Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God

Welcome to "Fast Fridays," weekly gathering by videoconference for reminder that God is in our life -- even on a Friday evening.

We will take thirty minutes Fridays 6:00-6:30 to refresh, enliven and re-dedicate ourselves to God.

It is "fast" because we will spend no more than 30 minutes, and because your host, Michael Bromley, fasts on Fridays.

• The discussions are not apologetics -- we're not here to argue or defend one belief or another; we are here to celebrate the faith we bring to one another;
• The discussions are not catechism; but they will be led by my experience and point of view as a Catholic, as well as to draw from the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
• Here for where the idea came from: Fast Fridays: How it got started;
• Fasting serves as a penance for sins, reminder of our dependance upon God, and to "help us acquire mastery over our instincts" (CCC 2043).

Sign up for Fast Fridays Click here to join the Mailing list, which will remind you about the Meetings, give a recap of the prior week's discussion, and provide you with the MS Teams URL to join the Discussion

• Go to Exegesis for Bible & Bible study resources

God bless, and I hope you will join us!

- Michael

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Friday, Nov 22: Good News? The Destruction of the Temple & the Tribulations

Mark 13 is more than a bit of a downer: See that great building over there, not a stone will be left upon another! Oh, and famine and war is coming, and that’s just the beginnings of the labor pains you’re gonna suffer! You’re gonna be beaten, betrayed, hated, and lied to, and after all that fun, the sun and moon will be blotted out, the stars will fall, and then some dude called the Son of Man will come surfing down to earth on winds and clouds and to gather his friends, leaving the rest to suffer eternally.

Yikes!

Well, it is good news -- indeed, THE Good News, but must have been freaky to hear about at the time.

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What's so cool about the Bible is that there is not a word in it that God didn't want in it, and there's not a single word not in it that God didn't want in there. We're told, for example, that the "Eschatological Discourse" (end of times talk) takes place just outside of Jerusalem in the Mount of Olives, where to, after spanking the Pharisees in Chapter 12, Jesus and the Apostles head. On the way, the Apostles look up in amazement at the huge Temple. The last thing they expected to hear was that the building is going to be torn down. Jesus then launches into a series of warnings about the Tribulations and the Coming of the Son of Man.

Early English monk and scholar, The Venerable Bede, points to an important detail here: Jesus gave his talk on the end times on the Mount of Olives.

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Friday, Nov 15: "Get behind me, Satan!"

I love this line from Scripture -- and it's rather useful at times, such as when Terry wants or says something me she knows I don't agree with. "Get behind me, Satan!" and the matter is settled.

We don't know how Peter reacted to it, as it was in no way said in jest. Think about it: the Lord called him Satan!

Nearing the time of the Passover festival, Jesus had prepared the disciples for his coming Passion (Mt 16:21):

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

to which Peter objects:

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

Jesus tells Peter,

"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

We do know that whatever he made of it, Peter didn't understand. Not long after, at the arrest of Jesus in the Garden, Peter again brashly tries to defend Jesus, this time not with braggadocio but true bravery, wielding a sword. He truly didn’t get it, didn't get the logic of God’s plan. (And had he not slept through Jesus’ prayer in the Garden, perhaps he would have finally understood).

Peter kinda missed that "and... on the third day be raised," business. Naturally, he was shocked that Jesus said he would be betrayed and killed, the purpose of which the Peter and the disciples failed to understand. The rebuke, then, is plainly that Paul was thinking this life not the next, thinking like a human and not like God.

We’re worse than Peter though— God's plan has been fully revealed to us and we are still stuck “thinking… as human beings do.”

So how does "God think"?

The passage follows Simon's appointment as head of the Church, the rock, "Peter," which itself follow's Peter's declaration that Jesus is "the Messiah, the son of the living God." John, as usual, gives us some different passages, including the seven "I am" statements of Jesus, with the most direct one in Jesus' challenge to the Pharisees:

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” (Jn 8:57-8:x)

His listeners react violently to the claim and try to stone him. But the Messiah will be "lifted up" not knocked down, so Jesus miraculously escapes.

Even if they understood him to be the Messiah, as did Peter (albeit by divine inspiration; see Mt 16:17), none of them had any notion of the Messiah's actual mission. Here's where men don't think like God. Instead they understood that the Son of David would free Israel from foreign enslavement, as did Moses for them out of Egypt, and then restore the kingdom. This is why Jesus (and John the Baptist) says, repeatedly, "The Kingdom of God is at hand" -- to clarify that the "kingdom" is not of man (a "son of David") and thereby not of this world.

Not only do they not comprehend the role of the Messiah, their confirmation bias is so strong that they completely mistake Jesus' miracles for demonstrations of power, not mercy, and his teachings of repentance for expiation of Israel and not for personal salvation. As such, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of acting through Satan (Mt 12:25), and when he slaps that accusation down, they still demand "a sign" (Mt 12:38). Only, the sign they wanted was Caesar's head, not a cured leper. They were simply enraged by it all, and their frustration grows palpable in the constant questioning of Jesus about it: if you're the Messiah, save us already!

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

It's a sublime response that, thinking like humans and not God, they cannot accept, and not accepting it their contempt grows, even to mock him as he is dying on the Cross:

Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. (Mt 15:32)

It's not in any sense ironic that forty years later the Romans ended up destroying Jerusalem, killing hundreds of thousands of people through starvation, warfare, and, again, no irony, crucifixion of thousands. It's logical for the Jews to have expected that God would once again save his chosen people: he brought them from Egypt; he saved them from the Babylonians and Assyrians; and he gave them victory over the Seleucids (Greeks) who had profaned the Temple. Along with the element of thanksgiving, the Jewish system of sacrifice was for expiation of the sins of Israel and the ongoing restoration of its kingdom, so for the Israelites, the lesson was always that God punishes infidelity and rewards faith, lessons that backfired horrifically when God wasn't there for them in 70 AD. All good logic, but a complete failure of what's called "normalcy bias" -- expecting things to be the same, just because. Instead, reason failed them when seeing the plain miracles of Christ they saw misdemeanor Sabbath violations instead.

It is ironic, however, that the only person in the Gospel not guided by the Holy Spirit who realizes before Jesus' death what was actually going on was the "good thief," who after mocking Jesus for not saving himself (Mt 27:44), repents, telling Jesus,

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Lk 23:42)

There you go: the kingdom is not here and now, and had Jesus not died, which Peter wanted to stop, there would be no divine coronation. It was at his own death and upon watching Jesus die that the good thief was able to see what the rest could not, and that Jesus had been saying so plainly all along: the Messiah will restore not the temporal throne of Israel, but lead her people -- and the rest, as God had promised Abraham -- to the Kingdom of God. Indeed, one of my favorite lines from Jesus comes after Peter slashes at the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus. After the famous "live by the sword, die by the sword" comment, Jesus tells Peter,

“Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? (Mt 26:53)

That's what the pharisees and the disciples and all the Jews wanted from their Messiah. Jesus could have at any time ordered down "twelve legions of angels" and thrown the Romans out of Palestine. He could have climbed down from the Cross and cracked open a bottle of champaign, saying "Just kidding! Let's kick some Roman butt now!"

But that's how men think, not God.

Jesus rebuked Peter for trying to be an obstacle to the Cross. Jesus knew he had to die, that were he not to die Satan would prevail. But Jesus would not allow, it, thus he commands that Satan stand aside, get out of the way.

It was a bit of a learning curve, but Peter eventually got it and could thereby preach the Good News that the Messiah had not only arrived but arose to his fullest glory:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification by the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ: may grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you

who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. (1Pet 1:1-5)

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Before we scoff at the Apostles and disbelieving Jews, It'd all be rather remarkable if people in our own day were so plainly blind to simple truths that don't conform to their world view, their temporal satisfactions, and, most importantly, to their pride.

We humans think temporally. God thinks eternally.

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Today's discussion is less on my ramblings about the Kingdom of God (read it though!) and more on Jesus' warning to Peter that he, Jesus, must die, and to deny that death would be the devil's work. Death was introduced to man through Satan, and only the Christ can defeat it and restore eternal life -- by dying. It's unclear that Jesus was speaking to Satan as well as to Peter, for Jesus knew that Satan would instill hatred in Judas (Jn 13:27) and betray him, so why give him this warning? Either way, what matters here is that Jesus was preparing the disciples for his death. As Jesus told the disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Lk 24:26):

Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

The rebuke the Peter was a rebuke to us all: stop thinking like human beings!

Friday, Nov 8: Saint Paul, the perfect choice for Christ

We skipped last week for All Saints Day. The following day was All Souls Day. I love the juxtaposition of the two feasts: those who made it and those who could use a little push!

As I stood in line for Confession, I read from Acts. I got to Chapter 25, in which Paul is still in Caesarea, after the unsuccessful extortion attempt by the Roman governor Felix, who held him for two years hoping for a bribe (Acts 24:27). Felix hands him over to his successor, Porcius Festus, who tries to hand Paul back over to the Jews, but is thwarted by Paul's appeal, as a Roman citizen to Caesar.

The baffled Festus turns Paul over to the local King, Agrippa and his wife, Bernice. Agrippa is curious, and Festus explains the problem,

Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive.

I find this a remarkable passage that we might normally walk past: Paul testified to the resurrected Christ.

So much to discuss in Paul, and so many directions and diversions.

Instead, let's focus on "why Paul?"

In 1Tim 1:12-16, Paul himself tells us why he was chosen by the Lord:

I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.

Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.

So he's an example of God's mercy, with the qualification being that he was the "foremost" sinner. But he does not tell us about his other qualifications for the job.

Using the notion of "contingency," which means in this sense "alternatives" or "options", we can see how Paul is the perfect Apostle for the mission Christ embarks him upon, to spread the Good News to the Gentiles:

Paul, the Perfect Choice

Quality	Necessary Contingency:	Purpose
Pharisee, learned under Gamaliel	... to be thoroughly knowledgeable of the OT and Mosaic Law	to demonstrate Christ as fulfillment of the prophets (see Rom 10:4) authenticity in challenging the "Judaizers" (Council of Jerusalem, Acts 15:1) authenticity in converting the Gentiles
Persecuted Christians	... to have experienced a complete and literal conversion (metanoia, Greek for "changing one's mind")	to demonstrate the authenticity of his faith and mission to better convert others
Born outside of Israel	... familiar with the Greek and Roman world outside of Israel	to be sent to Damascus by the Pharisees to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles
Speak Greek and Hebrew (and/or Aramaic)	... speak these languages natively	for authenticity in Jerusalem (see his speech to the people in Acts 21:40) for protection by the Romans ("Do you speak Greek?""Acts 21:37) shift preaching from the Jews to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46) the Holy Spirit gave Paul the ability to "speak in tongues"
Roman citizen	... have legal rights of a Roman citizen	to be protected by the Romans in Jerusalem (Acts 21:39) to be sent to Rome (Acts 25:8)

Thus, Paul was the perfect vehicle for Christ -- all those characteristics of Paul were essential to the mission, it's authenticity, and its timing.

But he needed a few more qualifications, things about his character:

• First of all, he was very, very smart.
  • see 2 Pt 3:15-16 on how Paul is "hard to understand"
  • quick thinker:
    • Acts 23:5 (after being smacked in the mouth at the High Priest's command)
    • Acts 23:6: splitting the Sanhedrin
• He was enormously patient:
  • Col 3:12 he calls for "patience" from believers
  • his letters are full of admonitions, but with patience and encouragement, such as from 2 Cor 2:4:

"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you."

• Had a great memory:
  • quoting Isaiah (Acts 28:4, etc.)

• in Romans Ch. 10 he uses extensive OT quotes in order to demonstrate Christ as fulfillment of the prophets:

For Christ is the end of the law for the justification of everyone who has faith. (Rom 10:4)

• from Acts 13:47, quoting Is 49:6

Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

• Some other necessary qualities of Paul
  • Keen political sense
    • splitting the Sanhedrin over resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6)
  • Very high pain tolerance:
    • see 2 Cor 11:30-33 for Paul's "boasts" and "labors" (listed here in our page on Saint Paul)
  • Unafraid of heights
    • lowered in the basket in 2 Cor 11:33
  • Ability to swim (see Acts 12:32, Acts 27:43)
  • Unafraid of snakes (Acts 28:3)
  • Talk all night & still have the energy to revive a boy from the dead (Acts 20:9)
    • (although he could be a little boring...)

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I have an additional question, though: did Paul see or even meet Jesus before the Crucifixion? We know he knew about him, as the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus tell the stranger they meet,

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”(Lk 24:18)

This site says he did: I like to think that Paul not only saw Jesus, but was one of the "scribes and Pharisees" who brought the adulteress to Jesus for stoning (Jn 8:1) -- of course there's no evidence for it, but it'd be consistent with Paul's attitude. Imagine were he the last of the group to walk away!" If so, it might also give us a clue as to what Jesus wrote on the ground (Jn 8:8) I always thought he was playing tic-tac-toe, with the final "scratch" as they walked away in shame, but maybe it was a note to Paul, "See you on the road to Damascus!"  :) Paul was there, and he tells us so. He tells King Agrippa (Acts 26;4-5),

My manner of living from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my people and in Jerusalem, all [the] Jews know. They have known about me from the start, if they are willing to testify, that I have lived, my life as a Pharisee, the strictest party of our religion.

We can conjecture that he was there for the challenges to Jesus, and the scalding, perfect replies received from him (Mt Ch 23, Mk Ch 12), but from what he told King Agrippa, he was there and he knew of these things. Did he participate? He was smart enough to have come up with the logical tricks they tired upon Jesus, and angry enough, indeed, were he there himself as Jesus threw "woes" and "hypocrites" at them (Mt. 23:13-29) to be "so enraged against them" (Acts 24:11) to persecute, imprison, vote to put them to death. And if so, we can see the depths of his metanoia on the way to Damascus and considering all these things for three years in the desert.

Here for websites on this question:

• Before His Conversion, Paul Knew Jesus - Theopolis Institute
• Did Paul actually see Jesus? | carm.org

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Here for a page on this site Saint Paul

Dali sends this site: https://www.theologyfortherestofus.com/pauls-four-missionary-journeys-the-complete-guide/

Here for another good timeline: Chronological Table of the Apostle Paul's Life (note that there is much uncertainty about the dates)

Friday, Oct 25: The Limits of sins of omission

The good Samaritan did right by God and took care of the mugging victim (Lk 10:29). The sheep sent to the right of the king took care of him when he was hungry, naked, and in jail (Mt 25:35). The rich man “suffered torment” for having ignored the sick man lying at his door (Lk 16:25). The lesson is clear: don’t ignore your suffering neighbor.

Are there limits to the rule? Am I off the hook because I only have a twenty and, honestly, if I gave the guy the twenty rather than a five like last time, won’t he start expecting more — or the Lord?

Worse, do the suffering have a responsibility to us? When does our charity exceed its benefits? How do we discern the sheep from the goat?

I need your help on this one.  

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This week Michael presented a dilemma as to the extent of charity. So happens that a former student's family is being kicked out of an apartment, as policies have changed and they can't stay in the place with their cat; they don't need help paying for another place but do need a co-signer. I am out of the co-signer game, having played that to ill effect in a prior life back when I had money. But, I want to help, so I am wondering if I am mistreating Jesus by not cosigning for a needing family?

Dave points out the obvious: which is more important, their family security in a home they already have, or a cat?

