Commonplace Book: May 2009 Archives

As troubled as I am by the notion that Christians should be unable to judge right and wrong in our lives and in our culture, simply because we are not exempt from sin, I am more troubled by the notion that Christian love is about reminding people of the law that's written on their hearts ad infinitum rather than practicing love that feels impossible, loving those who are most difficult for us to love. "OH! But that's what I'm doing when I admonish!" they say. "I can't let them go to hell! That would be unloving!" What I know about hellfire and damnation is that Jesus has the power to redeem us, and it is questionable how much power we have to save others from hell. What I know of admonishment, from admonishing my children, is that the more I admonish them, the further they run from me, whereas the more I love them, hold them close, show them affection, the closer they stay and the more likely they are to listen to my corrections. -- Betty Duffy, via TSO

Joy and gaiety were so much a part of [St. Philip Neri's] normal disposition that Goethe, who esteemed him highly, called him the "humorous saint." It was his gay, blithe spirit that opened for him the hearts of children. "Philip Neri, learned and wise, by sharing the pranks of children himself became a child again" (epitaph). -- via Julie

A lovely reflection at Catholic Exchange:

Psalm 139:13-16 rejoices, "My frame was not hidden from You when I was being made in secret ." Earlier in the chapter, verse 13 marvels, "You formed my inward parts; You knit me in my mother’s womb." This word "knit " is also sometimes translated "wove" or "woven." David sings that his being was woven together secretly by God. Often this section of Scripture is used by pro-life activists to emphasize the inherent sacredness of conception and birth, the invisible invasion of created body by God-breathed soul in the protected covering of a mother’s person. But more than a wonder, it is the holy preparation of God.

The word translated "knit" in Hebrew is sakak , meaning “covered.” This word is used almost exclusively in the Old Testament to describe the veiling of the presence of God from human eyes in the Holy of Holies....