Personally, I have noticed that
more often than not I am backing into things as is the case with my annual
retreat. With no particular plan to do so, my travel reading set the stage for
a word of encouragement which came at Mass this morning at the retreat house.
It came from the First Reading for this Friday of 2nd Week of Easter
(Acts 5:34ff.):
“One member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee called Gamaliel, who was a
doctor of the Law and respected by the whole people, stood up and asked to have
the apostles taken outside for a time. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin, ‘Men of
Israel, be careful how you deal with these people. There was Theudas who became
notorious not so long ago. He claimed to be someone important, and he even
collected about four hundred followers; but when he was killed, all his
followers scattered and that was the end of them. And then there was Judas the
Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted crowds of supporters; but he
got killed too, and all his followers dispersed. What I suggest, therefore, is
that you leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement
of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it
does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you
might find yourselves fighting against God.’”
The invincible power of God! I
doubt if we can ever ponder enough the implications of this grace for our lives
and for the sake of the life of the world.
I'm reading a book published by the author himself, John M. Wynne, entitled "A Catholic Assessment of Evolution Theory - Weighing the Scientific Evidence in Light of Thomistic Principles and Church Teachings on Origins". The man writes well and has a message which needs to be heard. I've promised a review when I am done reading, but meantime, I wish to pass on a couple of websites that merit more attention:
For now I'll just say that I never could have imagined how crass public school biology books could be or how intense the battle for the hearts and minds of our youth was being waged. Psalm 2 comes to mind: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples utter folly..." I take courage from the wisdom of Gamaliel, that fighting us, if we are faithful to God's word, is fighting against God and they will not prevail!
Day one of this retreat seems to bring consolation and promise from our God Who answers all our needs.
I see that Ignatius Press is advertizing a very professional looking film on the origins of the universe, which is ready for licensing and showing. http://www.cosmicoriginsfilm.com/
ReplyDeleteI think this could be a great apostolate for someone seeking to get people thinking.