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Category: Catholicism
Stand, Sit or kneel?
A while back I was involved in a discussion over at another blog which I thought was interesting. The post asked the question: After Communion is it better to sit, kneel or stand?
I think the Eastern Church has a very interesting perspective to bring to this question, particularly since we never kneel during our Sunday worship.
My weekend
So, I spent this weekend sick in bed. It began with a sore throat Friday night and progressed to my head and chest through the weekend.
Although I’m feeling better than I did, my voice still isn’t great, continuing to sound like Barry White, and I feel rather drained still. As such, I’m not feeling up to recording a video today, sorry. The next one will be posted on Tuesday.
Today has been rather strange in that I haven’t been to Church. I’ve been trying to think of the last time I didn’t get to Mass/Liturgy on a weekend and I think it’s got to be well over a decade. Every now and then I get into a discussion with a non-Catholic concerning the Catholic understanding of the necessity of going to Church, but honestly, if I could find a way to communicate how I currently feel, it would probably be far more compelling of an argument. Deprived of the Bread of Heaven, today seems…incomplete. I feel…hungry.
That is not to say that God has held back the grace today. I have been able to offer up my discomfort for the many intentions of those around me and it really hasn’t been that uncomfortable. I have spent last the time listening to talks, reading books (God bless Peter Kreeft!) and spending time in what Matthew Kelly would call “The Classroom of Silence”.
I had a lot of things that I had planned to do this weekend and I achieved very few of them. In the well-known story of “Mary & Martha”, Martha busies herself and Mary sits at the Lord’s feet and listens and, for this, Jesus says that she chose “the better part”. Sometimes the Lord chooses “the better part” for us. He loves us like that 🙂
Colossian Questions
As I mentioned before, I’m currently updating the New Testament questions and answers which I run through at the beginning of every Bible study. Today I’d like to cover the questions surrounding Colossians:
58. What was Paul’s situation when writing Colossians?
The evidence seems to point to the same situation as the other captivity epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians). He is in Rome under house arrest in approximately AD 62.
59. Had Paul ever been to Colossae?
No, but he had stayed in nearby Ephesus for three years.
60. Who founded the Church at Colossae?
A Colossian native called “Epaphras” appears to have been converted through Paul’s ministry and first taken the gospel to Colossae.
61. So why did Paul write to the Colossians?
It seems Epaphras visited Paul in Rome and asked him to write to this nascent congregation to speak to the various heresies attacking the Church in Colossae.
62. What were the heresies with which the Colossians struggled?
They appear to be several, but they included issues surrounding circumcision, asceticism, the person of Christ, secret knowledge and human wisdom.
63. Who are the opponents in Colossae?
This very much depends on how one interprets the heresies described, but scholars suggest either Jews, Pagans or early Gnostics.
64. What is noticeable about the way in which Paul speaks about Jesus in this letter?
We call it “High Christology”, since Jesus is described as “the image of the invisible God”, “the firstborn of all Creation”, “in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily” etc.
65. What does Paul say about suffering in this letter?
He describes himself as “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”.
66. During the letter Paul speaks about a hidden “mystery”. What is it?
That Jesus came for us…all of us, both Jew and Gentile
67. What Sacrament does Paul speak about in this letter and in what terms does he describe it?
He speaks about baptism, describing it both in terms of circumcision and death.
1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
All Questions
Peter Kreeft and Scott Sullivan – Atheism, Jesus and truth
I just finished listening to a conversation between Dr. Scott Sullivan and Dr. Peter Kreeft. Dr. Kreeft has been one of my all-time favourite speakers, philosophers and authors and I recently bought Dr. Sullivan’s course on logic. Their conversation is great and Dr. Kreeft shines as always 🙂
Jude commentary complete!
So, I’ve been ill in bed all day. To take my mind off the glorious weather outside, I’ve been working on my commentary of the Epistle of Jude. I’ve recently been reviewing it at Bible Study and thought that it’d be a good time to tidy up my initial notes:
(Eastern) Orthodox Bible Study
A couple of months ago I hung out with the Eastern Orthodox young adults of San Diego and attended a talk by Dr. Jeannie, who also happened to have taught one of my friends theology at USD. Her website has a tremendous wealth of free MP3s which are well worth checking out:
