Vivat Agnus Dei

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem ,  Pietro Lorenzetti ,  Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi Introduction Today, I thought we could consider the early church practice of Lectio Divina, or "divine reading," which allows one to receive God's communication through scripture. One may say that if God does not seem to speak (typically considered in audible fashion), it is because He has already spoken or speaks in a way that one is not listening. Lectio Divina tunes one to both possibilities, by obtaining direct information concerning a Person who should be Our Everything straight from the subject Himself rather than taking someone else's interpretation and formulation of facts about Him, which often leads to inconsistencies if someone is not educated in saying things about Him and even then, we have to understand what they mean and they have to do it pretty well to compensate for all the potential problems. This is what makes going to the source itself in the Sacraments a...

The question we are after here is "What does therapy offer us that friendship does not?" If it offers anything it would have to be something beyond close and healthy relationships. To answer this question, we must ask and answer a few others: What is the human person? The human person is a confluence of past, present, and spirit. Spirit is not a gnostic principle but rather a signal to reason—a framework of logic, judgment, and experience. We recognize that angels are understood by their frameworks: Satan is known by division (dis-communion), individualism (ego-theism), and the resolute refusal to serve God (contra-willing good, contra-willing, contra-good). In contrast, Michael is identified by the meaning of his name ("Who is like God?"), Raphael by "God heals," and Gabriel by "God is my strength." For humans, this experience differs, especially when viewed through the lens of humanity'...

The proposed course of correction to  Carter Carruthers, "Chronic Pursuit of Instant Gratification", Vivat Agnus Dei, November 24, 2024 . If you have ever had an in-depth spiritual conversation with a spiritual director, minister, a friend who is reading the saints, or even a recovering addict, odds are you have/will have heard the word "surrender" at least 5 times in the course of that conversation. Given the fact this word can begin to seem like vocal clutter solution more than a real term or concept or an opportunity to be dismissive of your trials (or effects of the sins others have committed against you), and how essential this concept appears to be in such conversations, it is well worth presenting at least an attempt at defining surrender. In consulting Scripture, the Magisterium, and 12-step group texts, it seems that surrender is best understood as the following sentences delimit: Surrender is the grace-filled act of aligning one’s will with God’s, born of ...

In the Christian understanding, the dignity of humanity is fundamentally rooted in the call to communion with God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) articulates this idea, stating, "The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God"[1]. This call to communion is the foundational goal of human existence, encapsulating the state of "shalom" from the beginning, which represents the original state of man[2]. Communion, as an essential aspect of human dignity, is a multi-faceted concept deeply intertwined with love, spirituality, the reality of one's physical nature, and interpersonal relationships, ultimately reflecting our divine purpose and nature. Communion is a multi-faceted concept, deeply intertwined with love, which is its efficient cause. The mutual, abiding, dialogical state of communion between persons (the final cause) arises from both parties willing the good of the other through vulnerability. Love of God se...

Moderation in all things, including moderation, means simply that we should order the reception of goods according to just about any other criteria than our desires, we may tend in a direction in light of our desires, but we are led astray if we do not consider objective reality in our efforts. Let us also mention God calls us to love Him and there is nothing that matters any more than that relationship, then we shall love others, and then we shall be concerned with our will/desires. It should also be noted that our relationship with God and others is heavily influenced by our interior virtues and vices, thus while loving the two external entities (God and neighbor), we will have to take care of our real needs healing, sleep, food, prayer, community, etc. A proper understanding of moderation (practical acceptable variance) and our call to love rightly have one thing in common and it is what God wants which of course corresponds to what is our good (John 4:32-34, 6:38, 5:30; Luke 22:42)...

If you have ever heard someone speak of a miracle you probably, responded with some skepticism. Don’t worry, we are meant to believe God when we know it is him, not someone who claims a miracle happened and not even necessarily that a miracle is taking place when something we didn’t foresee happened (obviously those miracles that exist may have scientific evidence and that is different than believing every alleged miracle). A miracle in physical terms is defined as a suspension of or an event that defies natural laws as a result of divine or supernatural intervention. The above is said because it has been reportedly observed that demonic possession can have natural law-defying moments which does not make it God doing the intervening. One may go their entire lives without seeing a miracle, not because of their lack of faith or God’s potency to do them. However, perhaps we are missing the “miracle of the present”, God’s Providence, as distinct from miracles. First, let us consider the co...

"In addition, I cannot too strongly recommend that priests, consecrated persons and lay people who are skilled in this area should offer spiritual direction to young people so that they can review the different stages of their life under God's eyes, discern his presence and do his will, the source of profound freedom. Guidance by an adult whom the young person trusts will help him overcome the most difficult inner struggles, analyze his own conduct, make decisions according to a scale of values and enter into an ever closer relationship with Christ. Likewise, in drawing close to young people, adults are someone they can talk to and the witnesses they need in order to have a calm vision of their future as human beings and Christians. Thus young people will be able to listen with trust to Christ's call to put out into the deep (cf. Lk 5:4); they will dare to reveal their Christian identity and will be missionaries among their friends in a society where, as you say, faith ten...

