Yesterday, I posted a quotation from Pope John Paul XXIII for this week’s “Wise Words on Wednesday”. When I published it, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Jay about the Papacy.
I have mentioned Jay on this blog before. He was a Protestant with whom I dialogued for a few months several years ago. When speaking about the Pope, here’s what he had to say:
“…[the Pope] has the names of God such as Holy, Father, …Vicar of the Son of God (which means in place of God)” – Jay
So, Jay asserted that Catholics give the Pope “the names of God”.
When I replied to him I responded by working through each those names in turn: “Holy”, “Father” and “Vicar”…
Today is the Feast Day of probably my favourite Early Church Father, St. Ignatius of Antioch:
Office Of Readings
Today in the Office of Readings we read a section of one of the letters he wrote on his way to martyrdom sometime around AD 107:
“I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.
“No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. The time for my birth is close at hand. Forgive me, my brothers. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life; do not wish me stillborn. My desire is to belong to God. Do not, then, hand me back to the world. Do not try to tempt me with material things. Let me attain pure light. Only on my arrival there can I be fully a human being. Give me the privilege of imitating the passion of my God. If you have him in your heart, you will understand what I wish. You will sympathize with me because you will know what urges me on.”
– Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Romans
Early Church Relationships
Here is a diagram showing the relationships between Jesus, His Apostles, Ignatius of Antioch and some of the other Early Church Fathers:
Want to know more?
If you would like to read more of St. Ignatius’ writings, or listen to them free on MP3, be sure to check out the Church History section of this blog.
The other day a friend of mine sent me a text message saying her coworker was mourning. It was the anniversary of her husband’s death in Afghanistan. Her coworker was asking the question: “Why would God let this happen?”. My friend asked “What should I say?”. Here’s the text message I wrote in reply:
I would say something like “I could talk about some of the different reasons why bad things happen to good people (fallen world, free will, sinful man, God’s plan etc.), but the truth is I don’t know… None of us fully comprehends why terrible things like this happen.
What I do know is that God is the expert at drawing good out of bad, bringing healing out of pain. When Jesus hung on the cross it looked to the world like defeat, but out of the cross came victory over death so Jesus endured it for love of the world.
Your husband, no doubt, joined the military because he thought that it was the right thing to do, to protect the country and people he loved. Jesus did the same.
I can’t explain specifically WHY your husband died, but I CAN say that, if Jesus’ death shows us anything, it’s that suffering is not meaningless and that great acts of love and sacrifice can change the world”
When we encounter someone who is suffering, there is always the temptation to talk about big theological concepts of God’s will, His sovereignty and the fallen nature of humanity. However, in my experience, when people are suffering, this kind of talk is neither helpful nor comforting. We can only point them to the Cross. Apart from the Cross, suffering has no meaning or purpose.
Even then, words are often ineffective. Actions speak much louder. When someone is suffering and I don’t know what to say, there’s a temptation to just avoid that person since I can’t “do” anything. We must fight that temptation! Sometimes all I really need to do is just show up. Be there for my friend. Listen to her. Cry with her. Pray with her. If that person is English, make a cup of tea 🙂
The presence of a friend during a time of suffering speaks much more loudly of the love of God than any words ever could. Love them like Jesus.
“Faith on Fire” is a new initiative here in San Diego to help nurture the younger young adult community.
Like “Theology On Tap”, it is held at a bar or restaurant where there is a talk given by a speaker which is followed by Q&A and some discussion. However, unlike “Theology On Tap”, it is restricted to only those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.
As I mentioned the other day, this Tuesday I was drafted in at the last minute to cover for the speaker who was ill. Fr. Jacob was scheduled to speak on the topic:
“Social Media and Faith: How to use it without being used by it”
Since he couldn’t make it, I gave the talk instead. The presentation file is available for download here and the audio of the evening is available for download below:
I based part of my talk on my blog post Don’t Be Too Eager To Hit “Send” and The Mobile Challenge. At some point in the future I’ll hopefully do some other posts on the subject of Social Media to help consolidate my thoughts in this area.
I was at lunch with a new friend the other day and, as a matter of course, as we were leaving the café, I opened the store’s door for her. Her reaction was one of utter surprise! She asked me if opening doors was an “English thing”! I replied no, it’s a “real man” thing.
It’s a complete joke!
You may have heard the joke that if you see a man opening a car door for a lady then it’s either a new lady or a new car. Unfortunately, this joke appears to be, in fact, reality. This is tragic! It’s so sad when a man does not think enough of the lady in his company so as to perform this simple act of kindness. It’s even more heartbreaking when a husband does not do this for the woman to whom he has pledged his life.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies… – Ephesians 5:25, 28
Two weeks ago in our Acts of the Apostles Bible study we covered Acts 15 where we heard about the Council of Jerusalem in AD 52.
In our discussion we also spoke about Ecumenical Councils, when the bishops of the world are gathered together to settle issues facing the Church. I said I would put something up here listing those councils. Here they are…
AD 325: Nicea
Issue: The Divinity of Christ
AD 381: Constantinople
Issue: The Divinity of Holy Spirit
AD 431: Ephesus
Issue: Mary as “Theotokos” (“God Bearer”)
AD 46I: Chalcedon
Issue: The two natures in Christ
AD 476: The Fall of Rome
AD 553: Constantinople II
Issue: Condemned a variety of writings.
AD 680: Constantinople III
Issue: The two wills in Christ
AD 787: Nicea II
Issue: The veneration of images
AD 869: Constantinople IV
AD 1054 Eastern Schism. The East has never held another council.
AD 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215: Lateran I, II, III and IV
AD 1245 & 1274: Lyons I & II
AD 1311: Vienne
AD 1414: Constance Western Schism
AD 1453 Fall of Constantinople
AD 1512: Lateran V
AD 1545: Trent
Issue: Dealt with Luther’s teachings and made Church reforms
Yesterday, I posted a quotation from Pope John Paul XXIII for this week’s “Wise Words on Wednesday”. When I published it, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Jay about the Papacy.
The other day a friend of mine sent me a text message saying her coworker was mourning. It was the anniversary of her husband’s death in Afghanistan. Her coworker was asking the question: 
“Faith on Fire”
Two weeks ago in our Acts of the Apostles Bible study we covered