The Neverending Story (The Christian Chronicles)

Associated Press ^ | 3/24/01

[malakhi]

The Neverending Story
An ongoing debate on Scripture, Tradition, History and Interpretation.

Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue. - John Adams

Previous Thread

[RobbyS]

Keep spouting.

[OLD REGGIE]

OLD REGGIE...is it a habit to quote things from weeks ago, because I'll tell you right now it's been a lot longer than "few days."

My jibe was actually aimed at Dave for making the rediculous assertion that NC's must agree with something if they don't respond to it. I looked around for a few rather "different" postings by a RC which was not corrected by the C's and found yours. That is all.

BTW, your oldest post was 9 days old as of yesterday.
==============================================================================

Look, I'll admit, I'm not history savy, but the last statement was made as rebutle to someone asking, "so everyone saved is a saint?"

It makes no difference why you said it.

""Not every person saved is a saint, I won't explain it, but it takes the process of canonization. There was no heaven until Christ died. No salvation, but a hell; so therefore a "limbo" (just a name)."

Since no C, especially Dave, disputed it am I supposed to assume they agree with you?

You got caught in the crossfire. Don't worry about it. It would be nice though if you gave some thought to your statements and address their accuracy.

[al_c]

Disclaimer: If you want on or off of this ping list, FReepmail me.

Tuesday, April 29,  2003
St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

First Reading: Responsorial Psalm: Gospel:

1 John 1: 5 - 2:2 Psalm 103: 1-4, 8-9, 13-14, 17-18 Matthew 11: 25-30 No one should judge that he has greater perfection because he performs great penances and gives himself in excess to the staying of the body than he who does less, inasmuch as neither virtue or merit consists therein; for otherwise he would be an evil case, who for some legitimate reason was unable to do actual penance. Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion, without which the soul is worth nothing.  -- St Catherine of Siena

The following is, as usual, from The Word Among Us:

The daily readings are:

First Reading ACTS 4:32-37

The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. Thus Joseph, also named by the Apostles Barnabas (which is translated "son of encouragement"), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a piece of property that he owned, then brought the money and put it at the feet of the Apostles.

Responsorial Psalm PSALM 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty. or R. Alleluia. The Lord is king, in splendor robed; robed is the Lord and girt about with strength. R. And he has made the world firm, not to be moved. Your throne stands firm from of old; from everlasting you are, O Lord. R. Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed: holiness befits your house, O Lord, for length of days. R.

Gospel JOHN 3:7b-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, "How can this happen?" Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

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The nickname "Barnabas" literally means "son of encouragement," or "encourager." Barnabas made a generous financial gift to the apostles for the sake of helping the poor members of the Christian community. Perhaps the apostles gave him his nickname because of his generosity. After all, people are encouraged by the example of someone who demonstrates great generosity and dependence on the Lord.

Barnabas was generous not only in material ways; he was also generous in the way he related to other people. He seemed always willing to accept those whom people shunned. For example, after Paul became a Christian, the believers in Jerusalem avoided him because of his reputation as an enemy and persecutor of the church. But Barnabas was able to persuade them to accept Paul as a genuine disciple (Acts 9:26-28).

Barnabas' generosity also showed itself in his ability to make allowances for human weakness. When Paul accused Mark, another missionary, of being unworthy of the job, Barnabas defended him. True, Mark had abandoned Barnabas and Paul in the middle of their first missionary journey. Taking the unpopular position, Barnabas tried to convince Paul to give him a second chance. (Acts 13:13; 15:36-41).

God wants us to take note of Barnabas' generous example and find ways we can become encouragers ourselves. Acts of generosity to the poor, or gestures of kindness to the lonely, or even the decision to give someone a second chance—all these are ways we can encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.

There's nothing more inspiring than the witness of someone who is convinced that Jesus will sustain him in every situation. Such an example helps us believe that we too can take Jesus at his word. We don't have to be accomplished speakers to encourage other people. We don't have to be always reminding them of their good qualities to inspire them. We just need to live a life of trust and surrender to Jesus, as Barnabas did. Then our lives will become sources of hope and encouragement for everyone we meet.

"Thank you, Lord, for your encouragement. By your Spirit, help us to fix our eyes on heaven and to look forward to the day when we will be with you and give you glory for all the good you accomplished through simple souls as ourselves."

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God bless.

AC

[SoothingDave]

It might be fun just to watch you work for a few months!

I promise, after one day of work we'll only have one Catholic US Senator.

SD

[drstevej]

What's on tap for day two?

[SoothingDave]

Find out how many decent bishops there are in the country, and then redraw the boundaries so there are that many dioceses.

SD

[AlguyA]

""The sacred brain of Jesus" just doesn't have the same ring. ;o)"

Well, maybe not "brain," but I am aware of a prayer which offers devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus. Problem is, I can't find the prayer book in which it appears, right now. Which means, you'll have to wait until my wife gets home to see it. -)

[malakhi]

Nomar's little brother, Michael Garciaparra, is playing for our local Class A team this season. He needs to do a lot of work on his hitting, though, if he wants to follow in Nomar's footsteps.

[malakhi]

A google search of "sacred head of Jesus" turns up 53 matches.

[drstevej]

You may last an entire week.

How about day three devoted to purging the seminaries of sexually immoral priests and students?

[AlguyA]

"A google search of "sacred head of Jesus" turns up 53 matches."

Ah, the internet. Why didn't I think of that? Guess I'm still one of those old fashioned types who looks for his books and if he can't find them is lost. For what its worth, I'd be willing to wager I was the last person in the Nothern Hemisphere to write his entire Master's thesis by hand and then turned it over to a typist. -)

Hey, now that I think of it, doesn't this make me disabled, qualifying me for some form of government aid? -)

[OLD REGGIE]

BTW, I will need someone to tutor me in Latin cause I think officiating at a Mass in Pig Latin (which I do know) might get me off to a rocky start with the trads. It may be a hit with the Vatican II kum-ba-yahers, however. On second thought I'd need to add a few clowns and dancin' nuns for that crowd to feel "involved."

Not to wory. Develop a Boston Irish accent and speak like a machine gun. No one will be able to understand you no matter what language you, purportedly, are speaking.

Cardinal Cushing of Boston (Kennedy's Pope. Circa 40's & 50's) got away with it for years.

[drstevej]

Try a google search of "sacred heart of Elvis"

[drstevej]

A Georgia born boy learning a Boston Irish accent? It would be my first miracle. We don't do well with rapid-speak either.

[malakhi]

Try a google search of "sacred heart of Elvis"

Oh my...

[SoothingDave]

How about day three devoted to purging the seminaries of sexually immoral priests and students?

Part and parcel of placing only decent orthodox bishops in charge. They will see to the cleaning out of the seminaries.

Now, the universities will also require a dramatic gesture. I'll give 'em ten days to get their mandata from the new bishops, or to cease presenting themselves as Catholic.

SD

[newgeezer]

Try a google search of "sacred heart of Elvis"

[SoothingDave]

A Georgia born boy learning a Boston Irish accent? It would be my first miracle.

Just practice saying "We could pahk the cahr in the Hahvahd Yahd."

We don't do well with rapid-speak either.

That's cause you think words like "here" are two syllables. On the other hand, I can say "pirates" or "flowers" as one syllable.

SD

[al_c]

Here's the corrected Psalm link from today's readings. EWTN's code is messed up today.

[SoothingDave]

Your search - "sacred heart of kurt cobain" - did not match any documents.

Well, at least my generation hasn't gone insane. :-)

SD