Which brings us to so much more: did I hurt the bum I gave a small tequila bottle that the store gave me at checkout? (He was sooo happy!) Should I give out five bucks instead of the twenty? To we measure our generosity by what we think is best for the recipient. Do we hold them to a degree of self-responsibility for their own actions? (We discussed a woman Dave knows who is broke and needing help because she is taking care of a sick dog she can't afford.) Dave quotes a friend on giving bums money: "That ten bucks isn't going to make him rich, and it won't make you poor."

From there we got into Michael's dangerous territory of calling out people on virtue signaling by helping at soup kitchens. Bothers me that at the Catholic school I taught there was a lot of guilting into "doing good". Not a good thing to judge people on, Michael is correctly advised here.

Nevertheless, we fell upon the idea that little things can make a huge difference, be it eliciting a smile with a quick joke, or just being kindly. I am reminded, however, that, as Saint Teresa of Avila advised (I think it's her): whatever you do, do it for God. Give, help, provide... but not for you, not for them, but for the glory of God.

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Update 10/30: DJ says that it was sinful to give the bum the little bottle. Indeed, an act that contributes to sin is inherently sinful -- or worse, as it is a cause of sin (see Lk 17:1). DJ says the commandment to love others as one loves oneself covers the notion of not causing harm to another, as we do not want to harm ourselves. Hmm -- looks like an ongoing discussion!

Friday, Oct 18: what is our allegiance?

• The Demand for a Sign (Mt 12:38)
• The Return of the Unclean Spirit (Mt 12:43 and Lk 11:24)

As news of the works and wonders of Jesus spread, the pharisees and scribes felt threatened, and challenged and tried to discredit him. They demanded “a sign,” to which Jesus replied with a brutal reference to Jonah and the judgement of Nineveh (gentiles!) and the parable of “The Return of the Unclean Spirit.”

Do we build our faith on visible signs, then, with or without them, clear our consciences and move on? And even for those of us who believe without seeing (Jn 20:24), do we really complete our “clean houses” with God, or do we let demons fill any empty spaces?

It strikes me that Matthew put "Return of the Unclean Spirit" just after the "Demand for a sign" in order to emphasize that rote and literal obedience to Mosaic Law misses the point. We might today call it, following the "letter" of the law, but not its "spirit."

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We looked over Matthew 12 and realized that the second passage, Jesus is likely still talking to the pharisees, although we really don't know, and he's talking to us, anyway. But what strikes me if we take these these passages together is that Jesus uses the "Return of the Unclean Spirit" to let the pharisees know what is going on with them and their souls.

They sweep themselves clean, set everything in order, thinking that by following the Law they are with God and in God's favor. Jesus warns them, though, first with the "Demand for a Sign" that the signs are all around them, he doesn't need, and, indeed, will not, show them signs, because they've been given those signs all along, which is why he tells them that "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign" that has already been given, pointing to the prophet Jonah who saved Assyrians (! a most pagan and violent empire) after three days and nights in a whale. But, Jesus tells them, you haven't listened to Jonah, and now you have "something greater than Jonah here... something greater than Solomon here."

Moving into the "Return of the Unclean Spirit," Jesus warns them -- and us -- that if you don't fill the space you have cleaned of an evil spirit, it will be filled by "seven other spirits more evil" and "the last condition of that person is worse than the first." It's scary to think about, because he's saying that they would have been better off without the Law than with it but not filled with and by God.

From there we discussed how our society today thinks itself clean and pure, you know, "I'm a good person,"yet, in not seeking God, we are filled by worser spirits than those we supposedly fought off by "being a good person."

Friday, Oct 11: "none greater than John the Baptist"

"Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Mt 11:11)

Not sure why, but over the past two weeks I’ve been thinking over the John the Baptist and why we spend so little time thinking about him in our worship. After all, Jesus said there were “none greater than John the Baptist”, so might we pay a little more attention to him?

This week's Fast Friday happens to coincide with Thursday's third anniversary of my baptism, so I thought it'd be a great moment to discuss John the Baptist.

I had posted here extensive notes on scriptural sources and ideas about the Baptizer, but to keep these entries short, I have turned those notes into a work-in-progress blog post: Blog: "none greater than John the Baptist"

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Church of St. John the Baptist in Samodreža, also known as the "Church of Saint Lazar"

We reviewed those notes and tried to flush out popular Christian and our own perceptions of John the Baptist. Dali pointed out that his homeland of Serbia, where Saint John the Baptist is simply called Sveti Jovan -- already showing a great reverence for him -- there are multiple churches named for the Baptizer, including the "Church of St John the Baptist" in Samodreža (in today's Kosovo) and the "Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist" in Ostrovo (in modern Croatia). Whereas the "Baptists" are so-named for baptism and not for John the Baptist, these Serbian Orthodox churches represent a strong affiliation with John the Baptist. Dali says that his mother had a strong connection to St. John.

The Samodreža church is dedicated to the beheading of St. John the Baptist, and, as Dali points out, it is the location where Prince Lazar, recognized as Saint Lazar in the Orthodox Church, gathered his forces in 1389 in order to challenge the Ottoman invasion. Prince Lazar was killed at the Battle of Kosovo, as was the the Ottoman sultan (the only time an Ottoman sultan was ever killed in battle).

Friday, Sept 27: "Religion is the opium of the people" (or nothing new under the sun?)

Marx was an idiot. He was also troubled, drunk, ambitious, and fearful.

