Where Am I?

Sorry no posts - it's summer . . . you'd think I'd have more time, wouldn't ya? :-)

Real life has a way of pushing blogging life aside . . . my son is under the weather, my lawn needs major rejuvenation (I dread to see my water bill - as a friend of mine put it "you've decided to bring your lawn back to life *during the summer*?!?!?), and we're ripping up carpet in our home . . . fun, fun , fun! :-)

My wife's b-day is coming up next week, and for this weekend most of my siblings are coming down . . . BBQ time again! There's got to be something primal about working with fire . . . I find any excuse possible to get out there and grill. :-)

I'm reading two books I really like right now (another reason blogging has taken back stage for a bit): The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey and The Birth of Christianity by John Dominic Crossan - I really like both of 'em - the former book is an easier read than the latter (Crossan packing lots of stuff into each paragraph!), but they're both giving me stuff to think about. I'll distill some of what I've read and am thinking into a post before this weekend.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

I'm Catholic! :-)

I took a Theological Worldview quiz and, contrary to what my other quiz results have been (here and here) , I am actually 86% Catholic! :-) See for yourself:

You scored as Roman Catholic . You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is Mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 86% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Neo orthodox 61% Emergent/Postmodern 57% Classical Liberal 54% Modern Liberal 43% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Reformed Evangelical 18% Fundamentalist 0% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Edit: The HTML isn't coming out right for some reason . . . the links along the bottom are kinda screwy, and the pix (of cardinals celebrating Mass) doesn't show . . . oh well - I can always ask my wife tomorrow how to fix it. :-)

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

We are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Another cannabilized post (I always feel the need to tell y'all this - I feel dishonest if I don't put the disclaimer that I wrote this to an email list and am now posting here!) :-)

The context: a statement made by another listmember: I don't know how God can even stand us (or something similar). My response, and some more thoughts, follow:

I think here too the Catholic Church is different in our approach to humanity. God created us - each and every single one of us . . . filled us with his very breath/Spirit . . . calls us temples of the Spirit . . affirms that we are made, male and female, in his very image . . . reminds us that we are the body of his son with Jesus as our head . . . loves us so much that our names, our very selves, are carved in the palm of his hand . . . tells us that nothing will ever seperate us from the love he has for us in Christ Jesus . . . reminds us that he constantly searches for us among the lost, constantly calls to us to enter into a relationship with him . . . loves us so much that suffering and dying were done for us even without us asking for anything . . . (all Scriptural quotations, BTW, just too lazy to look them all up and cite - but they are some of my favorite verses) :-) God loves us, plain and simple . . . God wants the best for us (for I know the plans I have for you, plans for goodness not for woe . . .") . . . I think we do God a grave disservice when we picture him as holding his nose when he looks at us :-)

---End Original Post---

I remember reading that Calvin (maybe - I could be wrong) wrote that people were like a pile of dog poo. It snowed over the dog poo, making it look beautiful, but underneath it was still dog poo. Taking a sacramental worldview (the stuff of creation can be a vehicle for God to break into our lives), we affirm that creation is basically good, not radically corrupt as Calvanism (I hope I got that right!) and other forms of Christianity tend to affirm. While we have been marred / broken / set apart as a bone that needs to be mended, we are still, at our core, good / complete / holy / sacred beings.

Just a quick note as I get ready to go to bed . . . enjoy! :-)

And a quick question: what Scripture passages do y'all like that affirm God's loving care for us? Let me know!

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Yoda Once Again

I took another online quiz, this time to see what Revenge of the Sith character I was . . . and once again I'm Yoda . . . :-) The Force is indeed strong with me :-)



Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com


Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

The Catholic Priesthood

Yet another cannibalized post from the email list I'm on - I was asked about priestly celibacy. :-)

Priestly celibacy is one of those things where I don't even try to argue from Scripture :-) Many Catholics will, and our official theology throws in a few Scripture verses to support it, but the honest truth about it is that it's church policy, a rule. If Pope Benedict wanted to (which I highly doubt!) he could send out an encyclical tomorrow that basically said "OK guys - no more celibacy - have fun!"

So let me walk you through a brief history (sorry!) of priestly celibacy.

