Twocatholicguys.com

Episode 4 feat. Deacon Ed Pluchar

Sorry folks this one’s been up for a while on iTunes but if you want to listen here, you can now!

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Temptation in the desert

Following a post titled, “The Man God,” by my comrade and caddy, Adam Fischer, Brian T. took to the comment board and sparked a discussion on the nature of Jesus’ temptation in the desert.  Since it got buried in a post no one else was reading anyway, I thought I’d reprise my response to Brian’s thoughts and see if there aren’t any other responses out there (or follow-up thoughts from Brian, for that matter).

In quick summary, Brian noted a reference Adam made to Jesus’ temptation, and asked for clarification.  He wondered in what sense Adam was speaking about Jesus’ “weakness,” particularly during the temptation, since it is a matter of faith affirmed by the Church Fathers that Jesus could not possibly have failed in His mission, even down to the smallest choices.  In other words, not only was He sinless, but He could not have sinned, due to His divine nature.

Brian posted several links to back up his stance, including this one.

Beyond the highlighted quote is a line from St. Leo the Great which says: “For we should not be able to vanquish the author of sin and death, were it not for the fact that our . . . → Read More: Temptation in the desert

You are what you eat

I’m currently spending two weeks at Behtlehem Farm.  If you’ve never heard of the place stay TUNED our podcast hitting next weekend will tell you all about them!

The Farm is a wonderful place though.  It sits upon some of the most beautiful land our country has, and is all together an amazing place to reflect, to pray, and to work.  When volunteers and group weeks come through the Farm discusses eating as a moral act.  They try to show those passing through how what we choose to eat affects the whole of God’s creation.  From farm to table, they take volunteers through the process of how creation is often harmed by what it is we put in our body, and ironically creation is continued to be harmed in our own humanity as we eat things that often are a detriment to our health.

I can tell you, some of the best meals I’ve had have been on the Farm.  There’s something to be said about food that is literally picked from the garden moments before it enters the ingredient list for that day’s meal.  This has also caused me to kick around a hypothesis that I’d like to share with all of you. . . . → Read More: You are what you eat

“On Prayer”

A friend blessed me with a book by Karl Rahner (SJ, or some such) titled as shown above.  Many passages are worth passing along; here are a few.

“Our love of God and our prayer have one difficulty in common.  They will succeed only if we lose the very thought of what we are doing in the thought of Him for Whom we are doing it.  To be concerned mainly with the correct way to love or the correct way to pray, entails almost inevitable failure in the realization of either activity.  It is useful to consider these matters in retrospect by meditating on the nature of the love of God and on the nature of prayer; it is useful to attempt to describe what the act of love or the act of prayer really entails.  Yet, to some extent, such meditation destroys the very act itself, for we cannot really perform an act and at the same time be preoccupied with the mechanics of our doing it.”

Quoting St. Augustine’s famous statement, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee,” he goes on to say:

“Deep in our buried . . . → Read More: “On Prayer”

“Sine dominico non possumus”

In the 4th century, Roman Emperor Diocletian had made a decree that any Christians posessing Scripture, meeting to celebrate the Eucharist, or constructing any buildings that could be used for religious gatherings would be put to death.

In 304 A.D. a group of 49 Christians from Abitene (present-day Tunisia) were taken captive by the Roman empire for meeting privately to receive the Eucharist.  When asked by their prosecutors why they would do something so foolish they responded “Sine dominico non possumus” translated – “Without Sunday we cannot live. ”

Without Sunday we cannot live.  This was their faith.  This was their reason.  And this was the eventual cause of their death, as they were executed shortly after their arrest.   I have the great fortune of being able to post on Sundays, the Lord’s day, and as it has been called the new Easter.  Our gathering together on Sunday does not happen by chance, but it shares the same day that Christ rose from the dead.  And Christ’s resurrection shared the same day as the first day of the week.  And the “first day of the week” gets its distinction as it symbolizes the first day of creation (we sometimes confuse Sunday . . . → Read More: “Sine dominico non possumus”