"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
This is just a short episode to announce the launch of our new Pints With Jack logo! This design came from Matthew James Covington from Plena Gratia Designs.
S2E35: “We have a new logo!” (Download)
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Today we finish Chapter 3:
Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself. – Philippians 3:17-21
Here’s my reflection:
For an audio-only version, please click here.
Today Andrew Lazo returned to explain Part II of Till We Have Faces and review the book as a whole.
S3E29: “After Hours” with Andrew Lazo (Download)
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The Season 3 roadmap is available here.
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A week ago I began my sabbatical. Following my spiritual director’s suggestion, I spent that first week away on retreat. I spent my time at a monastery, dedicating the next two months of discernment to the Lord.
The monastery I visited was a Benedictine monastery in Oregon. Having grown up around Benedictine monks, I felt very much at home. It was wonderful having the rhythm of my day guided by the monastic office, even if the (very loud) bell rang for Vigils at 5:30am each day!
It was really nice to have some time away and get a complete change of scenery. I got plenty of rest and spent most of my time reading and writing. It was so good to quiet the noise inside and to have an opportunity collect my thoughts.
I got back Sunday evening and yesterday I spent planning, working out the day-to-day routine of the months ahead…
In the mornings I’ll be going to Matins and Divine Liturgy and then I’ll repair to a coffee shop to work on the book for a couple of hours. I’ll try and go to a different coffee shop each day and I’m planning on keeping track of them on this map:
I’ll then come home and cook lunch. I do love cooking but normally I’m too rushed/lazy/impatient to do it. Therefore, during this sabbatical, I’m going to endeavor to expand my usual repertoire of dishes by following a recipe each day.
The afternoons will begin with an hour of exploring new technologies which will then be followed by a long walk through one of Seattle’s many beautiful parks. I’ll listen to a lecture on my iPod, but I’ll always spend the last half an hour in peaceful silence. When I get back I’ll spend some time reading the mountain of books I’ve assembled.
The evenings will be spent relaxing, working out and the odd Holy Hour.
This week, during my walks I will be listening to John – The Sacramental Gospel from St. Paul’s Center for Biblical Theology. The meals I will cook will include Spicy Salmon with Bok Choy, Chicken Curry, Salmon With Creamy Cucumber-Fennel Salad, Pasta With Turkey and Broccoli and Southwestern Beef Chili With Corn.
Next month I get married. In the Byzantine Church we are “crowned” in marriage and the service is quite a bit different from what you might expect. So, to help those attending, I’m building up a list of resources…
“Sedevacantists” are people who believe that there is currently no Pope, that the “Chair of Peter” is currently empty. In fact, the name “sedevacantist” itself comes from the Latin phrase, “sede vacante”, which literally means “empty seat”.
Sedevacantists typically assert that there hasn’t been a valid Pope since the death of Pius XII (1958), or sometimes even since the death of Pius X (1914). They reject all the Popes which followed (John XXIII, Paul VI, John-Paul I, John-Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis) and usually accuse them of some kind of heresy, typically the heresy of Modernism.
At the end of last year I was contacted by a chap named Mike. I had been commenting on a YouTube video by Fr. Robert Barron concerning the Second Vatican Council and Mike started sending me private messages which quickly revealed his identity as a sedavacantist.
I decided to devote a few of posts here to my discussion with Mike. His emails were filled with large portions of text which he had copied and pasted from his website and there was also unfortunately some name-calling (mostly against the Church, although later against myself specifically), but fortunately within the midst of all that we actually did manage to have some real conversation. It is my hope that, in reviewing our exchange, if you ever meet someone like Mike you’ll know what sort of thing to expect…
In the last post I began to examine the responses of Mack, a recent commentator on my Once Saved, Always Saved post who offered some constructive criticism concerning the Scripture passages I presented.
I previously looked at Mack’s commentary of 1 John 5:16-17 and 2 Peter 2:20-22. I will now look at his analysis of several other passages which I offered in defense of the idea that it is possible to lose one’s salvation. Mack basically attempted to disqualify these texts since they were drawn from letters addressed to groups of people.
So, grab another cup of tea and we’ll look at what he had to say…
