Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Secular Totalitarianism in Canada - Part III
Totalitarianism in Alberta - Part III
Written by Bishop Frederick Henry on Tuesday, 01 March 2016
A sure sign that spring is near, according to Parks Canada, is the sight of the first grizzly bear of the season coming out of winter hibernation.
As this natural process unfolds, it is an apt time to review the recommended bear safety tips for people visiting mountain parks: ensure pets are on a leash while out walking; travel in groups and make noise; and have bear spray within reach and know how to use it. The number one safety tip is "Knowing how to reduce an encounter before it happens as that is good for people and good for bears."
This latter safety tip would also make good sense in politics. Probably, the worst thing you could do would be to poke and prod a hibernating bear, or the majority of the population, especially parents and educators, with a stick.
Alas, the Guidelines for Best Practice re Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Gender Expressions from the Ministry of Education do precisely that.
The stick or underlying principle is "Self-identification is the sole measure of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression."
This is simply not congruent with Catholic teaching on human sexuality. Gender identity is determined at conception, genetically, anatomically and chromosomally.
The Ministry's underlying principle leads to a subset of so-called "best practices," for example:
"No student or family should be referred to programs which purport to 'fix,'change' or 'repair' a student's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression." p5
"Some individuals may not feel included in the use of the pronouns "he" or "she" and may prefer alternate pronouns, such as "ze," "zir," "hir," "they" or "them," or might wish to express themselves or self-identify in other ways (e.g., MX. instead or Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss, or no prefix at all)." p5
"School forms, websites, letters, and other communications use non-gendered and inclusive language (e.g., parents/guardians, caregivers, families, partners, "student" or "their" instead of Mr., Ms., Mrs., mother, father, him, her, etc.)." p4
"If a human sexuality class is organized by gender, students are able to choose which class they participate in." p8
"Students with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions have a right to accommodation when it comes to the use of washroom and change room facilities that are congruent with their gender identity. This applies during school time and school-related activities on and off school property (such as field trips and athletic events)." p9
If your premise is incorrect, in all likelihood, your conclusions will also be invalid.
It doesn't help when the Ministry double-downs with comments such as "But that protection (religious) has never allowed faith-based edicts to compromise the letter of the law."
The Guidelines do not have the force of law. They are suggestions, and not very good ones either.
A much more interesting and relevant question is what should be done if a law is seriously and fundamentally flawed? For example, Bill 10, in effect, empowers a 12 year old (theoretically), whom society doesn't consider mature enough to get a driver's licence or to vote, to establish education policy without parental involvement, the elected trustees approval and even contrary to the experienced direction of a master teacher or principal. That's simply absurd and it would be immoral to follow such legislation.
Furthermore, all Canadians, including the Ministry of Education, must also be in compliance with the law which goes well beyond Bill 1 0. The doctrine that Catholic schools are entitled to permeate Catholicity, Catholic teaching and Catholic dogma in all aspects of its curriculum has been specifically recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Hirsch (1926), Greater Hull (1984), Greater Montreal (1989), Mahe (1990), and Loyola (2015).
However, this is not just a Catholic issue but a parental issue. The government is engaged in social re-engineering, imposing an ideology and indoctrinating children without parental consultation, input and support.
In conclusion, I would offer this advice to the Minister of Education:
If you encounter a bear on the trail, or in your campsite, stop what you are doing and evaluate the situation. Identify yourself by speaking in a calm, appeasing tone. Back away slowly, preferably in the direction you came. Walk, don't run, and keep your eye on the bear so you can see how it will react. In most cases, the bear will flee - unless it perceives that its cubs are at risk. In that case, .... pray!
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1375-totalitarianism-in-alberta-part-iii.html#sthash.DvkfDLNa.dpuf
A sure sign that spring is near, according to Parks Canada, is the sight of the first grizzly bear of the season coming out of winter hibernation.
As this natural process unfolds, it is an apt time to review the recommended bear safety tips for people visiting mountain parks: ensure pets are on a leash while out walking; travel in groups and make noise; and have bear spray within reach and know how to use it. The number one safety tip is "Knowing how to reduce an encounter before it happens as that is good for people and good for bears."
This latter safety tip would also make good sense in politics. Probably, the worst thing you could do would be to poke and prod a hibernating bear, or the majority of the population, especially parents and educators, with a stick.
Alas, the Guidelines for Best Practice re Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Gender Expressions from the Ministry of Education do precisely that.
The stick or underlying principle is "Self-identification is the sole measure of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression."
This is simply not congruent with Catholic teaching on human sexuality. Gender identity is determined at conception, genetically, anatomically and chromosomally.
The Ministry's underlying principle leads to a subset of so-called "best practices," for example:
"No student or family should be referred to programs which purport to 'fix,'change' or 'repair' a student's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression." p5
"Some individuals may not feel included in the use of the pronouns "he" or "she" and may prefer alternate pronouns, such as "ze," "zir," "hir," "they" or "them," or might wish to express themselves or self-identify in other ways (e.g., MX. instead or Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss, or no prefix at all)." p5
"School forms, websites, letters, and other communications use non-gendered and inclusive language (e.g., parents/guardians, caregivers, families, partners, "student" or "their" instead of Mr., Ms., Mrs., mother, father, him, her, etc.)." p4
"If a human sexuality class is organized by gender, students are able to choose which class they participate in." p8
"Students with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions have a right to accommodation when it comes to the use of washroom and change room facilities that are congruent with their gender identity. This applies during school time and school-related activities on and off school property (such as field trips and athletic events)." p9
If your premise is incorrect, in all likelihood, your conclusions will also be invalid.
It doesn't help when the Ministry double-downs with comments such as "But that protection (religious) has never allowed faith-based edicts to compromise the letter of the law."