“I will lead the blind in their journey; through paths unknown, I will guide them. I will turn darkness to light before them, and make crooked ways straight.” (Isaiah 42:16). When I read this Bible passage the other day, I was struck immediately with a thought: this is the spiritual life. God constantly invites us to trust Him, past the point of our limited understanding and into the wonderful plan that He has ordained for us from the foundation of the world. We see this most clearly in great Saints of the Church, such as John of the Cross and Teresa of Calcutta. Each suffered through intense spiritual darkness, utterly deprived of consolation in order to purify them. While their reason, faith, and obedience to the Church’s teaching told them that what they were doing was right, they were bombarded with uncertainty and hyperawareness of their faults. How often do we see the true masters of a discipline agonizing over the details of their work? While writing their magnum opus, how many ...

Adam and Eve try to hide from the sight of God . Artist: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Source: Die Bibel in Bildern, Plate 9. Color added by PlaygroundAI Have you ever played hide-and-seek? The object of the game is to intentionally hide oneself, to be found by the appointed seeker. I always enjoyed playing this game with a family friend, he couldn't hide anywhere but behind the bookcase, and usually his belly stuck out a little, so it helped me feel like I was winning. I also admired that someone much older than me loved me, a very small person, and at the same time his being overweight was something I loved about him. After all, I do not love him as I would prefer him but ought to and aspire to love him as he is. In all of our lives, we experience the effects of sin, our own and those of others, i.e. suffering evil. We can see from the very first sin how we tend to react. Our first move is typically to hide and figured it out later, this can be understood from psychological and ...

What relationship do you value most? Think of the love you have given, all the time you put into it, and every sacrifice you made to feed it, and imagine all you would do if that person needed you to help them out of a dangerous or difficult situation. Now consider God's love while being sufficient in Himself and having no necessity to do anything for greater survival or joy. He creates because His love is so great that, in willing it, He spoke us into existence. We are not able to comprehend or fathom this love, but we can know just how little we know. First, it is key to recognize that God is pure, and is synonymous with His love. We know that even though He "has been treated basely by His degenerate Children" and "His own did not know Him", "He spared not His only Son" who suffered not only human existence but died brutally for us "while we were still sinners" (Deuteronomy 32:5, John 1:10-11, John 3:16, Romans 5:8-10). We also know that He...

Many dislike “fire and brimstone” preaching but why is that? Is it not a fact that one has two choices, namely, to be a saint or go to hell? Truly, there would be no such preaching if the prophets had not done it first. In every choice, thought, word, and action you either contribute to the kingdom of love or the kingdom of destruction. This is the justice that the world was created with that those who were loved and seek destruction shall suffer in such fate (cf. Matthew 26:52). Those that that love was first loved by God shall be given more of it (Matthew 25:14-30). Still, Christ made recourse humanly possible through grace. Very often, the best ally is a poor enemy, is this not what we are for our enemies, corrupt as we are? Truly, Truly, those who sin choose hell/destruction/death, and those who love properly choose heaven/life/sacrifice/love. Every brimstone verse, I could recall from memory begins with one very important verse, "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am t...

The problem of evil is really a backward question for Christians and Jews at least. The question takes the perspective of someone who feels 1) their suffering is unmerited and 2) that the best good possible is its prevention. However, both are false, since 1) all have sinned, 2) where there is sin there is suffering in oneself and others, and 3) God did not spare His own Son the suffering and death that opened the possibility of Heaven for us. Avoiding suffering so impressed upon us by the imaginative vision of the culture as the ultimate good moves us far from God's love and into the enemy's grip. On the contrary, we cannot give ourselves over to sin and expect salvation in the next breath.  The old adage goes "you cannot have your cake and eat it too". If you have had kids, you certainly witnessed the amount of strife that is taken in providing for one's family and the children taking it for granted, and further, more is expected. We do this with God, rather tha...

There is a time during the life of a Christian filled with near violent tribulation. This time is often described using an image of a candle in a hurricane . This spot is yet a significant, pivotal moment in the Christians life making the jump between the consolations of this world and the nature of the goods of the next. The enemy uses everything possible to either convince the Christian that it is not safe or make it appear undesirable. Every force employed will cause the Christian to question and doubt what lies ahead and the voice that is leading them. The Christian must be careful that this turmoil does not extinguish the light within nor the love for God that begets the trust. There is scarcely greater risk to either lose everything sacrificed for up until now and which still is what is most wanted in abandonment to proximate goods (i.e. the greatest of all eternal lives in relationship with the One we love more than a father, a spouse, or a young child) or lose any hope of recov...