Sticky: Index of Posts

Looking for a particular topic?  Here is an index of posts:

An Imbalance in the Lectionary

I've been a volunteer youth minister for 15 years now. I lead a weekly meeting which is half Bible Study and half discussion group. I've tried different formats for Bible Study over the years. Sometimes we'll read about some topic the kids ask about. Other times we'll make our way through a book of the Bible one paragraph at a time. Lately I've just been following the lectionary. In doing that I've noticed something that kinda bothers me.

An Ideal Correction

At some point in the future I'd like to do record some fulsome thoughts on Pope Francis' 12 years as Pope.  Overall, I could count the things I liked on one hand.  But today I want to look at one particular quirk of the document Amoris Laetitia... and the subtle correction that Pope Leo seemed to give to it.

The African Bishops' Clever Gambit

The release of Fiducia Supplicans has been difficult for many in the Church.  As I noted in my Youtube video, a proper understanding of the document requires some technical reading.  

You can't read the stuff in paragraph 31 in the most intuitive way.  Instead it must be understood in light of stuff from way back in paragraph 8.  When one does that, the resulting reading is orthodox.  But how many people were going to do that? Confusion has abounded.

This left bishops around the world in a tough position:

1.  Pope Francis doesn't hesitate to punish those who question his authority 
2.  Pope Francis is also swift to punish those who critique him from the ideological Right
3.  Fiducia Supplicans has been a massive failure in terms of communication

So... how do you deal with document while not stepping on the toes of the Pontiff?  

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo found an interesting way to do it.  It has been described as a rejection of FS, but its far more subtle than that.  Let's take a look.

My Thoughts on Fiducia Supplicans

 Everyone is talking about it.  So here is the video I've made on the new Vatican document on blessings.

Under the Mission?

The New Testament presents us with many teachings which are difficult to accept.  Among the most difficult in our era pertains to the relationship between husbands and wives. There are four places [Col 3:18, Eph 5:22, Titus 2:5, 1Pet 3:1-6] where the New Testament states that a wife should be in submission to her husband. 

Today I wanted to look at a way folks try to obscure the difficulty of this teaching and why it doesn't work.

Re-Reading James 2:18

I was recently preparing to lead my students through James 2.  I was going through it sentence-by-sentence when I discovered something confusing in verse 18.  It reads:

"But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith." - James 2:18

Why was this confusing?  And what was the solution?