Started Reading "Authenticity" by Fr. Thomas Dubay

On a whim, it seems, I began reading Fr. Thomas Dubay's book, Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment.  This book looks at the many questions and also provides answers to issues surrounding discernment in spirituality.  This work provides a solid structure and then adds flesh to it's bones while dealing with one of the age old questions... "how do I know when God is speaking to me."  It draws heavily from Scripture, but also from mystics St. John of the Cross and Catherine of Sienna.  This book is relatively short, but it is jam packed with legit insight; there is no fluff in this book and Fr. Dubay makes a solid case.  It is one of the best books I've picked up in a long while.  I plan to write a review of it once I complete it. Till then, I'll leave with you with a snippet of Fr. Dubay's thoughts on illuminism... a rather undiscerning approach to the topic:  "... the historical problem with illuminism is that it knows only the inner light. It loses sight of or rejects another whole series of biblical texts (we have mentioned a fraction of them in preceding pages) that require guidance from an outer structure. The illuminist is so convinced of his inner light that no one either in civil society or in the hierarchical Church may admonish him or regulate his activity. Objective evidence brought against his position leaves not a dent in his subjective persuasion. His privileged inner source of light, his direct illumination by the Holy Spirit renders unnecessary the intervention of other human persons. The illuminist is often an enthusiast, a person who deemphasizes the intellectual, objective approach and favors instead the avenue of subjective and direct access to God. Because he cuts himself off from the roots of his intellectual past and present, he easily gets attention. Ronald Knox has shrewdly observed that “the enthusiast, because he exaggerates, always has our sympathies in a given encounter. He cuts a finer figure, doing nothing by halves.” He need not be careful about distinctions and definitions. He need not mention conditioning elements in a problem. He can say things in a sweeping manner. And so the unwary and the slow-witted find him attractive. It can surprise one how easily he gathers a following.

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Dubay, Fr. Thomas (2009-12-17). Authenticity (pp. 51-52). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition. 

Why Did It Have to be Snakes? (Mary & Genesis 3:15)

My wife is not a fan of Indiana Jones, which I find ironic since they share a deep-seeded hatred of snakes.  Not only will she hyperventilate if she sees one in real life, she’ll shriek and shut her eyes if one comes on television.  Actually, that may explain her lack of interest in the exploits of Dr. Henry Jones Jr.

So I was surprised one day when my wife brought up Genesis 3:15, one of the snakiest passages in Scripture.   This in the context of Genesis 3, the Fall of Man.  Adam and Eve have already eaten of the fruit, they already realized they were naked ("I didn't know I was streaking, honest!") and God is now giving out punishment.  In this punishment though God also gives hope... it is the protoevangelium, or first prophecy, and as most Christians understand it, a foretelling of the destruction of Satan and the coming of the Savior, making it a precious prophecy to millions.  When my wife mentioned the verse I knew immediately that it read:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

I didn’t know why she was bringing it up and I would have never guessed what she was about to ask me: “Do you agree with the Catholic teaching on this verse?”  I had no idea that there was a specific Catholic teaching on that verse!  And considering the fact that my dear, loving wife doesn’t quite see what I see in Catholic teaching  (not yet at least ;)... love ya babe!  ) I was just hoping this verse wouldn’t put enmity between me and my woman!

Thomas Merton and Living in Print

Jennifer Fulwiler over at the National Catholic Register wrote a good article... oh, about two months ago... in regards to comments made by Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk and a popular author.  He has some interesting things to say that apply to this age of the Digital Diva; which is especially interesting because he died in 1968, almost forty years too late for anyone to Tweet about it.  He is quoted as saying, "It was as if I could not quite be satisfied that I was real until I could... see myself externalized in a public and printed and official self which I could admire at my ease. This was what I really believed in: reputation, success. I wanted to live in the eyes and the mouths and the minds of men.  But when my mind was absorbed in all that, how could I lead a supernatural life, the life to which I was called.  How could I love God, when everything I did was done not for Him but for myself, and not trusting in His aid, but relying on my own wisdom and talents?"

Humbling thoughts for all of us, especially for me as I am rebooting my blog (and I know all too well how self-centered and self-absorbed I can be).  Be sure to check out Jennifer's full article as she has some very good thoughts on this.