Remembering the Good Shepherd

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Deacon L. N. Kaas

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2010; May 15, 2011:

St. Isidore, the Domestic Church, and the Good Shepherd

I want to share with you three main topics: St Isidore, something concerning the Domestic Church, and the meaning of the Good Shepherd.

You will note that we have a carving of St. Isidore that I carved in 1981. At the time I wished to show respect to our central Minnesota farmers, the best farmers in all the world. Even so, Isidore being Spanish would not have been dressed in overalls. But if he was to live in our day this is the way he would have been dressed in Minnesota: overalls. I had to make special tools to make the transition from Spanish garb to overalls that looked like proper clothing. This day would have been his day except that it fell on Sunday. However I feel it necessary to respond at least briefly to his memory.

He was a day laborer working for wealthy landowners just outside of Madrid. He was noted for his charity and prayer life. When accused of not devoting enough time to his job, the landowner saw a team of white oxen guided by an angle to help him plow. Another time, as the story goes, he was to bring a sack of grain to the mill for grinding but seeing birds hungry along the way couldn’t help but to feed them some of the grain. However, when the grain was milled he was able to return with a full sack of flour. Being as how all of us here are farmers or sons and daughters of a farmer, it would be well for all us to dig deeper in the life of Isidore and his wife. Which leads me into the second topic of my concerns for today: and that is the Domestic Church, of which Isidore and his wife are a good example.

You are the Domestic Church! Every family here in this church are members of the universal Church, one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Having said that, and understanding, that we are never the less preeminently members of a family, a Domestic Church. So much so, did you know I can not Baptize your baby without your consent! Did you know that unless the Domestic Church is active and productive in the area of parish life, you wouldn’t have a parish. Did you know that unless the Domestic Church is striving for holiness, there wouldn’t be a parish church worthy of your time!

Ideally the family is made up of father, mother and children. The father as head, mother as heart and the children the product of a Loving relationship. I say ideally, fully aware that nature can at times be very hard on the ideal: but we are called to be Domestic church, while at the same time called to be a part of the Christian community, and in our case the Catholic Church. I’m sure you can understand that in the time we have, that this is about all we can handle. But I have one more question and then we will move on to Shepherding: What is the purpose of having and raising children in the Domestic Church. Yes! you have heard me say time and again, to know God, to Love God, to serve God, that we may be happy with Him for ever in Heaven. There is second part to the same question, is this an effort to populate earth or to populate heaven? When was the last time that question was put to you? Or maybe it never was. This heavenly journey is not solo. For the most part the very way of the family is the way of it’s members, the Domestic Church, the Parish Church, then, comes together in this church to fulfill the will of God, while receiving assurance, and enlightenment from our Shepherds.

The image of the Good Shepherd is the most treasured of the all the images we of have of God. And we see in it so much of what we hope to find in God. The Good Shepherd moves His flock in search of water and grass according the seasons. Pasturing in the wilderness is a 24/7 effort to keep the sheep from death due to lack of water and grass. Also, the shepherd must protect the sheep from all danger. A lost sheep is serious matter, and one to be avoided at all costs.

In John 10, Jesus identifies Himself as the true shepherd of the sheep, who recognize His voice and follow Him. The shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate, while thieves enter surreptitiously, because they come to steal and kill. Jesus identifies Himself as the gate of the sheep, because He represents the only proper access. In short, the shepherd provides for the sheep’s every need. The sheep of the Good Shepherd “shall not want.” Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was to die a martyr for his people, said: “I want to repeat to you what I said once before: the shepherd does not want security while they give no security to the flock.”

Some would say that the sheep never had it better, and that is true. Jesus said the reason He came into the world was to provide His sheep with all they needed. “I came,” He said, “that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Abundance is exactly what many people think they need. Abound and abundance sound like quantitative words. And who would not want to abound in good things?

So, what are the good things Christ offers in abundance? What has been revealed to us concerning the substance and essence of life? John, in the prologue of his Gospel, says that the Word that became flesh and dwelled among us was “full of grace and truth.” “The early Church regarded that life in its entirety as the word which God had spoken when He visited and redeemed His people.” Doesn’t it follow, then, that what we have seen in Jesus is the life God wants for each of us? Abundant life is precisely what we see in Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

(‘Thank you’ to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here — Brian H. Gill.)

