You Ever Notice...

...that several modern Catholic hymns, in what I can only imagine was an attempted homage to our Jewish roots, use the tetragrammaton?

I'm thinking especially of that "You are the People of God" song, or whatever it's called.

Can't you just picture any actual believing Jews in the audience rending their garments in horror as, in our attempt to rediscover our Jewish roots, we sing "Y-hweh's people dance for joy" to the sound of a poorly strummed guitar?

Just sayin'.

Where in the World is Adolfus Schonmetzer?

I just ordered my very own copy of Denzinger-Schonmetzer. (I know what you're thinking: this "Christosananda mook went his whole life without a DS?" Trust me, I've got a guy coming over to carve "worm and no man" into my face with a railroad spike later today.)

But all they sent me was a Denzinger.

It's a 2004 edition, and there's absolutely no mention of Schonmetzer.

What gives?

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Why the Muslim World Can't Think Straight

You've all seen it on the news. A Danish newspaper prints cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad in a negative light, and Muslims take to the streets denouncing George Bush.The Pope criticizes the Muslim tendency to defend their faith through violcen, and Muslims take to the street calling for his death. That'll show how wrong the old guy is, eh?

We see things like this over and over again, and it seems like there just must be something wrong with the logical thinking process in our radical Muslim friends, doesn't it? That's because there is. I'm going to try to explain why it is that Muslim logic does not resemble actual logic.

We go back to about 150 years or so before the rise of Muhammad. Rome has fallen to barbarian invaders. It has become virtually desolate. Political leadership over the remnant the Empire is located in Constantinople (ancient Byzantium, modern Istanbul) in Turkey.Ultimate leadership in the Church remains centered in the dilapidated Rome, as the pope, the Vicar of Christ, continues to minister from that city. For all practical concern, however, real leadership in the Church and missionary activity is coming from the second-in-command, the Patriarch of Constantinople, as well as the third and fourth major centers of Christianity, the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Egypt and Antioch, Syria.

A man named Nestorius (306-451) becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople, technically number-two man in the Church and, due to the politcal situation of his time, the de facto most influential man in Christianity. Nestorius teaches a peculiar doctrine: He teaches that Jesus Christ was not God from all eternity, but rather was a human person to whom the separate Person of God united himself in a symbiotic relationship upon his death, resulting in his resurrection. This teaching spread throughout the Church, and was especially influential among Christians of the Syrian tradition.The pope was quick to condemn this idea--if Jesus Christ is not perfectly human and perfectly divine, it makes him unqualified to offer sacrificial attonement by his death and restore union between God and man.

Both the Western Church and the Church of Constantinople accepted the pope's judgment. Much of the Syrian Church, however, clung to Nestorianism, and broke from the rest of the Church--the first major break from the Catholic Church. To this day, a small remnant of Nestorian Christians, tracing their origin all the way back to this time, continue to function under the title "the Ancient Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East," led, by a man called himself "Catholicos-Patriarch of the East." Very tragically, the Church of Alexandria, who rightly condemned Nestorianism, went too far and seemed, in their rebutal of Nestorius, to deny that Christ had a truly human nature. In hindsight, the bulk of the problem was due to a misunderstanding of language, and today the Alexandrian Church and Rome have come to a mutual understanding of the nature of Christ. However, the Egyptian Church too broke from Rome and Constantinople, and continue this day under the Patriarch of Alexandria as the Coptic, Ethiopian, and British Orthodox Churches.

Fast forward to the Middle East at the time of Muhammad (570-632). A very large portion of the Arab world has long been Christian, though the Christians, unlike their European counterparts of the time, are divided between the true Orthodox Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church, and the Coptic Church. There are also large communities of Jewish people, as well as a strong population of traditional Arab pagans. What is important to note, however, is that, by and large, the Christians, Jews, and pagans co-exist relatively peacefully.

In Muhammad's own territory, the majority of people are traditional pagans. There are small groups of Jews, and a fairly strong representation of Nestorian Christians. Muhammad, himself raised a pagan, is rightly turned off by corruptions he sees amongst his fellow pagans, and by persecution of his own class of people.Muhammad was impressed by certain aspects of the Judeo-Christian tradition as it was filtered through the Nestorian Church. With the Jews and Christians, Muhammad rejected the worship of many gods in favor of worshipping the one true God. (To this day, Muslims worship the one true God. "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God. Arabic speaking Jews and Christians also invoke God as "Allah.) He was also impressed by the idea of God's revelation in hisotry through the Hebrew prophets from Abraham to Jesus, and with the Judeo-Christian connection between ethical behavior and service to God, something largely absent from pagan thought.