The Guidelines do not have the force of law. They are suggestions, and not very good ones either.
A much more interesting and relevant question is what should be done if a law is seriously and fundamentally flawed? For example, Bill 10, in effect, empowers a 12 year old (theoretically), whom society doesn't consider mature enough to get a driver's licence or to vote, to establish education policy without parental involvement, the elected trustees approval and even contrary to the experienced direction of a master teacher or principal. That's simply absurd and it would be immoral to follow such legislation.
Furthermore, all Canadians, including the Ministry of Education, must also be in compliance with the law which goes well beyond Bill 1 0. The doctrine that Catholic schools are entitled to permeate Catholicity, Catholic teaching and Catholic dogma in all aspects of its curriculum has been specifically recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Hirsch (1926), Greater Hull (1984), Greater Montreal (1989), Mahe (1990), and Loyola (2015).
However, this is not just a Catholic issue but a parental issue. The government is engaged in social re-engineering, imposing an ideology and indoctrinating children without parental consultation, input and support.
In conclusion, I would offer this advice to the Minister of Education:
If you encounter a bear on the trail, or in your campsite, stop what you are doing and evaluate the situation. Identify yourself by speaking in a calm, appeasing tone. Back away slowly, preferably in the direction you came. Walk, don't run, and keep your eye on the bear so you can see how it will react. In most cases, the bear will flee - unless it perceives that its cubs are at risk. In that case, .... pray!
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1375-totalitarianism-in-alberta-part-iii.html#sthash.DvkfDLNa.dpuf
Secular Totalitarianism in Canada - Part II
Totalitarianism in Alberta - Part II
In my recent Pastoral Letter, I wrote that the Alberta Government Gender Guidelines issued on January 13 show no evidence of consultation with, or sensitivity to, the Catholic community. They breathe pure secularism. This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology.
If you are reading this piece in the hopes of discovering an apology and/or a retraction, you might as well stop reading right now. That's simply not going to happen.
I have received considerable support for what I said and the way in which I said it. Nevertheless, there were a few "nay-sayers" some have called for my resignation, others have resorted to unpublishable name calling, and of course, there were several references to the famous catch-all these days, "Who are you to judge?" The later suggesting that I was espousing a teaching contrary to the openness of Pope Francis.
In point of fact, Pope Francis has said quite a bit about gender. "The acceptance of our bodies as God's gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one's own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which would seek to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it" [Laudato Si 155].
Furthermore, in Sacred Scripture there are different but interrelated sets of texts about judgment. Without attempting to be exhaustive, there are at least three that are especially noteworthy:
1) Warnings about judgment: "Stop judging that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged...." This is not an injunction against judgment, but a warning that the judgment should be rendered with a good heart free from hypocrisy, arrogance, meanness of spirit, or hate. Consequently, "remove the beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." The principal purpose of a judgment is to help a brother or sister avoid debilitating actions and improve. The awesome burden of judging is the realization that we will be "judged as we have judged." Some cite the incident of the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus by those who would stone her as evidence that we should not judge others. Nothing could be further from the truth. The incident manifests God's mercy and loathing of hypocrisy, but he did judge her behavior as evidenced by his admonition: "Go and sin no more."
2) Instances of judgment abound: Peter to Simon the magician "...for your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours... for I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chain of wickedness" [Acts 8: 20-23]. Paul to Elymas, "you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, full of every sort of deceit and fraud. Will you not stop twisting the straight paths of the Lord?" [Acts 13:9-10]; and Paul to Peter, "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he clearly was wrong" [Gal 2:11].
3) Cautions particularly to overseers or leaders about judgments: "Thus says the Lord: you, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me if I tell the wicked, 'oh, wicked one, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked one from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself" [Ezekiel 33: 7-9].
Paul's advice to Timothy is difficult for some of us: "Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will" [2 Tim 2: 23-26].
Only God can judge the state of the human soul but it is pure nonsense to suggest we cannot and should not judge human behaviour. Reluctance to judge moral behaviour is the inevitable consequence of moral relativism and moral subjectivism that has eroded confidence in the ability to determine objective moral truth on which sound judgment is based.
The last word on this subject belongs to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: "How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves thrown from one extreme to the other.... Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error [cf Ephesians 4, 14].
Having a clear Faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labelled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties.
A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth" [Way of the Cross in 2005 for Good Friday].
✠ F. B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1370-totalitarianism-in-alberta-part-ii.html#sthash.pclDrRGQ.dpuf
In my recent Pastoral Letter, I wrote that the Alberta Government Gender Guidelines issued on January 13 show no evidence of consultation with, or sensitivity to, the Catholic community. They breathe pure secularism. This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology.
If you are reading this piece in the hopes of discovering an apology and/or a retraction, you might as well stop reading right now. That's simply not going to happen.
I have received considerable support for what I said and the way in which I said it. Nevertheless, there were a few "nay-sayers" some have called for my resignation, others have resorted to unpublishable name calling, and of course, there were several references to the famous catch-all these days, "Who are you to judge?" The later suggesting that I was espousing a teaching contrary to the openness of Pope Francis.
In point of fact, Pope Francis has said quite a bit about gender. "The acceptance of our bodies as God's gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one's own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which would seek to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it" [Laudato Si 155].
Furthermore, in Sacred Scripture there are different but interrelated sets of texts about judgment. Without attempting to be exhaustive, there are at least three that are especially noteworthy:
1) Warnings about judgment: "Stop judging that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged...." This is not an injunction against judgment, but a warning that the judgment should be rendered with a good heart free from hypocrisy, arrogance, meanness of spirit, or hate. Consequently, "remove the beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." The principal purpose of a judgment is to help a brother or sister avoid debilitating actions and improve. The awesome burden of judging is the realization that we will be "judged as we have judged." Some cite the incident of the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus by those who would stone her as evidence that we should not judge others. Nothing could be further from the truth. The incident manifests God's mercy and loathing of hypocrisy, but he did judge her behavior as evidenced by his admonition: "Go and sin no more."
