The Goodness of Life: 13th Week of Ordinary Time

The readings for this Sunday focus on the theme of life, and God’s desire for it.  They discuss God’s relationship with, and intentions for, the natural world: topics that resonate with Pope Francis’ newly-released encyclical on the environment. 

1.  The first reading poses some issues that have to be discussed:

Reading 1 Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24

God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.

The modern person, of course, will immediately object that natural history seems to indicate that death was always a part of nature.  Plus, there are poisonous plants and animals, and isn’t nature “red in tooth and claw,” etc.  So what do we say?

What I Like about Peter Singer

Peter Singer, the atheist ethicist who teaches at Princeton, just got disinvited from a philosophy conference in Cologne after this interview with a Swiss newspaper was published:

Neue Zuricher Zeitung: You do not consider an infant to be more worthy of protection than an embryo. On the other hand, you do not necessarily ascribe a higher status to humans than to animals.

Plato and Marriage Redefinition

 

I majored in Classical Languages in my B.A. program, and despite the fact that it made me perhaps less employable than not having any degree at all, I have never regretted the decision, for a variety of reasons.

One of the reasons I appreciate the study of the Classics is that it provides some perspective from which to evaluate and analyze contemporary culture.  To enter into the world of ancient Greek literature, for example, is to enter a society and culture quite different from twenty-first century America.  By doing so, I became more aware that many of the values, opinions, and customs that Americans accept as obvious or natural, were not shared by all people at all times, and are in fact the product of our unique cultural and intellectual history.

One of the shocking aspects for Christian students of the Classics—at least it used to be shocking—is to discover the widespread practice and approval of same-sex physical relationships among ancient Greeks.  Take, for example, the term “Platonic relationship.”  If modern people have heard of this concept, they think it refers to a non-sexual friendship between a man and a woman.  But Plato was not actually much concerned with male-female relationships.  The discourses he wrote which gave rise to the terms “Platonic love” or “Platonic relationship” were actually advocating non-sexual friendships between men.  Male-to-male eroticism was widely practiced among elite Greek men in Plato’s day; in fact, it was assumed that the ideal love relationship between to human beings was not between a husband and wife, but between an older man and younger (usually adolescent) man.  

Jesus, Trees, and Seeds: The 11th Sunday of OT

In this week’s Mass readings, Jesus teaches us about himself and the Church using agricultural images.

It is the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time.  The last time we had a Sunday of Ordinary Time was on February 15^th, and that was the Sixth.  The logical question is, what happened to the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th?  The 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th Sundays were pre-empted this year by Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi, and the 7^th was squeezed out because otherwise the calendar would not end with the 34^th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Christ the King) prior to Advent 2016.  As a result, we get no Gospel Readings from Mark 2-3 this year.  

Knowing the Love of Christ: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

This Friday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a wonderful feast day in which we meditate on the love of Christ for us, symbolized by the icon of his sacred heart. 

The Readings focus on expressions of the love of God.  Our First Reading is Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9:

Thus says the LORD:

When Israel was a child I loved him,

out of Egypt I called my son.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

who took them in my arms;

I drew them with human cords,

with bands of love;

I fostered them like one

who raises an infant to his cheeks;

Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,

they did not know that I was their healer.

Scandalously Close to God: Readings for Corpus Christi

This is a truly joyful time of the Church year as we conclude the long sequence from Advent to Pentecost with these great feasts celebrating central truths of our faith: the Trinity last Sunday, and the Eucharist this week, followed by the Sacred Heart on Friday.

One might ask, What is the relationship between the Trinity and the Eucharist?  Why does the one feast follow the other?