Sadly, Muhammad also inherited some characteristic of Christianity which were unique to the Nestorians, and took them to their logical ends. To the Nestorian, Jesus was not God the Son, but a man adopted as a Son by God at his death. To Muhammad, Jesus was a holy man, a prophet of God, even the Messiah (Muslims still consider Jesus the Messiah), but not at all the Son of God. The Nestorians paid lip-service to man being freed from his sin by the death of Jesus. However, their denial of his true divinity makes it impossible for his death to be salvific. Muhammad realized this and, falling back on his pagan roots, asserted that man is not saved from his sins by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, but instead each individual must work to accomplish his own salvation through faithfully submitting to the divine law. Whereas Christianity is all about being made free by God through Jesus Christ, Muhammad preached a message of slavery--in fact Islam is the Arab word for servitude.

With his message of bastardized Nestorianism mixed with paganism--albeit monotheistic paganism--Muhammad proclaimed himself a prophet of God and set up an army to conquer land and force people to embrace his rule and his new religion, Islam. Any time an oppressed people overthrows their oppressors, they are faced with a choice: work for justice, or work for vengeance. Muhammad and his terrorist hordes chose vengeance, and death was the penalty for all who would not accept his thoughts as the revelation of God. In short order, he converted or wiped out most of the Christian Middle East. To this day, in a land that was once the heart and soul of the gospel, Christians are a small and oppressed minority.

Muhammad was a do-er, not a thinker. This should be obvious to anyone who's had opportunity to his Koran, in which every time he changed his mind about something, he seems to have had a new revelation. (For my part, I studied the Koran in high school, for the very noble reason that I had the hots for a Pakistani girl.) But there were men of thought involved in Muhammad's terrorist movement. As Islam grew, it developed its own philosophy, in which is the ultimate key to understanding the Islamic thought process.

In the Western philosophy both of anicent Greece and of the Church, we believe in things called primary causality and secondary causality. Even if we've never studied philosphy or never heard of these terms, they are fundamental building blocks of our culture, and we have inherited--whether we notice it or not--their results.

Primary causality means that God is the First Cause of everything that is or happens. Secondary causality means that the free actions of human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, share in that causality. We are genuine causes of our actions.To illustrate: If I become a priest, the primary reason that will happen is because God wills it to be so. However, my own free decision to embrace that lifestyle are also true causes. It will be true to say that I became a priest because I chose to do so.Or, if in stretching, I knock a coffee mug off of my desk, the primary reason is because God (who established the laws of physics) willed it to be so, but it is also true to say that the mug fell because I hit it.

Islam philosphy specifically and purposefully rejects secondary causality. There is no cause for anything except for God who, in their monotheistic paganism, is as capricious and unpredictable as Zeus or Odin. A mug falls to the floor not because I hit it, but only because God willed it.Without being true causes of the effect of our actions, man loses his dignity as the image of God, and human life loses its sanctity. If it is God's will that all men become Muslims, then to kill those who refuse is simply to do God's will. And the killer does not sin, for even though he holds the knife that cuts off the head, the head does not fall because of his cutting, but simply because it is God's will.

In rejecting secondary causality, the Muslim rejects the very basis of human logic and--even though the average Muslim has proably never heard of primary and secondary causality any more than most Westerners have--therefore, the Muslim has been rendered by the ideology he has inherited as incapable of logic.

And that, my friends, is why the Muslim world can't think straight.

What's a "Christosananda"?

Christosananda, sinner and, by the grace of God, unworthy servant of Jesus Christ, to my friends, brothers, sisters, and fellow-travellers along the information superhighway: may the peace which surpasses understanding dwell with you all.

Thank you to everyone who has found my little blog.

Here's just a little bit about me:

I'm a sinner, a Christian and an American, blessed to be in full communion with the Catholic Church and her visible shepherd, Benedict, the pope of Rome.

I currently live with one foot in each world. I'm discerning a call to priesthood, and have the amazing opportunity to live in a unique community of fellow discerners. At the same time, I am a layman, and continue to live a normal secular life outside of the community.

I don't speak with any authority. I am just a fellow traveller, a fellow pilgrim, just your brother. If my rambling thoughts on our journey through this world to the next interest anyone or can be of any help, then so be it. If not, discard little old me with impunity.

"Christosananda" is a psuedonym. The linguists may despise me, but it means "Bliss in Christ," from the Greek "Christos" and the Sanskrit "ananda (bliss)."

Under my real name, I have written articles for several Catholic journals, co-authored two published books, ran a popular internet apologetics apostolate, and been featured on the Eternal World Television Network.

