"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Jennifer Fulwiler, Atheist to Catholic convert, is getting her own TV show:
It’s a three part show, airing on December 13th, ,20th and January 10th. It’s going to be showing on TimeWarner Channel 97 and Cablevision Channel 30, but it’s also going to be available for streaming online.
Every Sunday in the Liturgy of the Hours Night Prayer we pray the following:
For he will free you from the hunter’s snare,
from the voice of the slanderer.
He will shade you with his wings,
you will hide underneath his wings. – Psalm 90
I recently came across some words of popular Anglican theologian NT Wright which I recall every time I pray this psalm:
He was writing about a passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus uses similar imagery:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing…” – Matthew 23:37-38
Here was his commentary:
“[The image] is of a farmyard fire; the hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and, when the fire has run its course, there will be found a dead hen, scorched and blackened, but with live chicks under her wing. Jesus seemed to be indicating his hope that he would take upon himself the judgement that was hanging over the nation and city“ – NT Wright, The Challenge of Jesus
On October 16th, as part of our recent Theology on Tap series, Kimberly Barber spoke to us on the topic of “Mary, Saints, Angels and more: Getting to know the heroes of our faith in a new way”.
Here are the MP3 audio files available for download:
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
Kimberly is a Master Catechist for the Diocese. She grew up in Southern California and attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville for her undergraduate degree and then went to Fuller Theological Seminary for her postgraduate study. She now lives in San Diego with her three children and her husband Dr. Michael Barber, Professor of Theology at John Paul The Great Catholic University who himself has spoken at Theology on Tap in the past.
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.