these terms, Mr. Kelly makes it very clear that “resistance” is to be fought and he uses imagery which should be very familiar to most Christians:

Make no mistake, resistance is your enemy. It will not quietly go away and leave you alone. You have to slay it like a dragon, and you have to slay it anew each day

– Resisting Happiness, Chapter 1

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St. Joseph…virgin?

Earlier this week I posted an article Critics of Matthew Kelly? where I discussed some of the criticisms of Matthew Kelly I’ve seen recently on the Internet. If you recall, there has been some complaints about a passage in Matthew Kelly’s latest book, “Rediscover Jesus”:

Was this some sort of vision, perhaps prompted by the apostles’ grief over their leader’s execution? This wouldn’t explain the dramatic conversion of Saul, an opponent of Christians, or James, the once-skeptical half-brother of Jesus. – Rediscover Jesus (Page 99)

There was one article in particular that caught my eye which I thought deserved a short post of its own. It was written by a chap called Jeff from Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts. Jeff’s criticism of the passage from the book was as follows:

“It implies one of two things; either Mary was not a virgin throughout the rest of her life or Joseph had other children…. Mary’s virginity is not even up for debate as the Church declared her perpetual virginity as Dogma. The issue with Joseph having other children is that Catholic tradition holds that he too was a virgin.” – Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

I’m not really sure how confidently we can say that “Catholic tradition holds that [Joseph]…was a virgin”. It is true that certain Fathers did assert that St. Joseph was a virgin, beginning, I think, with St. Jerome in the late 4th Century. However, mid-Second Century traditions point to St. Joseph’s having children from an earlier marriage. The earliest surviving account of this is the Protoevangelium of James.

The narrative that St. Joseph was a widower is one which is vigorously upheld in the East, among both Catholic and Orthodox Christians. In fact, you’ll notice that in icons of “The Flight Into Egypt” there are often four people depicted: Christ, the Theotokos, St. Joseph and also St. Joseph’s son, St. James.

Egypt

Critics of Matthew Kelly?

Since today is Australia Day, I thought I’d write a few words about Matthew Kelly, an Australian evangelist and founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute who has written many well-known books such as “Rediscovering Catholicism” and “The Rhythm of Life”.

In recent months I’ve noticed an increasing number of voices on the Internet criticizing Matthew’s work and organization. After seeing some of these blog entries and Facebook discussions, I’ve been left a little uneasy by some of the unbridled criticism I’ve read…

RediscoverJesus

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My Reading List for 2013

bookwormThose left over from 2012…

Rediscover Catholicism – Matthew Kelly
Jesus Among Other Gods – Ravi Zacharias
Philosophy For Dummies – Thomas Morris
The Path of Life – Cyprian Smith OSB
After Jesus – Readers Digest
Jesus of Nazareth – Pope Benedict XVI

…and the new ones:

Introduction to the Devout Life – St. Francis de Sales
Immitation of Christ – Thomas à Kempis
Confessions – St. Augustine
Everlasting Man – G.K. Chesterton
The Screwtape Letters, The Great DivorceMere ChristianityProblem of Pain – C.S. Lewis
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks – Penguin Classics
Every Man’s Journey – James P. Campbell
Hold Me Tight – Dr. Sue Johnson

I’m sure I’ll end up reading a load that aren’t on this list, but I’m going to reeeeeeeeeeeeally try and stick with it this year 🙂

The Catholic News You Never Hear

I’ve started reading “Rediscovering Catholicism” by Matthew Kelly and I wanted to share a one quotations from the opening pages:

“Every single day the Catholic Church feeds, houses, and clothes more people, takes care of more sick people, visits more prisoners, and educates more people than any other institution on the face of the earth could ever hope to…

The Catholic education system alone saves American taxpayers eighteen billion dollars a year

This year, catholic charities will provide 2.2 million free meals to the hungry and the needy of Chicago. We don’t ask them if they are Catholic – we just ask them if they are hungry”
– Matthew Kelly, Rediscovering Catholicism

When there is a scandal in the Catholic Church it is blasted from every media outlet so that the whole world gets to hear about it. Yet how is it that the continued good works of the Church so often go unreported?

Catholic Charities

Aside from the fact that it’s not as sensational, it’s not news! This is the same service which the Church has offered the world every day for two thousand years. It ceased being news a long time ago…

Unforgiveness

“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Unforgiveness enslaves the human spirit. Unforgiveness is the thief from our past that robs us of our future.”
– The Seven Levels of Intimacy, Matthew Kelly

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