Jesus vs Religion – Final Thoughts
I know, I know….this topic has been done to death, but I wanted to offer some closing thoughts on Jeff Bethke’s Jesus > Religion YouTube video…
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I know, I know….this topic has been done to death, but I wanted to offer some closing thoughts on Jeff Bethke’s Jesus > Religion YouTube video…
It’s been quite amazing how quiet the media has been concerning the recent March For Life in DC, given that approximately 200,000 were in attendance:
Below is the video of someone I’ve mentioned before on this blog, Msgr. Pope, who gave the homily at the Mass that day in the Verizon Centre:
I think I’m going to try and make it to this next year…
“Any country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants” – Blessed Mother Teresa
I’ve just been updating my Lectionary Notes for this Sunday’s Mass Readings as I felt they were a bit rushed. I figured that while I’m here I’d post a photo one of my friends just sent me:
This one cuts a little close to home… 😉
Since in JP2 we’ve been studying early Christian worship, we’ve been talking a lot about the Eucharist. A story which illustrates the importance of the Eucharist to the Early Church is that of St. Tarsicius.
St. Tarsicius was an acolyte (one of the minor orders of clergy) who was killed by a gang of pagans as he carried a portion of the Eucharist from the Eucharistic liturgy.
It is quite likely that he was taking Holy Communion to someone sick or in prison. At that time it was also the practice for some of the consecrated bread to be taken from the bishop’s Mass to the other Masses around the city as a sign of unity with the bishop.
Here is how Tarsicius’ story is recorded in the Roman Martyrology:
“…the heathen met [him] bearing the sacrament of the Body of Christ and asked him what it was he carried. He judged it a shameful thing to cast pearls before swine, and so was attacked by them for a long time with sticks and stones, until he gave up the ghost. When they turned over his body, the sacrilegious assailants could find no trace of Christ’s sacrament, either in his hands or among his clothing.”
– Roman Martyrology
The Eucharist – a meal worth dying for…
In our First Reading, Moses promises that a prophet will come after him, someone who will guide Israel. In the light of the New Testament, we recognize this person to be Jesus Christ who, in this Sunday’s Gospel Reading, not only teaches with authority, but demonstrates that authority by casting out an unclean spirit.
The psalmist in this Sunday’s psalm sings “Oh, that today you would hear his voice…harden not your hearts”. That is our invitation this Sunday. We are invited to come and listen to the voice of the Lord. The word of God is powerful indeed. If we come to the Scriptures with open hearts they have the power to transform our lives….
“Sex, therefore, in its proper place, which is in marriage, is a summons from God to share in creation, since man and woman are God’s co-workers in the sweet tasks of quarrying humanity” – Fulton Sheen