He's Coming... But When?

Today I went to an old-timey Tridentine Mass to begin the new liturgical year. While the structure, style and readings were different from what I would have heard had I attended an Ordinary Form of the mass, the message from Christ that the Church focuses on is virtually identical: you don't know when He will return but you had better stay alert for that day. The OF Gospel reading was MK 13: 33-37; The EF Gospel reading was LK 21:25-33 (which was similar to yesterday's Gospel reading from Luke). The messages from each Gospel overlap, parallel and reinforce their identical themes even if they do not contain the same content. Early in his homily during the November 30 Divine Liturgy (during a trip with ecumenical undertones, Pope Francis states

This is especially true for us Christians, because for us the truth is the person of Jesus Christ. The example of Saint Andrew, who with another disciple accepted the invitation of the Divine Master, “Come and see”, and “stayed with him that day” (Jn 1:39), shows us plainly that the Christian life is a personal experience, a transforming encounter with the One who loves us and who wants to save us. In addition, the Christian message is spread thanks to men and women who are in love with Christ, and cannot help but pass on the joy of being loved and saved. Here again, the example of the apostle Andrew is instructive. After following Jesus to his home and spending time with him, Andrew “first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus” (Jn 1:40-42). It is clear, therefore, that not even dialogue among Christians can prescind from this logic of personal encounter.

While he is speaking in the context of a message at an Orthodox service, I think these are useful reminders of the call that God gives to us that is our purpose. During Advent as we reflect on this time of His coming and prepare for His birth, let us also remember to recognize the Truth that is Him and the personal encounter with him. As we experience another Advent, in preparation for His birth and as we face this uncertainty of His Second Coming, we can remain on the watch; and, we can follow the example of Saint Andrew and show others this Truth by sharing this joy in our ordinary living. Being happy around others: from a smile, to a hello to a conversation; giving your best at your work (with or without praise) during your work day. These little, though perhaps not easy, acts of the ordinary may be a great way to spread the message of Christ during all seasons, but in particular during Advent.

Thy Name is Sting (A Pre-Advent Reflection)

In what was one of the most anticipated arrivals into a WWE squared circle, wrestling legend Sting shocked the wrestling universe and debuted in an epically gothic Survivor Series intervention, during which he came out in his black-and-white, confronted and administered to Triple H a Scorpion Death Drop which turned the match in Dolph Ziggler's favor and as a result of Ziggler's victory, ensured the demise of The Authority.

This moment has occasioned for me a reflection on the time of Advent which is upon us Catholic (and non-Catholic) Christians. In the first reading today we read about

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” “Behold, I am coming soon.” Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.

In today's Gospel

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

While professional wrestlers are not messengers of God, the imagery of darkness that can overwhelm us is not only conjured by those obviously wayward activities such "carousing and drunkenness," but also can be found in the "anxieties of daily life" that are its blandness and monotony. From the time one wakes up and looks outside to yet another day, through the time one walks into work to complete yet the same set of tasks that were completed the day before, to the boredom of lunch all the way through dinner and an evening filled with whatever entertainment and chores you may have to do, the routineness of life is likely a crisis which afflicts all of us. We are called to be aware of ourselves and to not let ourselves become lackadaisical. In this beginning of our new year, we can take comfort in the fact that it is a new year for us and a gift to, as Pope Francis said on first day of Advent in 20113, "rediscover the beauty of all being on a journey" of "hope" that Christ places us on.

Advent is also a time to prepare for Christ's birth and what better way to prepare for his arrival than to return to a path off of which we may have wandered from time to time. We might not be dressed in black, but our worn spirits will welcome a new year to continue on our path with our faith renewed and our vigor restored. We may worry, but we are called to continue on the journey of hope, as the Holy Father spoke of. Pope Francis ends his Angelus from December 1, 2013 with the following (italics original)

The model of this spiritual disposition, of this way of being and journeying in life, is the Virgin Mary. A simple girl from the country who carries within her heart the fullness of hope in God! In her womb, God’s hope took flesh, it became man, it became history: Jesus Christ. Her Magnificat is the canticle of the People of God on a journey, and of all men and women who hope in God and in the power of his mercy. Let us allow ourselves to be guided by her, she who is mother, a mamma and knows how to guide us. Let us allow ourselves to be guided by her during this season of active waiting and watchfulness.