2) Instances of judgment abound: Peter to Simon the magician "...for your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours... for I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chain of wickedness" [Acts 8: 20-23]. Paul to Elymas, "you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, full of every sort of deceit and fraud. Will you not stop twisting the straight paths of the Lord?" [Acts 13:9-10]; and Paul to Peter, "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he clearly was wrong" [Gal 2:11].
3) Cautions particularly to overseers or leaders about judgments: "Thus says the Lord: you, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me if I tell the wicked, 'oh, wicked one, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked one from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself" [Ezekiel 33: 7-9].
Paul's advice to Timothy is difficult for some of us: "Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will" [2 Tim 2: 23-26].
Only God can judge the state of the human soul but it is pure nonsense to suggest we cannot and should not judge human behaviour. Reluctance to judge moral behaviour is the inevitable consequence of moral relativism and moral subjectivism that has eroded confidence in the ability to determine objective moral truth on which sound judgment is based.
The last word on this subject belongs to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: "How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves thrown from one extreme to the other.... Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error [cf Ephesians 4, 14].
Having a clear Faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labelled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties.
A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth" [Way of the Cross in 2005 for Good Friday].
✠ F. B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1370-totalitarianism-in-alberta-part-ii.html#sthash.pclDrRGQ.dpuf
Secular Totalitarianism in Canada - Part I
Totalitarianism in Alberta
Written by Bishop Henry on Wednesday, 13 January 2016
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
It saddens me to say but totalitarianism is alive and well in Alberta
Prior to becoming Pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio on May 25, 2012 gave a "Te Deum" homily commemorating the establishment of Argentina's first national government following the revolution of 1810. The major thrust of his homily was that only the commandment of love, in all of its simplicity - steady, unassuming, but firm in conviction and in commitment to others - can save us. We need to re-root ourselves in a sovereign love that is simple and deep, to love God above all else and our neighbour as ourselves.
Two forms of deception impede the realization of any plan as a nation, i.e., the madness of relativism and the madness of power as a monolithic ideology.
"Relativism, under the guise of respect for differences, is homogenized into transgression and demagoguery; it allows anything, because it wishes to avoid being burdened by all the inconveniences required of a mature courage to uphold values and principles. Relativism, is curiously, absolutist and totalitarian. Relativism does not allow for any differing opinion. In no way does it differ from an attitude of "shut up" or "don't get involved."'
Power as a monolithic ideology is another lie which accentuates narrow-mindedness and seeks dominance over others. Consequently, social trust, the root and fruit of love is eroded.
On November 5, 2015, David Eggen, the Minister of Education issued an edict to Boards Chairs of Public, Separate, Francophone and Charter School Boards re learning environments that respect diversity and foster a sense of belonging. Board policies are to be shared with him, together with the required regulations or procedures by March 31, 2016.
"It is important to specifically address the board's responsibility as it relates to the LBTQ community.... As part of my review, I will also be looking for evidence of policy and regulations or procedures related specifically to Section 16.1 of the School Act and the support for the establishment of gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and queer-straight alliances (QSAs)..."
The Alberta Government "Guidelines" issued on January 13th show no evidence of consultation with or sensitivity to the Catholic community. They breathe pure secularism.
This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology. Such a totalitarian approach is not in accordance with the Supreme Court of Canada opinion (Loyola) delivered on March19, 2015 and must be rejected.
Catholic schools share a foundational belief that all children are loved by God, are individually unique and that the school has a mission to help each student to fulfill their God-given potential in all aspects of their persons: physically, academically, socially, morally and spiritually.
Our Catholic schools are committed to supporting inclusive communities that teach care and compassion for every person, regardless of age, race, sex, gender or sexual orientation, and require that every person be treated with dignity and respect.
Our teaching is rather simple and direct. God created beings as male and female. In doing so, he gave equal dignity to both man and woman. In his plan, men and women should respect and accept their sexual identity. God created both the body and sex as good. Hence, we do not approach sexuality with fear or with hostility to the flesh. It is a gift of God by which men and women participate in his saving plan and respond to his call to grow in holiness.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that sexuality involves the whole person. "Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude of forming bonds of communion with others" (CCC, no.2332).
All persons - married, single, religious and ordained - need to acquire the virtue of chastity. "Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus, the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being."(CCC, no.2337).
Chastity unites our sexuality with our entire human nature. It approaches sexuality as related to our spiritual natures so that sex is seen as more than a physical act. Sexuality affects the whole person because of the unity of body and soul. Jesus is the model of chastity.
"Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom"(CCC, no.2339). The acquisition of chastity depends on self-discipline and leads to internal freedom, which enables human beings to temper sexual desires according to God's plan for the appropriate expression of love in the marital relationship of a man and a woman..
GSAs and QSAs are highly politicized ideological clubs which seek to cure society of "homophobia" and "heterosexism," and which accept the idea that all forms of consensual sexual expression are legitimate. The view of sexuality that they espouse is not Catholic.
The Supreme Court held that "to tell a Catholic school how to explain its faith undermines the liberty of the members of its community who have chosen to give effect to the collective dimension of their religious beliefs by participating in a denominational school"(para.62), "ìt amounts to requiring a Catholic institution to speak about Catholicism in terms defined by the state rather than by its own understanding of Catholicism" (par.63), and "ìt also interferes with the rights of parents to transmit the Catholic faith to their children" and the "rights of parents to guide their children's religious upbringing"(para. 64 & 65).
