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9:00am |
Shared 2 links on Google Reader. (Show Details)
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May we praise, adore, and thank our gracious God who blesses us with a bounty that is without end.
I wish you every blessing on this Thanksgiving Day. May our Lord be gracious onto you, granting you every gift, and most particularly the gifts of family, friendship, health, and peace. Let us render our thanks unto Him.
[audio:https://konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/nowthankweallourgod.mp3]Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son, and him who reigns
With them in highest heaven-
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore. Amen.
The sun gives forth light; it cannot help doing so. Animals breathe in and out; they cannot help doing so. Fish swim in rivers and the sea; they cannot help doing so. What, then, are the things which a Christian cannot help doing? First of all, a Christian cannot help praying. To be a Christian is to regard God as a loving Father; and it is natural to talk and listen to one’s parents. Second, a Christian cannot help praising God and giving praise to him. To be a Christian is to affirm God as creator of the universe; and when a Christian looks at the beauty and glory of what God has made, praise and thanksgiving pour from the lips. Third, a Christian cannot help being generous. To be a Christian is to acknowledge that everything belongs to God, and that human beings are merely stewards of what they possess; so they naturally want to share their possessions with those in need. Fourth, a Christian cannot help reading the Scriptures and also studying the insights of other Christians. To be a Christian is to rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit; and the Spirit speaks to us through the Scriptures and through the insights of our spiritual brothers and sisters.
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11:08pm | Scrobbled a song on Last.fm. |
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3:07am | They will know we are Christians… |
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3:07am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: They will know we are Christians… http://tinyurl.com/6qb4qz
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2:03pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
Prepped several dishes tonight – the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and rutabaga. Kitchen smells wonderful.
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3:15pm | November 27 – St. John Chrysostom |
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3:15pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: November 27 – St. John Chrysostom http://tinyurl.com/5nl4pd
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3:38pm | Happy Thanksgiving |
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3:38pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Happy Thanksgiving http://tinyurl.com/6glsxk
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4:41pm |
Shared 5 links on Google Reader. (Show Details)
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a.) by our politics
b.) by our economics
c.) by our left-wing right-wing dichotomy
d.) by our love
I found a link to Frank Schaeffer’s Huffington Post article: Changing the Failed Strategy of the Religious Right Into a Winning Formula That Helps Heal Our Country at Huw’s site in Heal Our Country.
The Republican/evangelical right’s world view has been replaced by a battered, it’s-the-economy-stupid!, state of mind. Economic collapse and perhaps worse awaits us. We are losing one war, and the other war was clearly a mistake. And the fools who got us into this mess need not apply for any post higher than dog catcher for years to come. Most American know all this.
This knowledge signals not just a loss for the Religious right but a resounding and permanent defeat. It also signals (to anyone sane) that even if you except the Religious right’s view that, for instance, all abortion is murder, gay marriage an affront to God’s natural law and so forth, a change of tactics is in order. Obviously no one is getting convinced, but rather the culture is moving in the other direction. In fact the Religious Right has made its case so badly that with friends like them the right’s causes need no enemies.
What might a change of tactics be? How to effect change at the same time as practicing love for one’s neighbor without which love — by Christ’s standard anyway — everything else becomes mere sound and fury signifying nothing?
Here’s the answer. (Yes, I said the answer.)..
One of the reasons I love the PNCC. There is a distinct dearth of polemics in our Church. You do not see the ultra-conservative ultra-liberal dichotomy that exists in other Churches. We know that we can achieve nothing by conflict and everything through unity.
Perhaps it comes from Bishop Hodur’s focus on our regeneration in Christ. We are made new by our choice. We know that once we adopt regeneration we must learn to adapt to it — to become fully human as part of a community. Focusing on regeneration requires that we hold a high opinion of man’s value as a child of God. We see mankind as endowed with the intellectual capacity and moral capability to see, to learn, and to decide for God. That message counters those who seek division, who key on differences.
