Repent You Fool

 

Tomorrow we meet John the Baptist, standing on the banks of the Jordan, in the wilderness, crying out "prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." There he is, Elijah come to life, in camel hair, leather belt and fierce asceticism. Make his paths straight, and so we must.

Good work, buddy

Like those Jews at the Jordan, the tax collectors, harlots and associated malefactors, get down in humble, sorrowful, repentance and contrition and return to the Father who loves you. Like the Prodigal, make his paths straight. But how can this be? I have no sin, unlike Hunter Biden who blew hundreds of thousands on hookers and crack.

Just takin' it easy

Not so fast, punter. Consider yourself against the unfathomable perfection of God, how well do you hold up? In my case, in all our cases, not very well. So heed the Baptizer and return to the Lord who loves you, but it's your call.

Don't stare at my teeth, you Nazis!

You can, if you like, remain stuck in wickedness, blowing all your money on crack and hookers like the presidential son. Or you can shake the dust off your loafers and turn that crooked life around. What's it to be?

Lookn' good, feeln' good

It must be the latter and if you can't see the sin and need for repentance, ask God in prayer to show it to you, a bold and courageous call. He will, and be assured of his forgiveness.

Here endeth the Lesson,

LSP

Listen Up Heathen

 

Yesterday was the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Here's the late great Canadian, Fr. Crouse:

The mission of the Church is to call us out of darkness; by word and sacrament to set before our eyes the vision of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That is at the heart of liturgy, and all the Christian arts; the light of pure, transcendent glory must shine through, and that is essential to all our intellectual and moral and ascetical disciplines, too. Without that vision, all else so easily falls into deceit and craftiness; or perhaps, at best, narrowness of spirit, or just pedestrian nonsense. But even pedestrian nonsense, you know, if that's all there is, is a pretty nasty form of hell (my emph, LSP).

May we, along with Matthew - rejoicing in his fellowship, and aided by his prayers - be granted grace, that in this liturgy, and in all the images of earthly life, we may glimpse the face of Jesus Christ; and then, beyond all earthly images, "beheld with open face" that everlasting glory. That is, after all, our calling.

I cannot add to that,

LSP

Ash Wednesday

 

From the Prayer Book:

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.

And at the imposition of ashes:

Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris. Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.  

Remember too that the dust is cruciform, and therein lies victory over the grave.

God bless,

LSP 

Ash Wednesday

Lent's begun and with it the invitation to enter the wilderness with Christ and commit ourselves to the spiritual battle against evil. I've found Benedict XVI's reflections helpful, here's an excerpt:

What is the essence of the three temptations to which Jesus is subjected? It is the proposal to exploit God, to use him for one’s own interests, for one’s own glory and for one’s own success. And therefore, essentially to put oneself in God’s place, removing him from one’s own existence and making him seem superfluous. Each one of us must therefore ask him- or herself: what place does God have in my life? Is he the Lord or am I?

You can read the whole thing here and while we're at it, the Ash Wednesday Collect which governs the season.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God bless,

LSP

Fire On The Mountain

One of the things some local Baptists do well here is a men's prayer breakfast. They meet every Friday and they're a good, straight-up group of guys who like to ride, shoot and fish and aren't ashamed of their faith.

I like to go for the prayer and fellowship and to hear a short, simple but direct message. Today's was on Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings. Elijah called down fire from heaven and confounded the evil prophets of an evil god. These met a grisly end, which serves as a warning to the idolatry of our dark and increasingly barbarous age. So be filled with the fire of God that is the fire of love, and repent.

Texas This Morning. Note Water

My mind went back from that to Exodus, the burning bush and the Divine Name, I AM THAT AM, or, in the Septuagint, He Who Is, and then forward in time to Pentecost and the tongues of fire that rested upon the Apostles.

No Comment

Some say that the episcopal mitre represents this fire. Others again point to the awkward bit in the Gospel about wolves in sheep's clothing, to say nothing of the demon Baal and its false prophets.

Make of that what you will.

LSP

Shrove Tuesday

As faithful Christians were gearing up for Lenten penance, Hillary Rodham Clinton was getting a shriving in New Hampshire, handily beaten by a 74 year Communist, Bernie Sanders. 

The GOP establishment took one in the face too, with celebrity real estate mogul Donald Trump dominating the Republican Party field. Sorry, bow tie and tasseled loafer brigade, you lose.

So what does it mean, we asked ourselves over pancakes at the Missions. A Bern v. Trump shoot-out for the Presidency? A return to the good old days of better dead than red or vice versa and devil take the hindmost?

One thing's sure, if the old commie keeps up at this pacemaker it's going to take a whole lot of flying monkeys to keep Hillary in the running, and out of jail.

Don't forget to go to Mass tomorrow, it's Ash Wednesday.

LSP

Prepare Ye The Way

It's the 2nd Sunday of Advent and the Gospel asks us to reflect on John the Baptist's call to repentance. Here's Benedict XVI: 

“As the journey of Advent continues, as we prepare to celebrate the nativity of Christ, John the Baptist's call to conversion sounds out in our communities. It is a pressing invitation to open our hearts and to welcome the Son of God Who comes among us to make divine judgement manifest. The Father, writes St. John the Evangelist, does not judge anyone, but has entrusted the power of judgement to the Son, because He is the Son of man.

“And it is today, in the present, that we decide our future destiny. It is with our concrete everyday behavior in this life that we determine our eternal fate. At the end of our days on earth, at the moment of death, we will be evaluated on the basis of our likeness or otherwise to the Baby Who is about to be born in the poor grotto of Bethlehem, because He is the measure God has given humanity.

“Through the Gospel John the Baptist continues to speak down the centuries to each generation. His hard clear words bring health to us, the men and women of this day in which even the experience and perception of Christmas often, unfortunately, reflects materialist attitudes. The 'voice' of the great prophet asks us to prepare the way for the coming Lord in the deserts of today, internal and external deserts, thirsting for the water of life which is Christ.”

I like that, and I'll resist the strong temptation to make unkind remarks about "make his paths straight" and Bruce, sorry, Cait, Jenner.

God bless,

LSP 

Ash Wednesday

It's Ash Wednesday, so here's some TS Eliot:

Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth This is the time of tension between dying and birth The place of solitude where three dreams cross Between blue rocks But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

God bless,

LSP

Advent

Advent's here, when we look to the past for the first coming of Christ, when the Word was made Flesh, and to the future, when He will come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire. Also to the present, as Our Lord arrives daily to His faithful people.

So let's get serious by way of this quote from FJH:

"The old world is destroyed and a soulless world takes its place. Art is subsumed within the abstract because there is nothing concrete worth portraying. Music becomes discordant or banal for lack of spiritual harmony. Theatre devotes itself to the absurd and television to a perpetual portrayal of sexual relationships that produce neither children nor lasting friendship. No longer believing he is made in the image of God, Western man is suffering from an identity crisis he is unable to resolve. He is being persecuted by an uncontrollable ideology of his own making."

I'll leave you to draw the correlation with John the Baptist's call.

God bless,

LSP