Now, however, my hope is, in sharing my thoughts, to point beyond myself to He Who Is, our Lord and our God, and so remain myself anonymous. I do ask that any of my readers who know who I am to refrain from using my real name on this blog.

Peace and good things,

Your brother.

The End of the World Part II

In the last post, we talked about the coming end of the world. We demonstrated that it is necessary to use caution when listening to would-be prophets who seek to predict the exact time of the end of days. Surely, the end will come--even hard science tells us that, should the earth last long enough, it will be consumed when the sun supernovas, taking the rest of the solar system with it. Inevitably, given enough time, all the stars of the universe will so expire, and there will be nothing to speak of left standing as it is now within the three physical dimensions.

There is no guarantee, however, that the current earth, which witnessed 2,000 years ago the last agonies of the dying Son, will survive nearly long enough to be consumed by the last agonies of the dying sun.
At a time unforetold and unpredictable--like a thief in the night--the living, risen Lord will return to this earth. Immediatley upon his return, which could be millions of years from now and could be any second, he who conquered death will call forth from their graves all who have ever lived.

The spirits of the dead--wandering since their death in incompletion, since the complete human person is by nature a union of body, mind, and spirit--will be reunited with a recreated physical body. Our new bodies will be perfect and immortal, not subject to the ravages of sickness and age. Our minds will be clear--and we will be able to tap into the full power of the human mind, able to read from the akashic records of the collective unconscious of the race flawlessly. We will be fully aware and in full control of every atom of our being--and able to consciously control those atoms: to decrease our density so as to pass through barriers, to project ourselves into multiple places, even to will ourselves from one place to another, giving the illusion of simply appearing and disappearing.

This great new body, and a soul that is now free from the corruption of sin and thus directed only toward the greater good, was the inital design of humankind. The corruption and degradation of the human race that we experience is the result of the primordial fall from perfect goodness that we have come to call original sin. This tragic condition has been conquered and overcome by the sacrifice on the cross of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. We await only its full realization: in actuality it was accomplished when, in his dying moment, the Master cried out from the Cross, "It is finished."

As our three physical dimensions are destroyed by divine fire, they will be recreated into a New Heavens and a New Earth--an eternal state of bliss in which we are absorbed into the Divine Reality, more intimately united with every person who has ever lived than current lovers are united in their passion, all the while--and this is the unique genius of the Christian faith which separates it from the shortcomings of the good but imperfect visions of Buddha and Sankara: though absorbed into the Divine Reality and completely united with all other people, we retain, in its perfected form, having been graced to actualize our full human potential, our individuality. The Nirvana longed for in the east is but a dim shadow of what actually awaits us: they expect their Selves to be consumed by the eternal, blissfull union with God. What a joyful surprise awaits, we hope and pray, our Buddhist and HIndu brothers and sisters in the human family when they realize that, for all eternity, we get to experience this perfect, blissful state--which we have come to call the "beatific vision"--precisely as ourselves.

Through no merit of our own, this beautiful, eternal perfect state of being is offered to us as a gift of the Divine Mercy, that beautiful spiritual light shining forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

But what of the Great Judgment?

It is true that, in the last moments of this Old Earth's life, as it is consumed by divine fire, all who have ever lived will stand before the throne of Jesus Christ, who is the one and only God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the Universe, and render an account for every thought, word, and action of our lives. This is the single most terrifying thing we will ever experience--and make no mistake, we will all experience it--but it will also prove to be the most liberating.
Terrifying, because, in the presence of everyone who has ever lived, everything you have ever thought, said, or done will be made clear. You will know my most shameful actions, kept secret all these years. I will know your most degraded fantasy, that you would never dare speak aloud. Every lie will be exposed. Every infidelity brought to the surface. Everytime we have used someone, intentionally hurt someone, neglected our duties, refused to forgive--right down to everyone out about whom we have indulged in lustful fantasy--will become the common knowledge of all.

How, then, do I call this most terribly frightening judgment liberating?
It is the great equalizer. On the day of judgement, as our crimes are exposed, we will learn that there is weakness and sin in everyone. We share in common the corruption that plagues us. We will see that none of us--not Hitler, not me, not Mother Theresa--deserve to enter into the eternal state of bliss for which we were created.
We will learn that we all have no right to demand anything but damnation--that in rejecting the good and seeking after selfish pleasures, we have practically begged for that damnation all the days of our lives.
And then the Lord will look at us, show us the wounds in his hands, feet, and side, radiating the divine light of mercy. And he will offer us that mercy. Freely, for no reason but his great love.

