Why I’d rather keep Christmas in the church

Last updated on: January 1, 2012 at 8:07 pm By Julia Smucker

The church’s Christmas season (which of course we’re still celebrating) begins where the secular one ends, with Christmas day itself as the pivot point between the two, the shared holy day of Christianity and secular consumerism. In the resulting syncretism, the Word of God who descends from heaven in the most radical act of kenosis in the history of the universe often has a tough time competing with the jolly fat man who descends from the North Pole to feed humanity’s self-indulgence. Let... Read more

Liturgy as Mystagogy: Towards a Pagan Religious Education, Above and Beyond Learning

Last updated on: December 31, 2011 at 6:47 pm By Sam Rocha

Previous entries — (1) Introduction; (2) Saved by Beauty, a Testimony “He said to me ‘Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving to you.’ Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.” -Ezekiel 3:3 (In the previous post, I focused on the autobiographical roots of my aesthetic sense of liturgy. In this post, I will outline my ontological sense of mystagogy.) Along with an existential, aesthetic... Read more

One Year Later

Last updated on: December 31, 2011 at 3:43 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

On this last day of 2011, I think it is worth going back to the beginning of the year and revisit Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the World Day of Peace: If you Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. Here are a two relevant passages: In 1990 John Paul II had spoken of an “ecological crisis” and, in highlighting its primarily ethical character, pointed to the “urgent moral need for a new solidarity”. His appeal is all the more pressing... Read more

Evanescence and the Dark Night of the Soul

Last updated on: December 31, 2011 at 1:16 pm By David Cruz-Uribe

The Christian crossover band Evanescence has a new album. They are one of my favorite modern groups, and a real departure from the 80’s metal I usually listen to. I find Amy Lee to be an incredible singer, and I really appreciate the deft and subtle way in which they work Christian themes of hope and redemption into the usual brooding themes of goth music. I have not heard the whole album yet (it came to my attention too late... Read more

2012: Year of the Great Reckoning?

Last updated on: December 31, 2011 at 12:41 pm By Mark Gordon

Michael Thomas, retired Lehman Brothers partner, thinks it might be. From his Newsweek column titled “The Big Lie.” “… the convulsion to come won’t really be about Wall Street’s derivatives malefactions, or its subprime fun and games, or rogue trading, or the folly of banks. It will be about this society’s final opportunity to rip away the paralyzing shackles of corruption or else dwell forever in a neofeudal social order. You might say that 1384 has replaced 1984 as our... Read more

Dimestore Prophecies for 2012

Last updated on: December 29, 2011 at 10:05 am By Mark Gordon

Actually, ‘prophecies’ is really the wrong word. Even ‘predictions’ is a bit much. Let’s call these guesses, some educated, most not. And I’ll confess up front that I’m usually terrible at this sort of thing, so if any of these frighten or disgust you, take heart! But it’s fun, so here goes: Politics Mitt Romney will end up winning the Republican nomination for President rather easily. He will choose Susana Martinez, governor of New Mexico, as his running mate. He will also... Read more

Music for the Liturgy of the Family Meal

Last updated on: May 3, 2017 at 7:02 pm By Brett Salkeld

This Advent we began a new family practice. Before each meal, we lit the appropriate candles in the Advent Wreath and sang the first verse of O Come O Come Emmanuel as a family before saying grace. Now that Advent is over, we miss this practice. The children in particular loved to sing before each meal so much that they wanted it for lunch and breakfast too! Tonight we thought we would try to sing a Christmas carol to continue... Read more

We Really Need To Think Things Through Before It Is Too Late

Last updated on: December 28, 2011 at 4:42 pm By Henry Karlson

One of the problems of the modern capitalistic society is that capitalism is, at best, a-moral, and at worse, immoral, and those who use capitalist ideology as a hermeneutic for life are incapable of understanding the pursuit for virtue. Money is turned into the end one must seek, so that money becomes identified with the good. Clearly this is idolatry, because only God is the good. But even if we do not engage in the religious significance of identifying money... Read more

See How They Love One Another

Last updated on: December 28, 2011 at 10:47 am By David Cruz-Uribe

A news report from the Reuters, via the Guardian: Palestinian police are called to the Church of Nativity after rival groups of clergymen clash in a dispute over jurisdiction inside the basilica. Up to 100 Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests and monks, armed with brooms, came to blows while cleaning the West Bank church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas celebrations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embed While we may be inclined to indulge in a bit of schadenfreude, watching our Armenian and Orthodox brethren... Read more

Liturgy as Mystagogy: Saved by Beauty, a Testimony

Last updated on: December 27, 2011 at 6:18 pm By Sam Rocha

Previous entry – Liturgy as Mystagogy: Introduction “Do not think that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has as much difficulty and sadness and remains far behind yours. Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words” – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet As this series begins, I want to be especially attentive to the stories and experiences... Read more