A few months ago I got an email from a friend of mine:
[My boyfriend and I] went to Easter mass together and afterwards he asked me WHY Catholics receive Eucharist? Why do we "eat the body".... and although I understand that Jesus asked us to during the last super I'm kinda at a loss for explaining beyond that point. Why was it important for Jesus to offer us Eucharist?
Here are four key points to keep in mind when approaching this question.
POINT #1: The Mass is a "memorial"
While on a road trip with some buddies earlier today, one of them told the following joke:
A child is drawing a picture. The teacher asks, “What are you drawing?” The child replies, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” “But no one knows what God looks like!” the teacher objects. Unfazed, the child replies, “They will when I’m finished.”
To which my buddy Richard replies, “That summarizes a lot of modern Biblical scholarship.”
There once was a country called Brickland. It resembled our own country very much, except the people had a very curious custom: everyone went around carrying bricks in their arms all the time.
Today I returned to the offices of West Island Citizen Advocacy for a follow-up session to the one I attended two weeks ago entitled “Mental health and the system” (see blog post November 7). The topic was to be the categories of mental illness. What struck me about it was the amazing parallels between the treatment of mental illness, particularly personality disorders, and spiritual direction.
I had garden salad, lobster bisque, filet mignon with portobello mushrooms, red wine, cheese & fruit….but I had to leave before dessert, which I am sure would have been magnificent.
What a day this has been, full of excellent experiences. I ran into a friend from seminary that I haven’t seen in a couple of years now…he is now a priest for the diocese of Hearst, and it gave us a chance to catch up. I also taught my course on the “Theology of the Body”, all about body adornment (e.g.
In my experience, the word "chastity" has to be one of the most misunderstood in our post-modern culture. In our existentialist culture (see post below) we see the idea of chastity as some sort of imposition. In fact, it is meant to be a liberation. The simple fact is that for many, a "mis-aligned" sexuality is a source of great suffering. For others, it is something which does not so much drag them down as prevent them from growing into full maturity. This latter effect is very often encountered by people who are starting on a spiritual journey.
With regards to the current social policy debate here in Canada about same-sex marriage, people sometimes wonder where in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does it mention that discrimination is not permitted on the basis on sexual orientation. The answer is: nowhere. In fact, the Charter is completely silent on the question.
For those of you who don’t know it, I am a huge amateur science buff. I believe in the approach Aristotle took to philosophy: you start by examining the real world and how it works. Ever notice how the highest degree you can get in science is a “Doctor of Philosophy” (Ph.D.) ? So we start with that kind of direct observation. And since there is an intimate link between philosophy and theology, even our vision of God is affected by our vision of how the world works.
I had a lovely chance to give a woman the Anointing of the Sick today. She is going in for surgery soon, and the Anointing can be received before such an event.
A lot of people think the Anointing is the same thing as the “Last Rites”. In fact, there is no such thing as the “Last Rites” in the Catholic Church, only in Hollywood movies. That being said, there are obviously some prayers and sacraments we offer people when they are sick or dying, but we shouldn’t confuse that with “Last Rites”.
