Over the past few weeks, my neighbors have done extensive yard work. Not just routine mulching and mowing but outright replacement of shrubbery and the planting of new trees. Today the "For Sale by Owner" sign went up and I was a little surprised, but only a little. And in a few days' time I may ask them where they hope to move to.
I thought they liked the house and the neighborhood. They moved in three years ago. Their novel and overt attention to "curb appeal" let me know that something was up. In general, my impression of them as homeowners is that they have better things to do than fuss over their house. Heck, they never shovel the driveway after it snows! Their poor kids stumble and trip up and down the iced-over snow for days as a result. They've done little things over the years to the outside, most notably replaced the shutters and the front door. On the inside, she told me that they replaced the kitchen cabinets and some carpeting. They replaced a fence in the back, chainlink out, white picket in.
They paid 550 plus a time-share. I don't know what they hope to get for it, certainly 6 and maybe 7. I think it's five-bedroom but Jeff thinks it's only four. It's a bigger house than ours. The resale housing market has slowed. Another house on my street has been on the market for months but their problem is that they can't find anything to move into.
It's difficult to know how serious they are. A lot of people put out a for sale sign, especially by owner, just to see what comes their way. And this family has a penchant for hanging out for sale signs, without actually selling anything, usually on any of their numerous vehicles. He has two BMW motorcycles and has had them both out for sale on a couple of occasions. He also has two tow trucks, yes, two. But I think he got rid of one. They have three Mercedes cars and have tried to sell two of them, off and on through the years, one is for sale at the moment. She has a big Cadillac and he has a Porsche which he hardly ever takes out. He's tried selling that once or twice. But our street is so quiet ... no one comes down here unless they live here. Well, it should be interesting. Maybe I'll be dropping off another Delicious Orchards pie there in the near future to the house's next inhabitants.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Let's Go Devils!!!!! Let's Go Devils!!!!!
Devils sweep Rangers, win 15 straight
Also cheering on the Sabres!Game 5 against Flyers in Buffalo
Update: Advantage, Buffalo!
Devils sweep Rangers, win 15 straight
Also cheering on the Sabres!
Update: Advantage, Buffalo!
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Rev. Robert Imbelli at the independent, lay Catholic Commonweal Magazine blog discusses a review of Harold Bloom's Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine by James Wood at The New Republic (online).
It might have been for a history of Christianity class that I was assigned to read excerpts from Bloom's The American Religion. I became so enthralled with his take and style that I bought a keeper copy secondhand from Amazon.
Bloom's ability to accentuate the positive aspects of the less mainstream side of non-Catholic Christianity helped me to foster some degree of tolerance towards variation of belief and expression within the Christian faith at a time when I had very, very little charity. His chapter on Mormonism was especially effective in encouraging a personal respect for its founder and its early history as a movement.
At the same time, I gloried in Bloom's seemingly dispassionate and clearly disparaging comments of fringe Protestantism, summarized accurately in Wood's current assessment:
I would suggest that, in some Christian circles, the Scripture is still God, over against the Man.
I hope these links work --
Robert Imbelli's post about Wood's review at the blog for Commonweal Magazine
James Wood's review of Harold Bloom's book at The New Republic online
It might have been for a history of Christianity class that I was assigned to read excerpts from Bloom's The American Religion. I became so enthralled with his take and style that I bought a keeper copy secondhand from Amazon.
Bloom's ability to accentuate the positive aspects of the less mainstream side of non-Catholic Christianity helped me to foster some degree of tolerance towards variation of belief and expression within the Christian faith at a time when I had very, very little charity. His chapter on Mormonism was especially effective in encouraging a personal respect for its founder and its early history as a movement.
