God
Scripture
Faith
What a ridiculous post I made earlier today! I was tempted to clobber it out of the database, but decided to leave it as a reminder of what happens when I get all of the perspective wrong. Silly me!
I'm right in the middle of reading "Acts", and the disciples of the burgeoning early church traveled all over the place, from Antioch to Cypress to Athens-- Did they have 401ks? Did they have health insurance? What did the Israelites eat for forty years in the desert? The Lord provides, wherever we go! As long as we keep the will of our hearts aligned with the will of the Father, He will give us what we need!
What does Jesus say to Martha? When has worrying added even a day to your lifespan. Instead, we should turn to praise God continually for all of the blessings He has showered on us. Like Mary in the Magnificat! I think I need to just recite that when I'm experiencing a lack of gratitude.
Scriptural Questions
Both of the priests for my church cluster are so helpful when it comes to answering theological questions! In particular I often ask scriptural questions from our parochial vicar-- he's literally about the nicest guy you'll ever meet, and he's very patient with even my most elementary musings. Just in the past day I asked him a few questions, and he got back to me with super helpful answers. I figured I'd share them here, but re-written in my own words to help me process and understand the teachings.
The first question I asked him was, I was struggling to reconcile free will with prophesy. For example, did Judas have free will? When Jesus told him that Judas would betray him, could Judas have then "changed his mind" and "proved Jesus wrong", so-to-speak?
Father's reply was along the lines of this: God is omniscient, and so knows everything we will do. Nothing happens apart from God allowing it-- even our existence itself. But at the same time, it's helpful to think of the references from Jesus's life as being more prophetic than causal; God is the cause of everything, but not in a way which prevents the exercise of free will. Put another way, God knows everything we are going to do, and plans accordingly-- or rather, planned since the beginning of time.
The second question I asked was, when Jesus says he "did not come to bring peace, but a sword", how should I take that with regards to my own evangelization efforts? Is it better to meet people where they are and build relationships that way-- or is that too indirect?
His reply was to the effect of, there will be times when we will be in ultimatum situations, where we have to choose between unity, or truth. In those situations, we need to choose Jesus. But that doesn't mean we are in ultimatum situations all of the time! All of that said, if we find ourselves never in conflict, we are probably not being witnesses to our Faith in the way Jesus calls us to be. In the end, each situation requires discernment; sometimes it will result in division, other times in relationship building.
The third question I asked Father was, do we all have the power to perform miracles-- particularly of a healing nature? For example, could any of us command demons out of people, like the apostles and other disciples did?
His reply was to direct me towards 1 Corinthians, 12-- which I immediately went and read, and which instantly cleared up a lot of my confusion on this matter. He went on to say, we don't perform miracles-- God performs the miracles. The Holy Spirit bestows on us each unique gifts and charisms. Faith is required for miracles, but the Faith itself must also be a gift! This got me thinking, what is the best way to discern each of our own charisms? I need to ask him more on this subject.
I'm right in the middle of reading "Acts", and the disciples of the burgeoning early church traveled all over the place, from Antioch to Cypress to Athens-- Did they have 401ks? Did they have health insurance? What did the Israelites eat for forty years in the desert? The Lord provides, wherever we go! As long as we keep the will of our hearts aligned with the will of the Father, He will give us what we need!
What does Jesus say to Martha? When has worrying added even a day to your lifespan. Instead, we should turn to praise God continually for all of the blessings He has showered on us. Like Mary in the Magnificat! I think I need to just recite that when I'm experiencing a lack of gratitude.
Scriptural Questions
Both of the priests for my church cluster are so helpful when it comes to answering theological questions! In particular I often ask scriptural questions from our parochial vicar-- he's literally about the nicest guy you'll ever meet, and he's very patient with even my most elementary musings. Just in the past day I asked him a few questions, and he got back to me with super helpful answers. I figured I'd share them here, but re-written in my own words to help me process and understand the teachings.
The first question I asked him was, I was struggling to reconcile free will with prophesy. For example, did Judas have free will? When Jesus told him that Judas would betray him, could Judas have then "changed his mind" and "proved Jesus wrong", so-to-speak?
Father's reply was along the lines of this: God is omniscient, and so knows everything we will do. Nothing happens apart from God allowing it-- even our existence itself. But at the same time, it's helpful to think of the references from Jesus's life as being more prophetic than causal; God is the cause of everything, but not in a way which prevents the exercise of free will. Put another way, God knows everything we are going to do, and plans accordingly-- or rather, planned since the beginning of time.
The second question I asked was, when Jesus says he "did not come to bring peace, but a sword", how should I take that with regards to my own evangelization efforts? Is it better to meet people where they are and build relationships that way-- or is that too indirect?
His reply was to the effect of, there will be times when we will be in ultimatum situations, where we have to choose between unity, or truth. In those situations, we need to choose Jesus. But that doesn't mean we are in ultimatum situations all of the time! All of that said, if we find ourselves never in conflict, we are probably not being witnesses to our Faith in the way Jesus calls us to be. In the end, each situation requires discernment; sometimes it will result in division, other times in relationship building.
The third question I asked Father was, do we all have the power to perform miracles-- particularly of a healing nature? For example, could any of us command demons out of people, like the apostles and other disciples did?
His reply was to direct me towards 1 Corinthians, 12-- which I immediately went and read, and which instantly cleared up a lot of my confusion on this matter. He went on to say, we don't perform miracles-- God performs the miracles. The Holy Spirit bestows on us each unique gifts and charisms. Faith is required for miracles, but the Faith itself must also be a gift! This got me thinking, what is the best way to discern each of our own charisms? I need to ask him more on this subject.