Ter Apel Monastery, Netherlands, Author Gouwenaar at nl.wikipedia (PD)
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has sold a hilltop convent to singer, Katy Perry for $14.5 million [1]. The few remaining Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary occupying the convent had initially arranged another sale, expecting to use the proceeds for their living expenses. As of this writing, they are yet to receive any moneys from the Archdiocese for the sale.
There is an open secret in the Catholic Church. Other than the limited funds put aside by individual diocese and religious orders, no reserve exists for the care of elderly priests, nuns, and sisters who devoted their lives to prayer and service to others.
According to the National Religious Retirement Office, many of America’s religious will spend their retirement years without 401(k)s, pensions, or even, in some cases, Social Security benefits [2].
The Retirement Fund for Religious (the largest of several such appeals) raises $28 million annually. However, the unfunded portion exceeds $4 billion [3]. As of 2011, over 500 religious communities reported inadequate funding for retirement purposes. In Philadelphia, funds are so tight that retired priests living in church-owned housing have been asked to cede a percentage of their pensions to the Archdiocese.
Which begs the question, why should such appeals be necessary? Read more…
Handmade clay jars and pots, Jordan, Author Mervat Salman (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4: 7-12).
Early on, in our walk of faith, we are on fire for the Lord [1]. The feeling is akin to being in love. Not only is Scripture alive for us, the Lord speaks clearly to us through all sorts of people, places, and things.
We may be tried, during this period. But we bear up, certain that with God we will triumph.
Naively, we assume “triumph” with God to be synonymous with “winning” in material terms. Only much later, do we realize that the struggle is as much with ourselves and our nature, as it is with external forces.
Fainter
As we go forward on the journey, God’s voice grows fainter for most of us, not stronger. We must seek Him out, are fortunate to hear an occasional whisper. This is not necessarily because we have strayed.
When we first learned to ride a bike, we had training wheels in place. Chances are there was a trusted parent holding the bike from behind. This helped us gain confidence. Eventually though the training wheels were removed, and the parent let go.
That was a necessary step in the process. We were not abandoned.
So it is with faith. God does not abandon us. Gradually, He stretches our faith. We learn to trust in His love and guidance, even when we do not feel His presence.
Hard-Pressed
With time, however, our testing becomes more severe. We no longer triumph, at least not in a worldly sense. We are rejected, misunderstood, even while attempting to do good.
This is the desert (or wilderness) experience. Our spiritual resources run dry. Our very faith seems arid and lifeless. We may feel defeated by our own shortcomings, and despair.
But the desert experience is not a punishment. Christ, too, was tempted in the desert [3]. Temptation strengthens our resolve; reveals where there is room for growth; and teaches us not to rely on our own strength. Read more…
Roman and Islamic ruins, Palmyra (“Tadmor”), Syria (2006), Author James Gordon, NY, NY (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic)
“Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. He built Tadmor in the wilderness…” (2 Chron. 8: 3-4).
At last report, Syrian forces had recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS. Located 130 miles northeast of Damascus, Palmyra (Aramaic “Tadmore”) is described in the Bible as having been built or fortified by King Solomon. A community is thought to have existed in some form at the location for nearly 4000 years.
Before the Syrian Civil War, Palmyra was known as a World Heritage Site and tourist destination. Once a caravan stop on the route to far-off India and China, Palmyra offered modern visitors the chance to view and explore well-preserved Babylonian, Roman, and Byzantine ruins.
ISIS changed all that, destroying whatever historic structures it deemed idolatrous, and leaving behind a mass grave.
Included among the structures demolished was the Temple of Baalshamin, the Canaanite sun, storm, and fertility god referred to in the Bible as “Baal”. It was Baal that the Prophet Elijah defeated by asking God to rain down fire from heaven (1 Kings 18: 30-38).
Idolatry
God many times in the Bible warned against idolatry, describing Himself as a “jealous God” (Deut. 6: 14-15). This prohibition was not only a reflection of God’s supreme status and authority, but His disapproval of the practices associated with idol worship.
Baal worship, for instance, could involve self-injury (1 Kings 18: 28), food offerings to the dead (Ps. 106: 28, Hosea 2: 5, 8), ritual prostitution (Judges 8: 33, Hosea 2: 2-4), and human sacrifice (Jer. 19: 5).
Since there is no other God but God (Deut. 6: 4, Isa. 46: 9, and numerous other passages), the worship of idols – whatever form they may take – is, by definition, demonic.
ISIS, however, deserves no praise for opposing idolatry. In the view of that malevolent group, Judaism and Christianity qualify as idolatrous. ISIS, in other words, worships a different god than Christians and Jews; a different god than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not a matter of labeling. It is a matter of identity.
