Posts Tagged ‘scripture’

Pentecost Sunday

Posted: May 23, 2010 by datechguy in catholic
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Pentacost Sunday

There are two different very important things about Pentecost Sunday that I think people should think about.

The first was told to me by my pastor. Consider, Jesus is executed, the Jewish leaders are not big on the people who followed him and the Roman’s certainly are not friendly. Yet starting on Pentecost Sunday the apostles start to fearlessly preach Jesus. This is one of the great proofs of Christianity. Some dramatic thing happened between the day that Christ dies and the day of Pentecost. What is it?

It is actually two things, the appearance of Christ that they saw in person and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The second is something that I was considering one week when I was debating some seventh day Adventists on the Bible. The first evangalists appear at the Pentecost. They are NOT the Apostles.
They are the crowd. Consider the passage in Acts:

We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” Acts 2:9-11

These people were all visitors, they all heard the apostles in their own languages. They were all aware of it and they likely went home (as they were visitors) before Paul’s and the other Apostles journeys.

They were eyewitnesses to a miracle. They saw it and heard it and when they came home in those days before IPODS, TIVO and DVD’s told what they saw. When a person returned from travels it was a big event. How much bigger was the event when they described the improbable thing they saw and heard? How often was this spread by the people who heard her?

So the ground was prepared, yet when is this ever mentioned?

That is the second story of the Pentecost and it should not be forgotten.

Yup there is a problem here

Posted: March 25, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, opinion/news
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I want to point to a column that Smitty e-mailed me this article concerning Catholics who voted for the healthcare bill at Creative Minority Report. I thought this was important enough to mention here:

There is something very wrong with Catholicism in America when Catholics play such a large role in passing anti-life and anti-conscience legislation. Catholic politicians need to be reminded that you don’t leave Christ at the Capitol steps. They need to be reminded that the issue of life is not negotiable. And Catholic voters need to elect politicians who understand that evil exists and fight with all they have against enshrining evil into law. They must remember that the terms public servant and Catholic are not mutually exclusive.

There are a lot of Catholics who either don’t know their religion or don’t want to know them. It’s true we don’t kick them out of the church, we don’t bar them from the services, on occasion they are barred from communion but that is more for their soul’s protection than anything else.

Yes it is very embarrassing and part of it comes from the poor Catholic education that many got in decades past. Yet we are obliged to pray for them and hope that they will come to both confession and conversion.

The fact that they still choose to identify with the church even as they try to avoid obedience suggests they know the value of the faith. Some of it doubtless is greed and self advantage, but to some degree it is the desire inside, the still small voice that knows sin and wants to keep the door open to redemption.

I have said often enough that if people don’t want to be Catholic there are plenty of denominations out there to choose from but in the end I would love to see these and as many others as possible come home. It is not our mission to discard sinners, it is our mission to save them. As Christ said in last week’s Gospel:

But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more.” John 8:7-11

For our own souls sake we need to avoid spiritual pride and pray for them. With prayer and fasting and the aid of the holy spirit all things are possible. After all the idea that God will forgive their sins is a lot less incredible to me than the idea that God is willing to forgive mine.

Crazy Uncle Syndrome strikes again

Posted: February 1, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, internet/free speech
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A while back I talked about Crazy Uncles, the proposition that 1% of any given population is composed of “Crazy Uncles” people who might be normal in a bunch of ways but whose views are very out there.

In any crowd you are going to have some crazy uncles. At the Boston Tea Party there were a few Ron Paul guys, at least two LaRouche guys and one vulgar sign about Barney Frank that I think crossed the line.

It added up to 5-10 guys out of 1000. The Boston Globe would have surely highlighted it…if they bothered to cover the rally.

Highlighting the crazy uncles in a group is method that the media has used to discredit movements that don’t have their imprimatur. One of my early disputes with Charles Johnson on his blog that led to my eventual banning at LGF (I posted there under my name not DaTechGuy) was my critique of his use of the Crazy uncle method to go after the Tea Party rallies.

