What'd you hear today?

Meanwhile: what did your pastor preach on today?

I don't go to church, but I did watch a Patton Oswalt bit on youtube this morning about Kentucky Fried Chicken's "Famous Bowl" which may or may not have some significance this Lenten Season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfan5MacmsI

There is some salty language, so delicate sensibilities be warned.

Thoughts from a 12 year old boy today.

Hate begets Revenge,
Revenge begets Violence,
Violence begets War,
War begets Destruction
Destruction begets Death.
Such are the things that Hate shall cause.

But Love gives Peace to those
who Believe in the Father Almighty.

I was actually thinking about our discussion on this blog re: immigration during Father's homily today. As Lisa said, the Gospel was about the man born blind. Father pointed out that the Pharisees were willing to follow and obey the law of God (as handed down since Moses' time) as long as it didn't conflict with their preconceived ideas--that is, that they were using the word of God only to shore up their own ideology. When something as dramatic as the healing of a man born blind occurred, they rejected it; they thought it couldn't possibly be the work of God because it didn't agree with the way they expected God to act (as the disciples in the reading first asked, they thought that the man's blindness was an act of God's judgment either against the man for his own sins, or against his parents for theirs).

Father mentioned our Lenten sacrifices, and our sense by this point in Lent that we've failed to live up to them--which we sometimes have. But the most important thing we're experiencing during Lent is the ability to let go of the habit of objectifying our faith in God and of being prepared to believe in Him and follow Him only as long as doing this matches comfortably with the ideas and habits we already have--and being ready to choose our ideologies over our faith the moment they come in conflict with each other. Lent, said Father, shows us a better way than this, and allows God to show us the inner workings of our own hearts when we are caught up in this way of thinking and acting, so that we can regain our focus and be capable of seeking Him with sincere hearts and honest love, not as a means to some worldly end.

It was a wonderful homily, and I'm uneasily aware how little justice I'm doing to it--but like I said, it made me think of the discussion on immigration, and how easy it is to react to political issues in ways that really do seek to co-opt the Gospel for some immediate political gain. We all do this, on both sides of the political spectrum, and thinking of this homily makes me realize how deadly this way of acting might ultimately be to our faith.

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how easy it is to react to political issues in ways that really do seek to co-opt the Gospel for some immediate political gain. We all do this, on both sides of the political spectrum, and thinking of this homily makes me realize how deadly this way of acting might ultimately be to our faith.
Posted by: Erin Manning | March 2, 2008 7:44 PM
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I've heard it said that what is typically preached in America is not Christianity, but rather a sort of Nationalistic folk religion that uses some of the forms of Christianity.

I actually didn't hear anything today as my 1 year old fell asleep on the way to Divine Liturgy. The wifey took the 3 year old in while I became an official "Sunday driver." My wife did report to me that our parish priest was drunk (again) and barely able to make it through the service. She was concerned about receiving Holy Communion for fear that our priest may pass out on her.

What does one do with an alcoholic priest who is not meeting the spiritual needs of his parish?

John E. wrote, "I've heard it said that what is typically preached in America is not Christianity, but rather a sort of Nationalistic folk religion that uses some of the forms of Christianity."

That might be true as something "typical," but I don't find it to be true where I am a communicant member. A Christian from any time or place could walk into this service and (allowing for differences in language) would hear a sermon whose text is one or more of the Bible lessons for the day, and whose teaching would be immediately recognizable as orthodox Christianity. (The local church in question is a Lutheran church.) In a sentence, today's Epistle lesson was St. Paul in Galatians on the Jerusalem which is above who is the Church, our Mother, and the Gospel was about the feeding of the five thousand men; the sermon united the texts around the theme of God's abundant provision for His Church.

I have recently begun to read the propers of the masses of each Sunday during the Roman Catholic Lent, although I do not attend the local Novus Ordo "service". (I have two requirements of the Holy See before I do so again: one, that the Latin liturgy be restored as the "ordinary" form and not tampered with, and two, that the shamefully exalted Bernard Law be humbled, preferably in a desert monastery. Obviously, my little schism will not be quickly healed.)

Yesterday was the fourth Sunday in Lent, known as Laetare Sunday (in the old calendar, God only knows what it is called today). It is a reprieve from the rigorous (nowadays, perfunctory) penitential fasting preceding and following on until Easter. As I remember, most sermons (today called "homilies") used to expatiate on the Gospel, in this case the miracle of the loaves and fishes. But I find the Epistle particularly perspicacious (Galatians 4, verses 22-31, RSV)

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise.

Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married."

Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now.

But what does the scripture say? "Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman." So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

As altar boys, we responded "Deo gratias (thanks be to God)". I forbear to think what might be the responsorial ejaculation of the altar girls during this Christian Ramadan.

We observed Global Worship Sunday, and heard the OT reading (the selection of the least of Jesse's sons to be king) in Spanish and Thai, courtesy of some local exchange students. Psalm was the 23rd. Gospel was the healing of the man who was born blind. I love the detail about Jesus spitting in the mud to make a paste.

We are rotating midweek Lenten services among several churches, so last Wednesday I heard an entirely different sermon on the same gospel. My 13 yo daughter's favorite line is when the healed man gets a little snippy with the Pharisees who keep pestering him: "I already TOLD you."

The pastor of my Evangelical Free Church--a Reformed-minded former Lutheran--preached a straightforward expository sermon on the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman from John 4. It was quite good.