For our part, we stand even now--as this life in the sphere of time is but a gradual making present of the eternal order to come--with nothing to do but accept that mercy.
He will not force us to accept his love. Indeed, there is no such thing as "forced love": that we call rape. God is no rapist. He has given us the free will to either embrace his love and be allowed to enter into what we call heaven--the complete absorbtion as an individual into the Divine Reality and perfect intimate union with all humankind; and we remain free to reject his love, and to refuse to enter into eternal bliss, damning ourself to being cut off in eternal, hateful, self-centered solitude, the flames of our own madness nor the worms we have turned ourselves into never to die out.

While we reject him, the Sacred Heart of Jesus breaks and bleeds, as does that of any rejected lover. But he will not force himself on us, even as a rejected lover who truly loves does not turn to rape as his solution.
This Jesus, though ascended to his rightful place at the right hand of the Father, continues to live and function in our fallen world in his beloved Body and Bride, his One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. And he calls out to us all: "My beloved, whom I created in my own likeness and image, just let me love you!"

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy!"

The End of the World

Ours is an age of apparently unprecedented natural disasters, moral degradation, and human suffering. In recent years--and especially following such recent tragedies as 9/11, the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, etc.--much ink has been spilled and much of our time wasted by self-proclaimed oracles, some sincere and others contemptible charlatans, seeking to predict the exact moment in which the world will come to an end. The jillion-dollar popularity of such near-drivel as the Left Behind series and the Bible Code illustrate this dangerous trend quite well.

So many men lose their sense of balance, and pour over the writings of the Hebrew prophets and the Revelation of St. John, seeking to piece together from the symbolic clues supposedly given therein, exactly what must happen to usher in the end of time, and exactly when that will occur. Especially dangerous is the growing trend within certain Evangelical Protestant circles to actually work, based on what some self-proclaimed oracles have pieced together from their deficient reading of the scriptures, to cause the end of days to begin. That sounds like science fiction, but a great number of self-ordained Evangelical Protestant leaders have determined that the end of time depends on specific occurences in the modern day secular state of Israel (a divine right of prime ministers, perhaps?), which are necessary in order for the Lord to be allowed to return to earth, and, wishing for that to happen sooner rather than later, encourage active interference in the Israeli political system. Even more frightening, followers of these misguided preachers hold some of the highest positions in the current US presidential administration, not entirely excluding even the Honorable Mr. Bush.

But the "prophets of doom and gloom" are wasting their time. Biblical prophecy is not intended to provide a discernable key to the exact moment--or even the general timeframe--of the end of the world. They seem to have missed what Jesus himself says about the end of the world, here referring to himself by the apocalyptic title Son of Man: "The Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other...But of that day and hour no one knows...but the Father alone...Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you must also be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come" (Matthew 24:30,31,36,42-44).

Those who try to set a date for the immanent return of Jesus and destruction of the world are at best misled, and at worst, one can't help but fear, capitalist frauds. Nearly two thousand years ago, St. Paul gave this warning to which we should still pay close attention: "We ask you, brothers, with regard to the (final) coming of our Lord Jesus Christ...not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a 'spirit,' or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the Day of the Lord is at hand (Second Letter to the Thessalonians 2:1,2)."

Now, I'm not here condemning theological speculation. That is a good and healthy thing--it is only by asking new questions and seeking new answers that the Church, and mankind as a whole, progress in their undestanding of the spiritual. Trying to interpret prophecy, theorizing about the afterlife, and even delving into the wisdom of Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, Native Australian, New Age, and other traditions can be greatly beneficial. The exploration of great unknown, however, must be directed not only to individual enlightenment (which is, in my opinion, the greatest weakness in Eastern, New Age, and even some Evangelical Protestant thought), but to the betterment of the entire community; the community of the Church and the broader community of mankind. Further, this speculation must be done in a context of humble submission to the Church as a whole. In our speculations, even when we seek answers to questions that the Church has not yet asked, or seek those answers in places other than the Church, we must still think with "the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" (First Letter of St. Paul to St. Timothy 3:15).

For, as the Prince of the Apostles sternly warns: "Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God" (Second Catholic Letter of St. Peter 2:20,21).
So, pay no attention to people who want to tell you they know when the world will end. They do not

What we do know is:

-The world could end at any moment. It could be today, and it could be millions of years from now.

-We must be prepared, not at some artificially chosen future date for the end of time, but right now, and at every moment of our lives.

-Whether the end of the world occurs in our lifetimes or not, the end of our world will most certainly occur, and soon at that! All of us will die--and be restored to life at the end of the world to receive our judgement. "Remember, O man, that you are dust, and to dust you will return.

Having addressed the false teachers who, either through their own misunderstandings or through their malicious capitalism on the fears and sensations of the people, have sought to predict when the world will end, next time around we'll talk about what exactly will happen when the world does eventually end, which it most certainly will.