✠ F. B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1367-pastoral-letter.html#sthash.pVTjCJfD.dpuf
Written by Bishop Henry on Wednesday, 13 January 2016
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
It saddens me to say but totalitarianism is alive and well in Alberta
Prior to becoming Pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio on May 25, 2012 gave a "Te Deum" homily commemorating the establishment of Argentina's first national government following the revolution of 1810. The major thrust of his homily was that only the commandment of love, in all of its simplicity - steady, unassuming, but firm in conviction and in commitment to others - can save us. We need to re-root ourselves in a sovereign love that is simple and deep, to love God above all else and our neighbour as ourselves.
Two forms of deception impede the realization of any plan as a nation, i.e., the madness of relativism and the madness of power as a monolithic ideology.
"Relativism, under the guise of respect for differences, is homogenized into transgression and demagoguery; it allows anything, because it wishes to avoid being burdened by all the inconveniences required of a mature courage to uphold values and principles. Relativism, is curiously, absolutist and totalitarian. Relativism does not allow for any differing opinion. In no way does it differ from an attitude of "shut up" or "don't get involved."'
Power as a monolithic ideology is another lie which accentuates narrow-mindedness and seeks dominance over others. Consequently, social trust, the root and fruit of love is eroded.
On November 5, 2015, David Eggen, the Minister of Education issued an edict to Boards Chairs of Public, Separate, Francophone and Charter School Boards re learning environments that respect diversity and foster a sense of belonging. Board policies are to be shared with him, together with the required regulations or procedures by March 31, 2016.
"It is important to specifically address the board's responsibility as it relates to the LBTQ community.... As part of my review, I will also be looking for evidence of policy and regulations or procedures related specifically to Section 16.1 of the School Act and the support for the establishment of gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and queer-straight alliances (QSAs)..."
The Alberta Government "Guidelines" issued on January 13th show no evidence of consultation with or sensitivity to the Catholic community. They breathe pure secularism.
This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology. Such a totalitarian approach is not in accordance with the Supreme Court of Canada opinion (Loyola) delivered on March19, 2015 and must be rejected.
Catholic schools share a foundational belief that all children are loved by God, are individually unique and that the school has a mission to help each student to fulfill their God-given potential in all aspects of their persons: physically, academically, socially, morally and spiritually.
Our Catholic schools are committed to supporting inclusive communities that teach care and compassion for every person, regardless of age, race, sex, gender or sexual orientation, and require that every person be treated with dignity and respect.
Our teaching is rather simple and direct. God created beings as male and female. In doing so, he gave equal dignity to both man and woman. In his plan, men and women should respect and accept their sexual identity. God created both the body and sex as good. Hence, we do not approach sexuality with fear or with hostility to the flesh. It is a gift of God by which men and women participate in his saving plan and respond to his call to grow in holiness.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that sexuality involves the whole person. "Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude of forming bonds of communion with others" (CCC, no.2332).
All persons - married, single, religious and ordained - need to acquire the virtue of chastity. "Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus, the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being."(CCC, no.2337).
Chastity unites our sexuality with our entire human nature. It approaches sexuality as related to our spiritual natures so that sex is seen as more than a physical act. Sexuality affects the whole person because of the unity of body and soul. Jesus is the model of chastity.
"Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom"(CCC, no.2339). The acquisition of chastity depends on self-discipline and leads to internal freedom, which enables human beings to temper sexual desires according to God's plan for the appropriate expression of love in the marital relationship of a man and a woman..
GSAs and QSAs are highly politicized ideological clubs which seek to cure society of "homophobia" and "heterosexism," and which accept the idea that all forms of consensual sexual expression are legitimate. The view of sexuality that they espouse is not Catholic.
The Supreme Court held that "to tell a Catholic school how to explain its faith undermines the liberty of the members of its community who have chosen to give effect to the collective dimension of their religious beliefs by participating in a denominational school"(para.62), "ìt amounts to requiring a Catholic institution to speak about Catholicism in terms defined by the state rather than by its own understanding of Catholicism" (par.63), and "ìt also interferes with the rights of parents to transmit the Catholic faith to their children" and the "rights of parents to guide their children's religious upbringing"(para. 64 & 65).
✠ F. B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary
- See more at: http://www.calgarydiocese.ca/messages-from-the-bishop/1367-pastoral-letter.html#sthash.pVTjCJfD.dpuf
Pope Francis pays homage to fidelity of Ukrainian Catholics
Pope Francis pays homage to fidelity of Ukrainian Catholics
by Catholic News Service
posted Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016
Ukrainian women hold peace placards near a military base
by Catholic News Service
posted Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016
Ukrainian women hold peace placards near a military base
in Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 (CNS)
The Vatican released a message from the Pontiff to the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church paying homage to the suffering and martyrdom of Ukrainian Catholics who refused to give up their fidelity to the Pope despite harsh Soviet repression, Pope Francis also paid tribute to the Eastern Catholics’ efforts today to alleviate the suffering of those impacted by the war in Eastern Ukraine.
“We bow our heads in profound gratitude before those who, even at the price of tribulation and martyrdom, over the course of time testified to their faith, which was lived with dedication to their Church and in unfailing union with the successor of Peter,” the Pope said in a message to Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Pope Francis’s message, released at the Vatican on Sunday, commemorated the 70th anniversary of the “pseudo-Synod of Lviv,” a meeting organised by the Soviet government on March 8-10, 1946, to dissolve the Ukrainian Catholic Church and proclaim its unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.
All of the Ukrainian Catholic bishops and many of the Church’s priests were arrested before the gathering, which resulted in the church being forced to operate underground for almost 45 years.
The Pope released the message a day after he’d spent close to an hour meeting with members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s permanent synod.
