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Guest Post: Holy Hunger (Part 2)

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Yesterday was the first guest post we’ve had here on this blog. I’m hoping that it’ll be the first of many to come. If you have an idea for an article which you would like to have published here, please contact me and we can try and work something out.

So yesterday, in preparation for Lent, I invited my good friend Dominic to speak to us on the subject of fasting. He gave us an introduction to the subject, spoke about some of the examples we have from Sacred Scripture and discussed the motivation behind fasting.

Today he’s going to offer some concluding thoughts…

Preparation for Fasting

We need to go into fasting with a positive attitude, knowing that fasting is the will of God and is rewarded (Matthew 6:17-18). Also since our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), it is entirely appropriate for us to benefit physically as well as spiritually from fasting.

Pray for strength and take things one step at a time. Guard against spiritual attack. The Devil doesn’t like fasting and he will try to undermine you. You may feel doubts, fear, loneliness or temptations. Stand firm knowing that God loves you and rewards those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

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Second Century Liturgy Uploaded!

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A while ago I uploaded a document to the Patristics section of this blog which was a short extract from the writings of St. Justin, apologist and martyr of the Early Church. The extract came from his First Apology where he wrote about the liturgy of the Church in Rome during the Second Century. I’ve recently been doing some blog maintenance and I’ve now recorded that document onto MP3:

 First Apology (Extract) from St. Justin Martyr

More recordings will be coming over the next couple of weeks: Apostolic Tradition and the Liturgy of St. James.

Historic Worship

I would suggest that a large number of Christians naturally assume that the Early Church worshiped in the same way as their own congregation in 21st Century America:

Relevant Worship(Thanks to Patrick Vanderpool for the artwork)

Thankfully, we are not left in ignorance as to how the Early Church worshiped, since Church Fathers such as St. Justin left us written descriptions. These documents show us that the Early Church had a structured liturgy which had, at its centre, the Eucharist.

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Justin Martyr’s Worship

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Justin MartyrFor the next three weeks in the JP2 Group we’re going to be looking at the worship in the Early Church.

The following text is an extract from the writing of Justin Martyr (c AD 100 – 165). The document is known as his First Apology, which was written to the Emperor Antionius Pius around AD 150-155. Various English translations were used in the rendering of this extract.

We will be studying this text as a group tomorrow.  At the weekend I’ll do another post about this text, together with a little bit of commentary…

Chapter 65: Baptism & Eucharist

After we have washed someone who has been convinced and has accepted our teaching, we bring him to the place where those who are called “brethren” are assembled. Together, then, we offer hearty prayers: for ourselves, for the illuminated person, and for all others in every place. We pray that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation.

Having ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then bread and a cup of wine mixed with water are brought to the president of the brethren. Taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and he offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things.

And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying “Amen”, the Hebrew for “so be it”. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called “deacons” give to each person present a portion of the bread and the wine mixed with water, over which the thanksgiving was pronounced. To those who are absent, they carry away a portion.

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Don’t be too eager to hit "Send"

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I had this blog entry in my “drafts” folder for over six months and it’s been quite some time since I posted an entry for the “Stuff I’ve had to learn“ category. Today I would like to remedy this situation by presenting a piece of wisdom that I’ve been forced to learn over the years.

This bit of advice has certainly resolved many tense situations and has saved more than one friendship:

Don’t be too eager to hit…

Turbo-Charged Communication

Communication today is certainly quicker than it was in the past.  It is now extremely easy to fire off a quick message to someone on the other side of the world, whereas in times past it required the purchase of stationery equipment, the composition of a letter, the purchase of the appropriate stamp and delivery to the nearest postbox.  A substantial wait was then required before a reply would be received.

I’m all in favour of modern communication methods – cell phones, skype, email and text messaging make communicating with those in far-flung places both efficient and cheap. For me personally, it’s what makes living in America and staying in close contact with friends in England possible. However, I would suggest that our advances in technology sometimes make communication just a little bit *too* easy…

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Catholics Come Home: Part 3

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Over the last two days I have briefly shared a portion of my faith journey. During this retelling I have particularly focussed upon my ecclesiastical wanderings, mentioning some of the things which pushed me away from some congregations and drew me towards others.

As I mentioned in the initial post, this blog series was originally a talk I gave at my parish called “Catholics Come Home”. As part of my preparation I spent quite some time on the Internet reading the stories of those who had left the Catholic Church. It was a heartbreaking experience. A large number of the stories I read echoed my own. Many of the sentiments expressed were also very similar. It became clear that, more often than not, the reason someone leaves the Catholic Church is because of lack of pastoral care, rather than doctrine.

In the accounts I read, there were many complaints about the welcome experienced when attending a Catholic parish (or rather, the distinct absence thereof). Many stories were told of abysmal music and of incoherent, boring preaching. There were laments concerning the lack of community and the lack of ongoing Christian formation. There were also unfortunately quite a few incidents described where people felt poorly treated by priests, catechists and other parish staff. Careless words can cut extremely deep and have serious consequences..

leave church

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PWJ: S4E68 – SPAT 1 – “Three courses of Hell”

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Today we begin the sequel to The Screwtape Lettters, which is Screwtape Proposes A Toast. David is joined by Dr. Brenton Dickieson to unpack the opening paragraphs.

S4E68: Screwtape Proposes A Toast (Part 1 – “Three Courses of Hell”) (Download)

If you enjoy this episode, you can subscribe manually, or any place where good podcasts can be found (iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Podbean, Stitcher, TuneIn and Overcast), as well as on YouTube. The roadmap for Season 4 is available here.

More information about us can be found on our website, PintsWithJack.com. If you’d like to support us and get fantastic gifts, please join us on Patreon.

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Location, Location, Adoration

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I’ve just had someone ask me about Eucharistic Adoration in San Diego. I know that some of the pilgrims who read this blog are practically professional Adorers, having visited virtually every chapel and church in the county, so…

Where and when can you go to Adoration in San Diego?
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