LÆTVS ET CATHOLICVS: Archive

“

Why is Jesus the most controversial and the most embarrassing name in the world?

No one is embarrassed if you talk about Buddha, or Muhammad, or Moses. Neither Buddhists nor non-Buddhists are embarrassed to talk about Buddha. Why are almost all educated, non-fundamentalist Christians embarrassed to talk about Jesus to non-Christians, and why are almost all non-Christians embarrassed to hear such talk?

If you’re not sure my assumption is true, test it, in any secular company, or mixed company, especially educated company. The name will fall with a thud, and produce sudden silence and embarrassment. You not only hear the embarrassment, you can feel it. The temperature drops. Or rises. It never stays the same.

You might answer that Christians are embarrassed not for themselves but for others: they are embarrassed only because they are sensitive to the embarrassment they know the name of Jesus will cause to non-Christians. But that only pushes the mystery back one step: why are non-Christians so embarrassed at this name? Why is “Jesus” the most non-neutral name in the world?

Jesus talk is like sex talk. There is no neutral language for sex. All our words about sex are either “sexy” or an attempt to avoid being “sexy”. They are either (1) the ecstatic language of love, or (2) the gutter language of raunch, or (3) the tension-releasing language of the laugh (sex and religion are the two most popular subjects of jokes), or (4) the deliberately impersonal, scientific, and technological language of clinical medicine. And our words about Jesus are either (1) love-words, or (2) blasphemy words, or (3) jokes, or (4) impersonal, technical, theological words.

Jesus is a sword. He divides. You cannot be neutral about Him until you make a deliberate effort to thrust something away, something in your heart: either passionate attraction or passionate rejection of something, or at least deep embarrassment at something. Is it just at Christians? Is it at Christianity? Or is it at Christ?

Why is He history’s greatest divider? Why is He the razor edge of the round world? What does He do to you, to put you on that edge, no matter who you are and no matter what you believe or don’t believe?

” —from “Jesus Shock” by Dr. Peter Kreeft (via greluc)

May 31, 201347 notes

badwolfcomplex:

“Pope Francis rejects attack on old rite and says, ‘treasure tradition.’”

“The underlying message [from the Tavoliere bishops]: Summorum Pontificum should be cancelled, or at least strongly limited. But Francis said no.”

One thing that jumps out of the story is that the bishops of this region judged that their main pastoral priority - to be communicated to the Pope on a five-yearly visit - was to attack Summorum Pontificum. Forget abortion, embryo experimentation, the push for same-sex marriage throughout Europe, the loss of faith of many Catholics and our failure in catechesis and evangelisation. No, the really big problem is a small number of priests legitimately saying the old Mass. Given what Pope Francis has said about the danger of being a self-referential Church, I can well imagine he gave them short shrift.

See also.

May 31, 201318 notes

myadventuresinoddity:

Love this quote from the article:

In Catholicism God knows, loves, and forgives you, no matter what; your own opinion of yourself is interesting but irrelevant.

An article by (celibate) gay Catholic Eve Tushnet. I don’t know if a direct response to this article, but it’s referenced.

May 31, 201365 notes

nikosnature:

gloryofgod3:

1. Mary can’t hear your prayers because she is not a supernatural being.

My friend can hear my prayer, and he is not a supernatural being, so not being a supernatural being does not preclude one from hearing prayers?

You don’t need her prayers or the…

May 31, 2013122 notes

May 30, 2013419,221 notes

ermahgeerd:

sexypotassium:

why does no one ever talk about what fire actually is like it’s not a solid, liquid or gas, it’s just kinda there

this is one of the things that have mindfucked me since forever
like what is it

Plasma, fourth state of matter.

May 30, 201324,769 notes

perfunctory:

it’s so cute when you talk to someone a lot and then you notice the little phrases that you use and the stupid little things you say slipping into their vocabulary more and more

May 30, 2013196,938 notes

May 30, 2013136,601 notes

May 30, 2013125,648 notes

student: can i borrow a pencil
teacher: i don't know, CAN you?
student: yes, also colloquial irregularities occur frequently in any language and since you and the rest of our present company understood my intended meaning being particular about the distinctions between "can" and "may" is purely pedantic and arguably pretentious
teacher: Or you could just use the right verb...

May 12, 201383,460 notes

Apr 30, 201370,811 notes

Listen

mylittlepokeymans:

rivalhyuu:

tumboy:

So I saw the picture of Taylor Swift on Jessi/e’s body and thought “I’m not gonna regret this” and pressed play.

I didn’t.

OMFG

Apr 30, 2013100,969 notes

Apr 30, 201381 notes

How I feel when I sin

birthfetus:

letmebecatholic:

Before

And then it changed to

And now it’s like

O.O
So I’m not alone?

Apr 30, 2013123 notes

Apr 27, 201329 notes

themysteryoffaith:

He’s President of the United States of America.

He’s holding what may be the most powerful political office in the world.

He surrounds himself with atheists and suspected communists.

He spits on the Catholic Church’s beliefs as his administration tries to force Catholic and Christian business owners and organizations to pay for health insurance that will provide free abortions and contraception to employees.

And today he uttered these words: “Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.”

Your president said that.

Millions of babies have been tortured and killed by Planned Parenthood. But he said that.

He invoked our beloved God in one of the most cynical and evil statements ever made by a politician: “Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.”

This is blasphemy. In a single statement, our president has mocked and regurgitated upon the entire Christian community of this country.

American Life League is responding with all the justified rage and passionate love of life that we can muster.

We will erase Planned Parenthood and this political administration from memory.

Thank you, friend. God bless you.

Faithfully,

Judie Brown

Apr 27, 201347 notes

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