In valuing all we realize that we cannot and must not cast obstacles before those who come seeking. We know that they seek love — a love that differs — the love of God. Our evangelism requires that we show our members, and all who seek, that every aspect of the Church, from the liturgy which is an intimate encounter and an actualized unity with Christ, to our democratic form of governance, is an opportunity to work and struggle for ourselves, for our brothers and sisters, for mankind, and ultimately for union with and in Christ. In achieving that we achieve truth and the ultimate victory. In that we hold-up God’s model of love.
Christians and sharers of a heavenly calling, you country folk, and all who come from the towns, you who in concord have gathered at the present feast, — for by a general address I embrace you all, — has each one of you thoughtfully considered and realized why we are assembled? And why are martyrs honored by the construction of notable buildings and by these annual assemblies, and what end did our fathers have in view when they ordained the things we see, and left the established custom to their descendants? Is it not evident to one who concentrates his thought on this subject even for a short time, that these things have been given permanent form to rouse us to pious emulation, and that the feasts constitute public schools for our souls, in order that while we honor the martyrs, we may learn to imitate their sturdy piety; that lending the ear to the gathered teachers, we may learn some useful thing which we did not know before, — either the certainty of some doctrine, or the explanation of some difficult Scripture, — or may hear some discourse that will improve our morals?
But you seem to me to have abandoned your care for virtue, to have forgotten your zeal on behalf of your souls, and to have devoted all your thought to the rubbish of mammon and the business of the markets; some bargaining yourselves; some greedily haggling with competing dealers in order to reduce their prices. But transfer your love to the church, Abandon the love of money, that mad passion of the market. Turn from it as from a disorderly courtesan who, embellished with foreign stuffs and with the brilliant colors of the apothecary, smiles upon the multitude. Love the church, divine and discreet, modestly attired, with look august and grave. For thus Solomon says in the book of Proverbs, “Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.” Do not pass her by with contempt, nor deem the things that lie near us on this table of little worth because it is possible for you to procure them freely. But desire them all the more because we do not sit, as hucksters, with balance and scales; but seek only one gain, — the salvation of the hearer. — Sermon 3: Against Covetousness.
From Catholic Culture: ‘Declaration of Scranton’ casts shadow over dialogue with Polish National Catholics
The ‘Declaration of Scranton,’ issued by the bishops of Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) in April, cast a shadow over the PNCC-Roman Catholic Dialogue that met in Baltimore earlier this month…
Of course that statement is easily turned. ‘Role of pope casts shadow over every dialog that ever existed…’
What never ceases to amaze me in the endless ecumenical propaganda war (like we all need to score points) is that people are so surprised when a Church represents itself as actually believing in the things it believes in. Of course Rome has that right, but not only. The Declaration of Scranton is a restatement of the Declaration of Utrecht which was normative for the PNCC — and was for nearly one hundred years. We didn’t just pull this stuff out of a hat (or miter)…
So to the question: Who cast a shadow over whom? We all have perspectives, but in the end, we must be what we claim to be. We can only be who we claim to be if we truly believe that we proclaim the truth. Anything less and we’re just pikers.
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10:58pm | Do you remember your first dance? |
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10:58pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Do you remember your first dance? http://tinyurl.com/5sng9a
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11:55pm |
Scrobbled 14 songs on Last.fm. (Show Details)
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1:00pm | Put on a happy ecumenical face (not) |
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1:00pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Put on a happy ecumenical face (not) http://tinyurl.com/5e7bvn
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4:16pm | Who is shadow casting whom |
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4:16pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Who is shadow casting whom http://tinyurl.com/6xfjb8
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4:35pm | November 26 – St. Asterius of Amasea from the Sermons of Asterius |
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4:35pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: November 26 – St. Asterius of Amasea from the Sermons of Asterius http://tinyurl.com/6k9r2r
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From the USCCB website: Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic Dialogue Explores Transfer of Clergy, Doctrinal Statement
WASHINGTON—”The Polish National Catholic (PNCC)-Roman Catholic Dialogue explored the transfer of clergy and a doctrinal statement at their fall meeting, that took place in Baltimore, November 6-7. Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo and Bishop Anthony Mikovsky of the PNCC Central Diocese in Scranton, Pennsylvania, presided.
