"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Every now and then I have readers email me directly. Here’s one I received earlier this week:
“Last week my Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion was saying, “THIS IS THE Body of Christ.” It struck me as wrong. Is this ad-libbing, embellishing, inappropriate, or no problem?”
In case anyone is interested, here was my reply…
So several years ago, after my return from Seattle to San Diego, I sat down and thought about what I was looking for in a wife.
Today I get married.
Here’s the list…
Mission Accomplished.
I’ve written quite a bit lately about my recent period of discernment. I’m sure I will write some more on this subject sometime in the future, but for now I would just like to mention one other thing that has come up during this time.
When I began in earnest to pray about my vocation, I contacted a handful of friends, explained the situation and asked them to pray for me. Also, during this time, when friends asked me “What’s new?” I told them about my discernment (with varying levels of detail) and some of my thoughts about my vocation.
Apart from a few notable exceptions, I noticed a consistent trend among my non-Catholic Christian friends. Whenever I mentioned the word “celibacy”, I almost immediately encountered some resistance, regardless of whether I was talking about celibate life as a layman, priest or monk.
If you’ve visited my parish or other Eastern parishes, you might have noticed that some icons have a scarf around them:
Like many other people, you might have wondered “What’s that all about then?”
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The last couple of chapters have covered new and interesting material, focussing on the Biblical characters such Moses and the Blessed Mother. Today, however, we return to the Qur’an’s sweet spot: judgment, Heaven and Hell.
Surah 56 – “The inevitable” (Al-Waqia)
A portrait of the Resurrection is painted, a day when “the earth is shaken” and “mountains are broken down”. We are told that mankind will become “[of] three types”:
I’m not exactly sure what makes “The Forerunners” distinct from “The Companions of the right”.
Those who are pro-choice will often chastise those who are pro-life for “judging women who have abortions” and “failing to love them”. Today I’d like to look at the substance of these charges. Is that true? Is it unloving to speak out against abortion?
We are now drawing to the end of Chapter 3:
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature be thus minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. – Philippians 3:12-16
Here’s what I had to say:
For an audio-only version of this video, please click here.