All gods are not equivalent, any more than all boxers are World Champion. Laying claim to the title is not enough. That is as true today as it was when the Temple of Baalshamin was first raised in Palmyra.
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Roman Lictor with Fasces, Author Xadaga (PD)
“…[P]ut off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt …and… put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4: 22, 24).
“Fasces” is the term for a bundle of wooden rods bound together with an axe. The image is displayed in the US House of Representatives, and appears on the dime. Meant to signify strength through unity, the fasces stood for a magistrate’s power over life and death, in ancient Rome.
Though most of us have forgotten now, it was, also, adopted in the 1920s as the symbol of Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party.
Fascism
Fascism as a form of government is characterized by extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, and right wing values. Its professed goal is to re-establish law and order in society. Freedom and individual rights are viewed as secondary to that goal.
Fascism opposes democratic thought, favoring totalitarianism and a one-party system. This ideology is coupled with a belief in so called “racial purity” and the New Man (Friedrich Nietzche’s “Superman”), a superior human being devoid of individuality, and characterized instead by hyper-masculinity and violence.
A Cult of Personality
A cult of personality developed around Mussolini, as fascism took hold in Italy. A similar cult grew up around Francisco Franco in Spain. Propaganda, captive media, and constant praise were used to create idealized images of both men.
Both exploited this – employing secret police, politically motivated executions, forced labor, and concentration camps to enforce their will. Rather than restored, the rule of law was abolished, and naked power substituted.
A New Man in Christ
With this history, it is not surprising that some have found the political violence and other aspects of the current campaign chilling.
Christianity, too, speaks of a new man. But the concept is wholly different from that proposed by Nietzche. The old Adam, Christians know, was replaced sacrificially by the new Adam who is Jesus Christ. The old man in each of us – our Adamic nature, prone to sin – is replaced by a new man, born again through Christ.
No political party or ideology, right wing or left, no attempt at social engineering, no matter how severely enforced, will turn men into Supermen. Our defect is a spiritual one.
But those who do not heed the past are doomed to repeat it.
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Bell at Kovac Hill Church, Slovenia, Author Eleassar (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)
The sound of church bells is being lost to the world.
The use of church bells became common during the Middle Ages. They once announced the times for daily prayer, Sunday services, marriages, and funerals.
Depending on their shape, size, weight, and composition, church bells like those at St. Mary-le-Bow in London each had a distinctive voice [1]. Before the Industrial Age, church bells could be heard from one end of a town to the other.
In times of war, church bells were often melted down for use as ammunition. During World War II, the Nazis confiscated countless bells for this purpose, some centuries old [2].
As church towers went out of fashion (and bell ringers became scarce), recordings were increasingly used as a substitute for actual bells.
On the first anniversary of 9/11, a Bell of Hope was presented by London to the people of New York. The bell was created by Whitechapel Foundry which, also, cast Big Ben and the Liberty Bell. The Bell of Hope resides at St. Paul’s Chapel, a stone’s throw from Ground Zero [3]. It has been rung in remembrance of terror victims worldwide, ever since.
“The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out…” (Ex. 28: 35).
Lord God, the world is so filled with noise. It can be difficult to hear Your voice above the din. We ought, at very least, to respond to the call of bells. But even that is growing faint.
Touch our hearts and minds, Lord. Make Your word alive to us, that we may echo and respond to it. Make Your law resonate in us, till we peal like bells.
Amen
—
[1] True “cockneys” (formerly a pejorative term, now adopted as a badge of pride) are said to have been born within sound of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow.
[2] Through the efforts of a small group of specially trained men and women in the Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives Division (the so called “Monuments Men”) Allied forces managed to rescue over 5 million pieces of art the Nazis had stolen, including many bells.
[3] Amazingly, St. Paul’s Chapel, a Revolutionary Era church in lower Manhattan, survived 9/11 without damage. The chapel fed, sheltered, and ministered to recovery workers during the long months of clean-up.
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Artist’s concept of a gravity probe circling Earth to measure the space-time continuum in vicinity (“four dimensional” description of height, width, length, and time), Source http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb/gpb_012.html, Author NASA (PD)
Scientists and mathematicians have long wrestled with the question of time. The formula some may remember from high school algebra for deriving time from speed and distance dates back to the ancient Greeks, if not before [1]:
Time = Distance/Speed
The field of quantum physics continues to explore the almost unimaginable complexities of time today:
- Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity explains gravity as a feature both of space and time (the “space-time continuum” often mentioned on Star Trek).
- Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity holds that time slows as an observer approaches the speed of light [2].
