Luke 8: 4-15 Fuming All Over!

Luke 8: 4-15  Fuming All Over!

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When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. “A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up…And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundred-fold…”

There still exists some bitter arguing among Protestants and Catholics regarding Martin Luther’s theological “dogma” known as Sola fides (faith alone).  But there is a new “dogma” out there which is far more dangerous and worse in scope and has failed to catch the attention of most Christian pastors and priests.  It is a doctrine that is very seductive and can suck the life out of any Christian at any given moment.  This dogma is spreading like wildfire and has become prevalent in nearly every single Christian denomination.  It is the dogma I affectionately call:  Affectus solum.  That is, “Feelings alone”. 

A person whose faith rests almost entirely on feelings is a faith that is dead, or soon to be dead.  Like faith without works is dead, so to faith with just feelings is dead!  People who have succumbed to this dogma (or deadly virus) tend towards hallucinations and say: “I am not religious.  I am spiritual.”

There was a man who threw some seed on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 

These poor seeds never had a chance to survive because they never had fertile ground to take root in.  They died the moment they hit the rocky or bumpy or thorny ground.  And just like a seed cannot survive without water and fertile ground; faith in God cannot survive without prayer and knowledge of God.

If Christ’s love for us was based solely on feelings, He would have thrown in the towel long before He ever picked up His Cross.  If Christ’s love for His father was based solely on feelings, He would have thrown the Cup of Sacrifice smack in His father’s face!

Don’t we know that by now?  Haven’t we had enough of the rollercoaster rides?  Haven’t we had enough of feeling great about God one moment and then accusing Him of not caring the next?  Haven’t we seen the sad results of wishy-washy sentimental love?  It plays out all the time among our most fervent yet superficial converts.  It plays out among our dearest charismatic friends and families.  It plays out among our retreatants and Medjugorje pilgrims.  It plays out among our dearest stars (Kristen Stewart comes to mind). 

Does a bride merry her spouse out of feelings of love or out of a deep knowledge of her spouse?  If it is out of feelings, then we know how long that will last; as long as a feeling lasts.  Not long at all.

Why do we place so much of our trust, hope and love in feelings rather than in real and concrete faith? 

The headline read:  “From Bible-Belt Pastor to Atheist Leader”.    I read the New York Times article with some interest.  It appears as though there are a growing number of atheists coming out from under their Protestant robes.  The man featured in the article is the former Reverend Jerry DeWitt.  I took some notes while I read the incredibly long article dedicated to religion.  What I found were few surprises.  I added some of my own notes while I read.

DeWitt is a descendent of a long line of preachers on both sides of the family [Thank God for chastity!].  His grandfather established 16 churches by himself [Church making is considered an excellent franchise in the Bible-belt].  At the age of 17 he was “saved” [Uh oh, I thought it was ‘once saved, always saved] by Jimmy Swaggart [That might explains it!].  Weeks later he was speaking in tongues [Now wait a minute…it would be interesting if he claims that was real and it would be revealing if he claims it was a hoax.  If it was real, then how could he be an atheist today?].

One day, while sitting in church, he heard his pastor call on him to deliver a homily [I should try that one day, but this sounds as real as a ‘reality’ show].  He says he spoke and the “crowd” loved it! [Yep!  Sounds fake to me].  He said, “I knew right then that preaching was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”  [Wow!  One sermon and he found his vocation.  That’s an easy way of convincing someone they can be a motivational speaker.  But chastity, poverty and obedience are the ways to find out if someone is being authentically called by God!  After all, where does one find their cross to carry?  Among your fan club?  Within the crowd worshipping you?].

DeWitt preached across the South, although he never received a college degree [What???].  In 2004, he became a full-time pastor at a church near DeRitter [Are you kidding me?]. 

After reading this nine-page article, I was no longer interested in knowing why DeWitt became an atheist.  Rather, I was much more interested in knowing how he survived being a Christian pastor for so long.  After all, it sounds like everything he did; he did it on his own!  Maybe he did it more for himself than for anyone else. 

A Pastor who runs on feelings for so long will eventually end up fuming mad!  And that’s exactly what happened. 

But how can someone, who never went to college and never got a degree (which really means he never received a deep appreciation for the faith of our fathers or a systematic understanding of Christianity).  What did he spend half his life giving to others?  No wonder why a good hearted and sentimental man now claims to be a recovering Christian. 

May our faith in you, O Lord, take root in our hearts, minds and bodies, so that the knowledge of your Son, and not our own desires, may always prevail in us.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Mk 7:31-37 Be Open!

Mk  7:31-37  Be Open! 

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People brought to [Jesus] a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.  He took him off by himself away from the crowd…He looked up to heaven and groaned, “Be open!” -- And immediately the man’s ears were opened.

The problem with the world today is that there are too many narrow-minded people!

I know what you are thinking…Now that’s an interesting statement, especially coming from a priest who writes an opinion on just about everything!  But I am not afraid to say it and, more importantly, defend it.  In fact, I will even say that I consider myself a very open-minded individual and for the best of reasons.

I have no problem conversing with “tolerant” people; even though they are the least tolerant of all the people I know.  I have no problem being in the presence of scientists, even though I am a priest.  And I have no problem making friends with the dead, even though I live well into the present.

