Tag: Lord

Noise, Noise, Noise.

Sometimes a good villain makes a good point. Recall the Grinch’s hatred for all the noise on Christmas morning.

For many of us, it is in the build up to Christmas that we get annoyed by the noise, the pushy people in the mall, lineups at every store, commercials, endless TV reruns. How do you cope with “all the noise” in the buildup to Christmas?

Read Mark 1:1-8

In all the hubbub build up to Christmas, how can you hear “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'”?

 

Hedonism Kant Be The Way, Can It?

In a universe increasing less black and white and enjoying more grey, I pause to reflect on the concept of Christian Hedonism.

I have always appreciated the more rigorously fashioned ethics of Kant, an action is either right or wrong, all times all places in the universe. One does not do the right thing out of hope for a reward, only of the duty that knowing the right thing to do compels one to do the right thing. The difficulty is discerning or revealing an actions’ inherent evil or righteousness. But there is no room in his logic for an ambiguous action – only the certainty of judging an act objectively as right or wrong. Straightforward, an action either is or is not right. Our appetite for a reward or aversion to punishment is irrelevant. Period.

Now I read about CS Lewis and he shakes me up a little bit about something I was certain – hedonism is a bad thing. Lewis reflects on an objection to Kant’s matter of fact denial of hedonism:

British writer C. S. Lewis, in an oft-quoted passage in his short piece “The Weight of Glory,” likewise objects to Kantian ethics:
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and to earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I suggest that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.[2]

So, ought we do the right thing because there is a reward, or not? Can it be both ways, do it because it is right AND do it because a reward is there?

Why ought we do the right thing?

Pregame Prayer

Strong and faithful God,
as we come together for this contest,
we ask you to bless these athletes.
Keep them safe from injury and harm,
instil in them respect for each other,
and reward them for their perseverance.
Lead us all to the rewards of your kingdom
where you live and reign for ever and ever.
Amen.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/revealed-the-churchs-official-prayer-for-sports-events#ixzz2iJAGCJmE

BLESSING OF AN ATHLETIC EVENT

All make the sign of the cross as the minister says: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
All reply: Now and for ever.

One of those present or the minister reads a text of sacred Scripture, for example:

Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the second letter of Paul to Timothy:
4:6-8

I have fought the good fight

2 Timothy 4:6-8
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=249312013

Or:
Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians:
9:24-27

We win a crown that is imperishable

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=249312349

A minister who is a priest or deacon says the prayer of blessing with hands outstretched; a lay minister says the prayer with hands joined.

Strong and faithful God,
as we come together for this contest,
we ask you to bless these athletes.
Keep them safe from injury and harm,
instill in them respect for each other,
and reward them for their perseverance.
Lead us all to the rewards of your kingdom
Where you live and reign for ever and ever. R. Amen.

http://www.oldenburgacademy.org/files/content/PLC_Sport_Prayers.pdf
http://www.catholiccompany.com/st-jerome-c2145/
http://www.catholiccompany.com/st-sebastian-c664/

The First Covenant

Abraham was the first prophet of Judaism. According to the Book of Genesis in the Bible, when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and made a covenant, or agreement, with him.

God asked Abraham to do certain things. In return, he promised to take special care of Abraham’s descendants and to give them the land of Israel.

Abraham is sometimes called the patriarch of the Jewish people. A patriarch is a father or founder. In what way was Abraham the patriarch of Judaism?