Monday, January 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Welcome St. Joan of Arc!
I really enjoyed speaking at Joan of Arc tonight. I hope you enjoyed it also. I would love to hear from any of you with comments and questions if you have any. Please come back and visit this site often. I promise you (and my regular students) that I'll be updating the blog more often.
In the next few days, I'll put up a transcript of the talk I gave and a more comprehensive list of resources.
Peace!
Rob
Friday, September 5, 2008
Monday School is Starting Up Again!
This year, we'll be reading Dr. Peter Kreeft's book, Fundamentals of the Faith.
Come join us!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Introduction to the Devout Life
Here is an excerpt from the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Frances de Sales
Devotion is Suitable to Every Vocation and Profession
Part I, Chapter 3
When God created the world He commanded each tree to bear fruit after its kind;and even so He bids Christians,--the living trees of His Church,--to bring forth fruits of devotion, each one according to his kind and vocation. A different exercise of devotion is required of each--the noble, the artisan, the servant, the prince, the maiden and the wife; and furthermore such practice must be modified according to the strength, the calling, and the duties of each individual. I ask you, my child, would it be fitting that a Bishop should seek to lead the solitary life of a Carthusian? And if the father of a family were as regardless in making provision for the future as a Capucin, if the artisan spent the day in church like a Religious, if the Religious involved himself in all manner of business on his neighbour's behalf as a Bishop is called upon to do, would not such a devotion be ridiculous, ill-regulated, and intolerable? Nevertheless such a mistake is often made, and the world, which cannot or will not discriminate between real devotion and the indiscretion of those who fancy themselves devout, grumbles and finds fault with devotion, which is really nowise concerned in these errors. No indeed, my child, the devotion which is true hinders nothing, but on the contrary it perfects everything; and that which runs counter to the rightful vocation of any one is, you may be sure, a spurious devotion. Aristotle says that the bee sucks honey from flowers without damaging them, leaving them as whole and fresh as it found them;--but true devotion does better still, for it not only hinders no manner of vocation or duty, but, contrariwise, it adorns and beautifies all. Throw precious stones into honey, and each will grow more brilliant according to its several colour:--and in like manner everybody fulfils his special calling better when subject to the influence of devotion:--family duties are lighter, married love truer, service to our King more faithful, every kind of occupation more acceptable and better performed where that is the guide.
It is an error, nay more, a very heresy, to seek to banish the devout life from the soldier's guardroom, the mechanic's workshop, the prince's court, or the domestic hearth. Of course a purely contemplative devotion, such as is specially proper to the religious and monastic life, cannot be practised in these outer vocations, but there are various other kinds of devotion well-suited to lead those whose calling is secular, along the paths of perfection. The Old Testament furnishes us examples in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David, Job, Tobias, Sarah, Rebecca and Judith; and in the New Testament we read of St. Joseph, Lydia and Crispus, who led a perfectly devout life in their trades:--we have Saint Anne, Martha, Saint Monica, Aquila and Priscilla, as examples of household devotion, Cornelius, Saint Sebastian, and Saint Maurice among soldiers;--Constantine, Saint Helena, Saint Louis, the Blessed Amadaeus,and Saint Edward on the throne. And we even find instances of some who fell away in solitude,-- usually so helpful to perfection,--some who had led a higher life in the world, which seems so antagonistic to it. Saint Gregory dwells on how Lot, who had kept himself pure in the city, fell in his mountain solitude. Be sure that wheresoever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life.
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Monday, April 28, 2008
Week 23: Homework
Reading Assignment:
Read Chapters 27 of Theology and Sanity, “Habituation to Man”—pp. 371-382.
Questions:
- In what way is man extraordinary, according to Sheed? (pp.372-3)
- Why is all the excitement of our universe centered in man? (p.373)
- List the two pairs of facts that Sheed says summarize the truth about all men. (p.374)
- What is never lost in the Church’s fellowship? (Hint: Who is never lost?) (p. 374)
- How do Protestantism and Secularism deal with the facts from question 3 above? (pp. 374-5)
- What does Sheed mean when he says “the only home left for personality is the Church? (p. 375)
- What does it mean to say “man is a union of spirit and matter”? Why is it not enough to simply know the definition of man? (pp. 377-9)
- How does the conflict between rationality and animality lead to perversion and depravity, which we wrongly call “animal”? (p.381)
- Why should we not judge others? (p.381)
Reflection Questions:
- Writing about the uniqueness of man, C.S. Lewis once said that “we have never met a mere mortal”. If that’s true, how might that affect the way we interact with others? The way we treat ourselves?
- What are some of the cultural/political/technological ramifications of a belief in the uniqueness of mankind and of each individual? Is it an accident that the Christian West produced hospitals, universities, and democratic states?
Monday, April 14, 2008
Week 22: Homework
Read Chapters 26 of Theology and Sanity, “Habituation to Reality”—pp. 361-370.
Questions:
- What does Sheed mean when he says that “the facts of religion are not simply facts of religion, but facts”? (p. 361)
- What is the context of our religion? (Who are the actors and what are the events in our story?) (p.362)
- What are the three possible relationships we can have towards reality? (p.362)
- What danger confronts theologians who study elements so far beyond the reach of daily experience? Why must we study creation? (p.364-5)
- Explain this statement: “The more is means to us, the richer our knowledge of God.” (p.365)
- How can poets help us see God in creation? (p.368)
Reflection Questions:
- Re-read section iii on pages 366 and 367. Sheed says that our knowledge of God is enriched by study the created universe; it is a way that God communicates with us. He also says that a much of this enrichment will be spontaneous and unmeditated. If this is true, how might it affect the way we see our work and our hobbies?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Week 21: Homework
Read Chapters 24-25 of Theology and Sanity, “Life after Death” and “The End of the World”—pp. 336-358.
Questions:
- What are the three “states” we can be in at any given time in our lives/at the end of our lives? (p. 336)
- Why does Sheed speak of the “formidable finality of death”? Why is death final if the soul lives on? (p.335)
- What, according to Sheed, are the two categories that all of our choices are ultimately between? (p. 338)
- Define mortal and venial sin. (p. 338)
- Why can’t the soul of someone who is separated from God go to Him after death? Who sends people to hell? How do we know that hell is not a contradiction of God’s love? (p. 340-1).
- What is the cure for self-love that we find in purgatory? (p. 342)
- Define Beatific Vision. (p.343)
- How can the happiness of heaven be total, but not equal, for all? (343-4)
- How can the saints be more with us in heaven than our neighbors on earth? (p.347)
- Who will be saved from worshipping the Anti-Christ? How? (p. 352)
- When will we have our bodies restored to us after death? Why will we have bodies in heaven? (p. 356)
- Americans seem to be flippant about hell. People will casually condemn someone who cuts them off in traffic or joke about partying with sinners in an infernal after life. But, if we really thought about what hell means, would we ever joke about it or wish it upon our worst enemies?
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