I mention these three companions because there is much narrow-mindedness (or single-mindedness) when it comes to those who oppose science as art, dogma as honesty and our past as reoccurring.  Or, for the sake of clarity, let me say the following:  Far too many narrow-minded individuals can be found among scientists, relativists and progressivists.    

Scientists.  Now, there were many times in my life when I was “narrow-minded”.    For example, when I was an engineer I used to be very narrow-minded; that is, I would only read and breathe scientific journals.  But then one day, in fact, while I was studying the planets, I had an epiphany that has lasted to this day.  For the very first time in my life I realized that everything I was reading and studying was a human attempt at understanding all that already existed, and that we had no part in creating. What I was reading and studying was more like an art critic’s review of someone’s art, but the Artist was never mentioned.   

Now it’s easier to be a critic than it is to be an artist.  At least, that’s how it used to be.

It gradually dawned on me that most everything we do is a cheap imitation of everything He did.  Take, for example, the incredible descent of the Mars Rover, Curiosity.  Wasn’t it spectacular?  I stayed up all night watching it.  But the next morning I saw something even more amazing:  a single leaf gracefully falling to the ground.  Actually, it was zigzagging towards the ground.  What Curiosity will do on the surface of Mars does not even begin to compare with what that leaf will do on the surface of the earth.

Or let’s analyze for a brief moment a simple apple falling to the ground.  Not only will that apple land on the ground, but it will roll next to its “mother”, whose shade will ensure its chances of survival.  And like a placenta, the fruit surrounding the seed will fertilize the ground in which it lies.  Now, to think all this as less remarkable than a Rover Landing on Mars is to think narrow-mindedly.  But as a priest and engineer, I have learned to appreciate both.  That’s not narrow-mindedness.  That’s open-mindedness!

Relativists.  So many people pride themselves in being Darwinists.  But in all honesty, they have never read a single page of Charles Darwin or Ernst Haeckel.  The same goes for atheists.  Most have never read an entire book by Friedrich Nietzsche or Jean Paul Sartre.  Instead, most have pleased themselves with newspaper headlines and comical acts produced and directed by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.  

These professors, and their adherents, are not the product of the Dark Ages.  Ironically, these morbid writers consider themselves the grandchildren of the Enlightenment.  What they really are, are the grandfathers of the Establishment. Recently, it was revealed that a vast majority of college professors will reject tenure to a colleague if they are deemed to be too conservative.  Most academics, like most colleges today, consider themselves open-minded.  But in reality, they have never been anything but very closed-minded. 

Let’s cut to the chase.  The real difference between open-minded and narrow-minded individuals should be obvious by now.  It’s the difference between intellectual honesty and ideology.  Relativists tend to study little and speak wildly.  Dogmatists tend to study a great deal and speak reservedly.  In essence, narrow-minded individuals tend to study little and only pretend to accept everything; whereas open-minded individuals tend to study greatly and only cautiously accept anything.

Progressivists.  There exists in today’s culture a very narrow-mindedness with regards to the past.  It begins with a great deal of angst with the possibility of history repeating itself.  It should not, declare the progressivists, for there is nothing good to learn from our ancestors or our past.  But when we consider what’s new in today’s subculture, we begin to see that it is actually quite old from long ago days.  For example: The three-generational home.   The only sector of housing construction that appears to be booming is the three-generational home.  Wow!  How exciting!  How avant garde!  But is this something new?  Not really.  In fact, it is something very old.  And millions of Americans are returning to it in order to save their lives, their families and their livelihood.  But you would never know it by the limited news it is receiving.  After all, it is a dramatic push back to modernity’s push towards the “New Normal” family.     Only a courageous few dare to mention this modest return to the wisdom of our ancestors.  How narrow-minded!  And once again, the reason for this negligence is not ignorance but rather ideology.  Out with the old, in with the new is an important ideological tweet in our free-market economy and culture.  But it isn’t a reliable fact in a flesh and bone humanity or a safe bet in a free-falling economy.  To think what is new is always better is not narrow-mindedness, but plain and simple foolishness. 

What is new isn’t always better.  But being better will always be something new! 

This is something worth repeating to our kids, from one generation to another.  Was the Occupy Wall Street movement something new and exciting?  Or was it a failed attempt to repeat the performance of July 14^th, 1789 (Bastille Day)?  Is the European Union something new?  Or is it a union as old as the Holy Roman Empire?  You tell me. 

I consider myself very open-minded every time I connect the past with the present, and predict the future based on the past and present.            

Conclusion:  Here are just a few of the areas of life in which I find people to be very narrow-minded.  There are many more.  But unlike space, a blogspot is very limited.  In conclusion, a narrow-minded individual tends to see the past as a thing of the past; religion as something that should be swept under the carpet; and creation as an accident rather than a God-given model.   

Let’s be what the Lord said this day to be:  “Be Open!” 

The Lord had a tremendous ability to interact with just about anyone.  But he didn’t live like everyone. 

Authentically open-minded people tend to become authentically narrow-minded people.  They are open-minded to learning, and narrow-minded in accepting only the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.