At the same time, I gloried in Bloom's seemingly dispassionate and clearly disparaging comments of fringe Protestantism, summarized accurately in Wood's current assessment:
In it [The American Religion (1992)], Bloom argues that American Christianity is neither very biblical nor very theological. He focuses particularly on Mormonism and on the Southern Baptists, though he also discusses Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism and Christian Scientism. He finds that American Christians emphasize what he calls "a Gnostic knowing of Jesus through direct acquaintance," and that they characterize the self that gets to know Jesus thus as essentially solitary. Like most extreme off-shoots of Protestantism, the American sects and churches have shucked off Yahweh as a theological and literary inconvenience (too Jewish, too unpleasant and disobliging, too absent), and have rapturously taken possession of a now strangely Fatherless Jesus Christ, best approached through the Holy Spirit, and most emblematically seen as the Risen Christ. This solitary "knowing" of Jesus--through conversion, salvation, and prayer--is combined, so Bloom argues, with a characteristic American self-love, a belief that the human self possesses elements of the divine.Wood quotes from Bloom's book: "Even if Mark were as powerful a writer as the Yahwist, there could be no contest, since Torah (like the Qur'an) is God, whereas the entire argument of the Belated Testament is that a man has replaced Scripture."
I would suggest that, in some Christian circles, the Scripture is still God, over against the Man.
I hope these links work --
Robert Imbelli's post about Wood's review at the blog for Commonweal Magazine
James Wood's review of Harold Bloom's book at The New Republic online
Bishop Clark praises Wegman's generosity -- Catholic Courier, Rochester NY, 4/21/06
I didn't know that Wegman died on the 20th. I have always loved shopping in his grocery stores, in NY and in NJ.
The Catholic institutions in Rochester have plenty of financial challenges without losing such a prime local benefactor.
I didn't know that Wegman died on the 20th. I have always loved shopping in his grocery stores, in NY and in NJ.
The Catholic institutions in Rochester have plenty of financial challenges without losing such a prime local benefactor.
Gangway, to the checkout at B&N with my Cath. Study Bible 2nd ed., I saw this book:
"i'm too sexy for my volvo"
and thought to myself, "Yeah, but my Volvo is pretty sexy."
Much sexier than me, buyin' my sorry Catholic Bible.
Vatican official says post-Vatican II liturgy could be perfected.
Are we contemplating this to affirm, in some small way, the Islamic practice of praying towards the Holy City?
I realize this is an ancient and venerable tradition, but with the arrangement of the Novus Ordo, a mixture of prayers to God and exchange with the people, imagine the priest, swirling and whirling like a dervish, facing East, facing the people, facing East again.
Really, this Sunday, just imagine how it would look, and think whether it would be a distraction. I think they are talking about the Eucharistic Prayer, primarily, iow, the Canon of the Mass.
I said this after he was elected and I still think I need to brush up on my Latin. Tantum ergo Sacramentum ....
" . . . and it's because of the slimy politics that we have all this unemployment here." There it is! That's D. B. Norton's opening attack on the Governor! Meet John Doe
The cardinal, who has since become pope, said that the Second Vatican Council did not mention the direction the priest faces and the post-conciliar documents only recommended that priests be able to celebrate facing the people. [...]
Father Lang said his study focused on the history and theology of the priest facing East -- the biblically symbolic direction of the Lord [...]
he was speaking only about the moments during the Mass when the priest, on behalf of the people, is praying to God, not when he is addressing the people assembled.
Are we contemplating this to affirm, in some small way, the Islamic practice of praying towards the Holy City?
I realize this is an ancient and venerable tradition, but with the arrangement of the Novus Ordo, a mixture of prayers to God and exchange with the people, imagine the priest, swirling and whirling like a dervish, facing East, facing the people, facing East again.
Really, this Sunday, just imagine how it would look, and think whether it would be a distraction. I think they are talking about the Eucharistic Prayer, primarily, iow, the Canon of the Mass.
I said this after he was elected and I still think I need to brush up on my Latin. Tantum ergo Sacramentum ....