Humans don't like change, and like the infamous Luddites, who wrote threatening letters to factory owners signed "Ned Ludd" for a mythical weaver, Marx couldn't stand for the rapid, albeit bewildering changes in English society of the early- mid-19th century. Either that, or he saw personal advantage in them. Likely both.

Unlike the Luddites, however, Marx left the street protests and raids to others, who only went on to kill upwards 100 million people in his name. Unlike the real Ned Ludd, who as kid went into a fit of anger at being accused of idleness and smashed his knitting frames -- or, another story had it, smashed his needles to bits after his father told him to "square his needles" (Ned Ludd - Wikipedia), Marx wrote radical tracts, underwritten by a mill owner, Fredrich Engels, who didn't suffer from the Luddite movement, which had been crushed before the German Engels, a whoremonger, btw, who inherited all his money, took over a mill in Manchester.

Engels and Marx correctly worried, as did Dickens, who also profited from it, the conditions of the working class in industrial England. Dickens, though, sold his books to the growing middle class -- growing from rising incomes, not the other way around-- and who turned the industrial revolution into cottages, professions, education, and improved living conditions. The short of it is such: Marx, Engels and their later followers all thought -- hoped -- the communist revolution would occur in industrialized Britain or France, which of course, would have none of it, as factory workers were making money and the rising middle class (the dreaded "bourgeoisie") was having a time of it all. Those revolutions did occur, but only in nations that, instead, lacked a vibrant, healthy middle class: namely, Russia and China and their client states, in whom they destroyed the middle class.

The impatient and frustrated seek to blame obstacles for impeding their will. Marx blamed the bourgeoisie for externally obstructing the great proletariat uprising and religion for sedating proletariat anger, thus his infamous "opium of the masses" rant, which went as follows:

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

Well, then. Marx: 1, God: 0 -- ?

Maybe not. We will discuss how our faith does not intoxicate, but uplifts; does not replace our pain, but refocuses it upon the Cross; does not excuse or justify suffering, but admits of it; and how our faith does not reflect our lives, but instead makes our lives.

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We will start today with one of the best-known passages from Scripture, Eccl 3:1-15, "There is a time for..." The passage has been used in popular songs, just about every funeral, and as a lame excuse for murder (yes, there is a time for that, too). The quick read is that God not we are in control and whatever we have, good or bad, is a "gift of God" (verse 14). The first section of the poem ends,

Thus has God done that he may be revered. What now is has already been; what is to be, already is: God retrieves what has gone by.

Whatever popular culture assumes of the poem, Christ teaches (he always extends the OT!) to "glorify your heavenly father" (Mt. 5:16). As the paralytic picked up his mat and walked off "glorifying God" (Lk 5:25): so must we -- no matter in joy or sadnes

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Today our good friends let Michael run his Marx rant -- joined, God bless, by Teddy's own rant in which he taught us about Andrei Platonov and his dystopian critique of Marx's crazed (and sadly implemented) vision of heaven on earth. In Platanov's novel, Chevengur, every Marxist tenet was fulfilled, but with all the physical satisfactions Marx could dream of the people were miserable, empty.

Here we have the answer to Michael's question: is human suffering any different with or without God? No! Pain is pain. It is no more or less if God is present. What God does, however, is give it context and meaning. Besides, even the wealthiest and most comfortable among us still suffer -- there is no heaven on earth; as Justin and Teddy explained we live in a fallen world, and it is our job to reconcile ourselves with God through our savior the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as Liz explained, join God in heaven.

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Two more things:

• I was looking for the word "subsidiarity" to describe social organization as per the Fourth Commandment: starting with family (honor your father and mother), and hierarchically rising from there to larger authorities, to all of whom we owe "honor" (obedience) but all of whom owe us, down to the father and mother, respect, love, and good stewardship
• Raymond Aaron wrote a critique of Marxism (I have not read it) called, "The Opium of the Intellectuals" - LOL!

Friday, Sept 20: Typology and Salvation History

Carrying on from last week, we will review the concept of "typology" and apply it more directly to the "History of Salvation" -- aka God's plan for salvation.

The omniscient, omnipotent God created all things from love. His greatest act of love was to give us (and the angels) free will, for there is no love if it is not willed. But what is not willed as love is its opposite, thus while not creating evil, God necessarily allows it.

Since the exercise of free will necessitates the possibility of poor choice, God knows we will make poor choices. He thereby established a way towards redemption from those poor choices, which fallen mankind cannot recover from by himself. We call this "God's plan for salvation."

The plan includes Covenant blessings and curses, designed to guide us, inform us, and correct us back to him. After the false starts of Adam and Eve, and of Noah, in choosing Abram, God imprinted his chosen people with the rules and paths for redemption. They screw it up, of course. Constantly. But God never gives up, and sending prophets for guidance and to set anticipation for the only possible act of redemption, the sacrifice of God's only son, the only unblemished lamb.

The "types" of the Old Testament mark this path towards Jesus, who completes God's plan for salvation. We will review the History of Salvation and see how the Old Testament Types lead us to greater appreciation of Jesus Christ.

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This week we worked mostly on the notions of the Trinity and how in Creation the Father sent for ("proceeds from") the Son to accomplish the Plan of Salvation. So much here to discuss! We wrapped it back into Salvation History and how the

For a quick run through Salvation History see Isaiah 53 and Wisdom 2:13-24. Prepare the mind for a blowout...