The related formulas stagger most of us. We, however, wrestle with time in our own way.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4: 7).
Lord God, so often in our lives we must race against time. You, of course, have all the time in the world. You made time, and will someday – when time has outlived its usefulness – roll it up, like a ball of yarn.
Time though is important to us here on earth, Lord. In fact, we are trapped by it. We rush to keep daily schedules and make multiple deadlines. So many priorities – all requiring our attention. Sometimes it can feel as if we are being torn in two. Read more…
Trading floor at Chicago Board of Trade (PD)
Jewelers, the shopping channels on cable television, and the Commodity Exchanges worldwide all identify gold and silver as “precious” metals. The Apostle Peter, however, had a different understanding.
“Knowing that you were ransomed…not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ…” (1 Pet. 1: 18).
Lord Jesus, the world can weigh heavily on us. Others may fail to see the value of our work or fail to see us at all. Our dreams may shatter, and our hearts break. Satan stands ready at moment’s notice to whisper in our ear that we are worthless, our efforts useless. But those are lies.
You made us in Your image, Lord. Our worth is measured not by our accomplishments, but rather by Your great love for us…Your willingness to die in our place, the ransom for many Isaiah had prophesied.
You do not measure success in terms of the luxuries and honors the world values. Dollars and cents are as nothing, in Your grand scheme. They will vanish in the blink of an eye. The real things, the important things, will remain.
Whenever we act out of love, we reflect You. The smallest word, a look or smile, can brighten someone’s day; it may save a life. Your gifts to us – faith despite our circumstances, and a desire to help others despite the cost – these are eternal. In exercising them, we honor You.
Help us remember these truths. Surround us with Your love, Lord. And help us to share it with the world.
Amen
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Hands holding a small plant, Source/Author Commonwealth of Learning (CC-BY-SA)
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29: 11).
Dear Lord, we lift up our children to You. We love them and their children. We see the good in them all, and plead with You not to let this harsh world rob them of it.
You made them, Lord. You know their strengths and weaknesses, better even than we do. You know their needs. Keep them under Your wing, whatever their ages. Protect and guide them in ways we cannot, Lord.
Give them courage, in the face of adversity and change. Give them strength, in the face of impossible odds. Give them the rest necessary to restore minds and bodies. And, please, Lord, give them hope. Not a foolish, groundless hope. But a hope they can rely on, because it comes with a promise from You that they will see it fulfilled.
As difficult as it is for us, we give our beloved children and grandchildren over to Your care. We leave them in Your loving hands, knowing that is the very best place they can be.
Amen
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Crowded New York City subway train, Author Daniel Schwen (GNU Free Documentation License)
“But Joseph said to them…’You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives‘ ” (Gen. 50: 19-20).
Dear Lord, most mornings many of us face a lengthy commute. Much of our day is occupied by coming and going, by waiting on the bus, waiting on the light, and standing still – anxious to rush forward, anxious to do more.
One moment after another, our lives tick by. That can seem such a futile effort. We know though that our footsteps are directed by You, that nothing is wasted and nothing lost for those who believe.
We are reminded of Joseph, his exile and his long years in prison. Despite and because of those, his character was formed. Joseph did not know that You would use him to save his family and his people. He did not know that he would be venerated as a patriarch, and his body carried into the Promised Land after 400 years in an Egyptian grave.
Lift our eyes to You, Lord. Lift our hearts that the rush and tumble of our days may not wear us down. We want so much for our lives to have purpose…as if they did not already. You can see that while we cannot.
In the midst of our harried commute, make Your face to shine upon us, and grant us peace.
Amen
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Palm Sunday celebrated by Iquitos, Peru (“Domingo de Ramos celebrado por Iquitos”), Photo by Percy Meza (CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
“ ‘…[I]f these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out’ ” (Luke 18: 40).
The Lord spoke these words as He wrote triumphantly into Jerusalem while the crowds shouted, “Hosanna,” waved palm branches, and threw down their cloaks before Him. The Pharisees were offended at this public recognition of Jesus’ kingship and the crowd’s worshipful praise.
The reference implicit in the statement is to Psalm 150 “Let All Things Praise the Lord”:
“Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament…
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp…
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Ps. 150: 1, 3, and 6).
Lord Jesus, as the disciples did on the day You rode into Jerusalem, we lift Your Name on high. For all the mighty works You have done, we praise You. For Your mercy, we cry out in gratitude. For Your Resurrection, we shout aloud with joy.
Fill our hearts to overflowing, Lord, that our tongues be not silent when You call on us to speak. May we bear witness for You to this generation.
Hosanna in the highest!
Amen
Have a blessed Easter!
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
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A Lawyer's Prayers 