" . . . and it's because of the slimy politics that we have all this unemployment here." There it is! That's D. B. Norton's opening attack on the Governor! Meet John Doe
Friday, April 28, 2006
Left off at Chapter 18 last night, my favorite chapter. One of my favorite chapters. Looked at Chapters 14 - 17. I used my Scoffield Study Bible, as usual, with the NIV translation but I found myself checking the footnotes in the NAB. What a crutch. We'll finish the book next time, in two weeks' time. Then we'll do non-canonical, Christian apocalypses. Or whatever they're called. Apocalypses of Peter, of Paul, of Thomas and two from James.
I'm not sure why I bring the Scoffield Study Bible week after week. I don't think I do it to vex Jim. It takes a lot to vex him anyway. 'though he did ask me about my position on rapture. He hedges his bets by saying you don't have to believe in rapture in order to be raptured. You just have to believe in Jesus. Fair enough. I just said in reply that, in our efforts to critique millenarianism, we run the risk of denying too much.
Catholic eschatology probably comes closer to dispensational eschatology than most people realize - we expect a "great apostasy" or "falling away", the inclusion of Israel, and some sort of antichrist figure, but we do deny the Rapture, especially a secret one, as paragraph 675 and 677 indicate, the Church will undergo a final trial or "tribulation" before Christ's return.
I tried to make a study of Catholic eschatology in the latest Catechism for your benefit but it is difficult to study any particular topic because information is spread throughout the work. But a "core" discussion of the End Times seems to be found in paragraphs 673 - 677, included here with footnotes (566-581) listed below:
673
Since the Ascension, Christ's coming in glory has been imminent,566 even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority."567 This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed."568
674
The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel," for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.569 St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."570 St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"571 The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles,"572 will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," in which "God may be all in all."573
675
Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.576
676
The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.578
677
The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.579 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.580 God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.581
566. Cf. Rev 22:20.
567. Acts 1:7; cf. Mk 13:32.
568. Cf. Mt 24:44; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 2:3-12.
569. Rom 11:20-26; cf. Mt 23:39.
570. Acts 3:19-21.
571. Rom 11:15.
572. Rom 11:12, 25; cf. Lk 21:24.
573. Eph 4:13; 1 Cor 15:28.
574. Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12.
575. Cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20.
576. Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18, 22.
577. Cf. DS 3839.
578. Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, condemning the "false mysticism"
of this "counterfeit of the redemption of the lowly"; cf. GS 20-21.
579. Cf. Rev 19:1-9.
580. Cf. Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4.
581. Cf. Rev 20:12; 2 Pet 3:12-13.
A Baptist friend of mine told me recently, after years of religious discussion and proselytizing (mostly on my part!), that he is quite sure that the Catholic Church is very close to this end-time, "great apostasy". He misunderstands the meaning of the word!
Apostasy means a desertion, renunciation or abandonment of the Christian faith, the Greek word apostasia is translated as “rebellion” or “falling away” in many modern translations, only the New American Standard Version (and the Catholic NAB) transliterates in 2 Thess. 2:3.
Paragraph 2089 in the Catechism gives a working definition: apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith.
His real charge may be that the Catholic Church is heretical and, as a non-Catholic Christian, he may be obliged to label her thus, for as soon as he suspects that Catholicism is true, he is under moral compulsion to join. But the Catholic Church is not bordering on apostasy because she preaches salvation through Jesus Christ; she has not abandoned the Gospel.
hairesis is often translated “sect” but can also be transliterated.
Easton’s Bible dictionary (1897) has this: "heresy" from a Greek word signifying (1) a choice, (2) the opinion chosen, and (3) the sect holding the opinion. In the Acts of the Apostles (5:17; 15:5; 24:5, 14; 26:5) it denotes a sect, without reference to its character. Elsewhere, however, in the New Testament it has a different meaning attached to it. Paul ranks "heresies" with crimes and seditions (Gal. 5:20). This word also denotes divisions or schisms in the church (1 Cor. 11:19). In Titus 3:10 a "heretical person" is one who follows his own self-willed "questions," and who is to be avoided. Heresies thus came to signify self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God (2 Pet. 2:1).
