"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Over the past few days we have been looking at suggestions as to what can be done to draw people back to the Catholic Church.
Today is the final post in this series. These suggestions focus on the conversations which you will have with those who have drifted away from the faith:
One of the things I really liked about “The Da Vinci Code” (ridiculous ahistorial conspiracies aside) was that it got people looking at art and architecture with greater attentiveness to symbolism. Christianity has always used symbols very heavily to express the truths of the faith and its art developed rapidly as a vehicle for this.
A few weeks ago I explained the meaning of the “IC XC” on icons, which is a short-hand for “Jesus Christ”, and earlier this week I explained the meaning of the letters which commonly appear above pictures of His mother. Today I’d like to provide a quick follow-up to another aspect of “IC XC” which you sometimes find in eastern art…
This is the painting on the front wall above the altar at Holy Angels:
How many “IC XC“s do you see?
A couple of months ago we had a guest post here at Restless Pilgrim from Tom Massoth. Well, today we have another guest post, this time from my long-time friend, John. I met John for the first time during a short stay in San Diego. A couple of years later, I returned to the USA and we had the chance to be neighbours. I take personal credit for him meeting his wife!
Today’s post is an abridged version of an article John wrote a while ago where he discussed the meaning of a phrase you commonly hear in Catholic circles…
It seems to be something of a catch-phrase in modern Catholic culture, but what do we really mean when we say “offer it up”? Is it more than just a religious way of saying “Suck it up” or “Quit complaining”?
“Offer it up” is more than a simple invitation to prayer. Those three words are an invitation to participate in the gospel.
Read more
Yesterday I wrote a post about the importance of parish websites and how they can play a key role in attracting people to your parish and integrating them into parish life.
Today I would like to follow up on this topic and speak a little bit about some of the thought which should go into the construction and structure of your website. Having a website is not enough. It must also be functional and engaging.
With that in mind, here are my top five tips for parish websites:
1. “When’s Mass?”
If I’m going to a parish’s website, chances are I’m looking for the Mass and Confession times. Please don’t make me have to click around for five minutes and dig into submenus before finding them.
As I said, I’ll still be producing these Lectionary Notes from time to time, as and when we have new people leading the JP2 Group’s Bible Study. This week Rob will be leading for the first time, so here are some notes…
Our Readings this week concern God’s gratuitous gift of His Spirit.
In the First Reading, even though Eldad and Medad were not at the Tent of Meeting, God’s Spirit falls upon them. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples not to hinder the work done in His name by others simply because they didn’t belong to their group. Jesus then gives them some warnings, exhorting them to cast off anything which hinders their entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. St. James in our Second Reading is handing out warnings too, especially to the rich.
The Sacraments are the “ordinary” means of God’s grace (although far from “ordinary”!), but God’s grace is not simply restricted to the Sacraments. So, as you go about this week, be on the lookout for God’s “extra-ordinary” grace at work…
In my previous post I began to talk about a post which I saw on Facebook written by a girl named Samantha. She was raised a Christian and remained a virgin until her wedding night, but now regrets her decision and has since left the Faith. In this post I would like to comment upon something which I noticed as I read her story…
As I read Samantha’s article, I found the most striking feature of her narrative to be her repeated use, in some form or another, of the words “abstinence” and “virgin”. Now, since the article was about her decision to save sex until marriage, one might say that this is hardly surprising. However, to Catholics who have been formed in “Theology Of The Body”, this kind of language sets off alarms bells. You see, in Catholicism we draw very clear distinctions between those words and another word which will appear many times in this series, “chastity”.
If a guy tells me he is “abstinent”, it doesn’t really tell me a lot. All I can say for sure is that he currently isn’t having sex. What it doesn’t tell me is why. If he tells me he is a “virgin”, then I know that he has always been abstinent, but again it doesn’t tell me why… Maybe he has terrible breath? Maybe he’s a Star Trek nerd who serenades girls in Klingon on the first date? (This, by the way, is something I recommend saving exclusively for marriage)
So, the words “abstinence” and “virginity” really don’t tell us a whole lot. “Chastity”, on the other hand, tells us much more. Chastity is a virtue, in much the same way as honesty or courage. Chastity nurtures holiness and protects love from selfishness. If a man is pursuing the virtue of chastity, then he loves authentically, seeking the good of those whom he loves, even at the expense of his own convenience or immediate personal gratification.
