For the faithful . . . Lent has a two-fold character. On the one hand, it is reparatory and restorative: the time when “all past slothfulnesses are chastised, all negligences atoned for” (Leo the Great, Sermon 39). Ideally, Leo maintains, “we should remain in God’s sight always the same, as we ought to be found on the Easter feast itself.”
Today the bishops are observing 24 hours of sabbath with their only commitment being to celebrate the Eucharist together. Saturday they heard presentations on the current state of the economy and the activities of the US Congress.
Scientists report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week that they pinpointed where in the brain different types of religious thoughts originate. According to the study, religious musings occur in a variety of regions, confirming previous research showing there is no single “God Spot” in the brain from whence all spiritual thoughts emerge
If we think the 19th century (for example) was full of great hymn-writers, it’s just because our hymnbooks today include only the highlights from that entire century. And let’s face it, even the highlights are usually pretty atrocious. Hymns typically suffer either from painfully bad lyrics or from a trivial, no-less-painful sentimentality.
The NCAA’s Selection Show airs this evening, and Episcopal Cafe has caught a case of March Gladness. We are offering a $100 bonus to the MDG-related charity chosen by the winner of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation’s March Gladness competition. The only catch is that you have to register your name with us as a commenter before the first tournament game is played. Find out more.
It’s often suggested that religious charities must be self-interested. Either they proselytise, or they discriminate to the advantage of believers, or both. It’s also suggested that the people who give to them are really being selfish, because they want to put themselves right with God, and so to benefit from their actions, rather than being truly altruistic. Are these accusations fair? And are secular charities, or state provision, morally superior?
At first glance Jesus’ shocking actions in the temple hardly seem loving. Yet they reveal his inexhaustible passion for his Father, a passion and zeal that drives all his actions. The Father yearns to be with his children; he seeks our company and desires that we approach him in right ways.
If you read enough right-wing criticism of Mainline Protestant religious denominations such as ours, you will run–repeatedly– across the unsupported assertion that our membership numbers
A daily roundup of what bishops are blogging from their meeting in Kanuga.