Immorality

This morning I was an altar server for a funeral Mass in my Parish.
The first reading was from the Book of Wisdom.  I was reminded that this was the reading we chose for my Dad's Funeral Mass as well.  Verse 4 (Wisdom 3:4) says:

For if to others, indeed, they seem punished, yet is their hope full of immortality;

I remember thinking that when reading this passage, it is very important to clearly enunciate the first 't' in "immortality."

 

This led me to think of the similarity between a 't' and a '+' and that in the midst of immorality, it is the cross that saves.  The cross, in the midst of immorality, and clinging to the cross in the midst of immorality, which means repenting of the immoral acts we have engaged in, brings us home to the hands of God, where no torment shall touch us.

 

This is our hope.  Where Christ has gone we hope to follow.  He is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf with the wounds of his suffering.

 

So, let us repent of our immorality, that we may come in the end to immortality.

 

St Hilary and his comments on the Trinity

In the non-biblical reading today, from the Liturgy of the hours, we are given a segment from St Hilary's treatise On The Trinity.  I thought one portion of the reading was very significant:

We receive the Spirit of truth so that we may know the things of God.  In order to grasp this consider how useless the faculties of the human body would become if they were denied their existence.  Our eyes cannot fulfill their task without light, either natural or artificial; our ears cannot react without sound vibrations...

It is the same with the human soul.  Unless it absorbs the gift of the Spirit through faith, the mind has the ability to know God but lacks the light necessary for that knowledge.

The Avengers and Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Fr Robert Barron recently reviewed the latest MARVEL movie installment, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Fr Barron sees in Joss Whedon's latest entry what he describes as:

a sort of antidote to Tolkien and Lewis, shaping the imaginations of young people so as to receive a distinctly different message.

and

Although some have seen Biblical themes at work in all of this, I see pretty much the opposite, namely, an affirmation of a Nietzschean view of life.

I do not dispute with Fr Barron about the "Nietzschean view of life," but I have a somewhat different take on the movie.

I was reminded of the folktale of the Golem of Prague when I was watching "Ultron."

The folktale is displayed in the voiceover portion of one episode of the 1st season of Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC).

In the episode entitled "Heavy Metal," the voiceover occurs in the 1st scene and in the final scene.

 

 

 





Two versions of the Golem story appear in Ultron.  The First is the construction of Ultron, and the second is the making of a "Golem" to help defeat Ultron.

I found the voiceover in the final scene of TSCC Heavy Metal telling.  Sarah says:

        "The Pride of man."

and that is finally what Ultron is about, the pride of man running amok.

Fr Barron brings his review to a close by saying:

What the Christian can seize upon in this film is the frank assertion that the will to power -- even backed up by stunningly sophisticated technology -- never finally solves our difficulties, that it, in point of fact, makes things worse. See the Tower of Babel narrative for the details. And this admission teases the mind to consider the possibility that the human predicament can be addressed finally only through the invasion of grace. 

Once that door is opened, the Gospel can be proclaimed.

Yes, it is only through grace that pride can be overcome.

I very much enjoy watching TSCC, especially season one because of the voiceover that accompanies each episode.

Friday -- 1 May 2015 -- Memorial of St Joseph the Worker

Yesterday, Thursday 30 Apr, would have been my mom's birthday,
and today is the memorial of St Joseph the worker.

Today, at Walsh University, since it was the 1st Friday of the month, there was a prayer service before Mass to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for which the Chapel is named.  So, we remembered Mary, the mother of God, and St Joseph (her most chaste spouse).  It was in their home that Jesus grew up.  He was taught the psalms and kept the sabbath, as well as Passover and the other Jewish feasts. 

It is important to know that while nailed to His cross, Jesus prayed the psalms.

Anyway, because of my mom's birthday yesterday and the memorial of St Joseph the worker I offer this little poem which I wrote for my folk's 50th wedding anniversary.

                              Joseph and Mary

 

                        Mary, Queen, and mountain tall

                        Hear the voice, the gentle call

                        Wed the man whom God has sent

                        Raising children love is spent

 

                        Joseph, worker, husband, dad

                        Cards and quips and puns make glad

                        Waste not, want not, guide for life

                         Love your children, love your wife.

 

                         Children, sing your parents praise

                         For Jean and Joe your voices raise

                         Thanks to God for such a life

                         Joseph, Mary, man and wife.