"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I can always tell if I haven’t had a Skype date with my niece in a while. If I’ve watched the video of the song “Perfect” by Colleen Nixon more than three times in a day, then I’m overdue. Today I’ve watched it five times… :-/
Every now and then the subject of “tithing” comes up. The word “tithe” literally means “tenth”, and refers to the religious practice of offering 10% of one’s income to the things of God. In my experience, you tend to hear much more about tithing in Protestant circles than you do from the pulpit in your local Catholic parish.
Recently a friend asked me about tithing so I said I’d offer a few thoughts about it in a short post. Considering today’s Mass Readings today seems an appropriate day to do this. I’ll first look at the Hebrew Scriptures, then the New Testament data and then finally look at what teaching is explicitly offered by the Catholic Church…
I’m not completely sure of how I came across the quotation below. I think I saw it on Devin Rose‘s Facebook page ages ago, thought it was brilliant, and so copied it into my quotations folder…
“It’s much easier to deal with humiliation if you have humility. If you’ve never laughed at yourself, it’s hard when others do it for you” – Jerry Suva
Something happened recently which gave me pause for thought.
A situation arose which was very similar to something which happened to me about ten years ago. It was a situation which previously brought out the worst parts of my character. However, this time around, I reacted completely differently. I didn’t fall into my previous patterns of behaviour.
All this made me realize that I’m not who I once was. I have changed. Wounds have healed. I have grown. Don’t worry though, there’s still room for a little more improvement… 😉
Later that day it got me thinking about how we sometimes view ourselves. I very often still think of myself as that awkward thirteen year old kid at school. Other times I think I’m still the same awkward twenty-something who doesn’t have a clue who he really is. But the truth is that I’m none of these people. I’m not who I was. It is those events of life and my journey with the Lord which have made me who I am.
My friend Jenna, a life-long lover of Ryan Gosling, sent me a link to Eastern Orthodox Ryan Gosling, a variant on the Hey Girl meme. Here were some of my favourites:
Feeling perturbed and frustrated following the election result this week? There’s certainly a lot of aggravation appearing on Facebook at the moment. I think it’s time to reflect on the prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:
| Spanish | English |
| Nada te turbe; nada te espante; todo se pasa; Dios no se muda, la paciencia todo lo alcanza. Quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta. Solo Dios basta. |
May nothing disturb you. May nothing astonish you. Everything passes. God does not go away. Patience can attain anything. He who has God within, does not lack anything. God is enough! |
“Nada Te Turbe” Taizé Chant
A while ago in our Young Adult group we were talking about praying before the Eucharist (“Adoration”) and I had asked the question “What do you actually do during Adoration?”
Some of the group spoke about reading Scripture.
Others spoke about praying the rosary.
One girl beautifully described it as “…just having quality Father/Daughter time”.
One word which was absent from the discussion was “Intercession”. It got me to thinking. How often do I regularly pray for those in my life? My family? My friends? My co-workers? What about the employees of the shops where I purchase my morning coffee or lunchtime sandwich? How often do I intercede for these people? Almost certainly not as much as I should…
My friend Art went to Lourdes and took with him prayer requests from his friends here in California…
So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: this week, especially during Adoration, I’d invite you to spend a little bit of time interceding for those people you know – friends, family, country…favourite bloggers.