At first there were no priests the way we understand them now - as far as we can tell we had small communities of believers who met in each others' homes to celebrate an agape meal in addition to their regular Jewish practices.

When the faith spread to non-Jews some elements of Jewish religion were kept, but the centerpiece became the agape meal, celebrated in remembrance (anamnesis) of Jesus.

When Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, house communities became impractical - you couldn't fit 300 people in most homes. :-) So communities started gathering in public places for worship. Once this started to happen, more and more people started having a select few be the ones to lead worship - "professional worship leaders" so to speak.

We still had a leadership structure - a bishop was in charge of large areas of Christians, overseeing them and being the chief teacher for the area. We also had deacons, who were ordered for service in particular areas/ministries (widows, the hungry, etc). But ministers followed the normal course of life - which was to get married.

However, once Christianity became "mainstream" some Christians felt that the faith was "watered down." There were no longer many martyrs, there was no longer very much danger associated with being a follower of the Way. Many people became Christian for purely political or monetary reasons. So some people moved to the solitary desert (emulating one aspect of Jesus' life) and lived a life of prayer, meditation, study, silence, and celibacy (imitating another aspect of Jesus' life).

Many Christians, after hearing of the solitary pursuit of perfection these Desert Fathers and Mothers were practicing, went to them to receive spiritual guidance. They became benchmarks of orthodoxy and arbiters in theological disputes.

Eventually, many of these desert fathers and mothers attracted their own communities; people came to live lives that were simple, prayerful and totally God-focused. From the ranks of these followers we started pulling priests, deacons, and bishops. They brought with them the ideal of a life of service, prayer and study. But they also brought a penchant for celibacy - giving up sexual intercourse and marriage, not because they were evil, but because they were sacrificed for a higher good: total dedication and abandonment to the will of God and the service of His people.

Once we had celibate bishops, then we started to have celibate Popes, and that's when the real trouble started! :-) As early as 400 AD we have bishops recommending that priests and deacons and bishops be celibate. Not a rule, law or commandment, just an observation that without family one can be totally dedicated to the service of the Christian community. It wasn't until around the year 1000 that celibacy became more accepted, and it was shortly afterwards that it became the rule for priests. Even then, it was still ignored by many :-)

During the middle ages it became more of a problem - if priests or bishops were married, when they died the church that they were serving at became the property of their offspring - this caused the loss of much church stuff, as well as much fighting among the less-then-holy offspring of some of the priests and bishops.

In an effort to stop the buying and selling of Church property, the Church got tough in it's enforcement of celibacy. There was a period of time (not a good time) when priests who were still married in defiance of Church law had their families taken from them. (We're not perfect, and this is one of those low points in my church that I wish had never happened). After a while, celibacy became the accepted norm, though I'm sure for a while after there were still priests who had lovers or secret semi-wives - stories of country priests with maids whose children looked remarkably like the priest circulated for years. :-)

Nowadays, most theologically astute Catholics see it for what it is: a discipline imposed on clergy by our Church. Having said that, though, there are some arguments for priestly celibacy:

1) In our day and age it is a radical statement that we are not here solely for sexual pleasure. In America and Europe especially there is a tendency to see sexual intercourse as the be all and end all of life. Priestly (and religious) celibacy argues that while it is a great good, it is not an *ultimate* good.

2) It does let our priests serve 24/7 if needed - without a family to support they can spend more time out and about, which they do. Most priests have three Masses a day to celebrate (early morning, early evening, and then funerals, baptisms, prayer services, masses for special intentions, etc.); sick calls / hospital calls / prayer calls to answer; the parish itself to run; etc. They give so much of their time to the church that very little would be left over for family. [I know that Protestant ministers have much of the same things to do - as a campus minister I find my time crunched as well - however, I do think that many families of ministers suffer in silence - even though a pastor is doing the work of God, if it's at the expense of family time or family neglect, we're missing the point. In my previous position (working under the Bishop doing youth minister) I was working two nights a week and two weekends a month, plus making several extended and shorter trips a year for business - my family time was almost nonexistent! - so I have great respect but also misgivings for those ministers who are married and must live a life of service to their church.]

3) It offers a witness of sacrifice (close to #1 above); that is, it is a living, tangible witness to the sacrifice Jesus made.