Vaguely-related posts:

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Saints, Romans, Emperors

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Brian H. Gill

Quite a bit has changed since imperial engineers designed and built a bridge in Emerita Augusta, today’s Mérida.

The Pax Romana died with Marcus Aurelius.1 The Roman Empire kept going until around Isidore of Seville’s day.

The name Isidore started as a Greek phrase: “gift of [the goddess] Isis.” Maybe someone’s decided that since Isis is an ancient Egyptian deity, and Catholics remember Saints named Isidore, we’re Satan-worshiping pagans.

I’d like to think that’s unlikely, but exchanging Christmas gifts was classified as a “Satanical practice” and forbidden not all that long ago.2

There are at least three Saint Isidores, and Saint Isidora. They’re an assorted lot: a Roman naval officer, an obscure nun with an unflattering nickname, an archbishop and a farmer. Farm worker, actually, a hired hand on land owned by Juan de Vargas.

We recognize them as Saints because they acted like God’s grace mattered, practicing “heroic virtue.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 828)

Isidore’s Choice

Isidore of Chios served in the Roman navy during the third century.

The Empire wasn’t enjoying good times.

Trouble had been brewing before Emperor Severus Alexander led an army to Sicula on the Rhine.

Alexander and his troops apparently had a difference of opinion about whether to attack or try bribing Germanic forces — which resulted in his abrupt death in March, 235.

My guess is that the emperor’s lenient attitude toward Christianity, and concerns that he might become a Christian, didn’t help. With Severus Alexander dead, least part of the Roman army said Maximinus Thrax was Emperor.

The announcement didn’t solve Rome’s problems.

Barbarians kept moving into Roman territories. The Cyprian Plague made economic woes worse. Folks occasionally started rebellions. Some of those became civil wars. Rome had 26 emperors, officially sanctioned and otherwise, during the next five decades.

Back to Roman naval officer Isidore.

He was suspected of Christian sympathies while Emperor Decius was defending Rome by stamping out Christianity. Trying to, anyway.

Isidore admitted his guilt, was executed on May 14, 251, and buried on a nearby Aegean island: Chios. Upwards of 17 centuries later, we still recognize May 14th as his feast day.

“The Monastery Sponge”

Saint Isidora was born, probably in or near the eastern Roman provinces, in the year 300 or thereabouts.

She joined the Tabenna Monastery in Egypt, spending her time doing the monastery’s dirtiest jobs. That earned her “the monastery sponge” as a nickname.

Sort of like Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character. And that’s another topic.

Isidora apparently took St. Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 18–19 to heart. That may explain both her lack of popularity in the monastery and dearth of documentation regarding her life.

I strongly suspect current events helped maintain her comparative anonymity.

She died before 365. We’re not sure when. Maybe while Constantius II, Constans I, and/or Vetranio was/were emperor. Or maybe Julian and/or Jovian.

The Roman Empire was recovering from the Thrax-to-Carinus/Numerian imperial brouhaha by that time.

Emperor Jovian, for example, died of natural causes. Officially. He’d eaten too many mushrooms with too much wine. Or maybe a faulty heating unit smothered him.

Ammianus Marcellinus — who survived the Julian, Jovian and Valens reigns — said that Jovian’s death, and the investigation that didn’t follow, were odd.

Edward “Decline and Fall” Gibbon, an 18th century English Whig, said the official version of Jovian’s death was right and that’s yet another topic.

Back in the fourth century, Rome’s imperial government became increasingly bureaucratic. Senators replaced their togas with nifty-looking silk outfits. Emperor Constantine ended the policy of blaming Christianity for imperial problems, allegedly got baptized just before dying — and didn’t, apparently, die because he was baptized.

I see making Christianity legal as a good idea. Outlawing everything except ‘official’ Christianity, not so much. We have Theodosius I to thank for that.3

An Archbishop

Isidore of Seville may be the most generally-famous St. Isidore. He was born in a city we call Cartagena. It’s been called Mastia, Qart Hadasht, Colonia Vrbs Iulia Nova Carthago and Cartago Spartaria.

A few millennia from now, it’ll probably have collected a few more monikers, and that’s yet again another topic.

