"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
One of the purposes of this blog is to put people into contact with good Catholic resources. Well, today I have a doozy. Audio Sancto is a website run by a group Catholic laymen and contains well over six hundred sermons from a number of different priests, all categorized and iTunes-ready. Enjoy 🙂
As I said, I’ll still be producing these Lectionary Notes from time to time, as and when we have new people leading the JP2 Group’s Bible Study. This week Rob will be leading for the first time, so here are some notes…
Our Readings this week concern God’s gratuitous gift of His Spirit.
In the First Reading, even though Eldad and Medad were not at the Tent of Meeting, God’s Spirit falls upon them. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples not to hinder the work done in His name by others simply because they didn’t belong to their group. Jesus then gives them some warnings, exhorting them to cast off anything which hinders their entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. St. James in our Second Reading is handing out warnings too, especially to the rich.
The Sacraments are the “ordinary” means of God’s grace (although far from “ordinary”!), but God’s grace is not simply restricted to the Sacraments. So, as you go about this week, be on the lookout for God’s “extra-ordinary” grace at work…
As the new school year begins, the Confirmation programme at Our Lady of the Rosary starts again. This Sunday will therefore be my last regular Sunday worshiping at an Eastern Rite parish :-(.
However, this Sunday is going to be extra special as my Mum will be coming with me to experience the Byzantine Divine Liturgy for the first time :-). Several other friends will also be coming for the first time. So, in case they check my blog before Sunday, here’s a little introduction to the Eastern Catholic Church:
Earlier this week, Joe at Shameless Popery produced an excellent couple of posts (Part 1 | Part 2) in response to an hour-long presentation by Evangelical Brian Edwards. In his lecture, Pastor Edwards attempts to prove why the Protestant canon is correct and why the Bible should only contain 66 books.
I strongly recommend you go and read Joe’s rebuttal. However, if you’re too lazy, here it is expressed in “meme” form…. 🙂
Today I would like to draw your attention to one of the best online sources for Catholic education, the Institute of Catholic Culture.
The Institute was founded by Rev. Franklyn McAfee and Deacon Sabatino Carnazzo. The activities of the institute are centered on the east coast of America, not too far away from where I used to live in Washington DC. However, their work and reach is extended through the magic of the Internet. Their website hosts a huge library of lectures on theology, philosophy, history, Scripture and many other topics. In fact, the website recently underwent a redesign and it is now even possible to watch the lectures live.
I think I first encountered the Institute through Joe Heschmeyer, Catholic blogger extraordinaire and recent Kansas City seminarian. After he once mentioned the Institute I immediately began consuming all their talks, especially those on Sacred Scripture and the Early Church Fathers. So much great stuff! Here have been some of my favourite talks:
Lives of the Apostolic Fathers
Protestant Revolution | Kingdom of the Cults
Shadows of the Virgin | St. Augustine’s Just War Theory: Then & Now
Anyone who has attended the JP2 Group within the last two years will certainly be familiar with the Institute since I have mentioned them frequently and distributed many of their talks on CD.
The topics are varied, the content is solid and the speakers are engaging. So, if you wish to gain a better understanding of the Catholic faith and experience more of its riches, I would thoroughly recommend that you check out the Institute of Catholic Culture.