Abstinence and virginity will tell me that a person doesn’t have sex, but it tells me very little else. For example, someone who is physically abstinent may, in fact, view women as objects of lust. Likewise, someone who is technically a virgin may have compromised himself by engaging in countless sexually arousing activities, even if it has never resulted in the full intercourse. This stands in stark contrast to chastity. Someone who is chaste does not view women as objects to be used, but rather as people to be loved. Someone who is chaste doesn’t seek for what he can get out of a relationship, but rather what he can give.
People often think that abstinence, virginity and chastity are the same thing. They are not. Not all virgins are chaste, and not all who are chaste are necessarily virgins. Both abstinence and virginity speak about the past, whereas chastity speaks about the present. For example, someone may have been involved in sexual relationships in high school, but has since decided to live a life of chastity. Not only that, even within marriage one is called to be chaste, to love husband or wife rightly. Abstinence may end with a wedding, but it is chastity which forges a strong marriage.
As I read through Samantha’s article, I got the impression that the distinctions described in the previous section were not present in this young girl’s formation. For example, here is how she spoke about her pledge:
“…I make a commitment…to be sexually abstinent from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship. As well as abstaining from sexual thoughts, sexual touching, pornography, and actions that are known to lead to sexual arousal.”
This is just a long list of “no”s. She promised to say “no” to this and “no” to that. Chastity isn’t a “no” to sex, but a “yes” to love, a seeking of authenticity in friendships, relationships and marriage.
Later in her article, Samantha outlined the twisted understanding of sexual purity which was presented to her:
“I learned that as a girl, I had a responsibility to my future husband to remain pure for him. It was entirely possible that my future husband wouldn’t remain pure for me, because he didn’t have that same responsibility, according to the Bible”
I consider myself pretty well-versed in various wacky beliefs held by different Christian groups, but I’ll admit I hadn’t heard this one before. Since when is purity just for girls?! Regardless, with this warped understanding of purity, Samantha described her dating life:
“I wondered where the line was because I was terrified to cross it. Was he allowed to touch my breasts? Could we look at each other naked? I didn’t know what was considered sexual enough to condemn my future marriage and send me straight to Hell”
As soon as one enters into this “How far can I go?” thinking, chastity has long since departed. When Samantha told her boyfriend that she was saving herself for marriage we are told that “he was fine with that because it was my body, my choice and he loved me”. If bodily autonomy was his main reason for not engaging with her sexually, then that’s a far cry from the virtue of chastity. If his motivation was chastity, then it would have been real love compelling him to postpone sex until marriage, in order that he could seek what was truly best for her and her future husband.
Today I’d like to share with you something I’m going to be working on during my sabbatical. For the longest time, my bucket list has contained an entry which reads “Write a book and get it published”. I think it’s finally time to cross off that entry…
I’ve been involved with different Bible Study groups, both in the USA and back in England, for about ten years. During this time, I’ve searched for a book to help guide me in leading these different groups. Unfortunately, that book doesn’t appear to exist! In the Protestant world, I’ve found books which help with basic Biblical exegesis and personal reading, but nothing substantial on leading a group study. In the Catholic world, there are even slimmer pickings. In light of this, over the next couple of months I’m going to be writing the book that I wish I had read a decade ago!
This book is going to lead the reader through the entire process of running a Bible Study, from beginning to end. My goal is to make this book extremely practical, coving all the nitty-gritty details of setting up and running a group. It will guide the reader through a typical Bible Study meeting, providing lots of handy hints as to how to nurture the discussion and avoid common pitfalls. In the appendices I hope to have all kinds of usual material, including a modified version of my commentary on Philippians. It is my hope that, even with no prior experience, once somebody has this book in his hands he will have everything he needs to start a successful Bible Study in his parish.
As a reader of Restless Pilgrim, this involves you! I will be blogging about the book over the coming months and asking for your feedback. This begins today! I’m currently trying to come up with a working title for this book. Please help me choose it by voting below:
I’d also like to choose a tag line or subtitle for the book:
I’m really excited about this and I’d love to hear your thoughts! What would you look for in a book like this? Is there a particular issue related to Bible study groups which you’d particularly like to see addressed?