As we end this year and begin a new one, let us not be worn down or taken into a darknesss by the daily grind of our lives. Rather, let us look to the Blessed Mother for guidance, and never lose sight of our purpose, never lose hope that is the light of Christ, and to begin again if we do.

"A Catholic Showdown" Without David Walsh is no "Catholic Showdown Worth Watching"

This article by the prominent Catholic public intellectual and university professor Patrick Deneen is old news. It received extensive coverage across the internet. I won't bother adding anything too substantive to it but to say that conspicuously absent from Professor Deneen's article is this guy

I took a few courses with Dr David Walsh back in the day and I did not encounter his work on liberalism until I approached it on my own relatively recently. My interaction with Walsh was primarily in his capacity as guide to the work of a difficult and dense German-American philosopher, Eric Voegelin.

Not to diminish Professor Deneen's valuable contribution to this debate in the form of a useful overview, but misses something by overlooking Professor Walsh's work. While the other individuals are excellent scholars who deserve to be read and whose presence in any conversation on this debate is indisputable, I suppose I would simply add one more name to the list. His mixture of intellectual power and elan with spiritual richness summon to provide a deeply penetrating and searching study of modernity. His work should not be missed.

Front Porch Fools

A friend of mine informed me of an excellent profile of the vague family of farm-friendly fetishists known as localists which have been all the rage among conservatives:

I dislike them.

I gre up in a proud (post) industrial area; the ruralism which predominates contemporary conservatism is alien to me; which is to say that it does not make sense.

I grew up in an area that was (and I think remains) proudly industrial. The lament and nostalgia for some kind of "small town" or agricultural ethos is not a way of life which appeals to me.

That gets to the heart of the matter: localism is related to something other than easily definable political viewpoints. The conservatives who appeal to Wendell Berry should recognize that localism is diverse and captures - and excludes - more than its proponents may want.

Feeling Cheap in A Modern World

How does a person bear witness to him or herself? In the modern world it is too easy to speak the language of Christianity and call it a day. Pope Francis reminds us Catholics that Catholicism - to be Catholic - is not simply to exist in an abstraction. It demands daily affirmation of our faith by actually living it on the ground. It is a faith of ordinary and banal actions among within the tedium of our daily lives. Against the temptations, misdirection and other pushes and pulls against us, we must take a stand

“one cannot bear witness without the presence of the Holy Spirit. In difficult moments, when we must choose the right path, when we must say ‘no' to many things that perhaps tempt and seduce us, there is the prayer to the Holy Spirit: it is he who strengthens us to follow along this path of witness”.

How does a Catholic act on the courage to convert? This is a question that cannot avoid the deep stuff

I have never felt more alienated than when I sat next to this person in a pew. It was in this space in which we presumably shared of our faith that I realized that we were not sharing in it. It was here that I was forced to confront that I lived I ""the holiness of daily life, every day holiness." In its place I was a sinner, one who called myself a Christian but live[d] as a pagan who believes in nothing[.]” The experience was repeated every time I attended mass, because Christ was (and is) not as easy on me as I was (and am) on myself.

It was despairing. It was to be in the presence of Truth and to have a sense or intimation that my answer in response to this Truth was a lie. It is that intimation in opposition to the Truth which is cheapness.

I was afraid to do little more than make trivial self-observations which I mockingly said to myself were critical self-examinations. How does a person bear witness to himself? How does a person respectably struggle to live while avoiding the temptation to merely observe one's self in order to collect the rewards of greater freedom through superior knowledge (and control)? To be a Christian is hard, but that is because it requires one to actively live the faith. It is easy enough to be aware of admit to one's sinfulness or flaws but that is not enough to live as a Christian, is it? That demands an active and affirmative answer to the call of the Truth of Christ over and over and over again...

There is a tendency among Catholics (at least ones with which I am familiar) to dwell on "modernity" -- I count myself as a big fan of such big thinking. But, the most important and interesting "Catholic Showdown Worth Watching" is likely your own.