Santa in the tradition…
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Author Archives: Friar Musings
Church History in 4 Minutes…
Fun video. I gather that the authors’ church had just finished a 21-week series on church history. The video whimsically proposes that only about 4 minutes were needed. Enjoy!
A Carol for Newtown
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Today, as I write, is the Feast of St. Joh of the Cross. In his work, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, St John writes (to the effect), ask no more questions of God, but rather look to the person of Jesus – all the answers are there. To which I would add, and be humble about what you understand – “religion” and its adherents have been thinking about this for two millenia – and celebrating its revelation in ritual, traditions, Traditions, and all things peripheral to the core of Jesus – but (in my experience) all things that lead to the center.
“I’m spiritual, not religious”
I wish I had a back massage for every time I’ve heard this line. What gets me most is the presupposition it stems from, that “spiritual” is the assumed equivalent of “good” and “religious” is the assumed equivalent of “evil.” Who made up this language game?
Honestly, who decided that “spiritual” was a term that would be used to contradict religion and as evidence of personal enlightenment without further ado? And does anyone using the phrase ever stop to think what they actually mean by it? I think what is usually meant is that religion is man-made tradition, whereas spiritual is a phenomenon that happens on a personal level, free from all “man-madeness” and tradition, and thus… true?
My experience has been exactly the opposite. I spent the first 20 years of my journey in Christianity believing that I was spiritual and not religious, and I…
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Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos)
A Christmas Carol…
I have long been a fan of Jackson Browne. He was someone who seemed to have been a good fit for the 1970s – part troubadour, part social commentator. His work Lives in the Balance was a work that marked his movement from self-reflection to activism for the causes in which he believed. But it was a song he wrote in 1991 for the Irish band The Chieftains which is an unlikely Christmas Carol. Continue reading
Trust us, changes are coming…
There are several Catholic diocese that are challenging the Health and Human Services administrative ruling that places them between the moral rock and the hard place, so to speak. While there are many aspects to the larger issue of the HHS ruling concerning contraceptives, this case involves diocese that self-insure; as do many organizations that have a large number of employees. The Archdiocese of NY (with several other diocese) and its insurance entity are suing in court over the matter. Continue reading
Bluegrass in the back room
At The Barbershop in Drexel, NC, the atmosphere is laid back, the conversation free, and the music a cut above the rest. Emmy® nominee, Official Selection of over 60 film festivals, and Best Documentary Short Film winner at the Florida Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival.
Christ the King
…every once in a while, a Sunday homily will make it to these pages…
Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday which comes either on the Sunday before Thanksgiving or the Sunday following Thanksgiving. – a time we when we are busy about many things. We are preparing to travel, to cook, to receive visitors, to celebrate, and all sorts and manner of things. It is not a time when we are given to pause and reflect on what it means to hold that Christ is King. Continue reading
The Fraternity Grows and Someone Has to Lead
One aspect of Francis’ changing life that has attracted recent attention is the movement of Francis from solitary figure, living a quasi-hermetical life for four to five years, now beginning to live in a growing community of brothers – all of whom are looking to Francis for spiritual and communal leadership. There was something attractive about Francis, his way of following the gospel, and perhaps the recent “commissioning” by Pope Innocent III gave a certain cache of legitimacy to this way of being Christian in the world. Eventually many people came to join the Franciscan movement, which soon enough became a religio and eventually an ordo, but those demarcations are eight to ten years in the future ahead of the Spring of 1209.
Virtually all scholars agree that Francis, at this point, did not envision his group to be more than a small group of men living an evangelical life in common. But there are also no indications that Francis thought too far ahead in any matter at this point in his life. Things just seemed to unfold, signs appeared along the way, and Francis followed the path in faith. And people followed Francis. Whether he liked it or not, Francis was their leader. Continue reading
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