To mark the anniversary of the Lviv meeting, the synod members went to Rome “to reaffirm our communion with the Holy Father and to ask for his help for the suffering people of Ukraine during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” Archbishop Shevchuk said in a statement on March 5.
In his message, Pope Francis said, “I renew my solidarity with the pastors and the faithful for all they are doing in this difficult time, marked by the tribulation of war, to alleviate the suffering of the population and to seek paths of peace for the beloved land of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian Bishop Borys Gudziak of Paris told Catholic News Service that he and the bishops on the permanent synod outlined for the Pope the huge impact the Russian annexation of Crimea and the continued fighting in Eastern Ukraine have had on the country and its people.
Some 10,000 people have been killed and an estimated two million displaced, forcing them to rely on relatives, religious organisations or government assistance. The war also has led to a sharp devaluation of the Ukrainian currency, Bishop Gudziak said, which has reduced the buying power of people’s income by 65 per cent.
The permanent synod’s meeting with Pope Francis came three weeks after Pope Francis met Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Cuba and signed a joint statement with him that included several passages criticised by Archbishop Shevchuk.
The Ukrainian Catholic leader and many of his faithful said they were concerned about references that seemed to downplay the status of their Church as well as a passage that seemed to imply the war in Eastern Ukraine was a civil conflict, without reference to Russian interference.
Although the archbishop’s criticisms of the document were not the focus of the meeting, they were mentioned, according to a statement from the permanent synod.
“The Holy Father emphasised that one cannot solve ecumenical problems at the expense of an entire Eastern Catholic Church,” the archbishop said after the meeting.
The Vatican released a message from the Pontiff to the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church paying homage to the suffering and martyrdom of Ukrainian Catholics who refused to give up their fidelity to the Pope despite harsh Soviet repression, Pope Francis also paid tribute to the Eastern Catholics’ efforts today to alleviate the suffering of those impacted by the war in Eastern Ukraine.
“We bow our heads in profound gratitude before those who, even at the price of tribulation and martyrdom, over the course of time testified to their faith, which was lived with dedication to their Church and in unfailing union with the successor of Peter,” the Pope said in a message to Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of Kiev-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Pope Francis’s message, released at the Vatican on Sunday, commemorated the 70th anniversary of the “pseudo-Synod of Lviv,” a meeting organised by the Soviet government on March 8-10, 1946, to dissolve the Ukrainian Catholic Church and proclaim its unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.
All of the Ukrainian Catholic bishops and many of the Church’s priests were arrested before the gathering, which resulted in the church being forced to operate underground for almost 45 years.
The Pope released the message a day after he’d spent close to an hour meeting with members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s permanent synod.
To mark the anniversary of the Lviv meeting, the synod members went to Rome “to reaffirm our communion with the Holy Father and to ask for his help for the suffering people of Ukraine during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” Archbishop Shevchuk said in a statement on March 5.
In his message, Pope Francis said, “I renew my solidarity with the pastors and the faithful for all they are doing in this difficult time, marked by the tribulation of war, to alleviate the suffering of the population and to seek paths of peace for the beloved land of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian Bishop Borys Gudziak of Paris told Catholic News Service that he and the bishops on the permanent synod outlined for the Pope the huge impact the Russian annexation of Crimea and the continued fighting in Eastern Ukraine have had on the country and its people.
Some 10,000 people have been killed and an estimated two million displaced, forcing them to rely on relatives, religious organisations or government assistance. The war also has led to a sharp devaluation of the Ukrainian currency, Bishop Gudziak said, which has reduced the buying power of people’s income by 65 per cent.
The permanent synod’s meeting with Pope Francis came three weeks after Pope Francis met Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Cuba and signed a joint statement with him that included several passages criticised by Archbishop Shevchuk.
The Ukrainian Catholic leader and many of his faithful said they were concerned about references that seemed to downplay the status of their Church as well as a passage that seemed to imply the war in Eastern Ukraine was a civil conflict, without reference to Russian interference.
Although the archbishop’s criticisms of the document were not the focus of the meeting, they were mentioned, according to a statement from the permanent synod.
“The Holy Father emphasised that one cannot solve ecumenical problems at the expense of an entire Eastern Catholic Church,” the archbishop said after the meeting.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Mother Teresa nuns massacred by militants in Yemen
Mother Teresa nuns massacred by militants in Yemen
by Staff Reporter
posted Friday, 4 Mar 2016
Men stand next to a crater made by a car bomb
by Staff Reporter
posted Friday, 4 Mar 2016
Men stand next to a crater made by a car bomb
attack near the presidential palace in the southern
port city of Aden, Yemen (AP Photo/Wael Qubady)
Four nuns were shot dead along with elderly residents of a care home in Aden
Four Missionaries of Charity have been shot dead in Yemen during an attack by gunmen on a Church-run retirement home.
The women religious, members of the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, were among 16 killed in an attack on a home for the elderly in the capital city Aden.
According to reports, two of the nuns were Rwandan and the others were Kenyan and Indian.
It is not yet clear who is behind the attack but the country is currently in the midst of civil war.
Islamist State and al-Qaida supporters have recently conducted a number of attacks in the south of Yemen.
One nun who survived the attack and was rescued by locals told the Associated Press that she hid inside a refrigerator in a store room after hearing a Yemeni guard shouting “run, run”.
Another survivor said among the 16 slaughtered there were also six Ethiopians, one Yemeni cook, and several Yemeni guards.
Four nuns were shot dead along with elderly residents of a care home in Aden
Four Missionaries of Charity have been shot dead in Yemen during an attack by gunmen on a Church-run retirement home.
The women religious, members of the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, were among 16 killed in an attack on a home for the elderly in the capital city Aden.
According to reports, two of the nuns were Rwandan and the others were Kenyan and Indian.
It is not yet clear who is behind the attack but the country is currently in the midst of civil war.
