I love Netflix. I love that I can watch sitcoms and movies, as well as virtually any documentary I like, at any hour of the day or night. For a kid who grew up with three channels, rabbit ears and the occasional VHS rental cassette, it’s quite an amazing advancement.
Some years ago, Lee Edwards, a veteran conservative writer and a friend of mine, launched an organization, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, dedicated to “commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.”
I went down to the basement this morning to put away some frozen food and to store some canning jars on a shelf. I flipped on the appropriate lights and navigated my way around still-unpacked moving boxes. After unloading my items and making my way upstairs, I turned off all the lights without thinking. This simple act was a milestone. The lights and switches aren’t really intuitive, and you have to truly know the place to know which ones do which thing. To do something in this house without consciously thinking through the steps felt like a victory. Maybe one day, if I can acquire enough of these little victories, I will feel at home.
The patristic scholar, Father Boniface Ramsey, remarked: “The (Church) Fathers were the first to face certain problems that Christianity was bound to encounter and continues to encounter, and they provided responses that are classic, if not canonized. The nature of God, God’s relation to the world, the humanity and divinity of Christ, the nature and structure of the church, the authority of Scripture, the moral obligations of the human person: these are among the issues that the Fathers first addressed … ” (“Beginning to Read the Fathers,” p. 15). This subject of the authority of Scripture is inseparable from its interpretation, which is simply the correct understanding and practical application of God’s Word for faith (what we believe) and for morals (how we are to act). On this topic of biblical interpretation, the Church Fathers made a lasting contribution to the Catholic faith by two main patristic “schools”: Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt. Here is a brief glance at these patristic centers of learning.
This year, religious education in the parishes will be different. Throughout the diocese, directors of religious education and their faith formation teams are ensuring that religious education classes and instruction are offered to all families in a safe and accommodating manner. Each parish has had to evaluate its resources, needs and parishioners’ concerns. Faith formation will look different from parish to parish.
Under the heading “A fair chance for children” the New York Times editorial board recommends four measures to help low-income kids: create government-funded savings accounts for newborns, provide universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds, “spend more” on educating poor children and get rid of lead water pipes.
It’s become one of my favorite flourishes in interior design, one that always stops me in my Instagram scrolling. And here it was, on the cover of a book titled “Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday.”
Desperate people, experience tells us, will often make wild promises, swearing anything to God or others to avoid the final enclosure of despair in a moment of panic. It’s a pitiable moment whenever we see it in film or literature, and even more so if we experience it in real life. Christ’s parable about forgiveness provides us with just such a scene, illustrating for us the true drama of mercy.
Summer can be an amazing time to relax, leave behind obligations and worries, and enjoy fun vacations with family, or gardening adventures with nature, or better yet, quiet times in the peace of a sunny day to regenerate our spirits.
Returning late in the day
I don’t know if you feel the same way, but for the past few weeks, the Lord, in the Gospels, has been really challenging my way of thinking. It is almost like he is grabbing me by the britches, turning me upside down and shaking loose certain preconceived, false views on life. Today’s Gospel passage is no different.