Forgiveness and judgment

We sometimes find it difficult to forgive. We "forgive" in our heart, but our emotions don't follow. What I have found is that when I say "I forgive so-and-so" in my heart, that is not enough. Specifically, what I need to do is to release the person from the debt that their injustice against me has incurred. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." That is what a Jubilee is all about. We release the debt because imposing and executing a sentence is not our job: it is God's. What we are doing is putting the situation in the hands of God, who sees all things in a way we can never do, to rectify things. It is not our job.

It is not that we ignore the injustice or explain it away. We cannot release someone from a debt unless we identify it. 

Once we release the person, our emotions are more likely to catch up with our intention.

This, I think, is what the "Judge not" refers to. We are not to set ourselves up as judges who impose and execute sentences on those who have done wrong, especially against us.  Not to judge does not mean not to name a sin, but not to make oneself the arbiter of justice--to take the place of God. Not to judge makes it a heck of a lot easier to be merciful to those who have sinned against us. Judge not lest you be judged by the same measure you have meted out justice. That's scary.  

Online Sacred Scripture Course for High School

For those of you who have home school high school students or who know of any, I will be teaching an online course for Homeschool Connections next spring on Sacred Scripture.

Here is a description of the course:

SACRED SCRIPTURE

Tuesday, January 12, 2016-Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Meets 10:00 AM-11:00 AM EST on Tue

Tuition: $205.00

Level: High School Level

According to St. Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin for the Roman Church, ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. This course will introduce the student to the careful study of the Bible in light of language, common themes, culture and history. The goal is to gain greater understanding of the Catholic faith and to gain greater spiritual insight so that the student can have a deeper relationship with Christ in the Church.

Course outline:

The first part of the course will begin at a look at what Scripture is. Then it will look at the distinction and relationship between studying and praying with the Scriptures.

The second part will discuss how to interpret the Old Testament, with an emphasis on the type of writing (genres), vocabulary, geography, culture and biblical history

The third part will discuss how to interpret the New Testament, with an emphasis on the type of writing (genres), vocabulary, geography, culture and biblical history

The fourth part will feature the student’s presentations on passages from the Bible they have chosen

Homework: Weekly online quiz. Weekly assignments analyzing passages of their choice. A final paper and presentation explaining their passage.

Prerequisite: None

Here is a link to the registration page

Merton on the Spiritual Life

This is one of the best descriptions of the spiritual life I've come across.

I consider that the spiritual life is the life of man's real self, the life of that interior self whose flame is so often allowed to be smothered under the ashes of anxiety and futile concern. The spiritual life is oriented toward God, rather than toward the immediate satisfaction of the material needs of life, but it is not, for all that, a life of unreality or a life of dreams. On the contrary, without a life of the spirit, our whole existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory. The life of the spirit, by integrating us in the real order established by God, puts us in the fullest possible contact with reality - not as we imagine it, but as it really is. It does so by making us aware of our real selves, and placing them in the presence of God. 

The point that hit home for me are the flame that is smothered by anxiety and futile concern and the intrgration into the real order established by God. Those who are not seeking to do that will have an unsubstantial and illusory existence. And, that could be an eternal condition....

Slapstick

I'm going to revive this blog with a question my fourteen-year old son raised this morning: "Did God intend slapstick to be funny?"

Praying the Office

"As to the Office, there are three ways of saying it, equally easy and solid. The first is to keep yourself in the presence of God and to say the Office with great recollection in union with Him,  occasionally raising your mind and heart to Him. Those who can say it thus need not trouble to alter their method. The second way is to attend to the words in union with the mind of the Church, praying as she prays, sighing when she sighs, and deriving all the instruction from it; praising, adoring, thanking, according to the different meanings of the verses we are pronouncing. The third way is to reflect humbly that you are actually united to holy souls in praising God and in desiring to share their holy dispositions. You should prostrate yourself in spirit at their feet, believing that they are much more full of piety and fervour than yourself. These feelings are very pleasing to His divine Majesty, and we cannot be too deeply impressed with them." Abandonment to Divine Providence (Spiritual Counsels of Fr. De Caussade),

Good morning!

This quote from Newman reminded me of another quote:

If I say that tomorrow will be fine, what does this enunciation mean? Perhaps it means that it ought to be fine, if the glass tells truly; then it is the inference of a probability. Perhaps it means no more than a surmise, because it is fine today, or has been so for the week past. And perhaps it is a compliance with the word of another, in which case it is sometimes a real assent, sometimes a polite assertion or a wish. (Grammar, Pt. I, Ch. 4)

Here is the other quote:

“Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain.
...
"Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "The Unexpected Party."

Of course, for Bilbo, it is a real assertion, not just a "profession," which is what Newman is talking about.

The Invisible

I reflected on two things in Sirach today--don't judge before you investigate, and that the interior condition is more important than the exterior success or failure. Both of these reflect the priority of the invisible over the visible. I think what is most lacking in today's culture is the eyes to see the invisible--eyes trained in mystic vision.

Yet, the invisible is not separate from the visible. Our material existence is connected to the invisible story [I mean "narrative," not "level"]. It is just that the connection is not easily discerned and is easily misinterpreted. Perhaps a synonym for "Seek that which is above" might be "cultivate eyes to see the invisible beneath the visible."

I am convinced that the belief in the invisible is a key to escaping our intellectual prison.  Plato's cave, I suppose. Even believers are practical materialists because they always are looking for a methodological solution to even spiritual problems. They fail to realize that the Story is beyond the reach of our vision and understanding--that we do not see all ends and have to trust and not always seek closure and a result that corresponds to our understanding. 

Intellectual humility is the first virtue.

The physio-psychology of virtue

This is a fantastic article by Kevin Majeres, MD, about the physio-psychological component of the cultivation of virtue. It brings together brain physiology and chemistry, cognitive therapy, and classic Thomistic virtue ethics It applies not just to sexuality, but to the relationship between our rational and emotional life in all things.

Get on the bus!

New Testament and Logic courses

This spring semester I will be teaching two online high school courses for Homeschool Connections.

The first one is a twelve week course on Advanced Logic using the Memoria Press materials. It meets on Thursdays from Jan. 8 to Apr. 9 @ 6:00 PM ET. If your child has studied basic logic, this would be a good contiuation.

Here is a promotional video for the course.

The other course is Reading the New Testament. It meets for nine sessions from Tuesdays from Mar. 3 to May 5 @ 6:00 PM ET, excluding Holy Thursday. Topics include: What is the NT?, Studying and praying with the NT, Genres of NT books (Gospel, gesta, letters, apocalypse), Common terms in the NT, Geography, Culture, NT history and The writing of the NT.

To register, go here.