Islamist State and al-Qaida supporters have recently conducted a number of attacks in the south of Yemen.
One nun who survived the attack and was rescued by locals told the Associated Press that she hid inside a refrigerator in a store room after hearing a Yemeni guard shouting “run, run”.
Another survivor said among the 16 slaughtered there were also six Ethiopians, one Yemeni cook, and several Yemeni guards.
L'Église gréco-catholique d'Ukraine réaffirme sa communion avec Rome
L'Église gréco-catholique d'Ukraine réaffirme sa communion avec Rome
2016-03-05 Radio Vatican
(RV) Le chef de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne, l’archevêque majeur de Kiev Sviastoslav Shevchuk, et plusieurs évêques de cette Église qui compte environ cinq millions de fidèles, ont rencontré ce samedi 5 mars 2016 le Pape François, présentant cette rencontre comme un signe de«pleine et visible communion avec le successeur de Pierre».
Les membres du Synode permanent de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne sont rassemblés à Rome du 29 février au 6 mars et ont rencontré le Pape ce samedi. L’archevêque Schevchuk s’était exprimé cette semaine, suite à une rencontre avec des responsables de la diplomatie du Saint-Siège, durant laquelle il a souligné la force de la foi du peuple ukrainien, mais il a aussi averti des défis ausquels le pays fait face actuellement.
L’archevêque a dit aux diplomates que ce rassemblement des responsables de l’Église gréco-catholique à Rome avait été planifié pour marquer le 70e anniversaire du "pseudo-Synode" de Lviv, qui avait mené à la liquidation de l’Église catholique ukrainienne au temps de l’URSS. Pendant les quatre décennies qui suivirent, l’Église était persécutée et n’a survécu que clandestinement jusqu’à la chute du régime communiste au début des années 1990.
Les catholiques d’Ukraine représentent aujourd’hui environ 10% de la population, de rite oriental pour la plupart mais avec aussi une petite communauté de rite latin, alors les orthodoxes sont divisés entre trois patriarcats.
La récente rencontre entre le Pape François et le Patriarche orthodoxe de Moscou Cyrille 1er à Cuba et la signature d’une déclaration conjointe ont suscité une vive préoccupation parmi les fidèles catholiques ukrainiens. Mais l’archevêque Shevchuk a précisé que ces inquiétudes ne portaient pas atteinte à l’unité visible et entière de son Église avec le Pape et avec l’Église de Rome.
En parlant avec les diplomates, d’autres évêques ont mis en avant le dynamisme de l’Église gréco-catholique, qui a connu un développement spectaculaire en Ukraine, moins de 30 ans après sa libération de l’oppression soviétique. Mais l’évêque Boris Gudziak, chef de l’Église pour la diaspora ukrainienne en France, dans le Benelux et en Suisse, a aussi averti des difficultés croissantes auxquels les Ukrainiens font face dans le contexte de l’invasion russe de la Crimée et du conflit dans l’est du pays.
Au moins deux millions de personnes ont été déplacées en interne par la guerre, et deux millions et demi d’autres ont fui le pays. Les leaders de l’Église ukrainienne appellent le Pape François et toute la communauté catholique à faire tout ce qui est possible pour mettre fin à ce conflit, et à fournir une aide humanitaire urgente pour la population en souffrance.
Ce samedi midi, le Pape François a donc manifesté son attention au peuple ukrainien. «Nous sommes venus réaffirmer notre communion avec le Saint-Père, et pour lui demander son aide pour le peuple d’Ukraine en souffrance, et le Saint-Père nous a écoutés» a déclaré suite à cette rencontre l’archevêque majeur de Kiev, Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
(RV) Le chef de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne, l’archevêque majeur de Kiev Sviastoslav Shevchuk, et plusieurs évêques de cette Église qui compte environ cinq millions de fidèles, ont rencontré ce samedi 5 mars 2016 le Pape François, présentant cette rencontre comme un signe de«pleine et visible communion avec le successeur de Pierre».
Les membres du Synode permanent de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne sont rassemblés à Rome du 29 février au 6 mars et ont rencontré le Pape ce samedi. L’archevêque Schevchuk s’était exprimé cette semaine, suite à une rencontre avec des responsables de la diplomatie du Saint-Siège, durant laquelle il a souligné la force de la foi du peuple ukrainien, mais il a aussi averti des défis ausquels le pays fait face actuellement.
L’archevêque a dit aux diplomates que ce rassemblement des responsables de l’Église gréco-catholique à Rome avait été planifié pour marquer le 70e anniversaire du "pseudo-Synode" de Lviv, qui avait mené à la liquidation de l’Église catholique ukrainienne au temps de l’URSS. Pendant les quatre décennies qui suivirent, l’Église était persécutée et n’a survécu que clandestinement jusqu’à la chute du régime communiste au début des années 1990.
Les catholiques d’Ukraine représentent aujourd’hui environ 10% de la population, de rite oriental pour la plupart mais avec aussi une petite communauté de rite latin, alors les orthodoxes sont divisés entre trois patriarcats.
La récente rencontre entre le Pape François et le Patriarche orthodoxe de Moscou Cyrille 1er à Cuba et la signature d’une déclaration conjointe ont suscité une vive préoccupation parmi les fidèles catholiques ukrainiens. Mais l’archevêque Shevchuk a précisé que ces inquiétudes ne portaient pas atteinte à l’unité visible et entière de son Église avec le Pape et avec l’Église de Rome.
En parlant avec les diplomates, d’autres évêques ont mis en avant le dynamisme de l’Église gréco-catholique, qui a connu un développement spectaculaire en Ukraine, moins de 30 ans après sa libération de l’oppression soviétique. Mais l’évêque Boris Gudziak, chef de l’Église pour la diaspora ukrainienne en France, dans le Benelux et en Suisse, a aussi averti des difficultés croissantes auxquels les Ukrainiens font face dans le contexte de l’invasion russe de la Crimée et du conflit dans l’est du pays.