The danger comes when you use that 1% of “crazy uncles” to reinforce your view of a group you already hate. By painting with that broad brush you don’t have to engage, your own bigotries and prejudices of the other 99%. Thus can a person sit back in the comfortable chair of affirmation. The certainty of their own moral superiority, unchallenged by the pesky facts around them…

…and that brings us to Joe My God’s post today. He has found a radio host who is a crazy uncle. A host I’ve never heard of or listened to. A host I’ll bet a lot of other Christians don’t know much about, and uses him to paint Christians with a broad brush:

Remember folks, the Christianist right is not about hatred and bigotry. It’s about the gentle redemptive love of Jesus, forced upon you at the barrel of a gun in prison as they beat the gay out of you.

According to this site 71% of Americans self identify themselves as Christians. 159 million adults (2001 figures). I have been a Catholic all my life and have spoken to Catholics and other Christians for all of my life concerning religion. I’ve heard ministers preach and been around their congregations. I’ve never heard any priest or minister advocate anything remotely like this. If I had to think of all the Christians I’ve known in my nearly 5 decades, maybe 2 might share this guys opinion and his twisting of scripture to his own ends. It is highlighted for the same reason why Chris Matthews goes after the birthers, it’s low hanging fruit and easier than going after Churches sending millions to Haiti; after all that doesn’t fit the template.

But such an acknowledgment wouldn’t support the “Christianist” template. So let’s play a game, let’s ask a few intelligent questions and invite our friends who use the term “Christianist” to enlighten us:

1. Define “Christianist”

2. Does belief in Roman Catholic Doctrine make one a “Christianist”

3. Name the protestant denominations that are by definition “Christianist”

4. If you are “bible believing” christian, does that make one a “Christianist”

5. Is the current Pope a “Christianist”, was the previous one a “Christianist”? If you answer yes to both, can you name one that wasn’t?

6. Can one by definition avoid the label “Christianist” without rejecting the Bible?

It will be interesting to hear the answer to these questions.

The “Coincidence” of the 3 year mass cycle

Posted: January 31, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, local stuff
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As you likely don’t know if you aren’t Catholic, (and you may not know if you are). There is a 3 year cycle that scripture reading at a Catholic Mass are on. Each year we do a different one of the synoptic Gospels, on the “Mark” years we mix in John (because Mark is so short) and John is also used on major feasts and heavily during Lent.

What this means is over a 3 year period we complete all of Paul’s letters, all of the Gospels and a good chunk of the rest of the New Testament and large chunks of the old.

Now as you know the big news around here is the Planned Parenthood stuff.

So what do you think happens to be the first reading today?

The word of the LORD came to me thus:
5
1 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

17
But do you gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you. Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them;
18
For it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, A pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land: Against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people.
19
They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD. Jeremiah 1:4,5,17-19

And of course this is only two days before the big city counsel meeting. So what does Father Bob do? Does he play it safe and go with the Bishop’s letter talking about Penance, or does he challenge the congregation as Christ does in today’s gospel?

Well if you’ve been reading about Fr. Bruso you know the answer.

Today’s sermon was a direct challenge to get involved, going over each argument and leaving Planned Parenthood’s arguments in the dust of logic. This big argument was the encouragement of the separation of the decision making process from the parent since teenagers are so good at making decisions without parents, but the ironic line was his final point, which went something like this:

Let’s assume that disagree with every argument I’ve already made. Think a sec, when your teens had regular prescriptions, have they taken their pills without be reminded by a parent? Why would anyone think they would be any more responsible with no parents helping them?

There is a reason why teenage pregnancy rates don’t drop when Planned Parenthood arrives.

He asked the congregation to call their city counselors and the Mayor’s office noting that both the Mayor and the president of the city counsel were supporters of Planned Parenthood move to Fitchburg.

What will the result be? We will find out in two days.

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