The meeting began with a progress report from the Roman Catholic members on a proposal to ask the Holy See if the PNCC could be considered to be in the same position as the Orthodox on two matters. First, PNCC faithful would be allowed to act as godparents at Roman Catholic baptisms in addition to a Roman Catholic. Second, mixed marriages performed in the PNCC without a dispensation from canonical form, even if not lawful, would be considered valid by the Roman Catholic Church. This proposal is under consideration by USCCB committees.
Dialogue members also discussed recommendations to both churches on how to handle cases of clergy transferring from one church to the other. A first draft of such recommendations that draws upon a parallel agreement that already exists in Germany was examined. The draft will be revised on the basis of the discussion and considered once again at the next meeting.
The dialogue also discussed at some length The Declaration of Scranton that was issued by the PNCC bishops last April 28. This text, which was to clarify the PNCC’s position on issues for groups that seek to come into full communion with the PNCC, raised questions for the Roman Catholics that were outlined by Msgr. John Strynkowski, Ph.D., a pastor from the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. The Declaration highlighted divergences between the two churches regarding the teaching authority of the pope, and pointed to a need for further consideration by the dialogue of the Roman Catholic teachings about the Blessed Virgin Mary. The meeting concluded with a discussion of misunderstandings at the local level between the two churches and the best way to deal with them.
Members decided to meet once in 2009 in a longer session than usual, slated for September 28-30.
As such statements go, they attempt to put a happy face on a situation, a situation this writer opines, is going no where. A sure sign is the decrease in the frequency of these meetings.
The reality is that we, along with the Orthodox and Oriental Churches have a far different opinion on the Bishop of Rome, synodality, Roman pronouncements concerning Marian doctrine, (and you can throw in the filioque and the man-made discipline of celibacy for good measure). Once the downward spiral begins, occasioned by the intractable position of the Romans (positions they cannot abrogate without a redefinition of the role of the Bishop of Rome, denouncing that bishop’s full, immediate, and universal jurisdiction, and admitting an error in proclaiming the Marian doctrines that flowed from the “exercise” of said “authority”), then the issues, going beyond core issues, can be piled on as well.
Further, do we need to spend meeting time “discussing” Rome’s opinions on Marian doctrine or the Papacy? Does any Catholic Church need an explanation on this? Does Rome really think that it will win Churches over by demonstrating its arguments — arguments it has promulgated by itself. Does Rome expect anyone to sit there, listening to this, while wistfully gazing at them. We, in the PNCC, know scripture, and the Fathers, and the Councils. For the Roman Church it may make for a fun day of symposia, giving cover for travel, expense accounts, and meals with like minded gents in black suits, but otherwise it isn’t worth the trip. These doctrines are well known, written upon, theologized over, and discussed at ecumenical meetings ad nauseam. In business its called spending time spinning your wheels.
To be plain, the PNCC is the Church. It is Christ’s Church in the manner and style of our Savior who called His people to love one another. The commandment of love lives in the Church, is its teaching, and has Christ as its center. We cannot place our focus, our central focus, on a far off bishop. We cannot bifrucate our love, making love dependent on man-made laws and man-made discipline that bears no relationship to the furtherance of our climb up to Christ, that bears no resemblance to the humanity Christ came to save. Is unity in love to be based on glorification of one bishop over unity itself?
While we are obligated to pray to the Father, with our Lord and Savior, for the unity that seems to elude us, such prayer does not occasion a caving on core issues. If that were so we would not be Church, we would be politicians and businessmen. Prayer occasions action and that action includes our duty to speak truth to power. May God bless our witness, may He endow us with the gift of love.