At the end of his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul urges his readers to put on the “armour of God”:
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
According to the Monty Python boys, Paul missed one – the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch…
A few years ago, for my birthday, a good friend gave me a copy of “The Seven Story Mountain” which is the autobiography of Thomas Merton.
I have to admit that I didn’t really enjoy it as much as everyone else seemed to think that I should. I found it rather dry and I couldn’t relate much to either his spirituality or personality.
However, I recently started reading a little bit more of Merton and I’ve begun to find that we’re not as incompatible as I once thought…
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone”
This Wednesday was “Ash Wednesday” and, therefore, we are now in the time known as “Lent”. This is a traditional time in the Church for prayer, fasting and alms-giving. In order to be liturgically correct, this Friday we turn to the Monty Python monks of the Holy Grail for inspiration…
…and so another month is torn off the calendar and we have now entered March. Time for a New Year’s Resolution check up!
1. Spend 30 minutes every day in Scripture: I’ve not done as well with this as I did in January. I’ve spent a good bit of time in the Word, but it really hasn’t been devotional reading. Summary: “Could try harder!”
2. More dancing: Hmm…really failed at this one in February. I had great plans but they were consistently scuppered by forces outside of my control. I really have to get on top of it this month…
3. No more rushing: Still doing well with this one. I’ve been pretty good at keeping my timetable balanced and reasonable.
4. No chocolate: Still haven’t touched a single piece. It’s getting hard though. A couple of times I’ve been at a café and I’ve very nearly bought myself a pain au chocolat without thinking. I can really sympathize with the Vicar of Dibley on this one:
5. Get into the best shape of my life: Not bad, but could still do better. I’ve got into the habit at work of doing push-ups and pull-ups each time I go downstairs to go to the bathroom or to get a drink. My diet has remained pretty modest. I still haven’t got back into the regular way of exercising though… :-/
6. At least five minutes of guitar practice every day: Still going great. I’ll probably start playing at the LifeTeen Mass soon.
7. Keep proper track of finances: Much better. I now have a “finance guy” who is badgering me to get things sorted. Things should be probably settled after I get back from England.
8. Get back to England for a couple of weeks: All flights are booked and the majority of people are now organised.
It has been a busy month. I’ve also taught teenagers to Foxtrot, started learning New Testament Greek, requested a Social Security Number, passed my Californian Driving Test and finished a Bible study on the Epistle of St. James. All in all, not bad…
When musicians, artists and writers are interviewed, they are often asked about their influences.
Now, although I’m no Bono, something I’ve been meaning to do ever since I started this blog is to share with you some of my own influences. These are the people who have made a profound impact upon me and substantially contributed to the person I am today.
In this post I would like to briefly talk about someone who has had an impact upon me and my faith fairly recently. In fact, up until nine months ago, I had never even heard of him. The person I’m talking about here is Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
I first saw today’s video years ago. In fact, it was so long ago it was pre-YouTube(Yes kids, that’s right, there was once a time when YouTube didn’t exist – we actually had to do work at the office instead…)! Many Friday mornings I searched for this video, but to no avail. That is, until now…
So get yourself a coffee, set the video to full screen and hit play. Oh, and be sure to watch the credits 🙂
“Sacrifice for the family…” “….but not sacrifice the family…”
Okay, I know this title is an incredibly obvious pun (and far below my usual, high standards), but I thought I would make it now before anyone else did. 🙂
As most of my friends know, I’ve been wanting to study New Testament Greek for some time. However, this has been easier said than done. For a start, my geographical wanderings in recent years have made committing to a course of study difficult. Also, finding somewhere that teaches New Testament Greek is not such a simple task as one might imagine and finding one which is cost-effective only adds to the fun…
When I began my “Introduction to the New Testament” course about a month ago at the Pastoral Center I asked the instructor for suggestions as to how I could bring this desire to learn Biblical Greek to fruition. He suggested that I:
1. Contact Bethel Seminary
2. Learn using a self-study course
A few years ago, for my birthday, a good friend gave me a copy of “The Seven Story Mountain” which is the autobiography of 
Okay, I know this title is an incredibly obvious pun (and far below my usual, high standards), but I thought I would make it now before anyone else did. 🙂