The Peaceful Gnome

It is sad to see the death of freedom in America.  With the rise of the radical anti-Christian state, gay marriage, abortion on demand etc., all other freedoms are threatened as well.  It is not only the "legalization" of these things but the demand that Christians accept them as goods, and that Christians participate in them and pay for them.  Just as was the case in ancient Rome, Christians who refuse to worship at the state's altar are destroyed and forbidden to do business.   As the bishops point our in this video, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right to protest all travel along with freedom of religion.  That freedom has been abolished in the American Empire today.

From today's Gospel reading at mass.  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 RSVCE This is the commandment of Jesus, the ONE thing he demands of us... and we all fail miserably at it day after day. We fail sometimes out of frustration.  We fail other times because we tend to forget what Love is.  As Bishop Robert Barron says often, "Love is willing the good of the other…and then doing something concrete about it.  It’s not an emotion, it’s not an attitude.  It’s a move of the will.  To want the good of the other, and do something about it.  That’s love." (From this YouTube video, at the 7:59 mark.) Love is not an emotion, it's an act of the will, it is doing something, not feeling something .  That's how we miss it so often I think.  We are hu...

Canticle of the Creatures All Praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, bright, and precious, and fair. All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers wind and air, and fair and stormy, all the weather's moods, by which you cherish all that you have made. All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water, so useful, humble, precious and pure. All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten up the night. How beautiful is he, how cheerful! Full of power and strength. All praise be yours, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs. All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy are those who endure in peace, by You, Most High, they will be crowned. All praise be yours, my Lord, through Si...

  I've just read two posts from a couple of bloggers on on Patheos , a great place for spiritual and religious writing from all sorts of traditions by the way, I focus on the catholic ones naturally.  In any case the first of these was Teach us to Pray...But be Gentle: Prayer and Mental Illness.   I found myself nodding as I read, yes and yes.  Here is one section that spoke to me this morning as I sat here gazing out my window, fervently wishing I were not going to work, and wishing as well I could flee to the hills to sit alone on a rock and be finished with this world once and for all, but knowing I cannot do that because I have work to do, because I have love to give and to receive and it's wonderful and joyful... even when deep inside I'm saying "Let me go, please just let me go..." "Teach us to pray – for we are crushed by it. Teach us to pray – for we are swallowed by the hollowness of it. Teach us to pray – but could you sometimes be gentle wit...

  Today's readings from the USCCB Acts 9:1-20 (RSVCE) The conversion of Saul... the great persecutor and murderer of Christians is confronted by the risen Jesus and struck blind and in his blindness he finally is able to see as Anani′as is sent to pray for him to have his sight restored and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  God can take anyone no matter how far from Him he might seem and bring him to faith. John 6:52-59 (RSVCE) As is pointed out in the footnote to verse 52, when the people ask "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus does not explain it away, but reemphasizes the reality of it.  Jesus does not say, "Oh it's just symbolic, but instead he pushes it further. 53  So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54  he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55  For my ...

John Horvat II describes the condition of America accurately, but in the penultimate paragraph he conflates "society" with "government." Thus he says we "...should not...rage against ALL authority..." But he's wrong!  We certainly should rage against authority, it is these "authorities" who have caused all of the problems he describes, they are not worthy of trust and never have been, he's upset because people's eyes are finally being opened to the fraud. You can read the whole article here, it's well worth the read. Broken Trust: The Cause of Angry Politics - Crisis Magazine Broken Trust: The Cause of Angry Politics - Crisis Magazine Everyone agrees that there is something different about today's angry politics. The ordinary issues that have sh...

I still plan to post about today's readings some time after mass today.  In the meantime I ran across this Hermeneutics quiz on Patheos.  It was interesting figuring out each question and I landed in between on quite a few.   First of all, the quiz is  HERE  if you want to take it yourself. I'm pretty sure this means I'm going to hell but I scored Progressive.   The Hermeneutics Quiz Score 77   Evaluation You scored between 66 and 100, meaning you're a progressive on The Hermeneutics Scale. What does Progressive mean in this quiz?  As described by the authors: The progressive is not always progressive. Those who score 66 or more can be seen as leaning toward the progressive side, but the difference between a 66 and 92 is dramatic. Still, the progressive tends to see the Bible as historically shaped and culturally conditioned, and yet most still consider it the Word of God for today. Following a progressive hermeneutic, for the Word to s...

The other day I probably implied, or just said, that I'd be posting daily.  I don't actually think that is plausible with my schedule, on days when I work for 12 hours and commute for 3 hours there isn't much time left for thoughtful consideration of the mass readings for the day.   Plus, I neglected to bring my laptop with me so I'm posting via email anyway.  That said I'm going to take a stab at posting today anyway. :-) Today's readings from the USCCB    John 6:35-40 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) Bible Gateway passage: John 6:35-40 - N... 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 ...

Today's readings (USCCB) Acts 7:51—8:1a During this time of the church year the first reading, which is usually from the Old Testament, is from the book of the Acts of the Apostles instead.  Today we are continuing the story of the first martyr of the Christian faith, St. Stephen.  Stephen is stoned to death while Saul, who will later become the great Apostle Paul, stands by approving.  I wish I were better at emulating St. Stephen, I have a hard time forgiving someone who cuts me off in traffic, let alone someone who is truly seeking to kill me!  Thankfully we have the example of Saul here as well, there is hope for us, we can repent and turn back to God no matter how serious our sins. John 6:30-35 Today's gospel reading continues with the Bread of Life Discourse by Jesus in John chapter 6, this is one of those passages that those who claim to take the bible literally, refuse to take literally.  They are all good with the world being created in 6 d...

  The Angry Gnome has been languishing in the shadows for a long time now, six long months of silence.  Should I reboot the Angry Gnome or start over fresh I wonder?  The Angry Gnome is my avatar I suppose, so I think I'll just reboot it here today. I've given considerable thought... well an hour or so this morning actually... about what the focus of the Angry Gnome ought to be.  I am not an expert on any subject to tell the truth, so what do I have to offer any potential readers of the Angry Gnome? I've been browsing through ancient blog posts I made and finding myself mildly amused by some of them.  The best ones are the ones where I don't hold back and try and be something I'm not, where I embrace my Angry Gnome self :-) Looking back I see that while time has gone by, my core self has changed very little.  I'm still a pacifist, anarchist and Catholic.  Things that seem at first glance to be contradictory but that all work together in ...