eChurch Blog

In the centre spread of my local free paper is a wonderful account of the geological marvels of my local Forest of Dean. Here’s some snippets:

The Soudley Valley today is a peaceful and scenic place, teeming with wildlife and with a little stream winding through its heart.

It makes it almost impossible to imagine the landscape that David Owen describes as as we begin our walk following one of Gloucestershire Geology Trust’s Trails. “400 million years ago Britain was part of the supercontinent known as the Pangaea that had existed for about 100 million years and would last for another 200 million years,” he says.

“This part of the continent was almost completely South of the equator and would have been a hot, arid landscape. Pretty much all of the Forest of Dean, however, formed part of the river estuary four times wider than the Amazon today.” It was totally unlike the Amazon however as at this point in Earth’s history there was little complex life at all on land.

David says: “Although there were fish in the sea, there were no plants as we know them today at all and certainly no large animals on land.”

This fascinating piece continues bursting with interesting facts and cites the oldest rocks in the forest as being some 400 million years old!

David Owen continues:

By now we have reached 350 million years ago. Still well before the dinasours but at the point where plants were beginning to colonise the land in numbers and fish had crawled out of the water and evolved to breath and walk on dry land.

It’s at this point when life began to flourish on land, that much of the mineral wealth of the Forest was formed. In geological terms, humans have been here for very little time at all, but their impact has been huge. People have been closely entwined with the geology of this area ever since they moved here a mere few thousand years ago. They exploited iron, coal and stone which had formed millions of years earlier.

I’ll leave the piece here, but you get the drift; this is an informative and interesting article and comes complete with nice pictures of rocks.

But this article also comes complete with something rather odd.

I abruptly stopped reading half way through, when my eye caught sight of large red rectangle box embedded at the end of the article, emblazoned with this heading:

YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM.

Here’s what is said within the box:

Scientists are almost unanimous in their agreement that the earth is billions of years old. In fact, it’s probably one of the few areas of science in which there is such complete agreement. There are a few Christians and Jews who disagree however and date our planet, as our predecessors in Biblical times did, at between 5,0000 and 10,000 years old. They believe that the earth was created, as Genesis describes, in a very short period of time. David says: “It is possible to have strong religious beliefs and reconcile that with modern scientific thought. I have a colleague who is working on some of the oldest rocks on the planet, believed to have been formed not long after the Big Bang. He’s also a committed Christian.”

Seriously why did they have to spoil a perfectly good geological piece with this condescending rubbish? What possible motivation could they have had. It certainly adds nothing to the scientific understanding.

What on earth was the point of it? Can anyone tell me?

It’s just plain weird to me.

First Reading 1John 2:18-21 

Or any fears and worries for the upcoming year?

Feel free to share anything or post prayers or whatever…..

First Reading Ephesians 5:21-6:4

Give way to one another in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they regard the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body – and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church. To sum up: you too, each one of you, must love his wife as he loves himself; and let every wife respect her husband.
Children, be obedient to your parents in the Lord – that is your duty. The commandment that has a promise attached to it is: Honour your father and mother, and the promise is: and you will prosper and have a long life in the land. And parents, never drive your children to resentment but in bringing them up correct them and guide them as the Lord does.

Gospel Acclamation Heb 1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!

 Gospel Luke 2:22-40

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

Just as a quick reminder the Egyptian Christian Copts will not be celebrating Christmas unti the 7th Jan and it was on that same night last year, that a drive-by gunman blew away 6 Copts leaving the midnight Mass service.

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) said in its Wednesday statement that it will send a high-profile delegation led by Dr. Mahmoud Ezzat, Vice Chairman of the MB, to convey their wishes and greetings to the Christians for Christmas in the New Year.

Moreover, MB called on SCAF and Police to protect the churches just as it had protected the polling stations during the elections. “We are prepared to cooperate with the authorities and form a neighbourhood watch and popular committee from the MB members to help protect the churches”, the statement read.

