Reacting Against the Pope's Reaction Against "Legalism"

"If you love Me, keep My commandments."
Love and precepts go together. God knew we need instructions on how to be happy here on earth and be a good neighbor, unto eternal life. https://t.co/TTn1Tn67RQ

— Dr. Maike Hickson (@HicksonMaike) October 20, 2021

"Being Christian in a Secular Age"

In this 5th video on Being Christian in a Secular Age, Fr Justin & I use insights from the Radical Orthodoxy of @johnmilbank3 and @pickstockc to see "Glimpses of Transcendence" in this bustling marketplace of spiritualities that is our Secular Age https://t.co/D7o2d9YfEw

— Nicholas Forti (@KNicholasForti) August 28, 2021

The Future of Chalcedonian Orthodoxy in the United States?

We can't believe it's the beginning of the new Academic Year here at the Seminary! The summer break flew by. Today was the first day of classes--just look at those smiles. Glory to God for all things! pic.twitter.com/zouo8KHaY0

— St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (@stvlads) August 23, 2021

Our 25 new seminarians hail from 8 different countries and 11 Eastern and Oriental Orthodox jurisdictions. They join our 44 returning seminarians. Glory to God! https://t.co/EfWuSeCUyB pic.twitter.com/fAnupxLsyN

— St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (@stvlads) August 24, 2021

Garrigou-Lagrange on the Importance of Dogma

In the early 20th century, Garrigou-Lagrange was not buying what William James--Mr. "Religious Experience"--was selling, namely the assertion that theological claims possess no value unless they relate immediately to human life and conduct.

First, James: "Take God's aseity..."

— Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP (@FrAquinasOP) August 25, 2021

Garrigou-Lagrange Account of Deification

Garrigou on how, by revelation, man is conformed to God, not God to man. When revealing, God remains the origin, measure, and end of his revelation.

"God demands that we grow. When he reveals himself to us, he seeks, in a way, to divinize us and not to be annihilated within us."

— Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP (@FrAquinasOP) August 24, 2021

"Blessed Are You O Lord, Teach Me Your Commandments"

"There is nothing automatic or magical about the Jesus Prayer. If we do not strive to obey God's commandments, calling upon God's name will be in vain." -St. Sophrony (On Prayer, 137) pic.twitter.com/XjWn6ppOzL

— Perry Hamalis (@pthamalis) July 23, 2021

Theosis

The spiritual reality is that we become like what we worship. God detests idols and false gods because we were not made to be as lifeless as they are. So the Lord became like us, the Lover like His beloved, so we may become like Him, the lovers like the Beloved.

— fah’Tim (@FrGrumbach) July 22, 2021

The Religion of the Apostles

After selling out several times now, "The Religion of the Apostles" by Fr. Stephen De Young is now back in stock.https://t.co/IiDu42G1d6

— Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick (@FrAndrewSDamick) July 12, 2021

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Joseph Raztinger on Christian Liturgy

“Christian liturgy lifts us up out of our narrow sphere and lets us share in the truth.” - Benedict XVI, “On the Structure of the Liturgical Celebration"https://t.co/bi1z5sQPcR pic.twitter.com/qmFaplpuqZ

— Pontifical Faculty at Dominican House of Studies (@PFIC_DHS) July 14, 2021

The Forms of Prayer?

Saint Paisios: “Glory be to God” is superior to “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” #orthodox_times https://t.co/sZB7qzKzbC

— Orthodox Times (@orthodox_times) July 12, 2021

Latin Gerondism?

Withdrawing From the World to Save It by Thomas Griffin

What is useful in the rule for the laity is whatever immediately reflects life in Christ; there is an analogue between living in a monastic community and political community, but political community must be explained on its own terms. And hence the Rule of St. Benedict by itself is insufficient to provide that sort of guidance for lay people.

The Mind of Christ

NEW EPISODE: But We Have the Mind of Christ

LISTEN: https://t.co/tI2iFMgjyk

According to the Bible, how do we know things? What exactly is the mind? What is consciousness? What are thoughts, and how do they work? And what does knowledge do to someone? 1/2 @ancientfaith pic.twitter.com/otSR6n1Pfc

— Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick (@FrAndrewSDamick) July 9, 2021

Can the Practice of Mindfulness Be Christianized?

CWR Dispatch: Anxiety, mindfulness, and prayer: Questions and a Catholic perspective

Is mindfulness a morally neutral psychological technique? Or should Catholics be wary of the use of mindfulness?

An Alternative

Every aspect of education in India was considered to be a path of Yoga: music, dance, art, architecture, astronomy, literature, medicine, mathematics, psychology, philosophy. Based on yogic disciplines, dharmic values and meditation. This Yoga of Education must be revived.

— Dr David Frawley (@davidfrawleyved) June 30, 2021

Ralph Martin's A Church in Crisis

Tremendously important book. pic.twitter.com/kBIChQdEtR

— Benedict Kiely (@benedict_kiely) June 24, 2021

Rowan Williams and John Cavadini in Conversation

In case you missed it, here is the video of today's moving discussion between Rowan Williams and @JohnCavadini https://t.co/wlNPnbd9BD

— New City Press (@NewCity_Press) June 8, 2021

More on Poland

This is what I had in mind when I added a cautionary note for this post. Rod Dreher:

I mentioned to my companions last night that the late Father Wlodzimierz Zatorski, a highly esteemed Benedictine (who died last year of Covid), had affirmed to me that the young Catholics telling me that Poland could become Ireland in a decade, regarding Catholic collapse, were on to something. I had asked the Benedictine, while visiting famed Tyniec Abbey, what the main problem is. He said, “the vainglory of the bishops.”

I asked the Pole last night to explain what the late priest-monk meant. The Pole, who is in his twenties, told me that among his circle of friends here in Warsaw, he is the only one who still goes to mass. Two years ago when I first met this man, that was not the case. He went on to explain that many Poles are deeply offended by how openly political many of the clergy are, especially the bishops. He said the exposure of sexual abuse scandals in the clergy devastated many people. The harshness of the bishops’ language against gays and lesbians has put a lot of people off, even as stories about priests and bishops having secret gay lives have come to light. Too many bishops and priests, he said, rest on pious cliches and sentimental appeals to the legacy of Pope St. John Paul II, instead of bringing the Gospel to deal meaningfully with the problems and challenges of contemporary life. Overall, my Polish interlocutor said that the country’s Catholics have come to see that there is a large gap between what the Church claims to be, and what its clergy is — and that outrages people. The fact, he went on, that many in the Polish clergy, especially bishops, are so caught up in clericalism, only makes it harder for the bishops and clergy to grasp their role, and to repent.

"The Cross and the Machine"

https://t.co/iLSuFOWew4

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) May 14, 2021

An Oldie from Augustine Di Noia

True Christian universalism depends on the affirmation of the nonexclusive particularity of salvation in Jesus Christ. From the archives:https://t.co/qxKHeGorzA

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) April 24, 2021

The Passion of Christ

This book focuses on the Passion narrative as the heart of Christianity and how the suffering and death of Christ on the Cross plays a central role in any discussions between Christians and non-Christians. Order here: https://t.co/mebrVJ80Lf pic.twitter.com/r7EZpOK6ac

— SVS Press (@SVSPress) April 16, 2021