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That special something…

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Today I would like to return again to the subject of discernment. In my previous post I wrote about some of the things I’ve wrestled with during my current discernment process. I explained that I find the call to be holy and the call to Holy Orders rather difficult to distinguish from one another and I expressed my frustration that many people seem to assume that the former necessarily implies the latter….

 

Professional Counseling

Those who become monks and nuns take vows of (1) poverty, (2) chastity and (3) obedience. These three are known as the Evangelical Counsels. I’ve found that a lot of discernment material, when you really boil it down, focuses upon these three areas. The problem is that the Church teaches that all Christians are called to live out these counsels!

“Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple”
– Catechism of the Catholic Church, #915

I guess this does affirm something that I’ve thought for some time – that there are many common threads which run through all the vocations. There are also common graces which all people are reliant upon to live out their vocation, regardless of what that vocation might be.

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Symbolism: Why “INRI”?

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Yesterday was the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. With that in mind, I’d like to share something that happened a few days ago. I was at Mass and, after communion, I was looking up at the large crucifix behind the altar. My eyes settled upon the sign above Jesus’ head and the thought crossed my mind:

“Huh…you know what?…I’m not really sure what ‘INRI’ stands for…”

How many thousands of crucifixes have I seen over the course of my life?!

Now, I wasn’t completely ignorant. I did remember the section of the Gospels where this sign is mentioned:

“Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS…and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek” – John 19:19-20

Hmm…so how exactly does “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” get reduced to “INRI”? It turns out that these are the initials of the Latin version of notice:

Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum
Jesus (of) Nazareth, King (of the) Jews

The meaning of this acronym is less obvious to us because, in the Latin translation, the words for “Jesus” and “Jews” don’t begin with the letter “J”, but instead start with an “I”.  Since Classical Latin doesn’t have a “J”,  an “I” is used instead.

So, next time you’re looking up at a crucifix and see the sign, you’ll know what it means. Behold your king!

“Here I stand, covered by grace
Under the blood that was shed for me
Here I kneel, before the King upon His throne
Here I bow, to worship the Lord
Enjoying his favour on my life today
Knowing that we’ll never be apart” – Here I stand, Phatfish

Discernment Frustrations

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At the end of last week I scribbled a very short post about my recent discernment efforts. Today I’d like to say something about my discernment frustrations…

Definitely older, maybe even a bit wiser…

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the discernment in my mid-twenties wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience. I tied myself in knots and got extremely frustrated.

This time I approached things a little differently. I had a rough plan of attack, a shortlist of people with whom I wanted to speak and an approximate timeframe. In rare moment of decisiveness, I even managed to bypass my usual extended period of procrastination and got on with the task in hand…

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Sunday Lectionary: Gratuitous Grace

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As I mentioned earlier, I was on retreat this past weekend. This meant that I didn’t have the usual amount of time to spend on the Lectionary Notes this week, so sorry if they appear a bit rushed again…

 

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time: 18th September, 2011

The readings this week speak of God’s mercy and generosity. We so often scorn God’s goodness, but in today’s Readings we learn that God is gracious and generous to all who return to Him.

“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you… You were with me, but I was not with you… You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more” – St. Augstine, The Confessions

 

Reading I: Isaiah 55:6-9

This Reading from Isaiah is part of Chapter 55’s invitation to “Come to the water, all you who are thirsty…”. Isaiah exhorts his listeners to not delay, but come and enjoy the Lord’s goodness.

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Possible Questions:

  • What does Isaiah exhort his listeners to do?
  • Isaiah contrasts men and God. In what way does he say they are different?
  • Practically speaking, in what way are God’s “thoughts above your thoughts”?
  • How does this Reading relate to the Gospel Reading?

Commentary:

“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near”

This is an invitation to return to friendship with God. Do not delay! Seize the opportunity!

“Let the scoundrel forsake his way”

Returning to friendship with God means leaving behind your old way of life.

“…turn to the LORD”

This is essentially what repentance is – turning away from sin and towards God.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways”

We are not the same as the Lord. His ways are not are ways. Scripture often describes God in an anthropomorphic (“human-like”) language, but it must always be remembered that God is soooooooo much greater than we are.

In the Gospel Reading we will hear of a particular area where God’s ways are unlike our own.  God is infinitely more generous.

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Discerning Thoughts

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As some of you know, since returning from England, I have embarked upon a period of discernment concerning the major areas of my life: vocation, location and occupation. I have been taking some time out to re-examine where I am, what I’m doing and asking if I’m where I’m meant to be…

In my early/mid-twenties I had set aside some time to specifically look at the question of ordained ministry. After getting frustrated and tying myself in knots, I received some good direction from a priest and after much prayer finally concluded that I was not being called to ordained ministry, or at least not for the time-being.

A lot of stuff has happened in my life since my mid-twenties, so it seemed like a good idea to return to this question.

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Knowing the New Mass Translation “By Heart”

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For those of you who are unaware, the Mass in the English-speaking world is soon to change.  The text of the current Mass which we’ve used for the last fifty years is a paraphrase of the original Latin, which itself had been in use for the previous 500 years. The English translation is being revised and replaced with a translation which is much more faithful to the original Latin text. You can hear a BBC recording of the new translation here.

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Sunday Lectionary: September 11, 2011

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There’s not too much technical stuff to focus on in this week’s Mass Readings. My suggestion is to use the readings as a springboard to invite people in the study group to talk about their struggles, successes and failures in relation to that tough subject of forgiveness.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Last week’s Mass Readings concerned themselves with the restoration of brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin. This week’s Readings build on those of last week, focussing upon forgiveness, its centrality to the Gospel and its necessity in God’s covenant community.

“There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin” – Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 982

 

Reading I: Sirach 27:30-28:7

Our First Reading comes from the book of Sirach. This book is one of the books which was removed from the Bible by non-Catholics at the time of the Reformation in the 16th Century. Non-Catholics refer to this collection of books as the Apocrypha, whereas Catholics refer to them as the Deuterocanonical books. Other books in this collection include Tobit, Wisdom and 1 & 2 Maccabees.

The link between this First Reading and the Gospel passage is clear: if you would like the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, you should treat others with forgiveness and mercy.

“Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.

Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins?

Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults”

Possible Questions:

  • How does the author describe the sinner’s relationship to wrath and anger? What can we learn from this?
  • Practically speaking, what does this forgiveness look like?
  • There are several rhetorical questions in this passage. What point do they make?
  • What are the reasons the author gives for putting aside “wrath and anger” and “enmity”?

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