"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
A Benedictine and a Franciscan were eating a meal together, and after dinner, they treated themselves to leftover pie. Alas, there were only two pieces left, one much larger than the other. Without any hesitation, the Benedictine reached over and took the larger piece.
“St. Francis always taught us to take the lesser piece,” the Franciscan said reproachfully.
“And so you have it,” the Benedictine replied.
I first came across this quotation in Michael J Fox’s autobiography, “Lucky Man”:
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
– George Bernard Shaw
The Readings this week focus around the concepts of wisdom and watchfulness.
In the First Reading we hear “Lady Wisdom” extolled and praised. In the Second Reading St. Paul talks about the Second Coming of Christ. Finally, in the Gospel Reading Jesus combines both of these subjects and tells a parable in which he compares two different types of people: the wise who prepare for His coming and the foolish who do not. The lesson is clear: Be wise – Be Ready
“Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with love, watch with charity, watch with good works…make ready the lamps, make sure they do not go out…renew them with the inner oil of an upright conscience; then shall the Bridegroom enfold you in the embrace of his love and bring you into his banquet room, where your lamp can never be extinguished” –St. Augustine
Kinda cool…
Today I want to highlight a “Question and Answer” series from a blog which I often read. The blog is authored by Rachel Held Evans, an author from what I guess you would say is the more liberal end of Protestantism. She’s a really interesting writer. I often don’t agree with her conclusions, but her articles are always engaging and thought-provoking…
Anyway, what I wanted to do today was to highlight her “Ask a…” series which I’ve enjoyed greatly. What happens is she invites her readers to email her questions for an upcoming guest on her blog. These guests have included a Quaker, a Mormon, a gay Christian and many others including a Catholic, Devin Rose, whose book I recently reviewed.
Also, if you have time, I’d invite you to take a look at her Year of Biblical Womanhood project 🙂
Name the movie in the Comment Box…
Have you ever wondered how the Bible as we know it actually came to be? Why do we only have four Gospels? Why is the Gospel of Peter not included? Why is the letter of Clement to the Corinthians not included? Who decided this and when?
I remember a train ride in my early twenties when I got into conversation with a fellow passenger who was reading “The Da Vinci Code”. This was quite some time before Dan Brown’s book became well known so, in ignorance, I asked her what it was about…
She told me a little bit of the story line and then, seeing that I was reading a book about Scripture, asked me why it was that the Dead Sea Scrolls were not also included in the Bible. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember thinking at the time that my explanation wasn’t very articulate or didn’t sound convincing…
If your faith has its foundation in Sacred Scripture, shouldn’t you know where it came from?
