Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 12 (“Ta-ha”)

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Today’s chapter of the Qur’an focuses on the life of Moses…

Surah 20 – “Ta-ha” (Taha)
We start with the origin story of Moses, starting with the Burning Bush. Unlike the Biblical account, Moses has his family with him at the time he encounters the bush. Allah calls to Moses and tells him to worship Him alone, to “establish prayer” and then warns him of Judgement Day. Allah instructs Moses in transforming his staff and hand, then tells him he’s going to go to Pharaoh who “has transgressed [i.e. tyrannized]”. Moses asks Allah to “untie the knot from my tongue” and to grant his brother Aaron as a minister. Allah grants his request.

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Going back east

A couple of months ago I found myself back around my old stomping ground of Washington DC. It was great to return to one of my favourite US cities, catching up with friends and re-visiting all my favourite places.

As providence would have it, I had the opportunity to hear Deacon Sabatino Carnazzo speak at the Catholic Information Center (CIC).  Deacon Sabatino is founder of the Institute of Catholic Culture, a Virginia-based organization about which I have previously written.

Since writing that earlier blog post, I visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska and did a double-take when I saw an office with his name on it! Clearly this guy gets around! his brother’s name on it!

Anyway, during this “Year of Faith”, the CIC has been hosting a series of lectures on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and I just so happened to be in town for Deacon Carnazzo’s lecture on Orientalium Ecclesiarum, the Decree concerning the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, a subject close to my heart.

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No, I’m not a Roman Catholic…

Deacon Carnazzo is himself an Eastern-Rite Catholic and during his talk he explained the origin of the Eastern Churches and gave a brief introduction to life as an Eastern Catholic. In his talk he encouraged all Western Catholics to become familiar with the Eastern Church. How is this to be done? Well, if you want to get to know someone, you share a meal with them. For Catholics, this means sharing in the Eucharistic feast.

So, in the spirit of this, I have set up a Facebook event and invited my friends to come with me to celebrate the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul at the end of the month at my local Byzantine parish. If you’re in town and you’d like to come, feel free to shoot me an email.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

The article Going back East first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net

Pushing our pro-life religion

Have you ever been speaking about abortion and heard someone who’s pro-choice exasperatingly exclaim “Stop imposing your religion on me!”? Well, today’s entry in this abortion series addresses that very issue…

Why are you pro-life?

Last year, I posted on Facebook that I was at the March For Life in Washington DC. This raised the interest of some of my pro-choice friends, so I explained to them why I’m against abortion and why I’m pro-life.

In response to my explanation, I was told again and again that Christians should stop imposing their religion on others. I found the objection rather odd. Why? Well, I found it strange because I hadn’t mentioned religion once in any of my arguments. Neither had any of my friends when they contributed to the thread. All the arguments against abortion which were presented did not rely at all on a theistic worldview.

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Interestingly, the people who first brought religion into our discussion were those who were pro-choice. Again and again they returned to the idea that we were arguing against abortion on religious grounds. However, we never mentioned God, nor did we cite any religious text or authority. Funnily enough, something very similar happened on Brandon Vogt’s blog around the same time…

Unfortunately, rather than responding to our (non-theistic) arguments, some retorted with cheap shots against the Christian faith. Not only that, we were repeatedly treated to my own personal pet peeve, the armchair interpretation of Bible by non-Christians, which naturally included the classic misinterpretation of “Judge not lest you be judged”.

I’ve said many times bore that, even if I were not a Christian, I’d still be pro-life. The arguments against abortion don’t require a belief in God. The pro-life arguments are scientifically, philosophically and psychologically robust. If I were an atheist I might perhaps have some difficulty explaining why human life has intrinsic value, but it’s an instinct that I don’t think I could deny, even if I wanted to.

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Best of British/Irish: Part 3

Last week I began a series of posts about comedy shows from back home. I have found that American exposure to these comedians and shows is rather limited. I’ll sometimes meet people who have seen Monty PythonAbsolutely Fabulous or Benny Hill [rolls eyes], but there’s so much more on offer!

Since I usually write about subjects related to religion, today I’d like to focus on one show in particular that concerns Catholicism: the very excellent “Fr Ted”.

Fr. Ted is a priest who lives on a tiny island off the coast of Ireland with two other priests: an idiot and an angry drunk who has a fear of nuns, together with a housekeeper who has an obsessive need to serve people tea

Despite the fact that this show deals with the subject of religion (a touchy area when it comes to comedy), it really pulls it off brilliantly because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Speaking of which, have you ever wondered what would happen if a group of priests got trapped in the lingerie section of a department store? Well, thanks to Fr Ted, wonder no more…

PWJ: S4E100 – AH – “After Hours” with The Gray Havens

The Gray Havens are an American Christian folk pop husband and wife duo, David and Licia Radford. On October 8th they will be releasing their new album, Blue Flower, so David Radford came on the show to talk to Andrew and David about how C.S. Lewis inspired their recent work.

S4E100: “After Hours” with The Gray Havens (Download)

If you enjoy this episode, you can subscribe manually, or any place where good podcasts can be found (iTunesGoogle Play, AmazonAudible, PodbeanStitcherTuneIn 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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Some more “life verses”…

Yesterday I wrote a post in which I suggested some possible life verses. Today I thought I’d do a quick follow-up with a few more…

Lazy Students

Most people choose life verses which are inspiring, which call them forth to greatness and holiness…but what if that’s not what you really want? What about if you’re happy and comfortable with failure and laziness? Well, in that case, this is the life verse for you…

Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
– Ecclesiastes 12:12

The recently-shaved

I go bearded from time-to-time. After I shave it off, I always think of this passage:

When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”  – 2 Samuel 10:5

Housemates

I live in a house with three other guys. I’m going to recommend one of them in particular to adopt the following passage as his life verse:

He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be counted a curse to him.  – Proverbs 27:14

Garlic Lovers

If you overindulge in smelly foods, then this is the life verse for you..

“My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers. – Job 19:17

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