His parents, Severianus and Theodora, were among the area’s upper crust.

Isidore became a scholar and, for three decades, archbishop of Seville.

That city’s been called Hisbaal, Tartessos, Hispal and Gilipolis, and I’m wandering off-topic. Again.

Archbishop Isidore died in 636, was recognized as a Saint in 653, and is famous as a scholar who helped organize and preserve part of the Roman world’s knowledge.

He’s the patron Saint of the Internet, computer and technicians, programmers and students. That’s what Pope John Paul II said in 1997. I don’t have a problem with St. John Paul II’s decision, but apparently some Catholics do.

I can see their point, sort of. The Pope didn’t go through the usual bureaucratic channels before announcing his decision, John Paul II was Pope after Vatican II, the Internet is newfangled technology, and that’s still another topic. Topics.4

A Hired Hand

St. Isidor the Farmer, patron Saint of farmers, is ‘the’ St. Isidore for folks around here. His feast day is May 15.

He’s also called San Isidro Labrador and St. Isidor Agricola.

English-language resources I’ve seen often call him “Isidor the Laborer.”5

Maybe that’s because the word “Labrador” in “San Isidro Labrador” sounds like my language’s “laborer.”

It could be worse.

Folks could have translated “San Isidro Labrador” as “Isidore the Labrador Retriever,” and that’s — what else? — even more topics.

My father-in-law talked about ‘our’ St. Isidore, families and Jesus, back in 2011. I’ll post that in a few minutes. Today, anyway.

Posts that aren’t completely unrelated:

1 Rome’s heyday, and after:

2 Names and attitudes:

3 Saints and emperors:

4 A Saint and cities:

5 ‘Our’ St. Isidore:

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Easter Sunday Bombings

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Brian H. Gill

Some folks in Sri Lanka were at church this Easter morning.

Others were at luxury hotels, starting another day’s work or enjoying breakfast.

About 250 didn’t return home. Their deaths were headline news for the next 24 hours:

  • “40 dead as explosions rock churches, hotels in Sri Lanka: Report”
    ABC News
  • “Cardinal Dolan urges parishioners to stay hopeful after Sri Lanka bombings”
    New York Post
  • “Sri Lanka bombings: At least 207 people killed by explosions in Sri Lanka capital of Colombo, churches and hotels targeted — live updates”
    CBS News
  • “Sri Lanka church, hotel massacre victims include TV chef, mother and son, Americans”
    Fox News

Apart from its location and climate, I hadn’t known much about Sri Lanka before this week’s news.

What follows is part of what I’ve found.

Sri Lanka


(From Astronomyinertia, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

Folks have been living on Sri Lanka for upwards of a hundred thousand years. Its one of those places folks in my part of the world have called ‘a tropical paradise.’

At least some of them were probably ancestors of today’s Vedda.

Robert Knox, a 17th century Englishman, called them “wild men” — par for the course in those days. I’m pretty sure they predate Prince Vijaya, although the Mahavamsa says they’re his descendants. That they’re related, that seems likely enough.

The Mahavamsa and other chronicles say Prince Vijaya led the Sinhalese people to Sri Lanka, establishing the island’s first kingdom. Scholars, Western ones at any rate, often say he’s legendary; so maybe his Kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara is, too.

Or maybe one of Vijaya’s ministers founded the city of Anuradhagama/Anuradhapura, laying groundwork for the not-quite-so-legendary Anuradhapura Kingdom.

King Pandukabhaya lived in Aristotle’s day, give or take a decade or so. He reorganized Sri Lankan government, resolved conflicts between locals and Sinhalese, and is remembered as a good king.1

Rulers and Stupas

Around the time Wu of Jin unified China and Diocletian retired as emperor — no small feat in the third and fourth century — Mahasena of Anuradhapura was running Sri Lanka.

Mahasena tried suppressing Theravada Buddhism. Unsuccessfully. Manhesena’s father, Gothabhaya, had done pretty much the same thing when he was king.

Gothabhaya was the surviving member of a trio who’d seized power from Vijaya Kumara.

Gothabhaya’s sons, Jetthatissa and Mahasena, inherited the throne. Mahasena lived longer, and built the Jethavana stupa. Or maybe it’s the Jethawana stupa.2 Transliterating from another language’s writing system is tricky.

