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"Whoever does not seek the Cross of Christ does not seek the glory of Christ." -St. John of the Cross

We see a three-fold structure of the Christian spiritual life.  1) God so loved the world that He gave his only son2) So that whoever believes in Him3) May not perish but have eternal lifeOr the same thing but looked through the model disciple, Mary:1) The invitation of the Holy Spirit's overshadowing2) The acceptance in faith (Be it done to me according to thy word)3) The Word became fleshIn simple terms:1) God's love invites2) We accept in faith3) God brings about his fruitOur role is to accept in faith with DESIRE!!!!  A desire that seeks to imitate the Lord, and this imitation requires us to study who He is and what He teaches.

What the heck is the point of the Christian Life?  "I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance!"  Alleluia!  It is the life of God, and when it is perfected, we can say with Saint Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me." And what is God's life?  "God is love, and he who lives in love lives in God and God in him.

This is such good stuff!  I love faith.  

First we talked about who God is, now we talk about what humanity is.  It's a big deal!

It's a big deal to have a true understanding of God.  We have ask God to clarify this in our hearts and cast out any false notions of God (God as cop-looking-over-the-shoulder, God as distant dad, and God as the Great Big Buddy)Some scripture was--Genesis 1--Exodus 3--Isaiah 6--John 3:16--1 John 4--Philippians 2--Psalm 139--Matthew 6

Another Bible Study, this time (as requested by someone) on Spiritual Warfare.  We have no need to fear because the Lord is the Undisputed Champion of the World.  He beat Satan when He died on the Cross, and we need to simply cling to Him in faith.Especially, check out Ephesians chapter 6.  It's the best!

I love this stuff.  Jesus is anointed in the Holy Spirit from His Baptism, and so are we!  He is Priest, Prophet and King...and so are we!  If we have been baptized into His Body, and His Body was anointed, then we receive and live in that same anointing.  Alleluia!-Acts 10:38-Lk 4:16-30 (fulfilling Isaiah 61)-2 Corinthians 1:21

We took a super deep dive into the scriptural roots of Jesus as the Lamb of God.  Super cool stuff!  Here are our passages we looked at.Old Testament:1) Genesis 22: 1-192) Exodus 12: 3-13, 463) Leviticus 16: 4-10; 20-234) Isaiah 53: 4-7New Testament:1) The Last Supper and Passion narratives2) 1 Cor 5:7-83) Revelation 5:5-10; 19:6-9; 22:1-5And the bonus for checking out Abraham and Isaac and how that foreshadows Jesus: https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/abrahams-sacrifice-of-isaac-origen/

Here's some great stuff.  These Road to Emmaus Teachings have four layers: OT figures and prophesies, New Testament fulfillment in Jesus, Jesus in the living prayer of the Church today, and what it means in our life.The biblical citations are:Gen 1:1-5Exodus 13:21-22Isaiah 49:6 (also 42:6 and 60:1 are relevant)John 1:1-9Luke 2:29-32John 8:12 (and John 9)Revelation 21:22-25

Are they necessary?  Absolutely!There are three kinds of necessity:1) Absolute2) Relative3) By PreceptEnjoy!

Howdy ya'll!  I talk about the Sacraments of Initiation today (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion).  There is some basic theology here, along with some pastoral experiences.  With the question of restored order (putting Confirmation before First Holy Communion), the fact that Confirmation provides the basic capacity for perfect spiritual activity leads me to like the idea of doing Confirmation before the most perfect spiritual activity (reception of Holy Communion).  I don't think it's a complicated argument, and certainly we have many cultural complications.  

I dive into what is authority and what is trust.  Authority is something that comes from God and is part of being human...in the home...in the community...in the Church.  But what happens when we can't trust those people that are there?  There are no simple solutions, but maybe this can help us take some solid steps forward.

The sacraments are done by the doing (ex opere operato), but that doesn't mean you're going to experience the change.  We must dispose ourselves.  We should (1) have faith, (2) repent, and (3) be filled with eager desire.  And the more intensity we bring to that, the great will be our disposition be.  The sneaky bit is that any intensity that we can must up is already a gift from the Lord!  Therefore, we would do good to ask for that gift.

I had the marvelous opportunity to visit the Holy Land recently, and I want to share it!  I think this can transform your prayers this week by making it seem all the more tangible.  May we more deeply enter into the liturgies of Holy Week in order to be united in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, that is, His Death and Resurrection.

We firmly believe that Jesus instituted and promulgated the seven sacraments.  We have the witness of Sacred Scripture that I highlight, and this can give us great confidence.  We receive this also unabashedly from Sacred Tradition.

There's too much detail for each of the seven sacraments to give a summary....with the exception of the distinction between form and matter.  Matter is the physical stuff of anything, and form is the shape in which it is.  A statue has the matter of clay or marble, while the form is that of a human body.  The sacraments have something like that in each case.  There is the tangible thing that is brought to the sacramental ceremony (water, oil, bread, wine), and then there are the words of the minister by which Jesus actuates the sacrament.

We look at the definition of a sacrament: (1) a sacred sign (2) instituted by Christ (3) to efficaciously give grace (4) and so build up the Church.  Each dimension is essential.There are three parts of all the sacraments: the "sacrramentum" (the visible sacrament that the Church celebrates), the "res" (the inner grace that is put into the soul), and the "res et sacramentum" (the enduring element of the sacrament that allows the grace to be accessed in the future).The sacraments are fitting because of two primary reason (among others):1) God has always reached out to us through physical signs (notable the humanity of Jesus Christ).  Why should we expect to see a radical shift of the divine strategy, especially after he doubled down on it in the humanity of Jesus Christ?  It's fitting we have tangible access points to contact God.2) We're sensible, physical beings.  Everything that we know and love first comes to us through the senses.  God can do what He wants, but it is fitting that He loves His human creatures in a way proper to how we are created: physical, tangible, sensible, corporal.

This is kind of where we're at, as we hope that we can be peacemakers at home and abroad.