Au moins deux millions de personnes ont été déplacées en interne par la guerre, et deux millions et demi d’autres ont fui le pays. Les leaders de l’Église ukrainienne appellent le Pape François et toute la communauté catholique à faire tout ce qui est possible pour mettre fin à ce conflit, et à fournir une aide humanitaire urgente pour la population en souffrance.
Ce samedi midi, le Pape François a donc manifesté son attention au peuple ukrainien. «Nous sommes venus réaffirmer notre communion avec le Saint-Père, et pour lui demander son aide pour le peuple d’Ukraine en souffrance, et le Saint-Père nous a écoutés» a déclaré suite à cette rencontre l’archevêque majeur de Kiev, Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Get On Board by Randy Robison
Get On Board
by Randy Robison
I'm travelling this week. My ticket is paid and issued, my bags are packed (well, almost), and my destination set. But despite this preparation, I will never get there if I don't do one important thing: board the plane.
The same is true for our walk with Christ. In a sense, it is possible to get a ticket, go to the airport, and sit in the terminal for the rest of your life. Churches are filled with people who have apparently decided this is as good as it gets. They accept the grace of Jesus, but never do anything with it. If you built the First Church of the Terminal, it would be filled with people enjoying the food, fellowship, and nice view. We would put in a coffee shop, bring in a band, and spend an hour each week celebrating the fact that we have a boarding pass. Then we'd go home and do other things. We would never actually go.
Have you ever noticed that you board an airplane one at a time? Nobody boards for you. You may line up in groups, but you go one-by-one through the checkpoint. We can congregate in groups in the terminal, but when it comes time to fly, every individual must make a decision. The same is true with our faith. We can go to church and be part of a group, but our faith can't really soar until we make that individual decision to fully get on board. Nobody can do it for you. You must purposely take the steps to engage in flight. Our intended journey will never begin as long as we stay comfortably on the ground. We can't even put one foot on the plane and pretend we're flying. We must get our ticket stamped (or scanned these days) and take our assigned seat.
When I board an airplane, I give up that thing I covet the most: control. As much as I'd prefer it, I don't go to the cockpit and allow the captain to be my co-pilot. I admit that I can't fly the aircraft, take my seat, and rely on the crew to get us off the ground. It's a wholesale act of surrender, which can be a little frightening.
Andrew Murray wrote a great book on the subject called Absolute Surrender. He said, "We find the Christian life so difficult because we seek for God's blessing while we live in our own will." Getting on board means we surrender to someone else's control. Our fate is no longer determined by our own will or actions, but relies completely on another.
The disciples exhibited this type of surrender as they followed Christ. One such instance occurred when Lazarus died, as told in John 11. Jesus had just informed the disciples that He was going back to Judea, which concerned them because the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill Him. They had just left the area and retreated to the countryside because of the danger.
"Rabbi," the disciples said, "the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" This is the classic human response. We ask Jesus, "Are you sure? Is that really what you want?" We commit to follow Him, then hesitate when He calls us to go somewhere we're not sure about. We can easily be like the rich young ruler who told Jesus that he had followed the law, then asked what he was still lacking. Jesus gave him a simple instruction, but the man walked away. He was able to live up to the rules, but complete obedience was too much for him to handle. He wanted to maintain control.
When Jesus assured His disciples that He wanted to return to Judea, He explained why. "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep."
"Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover," his disciples responded. Jesus was speaking on a level they didn't understand, so he put it in their language.
"Lazarus is dead," He said, then added, "and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."
This was a decision point for those twelve. They didn't understand why Jesus was doing what He was doing. They were unsure about where He was going. To their reasoning, it was not the smart thing to do. But Thomas stepped up with the ultimate surrender. "Let us also go," he said to the others, "so that we may die with Him."
That's not just commitment; that's total abandonment. Thomas could have said, "Let's go to protect Jesus," or, "Maybe we can sneak in unnoticed." But he was convinced they were marching to their deaths. Still, he was willing to go. Surrender is commitment to the point of death. It's going forward even when it makes no sense. For most of us, we don't face the threat of death, yet the principle is the same.
Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). When we truly get on board, we deny ourselves by ceding control to Christ. There's no such thing as halfway surrender. We either maintain control or we let it go.
This is the issue we face on a daily basis. Will we settle for knowing that we have that ticket to heaven while living our lives as we see fit, or will we go all-in and allow Christ to lead us to new places? It won't always make sense because we don't have the full cockpit view. We can barely see past today. We don't know where our words or actions will ultimately take us, and it's a little scary to surrender control to the unknown. Yet this is where a vibrant faith takes off and an exciting journey begins.
Adapted from Rise Above by James Randall Robison. Copyright ©2014 by James Randall Robison. Published by InProv, Ltd. All rights reserved.
The same is true for our walk with Christ. In a sense, it is possible to get a ticket, go to the airport, and sit in the terminal for the rest of your life. Churches are filled with people who have apparently decided this is as good as it gets. They accept the grace of Jesus, but never do anything with it. If you built the First Church of the Terminal, it would be filled with people enjoying the food, fellowship, and nice view. We would put in a coffee shop, bring in a band, and spend an hour each week celebrating the fact that we have a boarding pass. Then we'd go home and do other things. We would never actually go.
Have you ever noticed that you board an airplane one at a time? Nobody boards for you. You may line up in groups, but you go one-by-one through the checkpoint. We can congregate in groups in the terminal, but when it comes time to fly, every individual must make a decision. The same is true with our faith. We can go to church and be part of a group, but our faith can't really soar until we make that individual decision to fully get on board. Nobody can do it for you. You must purposely take the steps to engage in flight. Our intended journey will never begin as long as we stay comfortably on the ground. We can't even put one foot on the plane and pretend we're flying. We must get our ticket stamped (or scanned these days) and take our assigned seat.