Again, paragraph 2089 in the Catholic Catechism gives another useful definition: Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same.
I'm not sure why I bring the Scoffield Study Bible week after week. I don't think I do it to vex Jim. It takes a lot to vex him anyway. 'though he did ask me about my position on rapture. He hedges his bets by saying you don't have to believe in rapture in order to be raptured. You just have to believe in Jesus. Fair enough. I just said in reply that, in our efforts to critique millenarianism, we run the risk of denying too much.
Catholic eschatology probably comes closer to dispensational eschatology than most people realize - we expect a "great apostasy" or "falling away", the inclusion of Israel, and some sort of antichrist figure, but we do deny the Rapture, especially a secret one, as paragraph 675 and 677 indicate, the Church will undergo a final trial or "tribulation" before Christ's return.
I tried to make a study of Catholic eschatology in the latest Catechism for your benefit but it is difficult to study any particular topic because information is spread throughout the work. But a "core" discussion of the End Times seems to be found in paragraphs 673 - 677, included here with footnotes (566-581) listed below:
673
Since the Ascension, Christ's coming in glory has been imminent,566 even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority."567 This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed."568
674
The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel," for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.569 St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."570 St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"571 The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles,"572 will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," in which "God may be all in all."573
675
Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.576
676
The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.578
677
The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.579 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.580 God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.581
566. Cf. Rev 22:20.
567. Acts 1:7; cf. Mk 13:32.
568. Cf. Mt 24:44; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 2:3-12.
569. Rom 11:20-26; cf. Mt 23:39.
570. Acts 3:19-21.
571. Rom 11:15.
572. Rom 11:12, 25; cf. Lk 21:24.
573. Eph 4:13; 1 Cor 15:28.
574. Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12.
575. Cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20.
576. Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18, 22.
577. Cf. DS 3839.
578. Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, condemning the "false mysticism"
of this "counterfeit of the redemption of the lowly"; cf. GS 20-21.
579. Cf. Rev 19:1-9.
580. Cf. Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4.
581. Cf. Rev 20:12; 2 Pet 3:12-13.
A Baptist friend of mine told me recently, after years of religious discussion and proselytizing (mostly on my part!), that he is quite sure that the Catholic Church is very close to this end-time, "great apostasy". He misunderstands the meaning of the word!
Apostasy means a desertion, renunciation or abandonment of the Christian faith, the Greek word apostasia is translated as “rebellion” or “falling away” in many modern translations, only the New American Standard Version (and the Catholic NAB) transliterates in 2 Thess. 2:3.
Paragraph 2089 in the Catechism gives a working definition: apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith.
His real charge may be that the Catholic Church is heretical and, as a non-Catholic Christian, he may be obliged to label her thus, for as soon as he suspects that Catholicism is true, he is under moral compulsion to join. But the Catholic Church is not bordering on apostasy because she preaches salvation through Jesus Christ; she has not abandoned the Gospel.
hairesis is often translated “sect” but can also be transliterated.
Easton’s Bible dictionary (1897) has this: "heresy" from a Greek word signifying (1) a choice, (2) the opinion chosen, and (3) the sect holding the opinion. In the Acts of the Apostles (5:17; 15:5; 24:5, 14; 26:5) it denotes a sect, without reference to its character. Elsewhere, however, in the New Testament it has a different meaning attached to it. Paul ranks "heresies" with crimes and seditions (Gal. 5:20). This word also denotes divisions or schisms in the church (1 Cor. 11:19). In Titus 3:10 a "heretical person" is one who follows his own self-willed "questions," and who is to be avoided. Heresies thus came to signify self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God (2 Pet. 2:1).
Again, paragraph 2089 in the Catholic Catechism gives another useful definition: Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same.
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