Friday, Sept 13: Typology

What do we Christians make of the Old Testament? There are various approaches to it across denominations, but there can be only one basic understanding, which comes from the Lord himself in Matthew 5:17:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."

Much to discuss there, especially given the larger context of the verse in the Beatitudes. However we can take directly from it the notion of "typology" -- that the Old Testament "prefigures" Christ who "fulfills" it. Saint Augustine has been quoted or paraphrased with the brilliant observation,

The New is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed by the New.

That is to say, when we read the Old Testament, we are reading a preview of the Gospel, which reveals the true meaning of the Old Testament. Here we run into a huge issue for those who lived through the Old Covenant: what did they really experience? What were they supposed to believe?

God's "Plan of Salvation" answers this question. He chose Abraham to establish the people by whom that plan would play out. He didn't choose them because they were special; they were special because he chose them. And, of course, like Adam and as Adam's descendants, the screwed it up constantly, all the while revealing through God's agents, the way he wants us to live, and how to get there, which is fully and finally revealed in Christ.

We will review a few examples of New Testament ("New Covenant") fulfillment, starting, as we touched upon briefly on Sept 6, with Christ as the New Adam.

Something to consider is why does God need to "reveal" himself at all? Why not just tell it straight? Therein we have the problems of free will, the Fall, the limits of reason, and our inherent concupiscence. When God chose Abraham, he gave him only that information Abraham could process, because God needs not our fullest comprehension but our fullest faith.

Besides, we're dumb, full of ourselves, and slow to change - - stiff of neck and hard of heart. God reveals out of our necessity not his.

Friday, Sept 6: Intercession

Does God listen to us only if we ask him directly? Can we ask him to help someone else? Can we ask someone else to ask God to help us? Can we ask someone else to ask him to help someone else?

"Intercession" may be a topic of dispute among Christian sects, but we know from Scripture that asking the Lord for help for ourselves and others is not only possible, but desirable.

We will explore the Scriptural sources for the various types of intercessions available to us, as well as our personal stories of intercession and fulfillment of it.

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Our principal focus of discussion was this page, Intercession. We started off reviewing the exchange between Jesus and Mary at Cana, the occasion of Jesus' first public miracle. Points on this are on the "Intercession" page, but the most important for us is that someone took the problem of running out of wine to Mary who took it to Jesus. Jesus would have known already that they were running out of wine, but he waited until someone asked someone else who asked him -- and then that someone else (his mother...) tells the others what to do ("Do whatever he says" Jn 2:5).

We discussed briefly that there's much here in Catholic theology about Mary as the "Mediatrix" -- literally the medium by which the Lord became man, intercession at Cana, at the foot of the Cross and at Pentecost, etc. (and so much more), but for our discussion about intercession the Wedding at Cana is a perfect example.

We also reviewed Gospel examples of direct intercession to Jesus (Simon's mother in law, instructions in Pauls' Epistles, especially Heb 7:25). We did not discuss, but I will add here that there is another magnificent example of the Son's intercession to the Father on our behalf in "The Prayer of Jesus" in John 17 -- in fact, all of John 17 is a prayer of intercession to the Father by the Son on behalf of the Apostles and believers in Christ.

We then reviewed personal stories of intercession and prayer to God on behalf of others. It is real, and it is powerful.

Finally, we discussed Justin's document (not posted here) on “Travaileth Prayer”. I shared the document with participants and these observations on "travail":

A first question is, what is a “Travaileth Prayer”?  From the word “travail,” which is French for “work,” but in English carries the connotation of suffering in work.

We find the word “travail” in Scripture frequently in the KJV translation, especially in the Old Testament. It appears only once in the Gospels, in John 16:21:

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

My NABRE uses “labor” as in Jn 16:21:

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world

Revelation also mentions the pains, or travails, of birth (Rev 12:2):

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

As does Job 39:1:

Do you know when mountain goats are born, or watch for the birth pangs of deer

In the OT, the coming of the Messiah is illustrated frequently through birth pains. So God wants us to associate travail with birth, both literally and figuratively, and, as always, towards the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  This is why in John 16:21, Jesus refers to the “hour” of birth which brings pain and subsequent joy.

What Justin has wonderfully done here is to bring up this notion of travail and the pains and joys of birth as we pray, with St. Paul’s  teachings, for our friends and family to open their hearts and minds to the Lord.

We also discussed briefly something that David had emailed after the prior week about how one's struggles with the devil is not external but an internal fight. And so it has been from the beginning of the fallen world, when Adam, priest, prophet and king, fails his duty as king by allowing the serpent into the garden in the first place.

Friday, Aug 30: Staying faithful in a sinful world

While struggling to avoid sin in ourselves, here we are living in a world that not only denies God but forces its godless ways upon us. How do we navigate our faith when sin is at every corner?

See this homily on the Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist (Mk 6:17-29, reading starts min. 16:00) by Fr. Kevin Dansereau from Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church in Fredericksburg, VA. Some notes:

• Herod cared more about saving face in front of the court than doing the right thing
• Herodius leads others to temptation and sin, the reverse of John the Baptist, who led others to Christ
• John was martyred for defending marriage
  • like the Diocese patron Saint Thomas More, he stood up for the truth
• sin wants us to compromise our faith
  • asked Thomas More just to sign a piece of paper, not a big deal
• people love the Church as long as we stay quiet
• it is our time now to stand up for the truth, marriage, life
  • to have courage
  • to care more about truth than the crowds
  • Herod got acclaim and applause, but handed over his soul
• we need to be strong witnesses and not just buddies
  • try to get them to heaven
  • they will get mad
  • but they will be grateful from heaven
  • true freedom as children of God, free from sin.