When I board an airplane, I give up that thing I covet the most: control. As much as I'd prefer it, I don't go to the cockpit and allow the captain to be my co-pilot. I admit that I can't fly the aircraft, take my seat, and rely on the crew to get us off the ground. It's a wholesale act of surrender, which can be a little frightening.
Andrew Murray wrote a great book on the subject called Absolute Surrender. He said, "We find the Christian life so difficult because we seek for God's blessing while we live in our own will." Getting on board means we surrender to someone else's control. Our fate is no longer determined by our own will or actions, but relies completely on another.
The disciples exhibited this type of surrender as they followed Christ. One such instance occurred when Lazarus died, as told in John 11. Jesus had just informed the disciples that He was going back to Judea, which concerned them because the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill Him. They had just left the area and retreated to the countryside because of the danger.
"Rabbi," the disciples said, "the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" This is the classic human response. We ask Jesus, "Are you sure? Is that really what you want?" We commit to follow Him, then hesitate when He calls us to go somewhere we're not sure about. We can easily be like the rich young ruler who told Jesus that he had followed the law, then asked what he was still lacking. Jesus gave him a simple instruction, but the man walked away. He was able to live up to the rules, but complete obedience was too much for him to handle. He wanted to maintain control.
When Jesus assured His disciples that He wanted to return to Judea, He explained why. "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep."
"Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover," his disciples responded. Jesus was speaking on a level they didn't understand, so he put it in their language.
"Lazarus is dead," He said, then added, "and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."
This was a decision point for those twelve. They didn't understand why Jesus was doing what He was doing. They were unsure about where He was going. To their reasoning, it was not the smart thing to do. But Thomas stepped up with the ultimate surrender. "Let us also go," he said to the others, "so that we may die with Him."
That's not just commitment; that's total abandonment. Thomas could have said, "Let's go to protect Jesus," or, "Maybe we can sneak in unnoticed." But he was convinced they were marching to their deaths. Still, he was willing to go. Surrender is commitment to the point of death. It's going forward even when it makes no sense. For most of us, we don't face the threat of death, yet the principle is the same.
Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). When we truly get on board, we deny ourselves by ceding control to Christ. There's no such thing as halfway surrender. We either maintain control or we let it go.
This is the issue we face on a daily basis. Will we settle for knowing that we have that ticket to heaven while living our lives as we see fit, or will we go all-in and allow Christ to lead us to new places? It won't always make sense because we don't have the full cockpit view. We can barely see past today. We don't know where our words or actions will ultimately take us, and it's a little scary to surrender control to the unknown. Yet this is where a vibrant faith takes off and an exciting journey begins.
Adapted from Rise Above by James Randall Robison. Copyright ©2014 by James Randall Robison. Published by InProv, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you"
Jesus said you are to love one another as I have loved you, a love that will possibly lead to the bloody, anguished gift of yourself; a love that forgives seventy times seven, that keeps no score of wrong doing. Jesus said this, this love, is the one criterion, the sole norm, the standard of discipleship in the New Israel of God. He said you're going to be identified as His disciples, not because of your church-going, Bible-toting, or song-singing. No, you'll be identified as His by one sign only: the deep and delicate respect for one another, the cordial love impregnated with reverence for the sacred dimension of the human personality because of the mysterious substitution of Christ for Christian.
- Brennan Manning from "The Furious Longing of God", p. 86. David C. Cook Publisher, 2009.
- Brennan Manning from "The Furious Longing of God", p. 86. David C. Cook Publisher, 2009.
Experiencing God's Love Heals Us and Others
Healing is a response to a crisis in the life of another person. It's enough of a response, a satisfactory response to a crisis in the life of another. And wherever the word crisis is used in the Greek New Testament, it is translated in English as judgement. That's right - judgement. Healing is a response that I make to a decisive moment in the life of a brother or sister; whether I respond or not, I have made a judgement.
Healing becomes the opportunity to pass off to another human being what I have received from the Lord Jesus; namely his unconditional acceptance of me as I am, not as I should be. He loves me whether in a state of grace or disgrace, whether I live up to the lofty expectations of His gospel or I don't. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.
When I have passed that same reality on to another human being, the result most often has been the inner healing of their heart through the touch of my affirmation. To affirm a person is to see the good in them that they cannot see in themselves and to repeat it in spite of appearances to the contrary. Please, this is not some Pollyanna optimism that is blind to the reality of evil, but rather like a fine radar system that is tuned in to the true, the good, and the beautiful. When a person is evoked for who s/he is, not who s/he is not, the most often result will be the inner healing of her heart through the touch of affirmation.
Healing becomes the opportunity to pass off to another human being what I have received from the Lord Jesus; namely his unconditional acceptance of me as I am, not as I should be. He loves me whether in a state of grace or disgrace, whether I live up to the lofty expectations of His gospel or I don't. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.
When I have passed that same reality on to another human being, the result most often has been the inner healing of their heart through the touch of my affirmation. To affirm a person is to see the good in them that they cannot see in themselves and to repeat it in spite of appearances to the contrary. Please, this is not some Pollyanna optimism that is blind to the reality of evil, but rather like a fine radar system that is tuned in to the true, the good, and the beautiful. When a person is evoked for who s/he is, not who s/he is not, the most often result will be the inner healing of her heart through the touch of affirmation.
Finally sisters and brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Phil. 4:8
- Brennan Manning from "The Furious Longing of God", pp. 82-83. David C. Cook Publisher, 2009.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
