Pier Giorgio Frassati

Over spring break I read Luciana Frassati's account of her brother, Pier Giorgio's life. I had taken a liking to Pier Giorgio from seeing his picture hiking and smoking a pipe in the mountains. I thought, this guy knows what's good. After reading his book though, I found there was much more there than I thought. What an incredible generosity filled Pier Giorgio's heart! He loved the poor with an unquenchable fire. He sought social justice in an Italy in destructive turmoil. He persevered in faith under severe social pressures from his family and through their own self-destruction. What I thought to find in Pier Giorgio's life was a rugged manliness who found God in nature and appreciated the pleasures of life. A regular Chestertonian. What I found was a serene youth who loved mystic encounters in front of the Blessed Sacrament late at night, a man scandalized by the poverty that surrounded his family's sumptuous lifestyle. I will ask his intercession for me as I am convicted about my own lack of generosity and love for the other, that God would change my heart to love the poor and deny myself as Pier Giorgio did. And I recommend the book:

"Heart of The World"

I'd been quite intimidated by Hans Urs Von Balthasar. Proclaimed to be one of the most creative Catholic minds, and undoubtedly so at least in the last century, I wasn't sure where to start. While I was in France my brother put a copy of "Heart of the World" on my desk. When I cracked the cover, what a wonder to my mind! His prose illumined my dark room in wintery southern France. What a delight, and as my soul soared on his nigh on poetic phrases, I was no longer intimidated, but befriended. He won my heart by telling me my heart in the first chapter. Then, after gaining my confidence, he challenged me point blank saying, "if you pray for sanctity, that means you do not yet have it". I wondered what this might mean in terms of a directive for spiritual journey, but I've learned it is an important lesson in humility, and also loving God. Jesus, the Heart of the World, has done everything for me. The beloved apostle remarks Christ's words "apart from me you can do nothing". All I do must be done through Him, in Him, with Him. What beautiful love von Balthasar describes as he sounds the depths of Jesus's Heart, the pulsing rhythms beaten out as salvation history runs its course. I hope you all will enter the adventure of von Balthasar with this convicting story of the Heart of the World.

"Naked Without Shame"

(I don't have a picture for this post) Last week I went to our rec center on campus to jog and bike for awhile between meetings. After I finished I went to take a shower. While I was in the communal baths there was an old man who finished just before me, then as I walked back to my locker, he was standing next to mine. As I unpacked the things in my bag before I got dressed, I took my Bible out and set it on the bench. The man asked, "whatcha readin?" I replied, "that's the holy bible". He gave me an affirmative "ahah". We stood there a moment as I thought how weird it was to have this conversation naked together in a locker room. He remarked, "it looks well thumbed". I smiled. Though he was not my usual audience or target, I figured I shouldn't be totally passive. "Are you a professor here?" I inquired. "Yes". "What do you teach?" "Agricultural Economics. We don't get into the Good Book often...what part are you reading right now?" "Well I've been reading through the second book of Samuel. David was a shepherd--" I offered as an attempt to connect with his field. "The Jewish shepherds were actually quite remarkable. Like David defending his flock from lions and bears, the shepherds would lay down their lives for their flocks. And Jesus became the Good Shepherd for all". He seemed quite in agreement, and I was feeling quite awkward as I finally decided to put some underwear on. It gave me a new appreciation for the phrase, “putting yourself out there”.

When Lent drags on

Last night my Bible study convened for our weekly meeting. Since next week is spring break and we wouldn't be seeing each other for awhile, I decided to do a quick check in on how Lent was going and to use the group's camaraderie to encourage one another. As we went around, it seemed like many were struggling through and even experiencing desolation. What do we do when we fail in our sacrifices? Perhaps harder still, even when we're observing our sacrifices, how do we respond when there is little strength, no joy, and we don't see any fruits? Should we continue when our sacrifices perhaps cut us away from a greater good? One of the guys gave up listening to his ipod on his walk to class. He wondered whether it was good to continue, since sometimes the things he heard due to open ears were scandalous to his heart; conversations about weekend activities, slanders, etc. Instead of hearing these things he could be listening to uplifting Christian music. This is difficult.

In our study this week we're looking at St. Athanasius's battle against Arianism. Arians denied Christ's oneness with the Father declaring that he was a created being. Their mantra was "there was a time when he was not". God's fatherhood means that he as Father must have existed before the Son. But we have clear indication from scripture that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Theologically speaking, this discussion has huge implications. If Jesus was not God, then the Incarnation and the Resurrection lose their redemptive powers. If Jesus was simply a created being like all the rest of us, then there is nothing special about him, but he perhaps becomes as another Lazarus, whom God favored and chose to raise from the dead. But, because of Jesus's Christhood, his Godhead, we are able to say with St. Paul "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church." Because Jesus is God, our sufferings and our humanness have meaning, are redeemed, and are united to his sufferings on the Cross. Because we are his body, our sufferings are his sufferings. Our anguish is his anguish. Our crosses are his Cross.

Hiking in Catoctin

This past Sunday it was finally nice enough outside to go in search of some hiking (the skiing around here isn't worth it). My disciple, John, and I journeyed north to Catoctin National Park where we had a great chance to converse, pray, and wonder at God's creation. A giant outcropping of rocks provided excellent challenge and fun as we bouldered around together for the afternoon.

I read this article from zenit on the Vatican's efforts and thoughts on web-networks:
http://zenit.org/article-25314?l=english

Also, today is the memorial of St. Macarius, Bishop. St. Macarius was bishop of Jerusalem from about 313 till his death about 334. He was a lifelong and staunch opponent of Arianism and fought strenuously against this pernicious heresy. He was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and played a large role in drafting the Creed. Soon after the Council, together with St. Helena he miraculously discovered the true Cross in Jerusalem, and he was commissioned by her son, Emperor Constantine, to build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. He makes a camio appearance in the great book by Louis de Wohl, The Living Wood, which I highly recommend.

Heroes

Last semester I led two Bible studies. In one I followed Dr. Tim Gray's study on 1 Corinthians and the other was a study written by Curtis Martin, called Boys to Men. During this new semester, I lost a few Bible study members to graduation and a couple to study abroad programs, so I consolidated into one larger Bible study this semester with 8 men.

Last semester I realized I was quite uneducated about the early Church. Names of heresies would come up and I felt I should know more about their circumstances and what Church fathers combated them. I talked to John Junghans, one of my disciples about it, and we thought it might be fun to do a Bible study on heresies. I felt the opportunity was to learn about the process of refinement of Church doctrine. I took the ideas into Christmas break to do some research.

After pondering the options for studying heresies, it became apparent that it might be difficult to make that the center of our study. A better direction seemed to be study of the Church Fathers and through them to learn the heresies they dealt with. So, this semester I've been having a great time writing this Bible study, immersing myself in the teachings of the Fathers. I decided to call the study "Heroes". We started with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch, then had a great study on St. Polycarp. Next we looked at St. Irenaeus and his dealing with Gnosticism, then Tertullian on the life of the early Christian communities. Last night we had some very good discussion on the Eucharist and some selections from St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. Ambrose. To accompany these texts from the Tradition of the Church, we look at the topics' scriptural nature as well.

I ask all these holy figures for their intercession over our Bible study as we study their teaching, and I'd like to ask for your prayers too as we continue to look back into our Church's history for inpiration and courage as we strive to live holy lives in the 21st century.