He didn’t lay the bricks himself, of course. Other folks did the hands-on work and his son finished the project. It was the third highest structure in the world in its day.

Mahasena wasn’t Sri Lanka’s first king, or the last. His Ruwanwelisaya Stupa has been better-maintained, and that’s another topic.3

Names

Sri Lanka was “British Ceylon” on maps made in my part of the world before 1948.

It was the “Dominion of Ceylon” for a few decades, and I’m getting ahead of the story.

Leonardo da Vinci was painting the Mona Lisa when Portuguese traders came to Sri Lanka. They got involved in the island’s politics when royal coup in one of the kingdoms, Kotte, threatened their cinnamon trade.

When the dust settled, much the island was part of a European empire. Portugal held the Kingdom of Kotte — one of the island’s many kingdoms, roughly where Sri Lanka’s Northwestern, Western and Southern Provinces are today.

That let Kotte’s tributary state, Kandy, become independent. Or at least semi-independent. Portuguese-held Kotte was still a problem, though, so Kandy asked the Dutch government for help.

It was an effective ploy. Portugal lost control of its part of the island, Kandy kept at least some of its turf, and Dutch Ceylon lasted until the British moved in. British Ceylon lasted until 1948, and I talked about that earlier.

“Ceylon” is what happened when Sanskrit’s “island of the Sinhala people” got passed along through Pali, Persian and Arabic before getting to Portuguese and English.

Can’t say that I blame a new administration for changing their island’s name to Sri Lanka in the 1972 constitution.4

Legends, Lore and Myths

The “lanka” in Sri Lanka started as a Tamil word meaning “to shine” or “to glitter.”

Or maybe it’s a regional word for “island.”

Wherever the name comes from, Lanka’s story is very old.

In Ramayana, Vishwakarma made Lanka for Kubera, the Lord of Wealth.

Then Kubera’s stepbrother Ravana flew in on the Monara, and the plot thickens.

I’ve read that the Ramayana is mythological. I can see why.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ramayana is a mix of myth, history and literary embellishment; a south Asian analog to Homer’s Iliad. (May 12, 2018)

The Ramayana dates back at least a dozen centuries, probably longer. My guess is that parts of it are based on lore passed along by Vedda, Tamil, and everyone else who has called Lanka home.5

“Complicated” barely begins to describe it.

“Grief and Sorrow”


(From Vatican News, used w/o permission.)
(Broken statue at St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo.)

“Pope Francis laments Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka”
Devin Watkins, Vatican News (April 21, 2019)

“‘…The Holy Father said the multiple attacks on churches and hotels around Sri Lanka ‘have wrought grief and sorrow’.

“I entrust to the Lord all those who have tragically perished,’ he said, ‘and I pray for the injured and all those who suffer as a result of this tragic event.’…

“…[Archbishop of Colombo] Cardinal Ranjith said, ‘I condemn – to the utmost of my capacity – this act that has caused so much death and suffering to the people.’

“He also called on Sri Lanka’s government to hold ‘a very impartial, strong inquiry and find out who is responsible behind these acts’….”)

Most folks killed on Easter Sunday were Sri Lankans. Some were at work, like Shantha, Sanjeewani, Ibrahim and Nisthar. Some were celebrating Easter with their families.

Bennington Joseph, Subramaniam Arumugam Chandrika, Bevon, Cleavon and Avon were at St Anthony’s.

Rangana Fernando, Danadiri, Biola, Leona and Seth died at St Sebastian’s.

Ramesh Raju saved dozens of lives when he delayed one of the suicide bombers at Zion Evangelical Church.

Two victims were in or near a guest house near the National Zoo. Three were police officers who were searching suspects’ homes in a Dematagoda housing complex.6

I didn’t know any of the victims. My home is about as far from Sri Lanka as you can get and still be on Earth. A few were celebrities or professionals, but most were ‘just ordinary people.’ Why should I care about them?

Neighbors

There’s the emotional angle, of course; and that’s okay. Feelings are part of being human. Emotions connect “the life of the senses and the life of the mind.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1763–1766)

I felt surprise, sadness, anger and more after hearing news about the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka.

Apart from surprise, I’m still experiencing the emotions.

Again, that’s okay.

