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Sunday Lectionary: Called, sanctified and sent

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Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: 24th June, 2012

After being “fearfully, wonderfully made…knit…in [his] mother’s womb”, we read in this week’s Gospel of how Elizabeth gave birth to a son and how he was named “John”.  It’s a solemnity again! This week we celebrate the birth (“nativity”) of the one who would be the herald of the coming Messiah, John the Baptist:

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”

Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. – Matthew 3:1-6

As we celebrate Mass this week, let us pray for courage to step out boldly as prophets, to speak truth to our world and to prepare the way of the Lord.

The baptized have become “living stones” to be “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.” By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission… “[They] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church” and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God. – Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraphs 1268 and 1270 

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Distinctions

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I saw this on Brandon Vogts‘ Facebook page this morning about the Chick-fil-A kerfuffle. I felt it needed to be shared…

With the recent Chick-fil-A controversy, I now realize modern man is almost incapable of distinguishing between these four things:

1. The difference between “Approval” and “Implicit Condemnation”.
Just because you support one thing doesn’t mean you’re viciously antagonist toward another (i.e. “anti-” the opposite.) If Dan Cathy supports traditional marriage between one man and one woman, that doesn’t mean he ipso facto “hates gay people” or is “anti-gay.”

2. The difference between “Disagreeing” and “Hating”
I disagree with ideas all the time. This does not necessitate hating the person who proposed them. Your beliefs are not your identity.

3. The difference between “Beliefs” and “People”
This is somewhat similar to #2. Rejecting a belief does not equal rejecting a person. You can reject the validity of same-sex marriage on philosophical and social grounds while still profoundly loving people with same-sex attraction. I reject at least some opinions or actions from each of my friends (such as “double-rainbows are boring” or “playing the lottery is wise.”) They in turn reject plenty of my own. But we don’t hate each other. In fact, just the opposite is true. Our relationship is grounded on a communion of persons, not a symmetry of beliefs.

4. The difference between “Bigotry” and “Disagreement”
The definition of bigot is “one unwilling to tolerate opinions different than his own”–not “someone who disagrees with me.” Toleration doesn’t require agreement, merely recognition and respect. (Ironically, those quickest to accuse people of bigotry are often bigoted about their flawed definition of “bigot.”)

The solution to these failures is not more dialogue. It’s better philosophy, logic, and reason. Unfortunately, until two people are capable of making these distinctions, healthy, productive dialogue about same-sex marriage is almost impossible.

UPDATE: Brandon has now got around to posting this on his blog

So there you are. And now for something a little lighter…

Wounds in Heaven?

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Today I’d like to talk about one of the songs from a recent album of my favourite contemporary Christian band, Casting Crowns. The song is entitled “Wedding Day” and describes the wedding feast of Heaven when Christ’s Bride, the Church, is finally presented to the Him:

Towards the end of the song there’s a lyric which speaks of the scarred hands of Christ wiping away every tear:

When the hand that bears the only scars and heaven touch her face
And the last tears she’ll ever cried are finally wiped away
And the clouds roll back as He takes her hand and walks her through the gates
Forever we will reign

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Resolutions for 2014

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After the debacle of my 2013 resolutions, I’m going to keep things simple this year:

1. Read the Entire Bible
I mentioned earlier that I was going to do this. I don’t really know what percentage of the Bible I’ve read. I’ve certainly covered all of the New Testament, but I’m sure there are large swathes of the Old Testament (the minor prophets in particular) which I haven’t read. It’s time that changed.

Paul

2. Get back into martial arts
If you knew me prior to the age of twenty, you’d know that back then I was martial arts crazy. Good grief, I even named my four pet gerbils “Bruce”, “Lee”, “Jackie” and “Chan”.

Jackie

It’s probably because I’m getting old, but I feel a real urge to get back in contact with my teenage self. Maybe that, or I just want to hit people. Either way, I’ve enrolled at a local kung fu school and I had my first lesson on Saturday.

3. Run a marathon
I knew I’d eventually have to do this. After all, what’s a half marathon, other than 50% of a real marathon? It. Is. Time.

Shoes

Obviously, I have other things I’d like to achieve this year, but these are the three on which I’m going to focus and I’ve already made some concrete steps to towards each of them.

2014? Bring it on.

Time Out

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Last week my friend Anh at Mod31 posted an article entitled Doing Nothing and True Silence. It really resonated in me:

“Really, who has time to waste these days, in the hustle and bustle of work, projects, and various activities? In fact, I don’t think I know how to NOT multi-task anymore. At work I tend to have 5-10 windows and who knows how many tabs are open simultaneously, allowing me to jump from one task to the next, with a quick Facebook breather in between. I work through my lunches, text coworkers my latte order while driving…, call my friends and family while walking from one place to another, mentally going over my weekly schedule while at the gym, and omigosh when can I squeeze in that much needed haircut? You get the idea. Instead of being present at one event, I am already planning my next hour/day’s activities. Heck, I’m reading three different books right now and am not more than halfway through each one”

This describes me to an absolute tee! Recently Anh has been trying to change her behaviour:

“I’ve been trying to set aside a couple of hours every now and then to be truly alone and to just be present. I mean turning my phone off to go for a walk around my neighborhood, enjoying the Farmer’s Market, making a Holy Hour (time set out solely for prayer), and allowing myself to reflect on various aspects of my life, without the anxiousness of feeling lonely or as though precious time is being wasted“

On my way back from work earlier this week, inspired by her example, I pulled off the freeway by Mission Bay and took a long walk:

It’s quite crazy that I’ve lived in San Diego for over two years and have driven past Mission Bay every day…and this is the first time I’ve stopped off on my way home to simply drink in the view.

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Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 1 (“The clinging substance”, …)

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unborn

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?

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