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We discussed the world around us, which threw us each into a reflective moment of where we are, who is around us, and how do we get past its temptations, diversions, and deviations from the Lord.

Justin, the youngest among us, recommended prayer.

And this leads to our next topic: intercession.

Friday, Aug 23: Avoiding Sin

Last Friday we defined sin as "separation from God." Given so, then avoidance of sin requires proximity with God.

Jesus teaches us how to avoid sin:

The "occasion of sin"

In the Beatitudes, Jesus advises that we avoid sin by distancing ourselves from it. In what seems harsh advice, in Mt 5:29-30, he says,

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.”

The "occasion of sin" is that moment, location, situation, or disposition

Prayer

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tells the sleeping Peter, John and James, Mk 14:38:

"Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

We may also discuss the different types and terminologies of sin (venial, grave, mortal, etc.)

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We didn't get into the types of sin, and instead focused on the context of Jesus' Garden prayer, and how he repeated it to the Apostles three times. He knows our concupiscence and reminds us always to return to him.

We also discussed how our world removes standards in order to avoid judgment, and in doing so separates itself more and more from God. Dave brought up the interesting concept of "cultural training," through which sin is embed in society, and which he had to endure in his comparny. Therein is a next topic: how do we live faithfully in a sinful world?

Liz reminded us of the Our Father prayer's ending petition to God to "lead us not into temptation but preserve us from evil."

Friday, Aug 16: Sin

We discussed the Father and the implications of both a living God and a God who is "Our Father." It's stunning to even think about.

Yet, very little do we think about our relationship with the Father -- if we did, we wouldn't sin, now would we?

Would you, for example, do that in front of God? Uhh, yes already are doing that in front of the Father, we're just pretending he's not there.

When I was little, I had a strange notion that I was being watched every minute of the day. I never recall being comforted by the thought, but I do distinctly recall growing into the notion that it'd be really embarrassing if someone were actually watching me all day. From there, I just forgot about it. Much easier that way.

To ask people what is “sin” is to enter the fascinating world of self-justification and rationalization. Have you ever defined “sin” yourself, or for yourself?

Let's discuss!

Agenda:

• sin definition
• a fallen world
• sinful by default ("you have to opt-in to Jesus")
• types of sin
• the Cross'

Discussion Aug 16:

Sin is:

• breaking away from God = going opposite direction from God

• following natural impulses,

• it's easier

fixing it?

• bring yourself to God

• something to expect on the other side

• so don't have to expect

• "if you don't expect much from this world, then you'll be pleasantly pleased when you get to the next"

discussed:

• eye of the needle = not a needle but a passage/threshold for animals for sale in ancient Israel

• sell everything and follow me
  • D: can't just stay at home and pray
  • God wants us to do things
  • in the things we do we

Joan of Arc: if God wills it

Friday, Aug 9: Confirmation bias

We have been thinking over what it means to be "childlike" in terms of being believing in a -- the Father, which as we encountered over the last two weeks is the essence of childhood.

We will briefly review the last two weeks' thoughts, with this addition about "the Father" and "Our Father"

• Note: the Old Testament speaks of the 'living God" (as we discussed about the "Jesus prayer", "son of the living God") but not of "the Father," to whom the Son introduces us. God's revelation is incremental and must accommodate our biases and sinful nature (which we will discuss today). However, there is a hint in Exodus, as God calls Israel his "first born son" (Ex 4:22: "So you will say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD: Israel is my son, my firstborn.")

This week we will encounter the things that get our intellect in the way of our childlike faith, including

• concupiscence
• limits of reason
• Three-fold sins, sins of
  • the flesh
  • the eyes
  • pride

How we separate ourselves from childhood when we sin, as if we are the Father.

casuistry

• = self-deception through insincere reasoning or sophistry
• from CCC 579:

This principle of integral observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had led many Jews of Jesus' time to an extreme religious zeal. This zeal, were it not to lapse into "hypocritical" casuistry, could only prepare the People for the unprecedented intervention of God through the perfect fulfillment of the Law by the only Righteous One in place of all sinners.

scripture to consider

We have been discussing Matthew 11:25 and the confirmation bias of the pharisees that led them, even though "wise and learned" to hide God from themselves. God does not hide things from us: instead, what we don't see is hidden, hidden by our concupiscence and biases

• • The easiest example in scripture is when the pharisees see a plain miracle by Jesus and then complain he did it on the sabbath, as in
    • Matthew 11:6, Matthew 12:2, Mark 3:2,
  • or when Jesus goes home and was rejected by the people he grew up with: Luke 4:15
  • the Apostles, too, are blind to the Lord before them (many examples)
• But the Lord himself warns us directly about not seeing him. In the quasi-parable of the "Judgment of the Nations" (Mt 25:31-46), Jesus tells of the Son of Man "upon his glorious throne," sorting out the goats from the sheep, and tells the goats, Jesus tells "those on the right" (the sheep),

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

Then "the righteous" sent to the left (the goats) will protest

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

The limits of their reason, they biases and sinful state kept them from seeing God in every brother and sister.

