Monthly Archives: January 2018

Collaboration

Posted on by

Collaboration is a state of mind; artful and expressive of the beauty and goodness of love and compassion; nothing less. An ideal whose edicts are those of the Church and every other shared theology which understands the principle of “love your neighbor”. Theory transitions into practice through a shift in the paradigm;

God, Family, Community, Career leads to…..global civilization

Global civilization depends on…..co-operation replacing competition

I’m not overstating my position; our world cannot spend the next 30 years preparing for war and feed 9 billion hungry people at the same time. We can apply what we are learning to the Church and its effectiveness; the real test will be to broadcast this shift in the paradigm to a waiting world, a world of great need.

Evangelization

Posted on by

Nothing is more important than the mission of the Church which is to further the work of Christ in this world, to spread His word, His glory and goodness. Collaboration is not about empire building, it’s about the salvation of souls, the work of the Church. So naturally a lot of focus has been on evangelization.

Simply put, evangelization is spreading the “good news”. The victory is ours; liberation from captivity, victory over death, over sin, over defeat and victory over the trappings of this world. Christ is bigger than the cross.

Now let’s travel from transcendental to practical. From theory to practice without co-opting, compromising and corrupting what is good, beautiful and true. Three easy steps. First, put God first. Maintain a high meditative state of mind, living in the presence of the Lord. Second, be a saint. Realize your life is not your own. Our purpose is to draw faithfulness out of everyone, not pump religion into them. And thirdly, be intuitive. We are all hard wired for God.

The love, grace and mercies of the Lord are given by Him to us in their fullness. As it is with Faith; a gift. There will never be any more or any less of Him or His timeless truths in us. So what is innate in us is inherited as intuition. We know what we know. If this is true, then one conclusion is this;

Intuition leads to cognition

Cognition leads to knowledge

Knowledge leads to wisdom

Wisdom leads to understanding

Understanding leads to consciousness

Consciousness leads to enlightenment

Enlightenment leads to self-realization

Self-realization leads to revelation

Revelation leads to God

It’s all Intuition

So it’s not His mercy and grace which grows, or His love; what deepens are our appreciation, gratitude, comprehension, trust and adoration of Him and for His gifts

Ologyism

Posted on by

 

How about a new word for secularism? How about considering that God is not being rejected or excluded from public affairs? How about considering the God standard is exactly what is being applied and used to measure the value and quality of our civil society? How about considering secularism is really “ologyism”. How about considering, Theism is seeing value and quality being discovered in the Word of God and “ologyism” as seeing value and quality as being invented by the will of the individual. So you take some psychology and a dose of biology and a dash of theology and a little spooky philosophy; blend it with twenty first century individualism, expressionism and some lively liberalism; mix well and bake for twenty five years; spread it over middle and upper class Americans while attending state sponsored schools and presso chango “ologyism”. But it’s the very virtues found in Holy Scripture which are used to measure the results of this “ologyism”. So if the “ologyist” really believes that the logic, reason, understanding, awareness and the power of their will can lead to the perfectly structured society, well then at least give themselves a new name because ideologist, socialist, utopians and democrats are already taken.

The Myth of Sacrificial Love

Posted on by

 

Is sacrificial love in harmony with the teachings of the Church? Did our Lord, Jesus Christ sacrifice His life for us? Does Holy Scriptures teach us to be imitators of Christ? Are we made in His image and likeness? Certainly we have heard the homilies, read the commentary; we hear the voice in our souls saying it’s better to give than receive. Of all the commandments which speak to the truth, isn’t love your neighbor as you love yourself the greatest and simplest  instruction on how to live with each other and in each other. As parents and children of parents, as brothers and sister, friends, colleagues, allies, strangers on the street and souls in distress all over the world; hasn’t our sacrificial love reached out to all. The answer must certainly be, yes. And so it is; but is it the only answer?

Bishop Barron says; Love is willing the good of the other for the sake of the other. He says; the Almighty Father doesn’t just love, He is Love. Our Father wills the very existence of the universe, with, through and in love; from second to second, in every aspect and respect. Our Father knows all, sees all and uses all for our greater glory, for our greatest good. He knows for sure and for certain what is and what will be. So for us too, love is a conscious decision, a willful act, grounded in heart and mind. The difference being; we don’t know for sure and for certain what will be. Christ’s death on the Cross was a willful act with a purposeful end. He is the cause and the effect. Not so with us; we do not know the effect, cannot see the result. By thinking we can know the result, we put ourselves into the equation and have introduced the question of quality and quantity; doesn’t this sound egocentric. Now not only have we decided to act out and for the greatest good, we are also deciding on the cost and the results; something which we cannot know. However, we can apply the God standard and ask ourselves are we acting out of love, humility and appealing to everyone best interest and highest ideal; this we can do. We cannot sacrifice, we can make the best decision we can and leave everything to God’s goodness.

G.K. Chesterton said, paradox is the truth standing on its head to get attention. So let’s admit we cannot sacrifice, we can be in this moment receiving the gift of Grace. We can remove the obstacles in our hearts and watch Christ’s goodness flow out of us, into the waiting world, a world in great need. I offer you this; before we act, before we give of our time and resources, before any whisper or hint or glimmer of goodness, we receive the suffering of this world. Yes, in a world where suffering has no value, where suffering is avoided at any cost, we embrace it, we smother it, we accept it willingly and thankfully, because in the suffering lies strength. The strength and courage to lean on the Cross. The strength and courage which brings the endurance and peace at the end of the day. I’m not suggesting we suffer for ourselves, not suggesting we suffer for others and certainly not suggesting we suffer for the sake of suffering; I am suggesting where Christ gives Divine Mercy, we show self-giving love and earthly compassion.