Yesterday’s psalm refrain was “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.” From that I asked the personal question, “Do you ever wonder if people think you are gracious, merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness?” Today’s gospel begins: “Jesus said to the crowds: To what shall I compare this generation?‘” In one sense, it is the same question just on a larger scale. And a complex question to even begin to form a response.
The principle of subsidiarity is perhaps one of the most crucial and most misunderstood in Catholic social teaching. According to the principle of subsidiarity, decisions should be made at the lowest level possible and the highest level necessary. A little moral theology and then some practical tech application.
In Quadregesimo Anno, Pope Pius XI is concerned with the common good of society and in particular with both the growing power of the state and an increasing individualism (see paragraph 78). It should be noted that Pius is concerned that we will end up with a social order in which there are individuals and the state – with no intermediary communities, institutions or levels. The richness and diversity of human society is what Pius seeks to promote and protect. Thus he writes in paragraph 79:
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Servant of God – John of Montecorvino
Franciscan and first Bishop of Beijing
Writing earlier about St. Francis Xavier, I was reminded about a Franciscan missioner, John of Montecorvino, whose feast was November 29. Mention John of Montecorvino and most people – even most Franciscans – will say “who?” John was the first Catholic missionary to China, centuries before the efforts of other Catholic religious orders. It is a compelling story. If you would like to read an interesting and accessible account of the travel within the context of an art historian comparing 13th century Italian and Chinese art, read Lauren Arnold’s: Princely Gifts & Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China & Its Influence on the Art of the West, 1250-1350 – fascinating book.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana). Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times published a front-page article: “Road to a million; a case study: Early optimism, indecision, then fatigue; now a scary spike.” Here are the highlights.
January 20th – it was announced that there was a first verified case of the coronavirus in the United States.
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Earlier today I posted “Choosing Hope“. From time to time folks post comments – and I do read them all but have learned long ago there is not time to respond to the comments on a regular basis. Today someone posted a comment that I thought was such an awesome message… “you know what,” I thought to myself, “I am going to make a post of it.” So from my good friend, Jim Rossman:
A liminal 9 months for sure! But, we live in hope. My prediction is that we will limp into a new normal, dragging many deniers with us, exactly on May 1, 2021. (I don’t have to be right — just confident.)
Between now and then, I will use whatever platform is available to me, as we count down the days and weeks to that benchmark, to encourage:
I can’t imagine just hunkering down in despair and taking a beating for 5 more months. Time to begin the countdown and the ground building for a better world post May 1.
[Wow, now that is a clarion call to all people of faith!]
I know what you’re thinking…”Is he really going to step into the milieu of this election? He’s a priest and should stay out of politics and stick to matters of the Faith.” Despite these imagined misgivings, I am indeed jumping into voting fraud and suspicious voting patterns…But then the US presidential elections are not the only elections underway in the world.
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Recently I have written several posts about the common good as it pertains to wearing masks. Last night on the news a young man said that he didn’t like people telling him what to do and he didn’t see the need to wear masks. It wasn’t a clip from summer time, it was recorded in the midst of this massive second wave of infections nationwide. It just strikes me as an overly libertarian view that does not consider there is a common good. And the common good is a matter of our faith.
This morning in the parish office, someone mentioned that “James Bond had passed away.” Given there were 26 movies over 58 years and more-than-one actor who played the character, there could well be some ambiguity about who had died. Depending on your generation and affinity for the Bond movies, one might come to a different initial assumption of the recently departed. Possible assumptions include Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Davide Niven, …but my mind went immediately to Sean Connery. He was an actor that was simply memorable. For my part, other memorable roles included Indiana Jones’ father, in 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”; his Academy-Award-winning (best supporting actor) performance as Chicago cop Jim Malone in the 1987 film “The Untouchables,” and one of my favorites, William Forrester in the 2000 film “Finding Forrester.”
Who was the best James Bond? I suspect it depends. When the world comes to consensus of the best Dr. Who and the best Capt. Kirk, perhaps the world will have also resolved the best Bond.
In the gospel of Luke, what is the most important city? If the number of times mentioned is the criteria, then Jerusalem is the answer, being mentioned more than 90 times in the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. I imagine there are all kinds of “what is Luke’s favorite…” questions, but an insightful one come from Fr. Bill McConville OFM. Fr. Bill has a daily podcast on Soundcloud that you can subscribe to and be very much enlightened by his insights.
As he asks in today’s installment, what is Luke’s favorite piece of furniture?
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It was a straight up trap from the outset. A plan to put Jesus between the proverbial “rock-and-a-hard-place.” Pay the tax and one side thinks you are a heretic and are capitulating to a pagan emperor who thinks himself divine. Don’t pay the tax and the other side sees you a seditious and a problem to be immediately dealt with. Seems like a lose-lose proposition.
Jesus’ answer is: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Nice. Maybe we can think of it as a biblical “drop the mic” moment. There is a part of me that wants to revel in Jesus’ victory and turn the page. And there is the inner voice that tells me to wait a moment. If the Bible is really a book of questions, then what am I being asked to consider? Continue reading
friarmusings 