SOURCE

How does my Bipolar impact me spiritually? Massively. As you can see, I have fallen into sin many a time, especially when disinhibited by my mania. I used to lead a Ladies’ Bible Study. I continued to lead it right through one of these episodes. Absolutely horrendous, the guilt I felt at that time. But incredible too, the way that the Holy Spirit has ministered to me in my countless times of repentance. I almost know Psalm 51 off by heart! It is so dispiriting how I never, ever seem to learn, how repetitive are my failures. But each and every time, my God restores me, forgives me, lifts me up and puts me on the level path again. He fills me with joy and gratitude. I really do know what God means when He says to me- “when you are weak, then you are strong”- when I am manic I feel supremely confident, and I always end up flat on my face. I have to accept my limitations, I am actually disabled by my Bipolar. But I also have to accept my responsibilities, I cannot use my Bipolar as an excuse for doing nothing for Jesus. God has a work for me to do, and the experiences of my poor mental health will probably be a big contribution to the work that God has planned for me. Nothing ever happens without reason. My favourite quotation is:-

MY GOD IS TOO WISE TO BE MISTAKEN, TOO GOOD TO BE UNKIND.

SOURCE

First Reading  1 John 2:3-11

We can be sure that we know God
only by keeping his commandments.
Anyone who says, ‘I know him’,
and does not keep his commandments,
is a liar,
refusing to admit the truth.
But when anyone does obey what he has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.
We can be sure that we are in God
only when the one who claims to be living in him
is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.
My dear people,
this is not a new commandment that I am writing to tell you,
but an old commandment
that you were given from the beginning,
the original commandment which was the message brought to you.
Yet in another way, what I am writing to you,
and what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his,
is a new commandment;
because the night is over
and the real light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light
but hates his brother
is still in the dark.
But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light
and need not be afraid of stumbling;
unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness,
not knowing where he is going,
because it is too dark to see.

Gospel Acclamation 

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!

Gospel Reading Luke 2:22-35

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

This embarrassing episode is in the news:

Wifey planted a pocket sized Catechism booklet in the toilet, which she does if she wishes me to read something, as I’m given to reading and pondering on the ‘throne’.

Anyway, a few days ago I felt a little rocked when I read the following:

What are the sins against hope?

The sins against hope are despair and presumption.

This was the first time I’d realised that despair was considered a grave sin and this ironically caused me no small amount of despair, as I am prone to the same.

Then today Fr Charles Tweeted:

Despair is self-importance turned inside out.

I asked Fr Charles to clarify this comment and he directed me to his blog post in which he said:

A long time ago I was taking a walk when I realized, just when I needed to hear it, why despair is a temptation and a sin:

Despair is like self-importance turned inside-out; it implies the belief that God ought to have given us more hope and faith than we have, and that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Despair is an indulgence in our frustrated greed for certainty.

I recalled this moment when I found a post-it note in an old breviary that said, “You can be grateful for the grace of poverty of spirit, or you can indulge in self-importance of despair.”

As you can imagine, this served to set me off again worrying about the fact I’m prone to despair and that this is considered gravely sinful.

But now for the good part.

Upon further investigation, it would seem that the despair I’m assaulted with is not necessarily the same as the despair noted in the Catechisms.

Let me quote Catechism 2091

The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption:

By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God’s goodness, to his justice – for the Lord is faithful to his promises – and to his mercy.

From this I believe we can deduce that the despair mentioned in the Catechism must be equal and opposite to the hope.

Now, as hope is related to God’s goodness, justice, mercy, faithfulness, and more specifically salvation; to despair and doubt these things would indeed constitute sin.

But what if you fall in to despair and yet do not reject the tenets of this hope?

I put this to Fr Charles who made this eminently wise response:

I think the distinction between emotional and theological despair may be helpful.

Absolutely brilliant. The distinction between theological and emotional despair. It is entirely possible to enter a period of emotional despair without entering into theological despair. In other words, I may despair over this world and my own place within it, whilst retaining my salvific hope based on God’s goodness, faithfulness, justice and mercy.

Further, Catechism 1501 adds this:

Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.

This is an acknowledgement that many of us who suffer from a form of despair know only too well; namely, it can be the result of illness beyond our control. But even within the deep depths of despair I have plunged, God always holds me tight in respect of His ultimate hope.

I hope this makes sense and may even help others who have despaired over their despair.

I’m on a learning curve and am writing this as I discover it, so feel free to add anything or correct it.

A few links I found interesting for one reason or another:

Accepting Abundance – On Dissent – Proud to be right?

Vatican Insider – Jews alarmed by Messianic movement boom

Cranmer – Alcohol price-fixing will not solve binge-drinking

iBenedictines – Holy Innocents

Ugley Vicar – Our Christmas Carol Sermon

Outside the Assylum – Who cares about religious apathy?

Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion – Nick Broomfield and Sarah Palin’s Religion