The Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher, on the morning of his execution, was led from his dungeon out to Tower Green. The cortège paused for a moment at the door of the Tower, so that responsibility for the prisoner could be handed over from the governor to the sheriff. Fisher produced his pocket bible and read from John 17:3: ‘This is eternal life, that they should know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ He put the book away and said most profoundly, ‘This contains enough doctrine to last me for the rest of my life.’...
Biblical texts are a self-affirming loop. The texts themselves, which are testimonies of words from God and about God, are life-giving. The words thrive and live as each generation and indeed each individual who encounters these words has the opportunity to experience personally their continuing and enduring impact. Reading, learning and continuous re-reading with endless interpretation and endless testing their validity in our lives to our own personal satisfaction and ownership means the words are ever life-giving.
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
(Resources listed here reference more than one reading and are normally shorter than the resources listed under the individual texts above. If you are looking to link the readings, check these resources.)
In his book Thinking Catholic, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati looks at human life and shows how "thinking Catholic" in various situations and at various times in life is how we remain faithful to the teaching of Jesus in the Church while living in the modern world.
In case you don’t know, perhaps you live on another planet or don’t have any contact with ten year old boys, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, opens in theatres this week. The story is about Anakin Skywalker a ten year old boy who is freed from his slavery and becomes an apprentice to become a Jedi Knight. He has the remarkable ability to be in tune with the Force and his trainer believes he is the chosen one spoken of in the ancient prophecies to bring in the new age. Yodi, the Jedi Master, is not so sure and is concerned that there is too much fear and anger in him. Yodi declares "To the dark side, fear leads. To anger and to hate. To suffering."
Before the movie ends we know that the Dark Lord will use that fear and anger to lead him on the evil path to become Darth Vader...
