"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
The other day, after a rather difficult meeting with a friend I parted with the words “I’ll pray for you”.
It got me to thinking – how many times do I say that and I never actually do it? How many times do I use it as just a farewell, or as code for “Stop talking to me about your problems”?
That’s all I have to say. Please consider that as your thought for the day…
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…
At the Easter Vigil last night I was Godfather to my friend Mike who was baptized and received into the Church. Please pray for us 🙂
As previously mentioned, I am going to read through the Qur’an in chronological order from beginning to end. I will be writing up my notes from the chapters (“suwar”) each day, starting today with the chapters which were composed at the beginning of Muhammad’s ministry in Mecca: 96, 68, 73, 74, 1, 111 and 81.
Surah 96 – “The clinging substance”/”Recite” (Al-Alaq)
This short surah accuses a man of sinning because he sees himself as “self-sufficient”. We are reminded that God made man (with a vague description of human development), that God sees everything and that if the man does not repent, God will drag him by the hair and angels will throw him into Hell.
Questions
Q1. “Created man from a clinging substance”. Is this a reference to a fetus?
Q2. “Who taught by the pen”. Is this a reference to the Bible?
I’m currently in the middle of writing an introductory post about the “Early Church Fathers” and I came across a wonderful quotation from one of my favourite Fathers, the great preacher, St. John Chrysostom:
“An intelligent, discreet, and pious young woman is worth more than all the money in the world. Tell her that you love her more than your own life, because this present life is nothing, and that your only hope is that the two of you pass through this life in such a way that, in the world to come, you will be united in perfect love” – St. John Chyrsostom
Wonderful stuff! But how exactly does one find this woman?! Unfortunately, this amazing preacher and Father of the Church does not tell us! Do not fear! I have stepped into the breach and have compiled my definitive list of the “Top Ten, All Time, Catholic Pick-Up Lines”!
Please feel to add your own suggestions in the comments 😀
Part 1 | Part 2
Last year when we had “Tolkien Month”, I heard that Dr. Ordway was finishing up a new book on Tolkien. Since the book is coming out shortly, she came on the show to talk to us about it and Tolkien’s reading habits…
S4E29: “After Hours” with Holly Ordway (Download)
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Read moreIn Revelation, Jesus says that He is “…coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). However, it is now 2,000 years later and we haven’t yet had the Second Coming. Dr Barber, in the second chapter of his book, addresses the obvious question: “Was Jesus wrong?”.
Some exegetes solve this problem of Jesus’ absence by pointing to St. Peter’s second epistle:
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day – 2 Peter 3:8
These exegetes make the argument that Jesus is indeed coming “soon”, but our version of “soon” is not the same as His.