4) Many priests do have a calling for a celibate lifestyle.

However, as many Catholics point out, not everyone has that calling (to be celibate). And as a Church we struggle with that. It may be that at some point in the next 2,000 years the rule will change - we are losing priests here in America, but gaining them (I read of a 237% boost in priests coming from Third World nations) in other places - we'll have to wait and see :-)

Blessings & Peace,

Hugo

Confession Part II

More thoughts on the sacrament of reconcilliation (penance/confession), also culled from a post I made to a mailing list I belong to - the questions I'm replying to are in red . . .


1. Can an individual have his sins forgiven without going to a priest?

hmmm . . . easy/tricky question. The Church still affirms that confessing to God is needed and necessary, an integral part of a person's spiritual life. For example, many people devlop the habit of talking to God about the day's events, particularly asking for forgiveness for any transgressions made that day. However, in order for full reconciliation to take place, the Church does teach that sacramental forgiveness, celebrated with a priest, is still fundamentally important. That is the one way that the penitent (sinner) is reconciled with the community (remember the history lesson from my earlier email) and with God. God's forgiveness is a given, though - an attitude that God has towards us. That is why the language of the sacrament talks about "celebrating" - in the sacrament of confession we celebrate the forgiveness that God has already extended to his children. We just believe that an assurance of forgiveness is given with the celebration of the sacrament - it is a sacramental moment, a moment where God's presence is tangible in the celebration of the mystery.

2. Does the priest have the ability from God to grant forgiveness, or what exactly is "absolution"?
Prayer of Absolution
God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son
has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
Through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Absolution is part of the ritual of the sacrament. It is part of the five movements of the sacrament: Confession, Prayer/Scripture/Counseling, Contrition, Absolution, Penance.

1. Confession: The colloquial terms used for the whole sacrament, it forms the first movement of the celebration of the sacrament. (Technically, though, there is a prior movement - examining our conscience - before we go to confession we spend time in prayer, silence, solitude, interior examination - we prepare ourselves to enter into the celebration of the mystery of forgiveness by preparing our mind, heart and soul to confess our sins.) We enter into the confessional and either sit with the priest or site behind a screen and tell the priest our sins, our failings, our faults, etc.

2. Prayer/Scripture/Counseling: After we have talked the priest may share a Scripture reading with us about God's mercy, healing, love and forgiveness. He may pray for us or with us (depending on the relationship between the priest and penitent, this may involve laying on of hands or anointing with oil, or it may be more formal). He may also talk to us about what we have confessed (one of the major boons of going to the same confessor is that a relationship is developed - they are able to make connections between current confessions and prior confessions - they are also able to more fully challenge to grow past bad habits that we have formed). The priest may also ask us questions about our confession, either for clarification or to probe areas where they feel we may not be fully honest.

3. Contrition: The penitent prays a prayer of contrition either spontaneously or through a memorized prayer (there are several versions of this prayer that school children learn). The prayer expresses sorrow for our sins, a firm amendment to avoid the sins we have confessed, a love of God, and a desire to enter heaven.

4. Absolution: The priest prays for the penitent using the prayer you have quoted above. The prayer is a prayer of Christ - the priest is speaking through their sacramental office - the forgiveness offered is offered in and through the church which is offered in and through Christ (remember another earlier post where I talked about the sacramental worldview of the Church - God-->Christ-->Church-->individual members of the body of Christ).

5. Penance: In order to outwardly show the inward conversion of heart, the penitent is given prayers or actions to say/do after the celebration of the sacrament. Most of the time it takes the form of prayers to say, Scripture passages to read, or a meeting with another person who we have offended and not reconciled with yet. Again, the form of the sacrament echoes and mirrors the form of the sacrament as it developed in the early church, with the modification that the priest is now standing in for the community to hear our confessions.

In other words, yes, we Catholics see the absolution given by the priest as being given by God, only transmitted through the office of the priest (not necessarily the priest himself). It is God himself who forgives the sins - however, as we are people of flesh and blood, we believe that sacrament ally (through the people and things of this world) we are offered the forgiveness in a tangible way so that we can appreciate the invisible reality that is happening (the cleansing of our souls, bodies, hearts and minds and their reorientation to God by his mercy and forgiveness).

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo