Praying the Joyful Mysteries with Scripture

Last updated on: August 13, 2021 at 2:12 pm By Jack Hartjes

During the Advent and Christmas seasons I have been praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary a little more joyfully than usual. This post is about those mysteries with some thoughts about Scripture. History is always a question when I turn to Scripture, but it’s pretty far in the back of my mind when praying the Rosary. I’ve dealt with the historical question as they relate to the Joyful Mysteries in posts, including here and here. Scriptures for the Joyful Mysteries I recite a passage from... Read more

Metaphors and Transcendence: Miracles and God’s relation to the world

Last updated on: January 9, 2019 at 7:00 am By Jack Hartjes

In my daily prayers I ask God for favors: Help this one recover from surgery. Help that one find a job. Help me write this post. Am I asking for miracles? This post looks at miracles as metaphors of a transcendent God’s involvement in creation. I interpret those metaphors a number of ways. That’s how it goes with God. With only univalent, literal language God cannot be named accurately but becomes an idol, a piece of the world. Tenth in the series “Stories of Jesus and the Character of... Read more

Miracle Stories, Science, and Jesus’ Humanity

Last updated on: January 7, 2019 at 1:50 pm By Jack Hartjes

Science does not easily accept as real an event that breaks the laws of nature. There may be gaps in our understanding, but once we do understand how something works, we figure it will work that way all the time. An apparently miraculous exception is, to scientists, only a challenge to keep on looking for a rational explanation. They want to investigate–if not the event then the experience or the report. For Christians some of that rational activity may take the form... Read more

Evangelization and a Thought about the Three Kings

Last updated on: April 29, 2019 at 8:14 am By Jack Hartjes

Catholics that I know admire but feel uncomfortable about Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are the ones who go from door to door, Bible or leaflets in hand, trying to make converts. Not many Catholics can see themselves doing that. With the Feast of Epiphany approaching, I’ve been thinking about the Three Kings and what recent popes call the new evangelization. Of course, they weren’t kings. In a story in Matthew’s Gospel, magi come from the East following a star. They find and worship the baby Jesus. Then they go back... Read more

Bible Criticism and Jesus, the Miracle Worker

Last updated on: January 7, 2019 at 1:50 pm By Jack Hartjes

Jesus fully human is more central to Christian belief than Jesus the miracle worker. We have this image of Jesus walking on water and we use that image conversationally for people who think way too much of themselves – “She thinks she can walk on water.” But that’s a criticism; it’s not a proper way for a person to think. Is it proper for Jesus and not for us? Did Jesus think he could “walk on water,” work a miracle anytime he wanted? I have to admit to having... Read more

Stories of Jesus, Intro to Part Two–Miracles, and Contents for the Series

Last updated on: April 15, 2019 at 7:36 am By Jack Hartjes

The “Stories of Jesus” series continues with Part Two, the Miracles. This post looks briefly back at what has been attempted in posts on the Nativity Stories and ahead to posts on Jesus’ miracles. Before that I include a Table of Contents with links to previous posts in the series. The Contents will expand with new entries for each new post. Table of Contents Getting Acquainted with the Historical Jesus and Getting to Know about God History and the Historical... Read more

Returning to the Rosary: Catholics Pray to God with the Saints Sometimes

Last updated on: August 13, 2021 at 1:54 pm By Jack Hartjes

The Rosary is a lovely prayer, which I loved from a distance for most of my life but have returned to recently. This post is an introduction to a series of posts that includes one for each set of Mysteries. Table of Contents with links to each post in the series Introduction (below) The Joyful Mysteries The Luminous Mysteries The Sorrowful Mysteries The Glorious Mysteries I grew up in a family of regular Rosary pray-ers—every day in May and October.... Read more

The Creed, a Story that I Tell, Embellished a Bit

Last updated on: February 5, 2019 at 9:15 pm By Jack Hartjes

When I say the Creed, make my Profession of Faith at Mass, I’m not reciting a list of things I believe. I am confessing whom I believe in. To believe in someone is to commit oneself to be part of that one’s story. So the Creed isn’t much like an essay on the topic “Things I Believe.” It’s a story and it’s dramatic. Here I tell the story, filling in some details as they strike me. I don’t imagine it... Read more

Christmas Proclamation Puts Whole World into Jesus’ Story

Last updated on: April 29, 2019 at 8:14 am By Jack Hartjes

Tonight many parishes will hear the Christmas Proclamation before Mass on the Eve of Christmas. This ancient practice reminds me of an exercise I would have my Confirmation students do. I gave them a series events from the Bible and secular and Church history from the creation of the world to their own birth. The events were in random order, and they were to arrange them chronologically. It was a way of getting the students to think of their involvement in the... Read more

What’s So Fum About Christmas? Answers to the Christmas Carol Quiz

Last updated on: April 29, 2019 at 8:14 am By Jack Hartjes

Christmas is a serious as well as a joyful season. You can find both feelings in Christmas carols. Today I’m focusing more on the joy, although there is a serious effort to understand as well. For instance, I’ve heard a choir director say that the word “fum” in the Christmas carol is just a nonsense word. The first answer clears up that misunderstanding. I hope you enjoy the Christmas carol quiz and also all the blessings of Christmas. 1. What’s... Read more