Much of our religious consciousness is affected by art; we have inherited specific images that are more artistic than biblical. For example, we always imagine St. Paul being knocked from a horse on the Damascus Road. There is no mention of the horse in scripture. Is that a big deal? Perhaps not. But when Caravaggio placed Paul on the horse, a sign of royalty, he removed Paul from the midst of Corinth, the hard-scrabbled seaport town, from among the drunks, slackards, ne’er-do-wells, and people who sorely needed salvation. Continue reading
Mary of Portraits, Mary of Life
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There are a couple of “feeds” that come across my computer, email, mobile, etc. Some are more interesting than others. Some I read “religiously” others I will take a peek if the title is interesting. Some are topically interesting all by themselves. It is an eclectic sets of “feeds.” One came across this morning that my niece Julie would be interested in. She graduated from Georgia Tech in urban planning and did Master’s level work at UNC Chapel Hill. She has continued her career and works out west in urban traffic planning. So, because it is off interest to my niece and my own lifetime experience of interstates/freeways/etc., when “
The Assumption was defined as dogma only in the 1950. In our Catholic Church ‘dogma” is defined as a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding upon all Catholics. The term Dogma Catholicum was first used by Vincent of Lérins (450), referring to “what all, everywhere and always believed” – with the emphasis on katholica meaning universal. The term dogma derived from the Greek dogma (δόγμα) meaning literally “that which one thinks is true” and the verb dokein, “to seem good.” 
After Francis’ withdrawal from active ministerial leadership of the friars, he witnessed an inevitable evolution of the religious order, which had grown to over 5,000 brothers in 1223 from the humble beginnings in 1209 of Francis and four companions. The evolution of the Order, necessary on a number of levels, also began to change the life of the fraternity. Francis worried that the Spirit of prayer was being compromised and that the necessities of ministry were leading the brothers to increasing ties to material possessions. He lived and suffered in a “Time of Doubt,” as described in the previous article. 
Each Sunday at Mass, we profess our faith. We proclaim what we believe via the Creed. A creed is a brief statement of faith used to list important truths, to clarify doctrinal points and to distinguish truth from error. The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, meaning, “I believe.” The Bible contains a number of creed-like passages. The Jews still recite a creed known as the Shema that comes from
Christmas 2019. I think most pastors and their vicars, if asked, would remember back to the days when attendance at church overflowed the pews, into the aisles, and perhaps out the door. We Catholics, a largely silent and patient bunch, are given to sitting quietly awaiting the start of liturgy. Long ago silent reverence for “God’s house” was drilled into our consciousness and obedience. We would fidget, bu quietly. Remember the expression, “as quiet as a church mouse? They were the noise makers. But even we had our own special stirrings and sounds of life – especially on the solemnities and feast days.
If you open the index to your Bible, you will find the Books 1st and 2nd Chronicles follow The Book of the Prophet Samuel (1st and 2nd) and Kings (1st and 2nd). These volumes recount the history of Israel and Judah from the period at the end of the age of Judges (of whom Samuel was the last), through the establishment of the monarchy, up until the end of the kingdoms as the last remnant moved to exile in Babylon. Interestingly, the same period of time is covered in Chronicles. The Greek title of the book, paraleipomena, means “things omitted,” or “passed over” (i.e., in the accounts found in Samuel and Kings). The Books of Chronicles, however, are much more than a supplement to Samuel and Kings; a comparison of the two histories discloses striking differences of scope and purpose. One should not think of Chronicles as a history of filling in the blanks. Biblical history is primarily interpretative, and its purpose was to disclose the action of the living God in human affairs rather than compiles the facts as we would consider an endeavor of history. 
As mentioned in a previous post, this coming Sunday is the 
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