Session recap

We did a little catching up for a new member, and so reviewed the ideas of the last couple weeks regarding "the Living God", "the Father," "Childlike," and "Wings of Faith", all of which were the foundation of our discussion tonight.

Childlike = having a father, thus when we are arrogant and "independent" we are actually orphaning ourselves from God.

Another big idea was that God is everywhere, and puts no limits upon us -- we place those limits upon ourselves. So when God "hides" knowledge from the wise and the learned, he is not hiding it from them, they are unable to see it due to their arrogance and pride. The "childlike," instead, are open and curious and so can see what Jesus was showing them. This brings up a question: can someone be only childlike in faith and have no reason? No!! That's called my dog. The Lord wants us to reason, he just wants us to reason

We discussed how, as the sense of pain signals danger, God's "curses" are not imposed by him but upon ourselves. God didn't punish Adam and Eve -- by disobeying God they punished themselves.

We wrapped up discussing how our "concupiscence" and pride get in the way of seeing one another as brothers and sisters, all of us as children of God.

Friday, Aug 2: "Childlike" (Matthew 11:25)

Continuing with the idea of "Our Father" as well as Matthew 11 and Luke 10, we will discuss the what it means to be "childlike" -- i.e. to have a father. Here for my blog post on Matthew 11:25: Blog:Salvation is for the "childlike"? Matthew 11:25

When approaching Scripture, we quickly encounter the limits of reason. For example, Matthew 11:25 has confounded me:

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike." (Mt 11:25)

Without trying to be ironic, it makes no sense to me that only the "childlike" can see God. Well, if it says it, it says it, and we just have to go with it -- we can call these the "mysteries". However, we mustn't surrender reason. Stay at it, try to understand, for the more powerful our reason, the stronger our faith.

Using the Two Wings of Truth: Reason and Faith

See Two Wings of Truth: gifts of faith and reason

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves - Saint Pope John Paul II

DNA / Reproduction

• DNA teaches us the nature and purpose of reproduction: maintaining the health of the species; self-correction of mutation; encoding inherent knowledge and/or behaviors
  • Socrates on reincarnation: The Slave Boy Experiment in Plato's 'Meno' (thoughtco.com)
    • he understood innate knowledge ("all learning is recollection")
    • but could not explain it other than through reincarnation
  • DNA carries knowledge across generations

"childlike"

• What "childlike" faith is: trusting, loving, in awe of, obedient
• What "childlike" faith is not: unthinking, simplistic, unlearned, unwise

The way to understand Matthew 11:25 is that "childlike" doesn't mean simplistic, unthinking, it means having a father. The implications of accepting a father are huge! See my post on Salvation is for the "childlike"? Matthew 11:25 for some views of what it means to accept the Father.

Note: Christ is Son of God; we are God's adopted children

• does that make sense?
• let your Wing of Faith fly on that one!

Prodigal children

Childlike
believing
trusting
adoring
faithful

Tempted by the snake, Adam and Eve gave up our inheritance as children of God, so, like the Prodigal Son, we must come back groveling to the Father.

• Prodigal son:
  • he wanted the inheritance now
  • he looked at the now and not at the eternal
  • he partied it up: me, me, me
  • destitution broke his pride and he returned in humility

Friday, July 26: the Living God

Friday, July 26, we discussed the idea of a "Living God" -- we take it for granted today that our God is "living" and "personal" -- these are not obvious concepts to the ancient world, for whom the notion of "Our Father" was unthinkable. (Even some modern religions find the idea of a "living" and "personal" God abhorrent.)

The "living God" is expressed in the "Jesus prayer," which was used similarly to today's Rosary prayers as a meditative prayer. In fact, beads were used to count recitations of the Jesus prayer, which might be recited 100 times or more at a time.

The "Jesus prayer"

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

"The living God"

• what a "living God" is not:
  • an object or statue
  • ritualism and superstition
    • those are forms of idolatry, which means placement of anything above God.
• what a "living God" is:
  • present
  • personal

When we kneel before an altar, or pray with a Cross, it is not idolatrous, as we are praying to a representation of the living God and not an object which is seen as a god unto itself. (The Eucharist and transubstantiation is different, but we did not discuss that.)

Our Father

• contemplating "Our Father"

We discussed how, when Jesus gave us the "Our Father" prayer he was changing our relationship to God, instructing us that we, collectively, have a Father in Heaven, and we are his children if we so choose.

To the ancient world, the notion that God was "the Father" was shocking. The "Desert Fathers and Mothers" were early Christians who escaped worldly attentions to live in isolated prayer in the lands outside of Alexandria, Egypt, and in the Holy Lands. One Desert Mother was so firmly moved by the notion of "Our Father," that should would spend three days sobbing in gratitude and wonder over those two words -- and she could never make it through the Our Father prayer!

Btw, here for the "Seven petitions" in the Our Father prayer. (Protestants refer to it as "Lord's Prayer": it is the same.)

Christ reveals the Father

Matthew 11:25-27

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

Luke 10:21-22

At that very moment he rejoiced [in] the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

We had a wonderful first Fast Fridays! discussion. Thank you so much for attending, and for thoughtful, inspirational discussion. Michael blew it on one thing: we didn't open or close with prayer! That will happen going forward.