Emotions happen. By themselves, they aren’t good or bad. They’re just ‘there.’ (Catechism, 1767)

What I decide to do, how I respond to the feelings, that matters. Choosing a good response is easier when my feelings and my reason are in sync. But even if they’re not, I’m still expected to think. (Catechism, 1765, 1767–1769, 1777–1782)

Deciding how to see events and people in Sri Lanka depends partly on how seriously I take what Jesus said.

Our Lord boiled “The whole law and the prophets” down to a few simple rules. I should love God, love my neighbor — and see everyone as my neighbor. No exceptions. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism, 1789)

The ‘Good Samaritan’ parable in Luke 10:29–37 lacks the shock value it did two millennia back, and that’s yet another topic. (February 1, 2017)

Churches and Hotels


(From BBC News, via Reuters, used w/o permission.)
(“Guards outside St Anthony’s Shrine in the Kochchikade area of Colombo, where one of the explosions occurred”
(BBC News))

Two of the three churches hit being Catholic got my attention, too.

I don’t think St. Anthony’s, St. Sebasti’s and the Zion Evangelical Church were picked at random. Whoever planned these attacks probably had religion in mind, since Easter mornings are generally busy times at Christian churches.

But the other three targets were high-end hotels or luxury resorts.

Motives

All six Easter morning targets arguably represented foreign occupation in Sri Lanka. Mix rabid religion and cultural chauvinism, and you’ve got claims like this:

“…IS said online that it had ‘targeted nationals of the crusader alliance [anti-IS US-led coalition] and Christians in Sri Lanka’….”
(BBC News(April 24, 2019))

It’s likely that the Easter Sunday suicide bombers had outside help.

Or maybe someone in Sri Lanka was unusually competent at planning and carrying out mass murder on this scale.

The odds are pretty good that the attacks had a religious angle. That’s assuming that an like Sri Lanka’s Tamil Eelam isn’t responsible.7

I’d be surprised, pleasantly, if nobody’s responded to the Easter Sunday attack by saying “Islam is evil.”

I don’t see the situation that way.

Recognizing and respecting the many ways folks have been seeking truth is part of being Catholic. (Catechism, 839–845)

Some self-identified Muslims have done very bad things, apparently with faith-based motives. But I’m pretty sure that most Muslims aren’t terrorists.

And that most Christians, even those of us living in America, don’t see the Ku Klux Klan as ‘good guys.’

Responses

I’m relieved to see that Sri Lanka’s government is acknowledging that some officials knew an attack was likely, and didn’t act properly.

‘Let not your left hand know’ makes sense in a particular context.

But not when the ‘right hand’ is supposed to be kept in the loop.8

I’m not sure what to think about the Sri Lankan government’s blocking of social media after the attacks.

Maybe some official thought keeping folks from sharing information was a good idea.

Maybe it really did make sense, given the circumstances.

My guess is that we’re in for a long and loud discussion of social media, freedom of speech, and who gets to decide what ‘the masses’ see. The good news is that at least a few folks seem to be thinking about the issues. Not just reacting:

Choices

Nothing I do or say will change what has happened. That’s part of being human.

So is deciding what I do in my “now.”

And trying to do what’s right, which isn’t necessarily what’s easy.

It’s not that human nature, or this world, is rotten to the core.

We were made in the image of God and still are. We, and our world are still “very good.” We’ve been living with consequences of making a choice the first of us made. But we aren’t doomed to make bad decisions. What we do is our choice. (Genesis 1:27–31; Catechism, 295-301, 396–406, 1701–1709, 1730)

Loving my neighbor is easier when my neighbor is being neighborly. But it’s a good idea, no matter what my neighbor has done.

Acting with justice and mercy are important, too. (Catechism, 1805, 1829, 1861, 1991–2011)

I’ve talked about that before:

1 Sri Lanka, background:

2 Rulers and beliefs:

3 Eras and monuments:

4 Governments:

5 Sri Lanka, remembered:

6 Places and people:

7 News, mostly:

8 Blunders:

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Jesus Didn’t Stay Dead

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Brian H. Gill

We relive events from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday in close to real time.

Our Lord was arrested Thursday night. The Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod had questioned Jesus by Friday morning.

I get the impression that none of Jerusalem’s authorities wanted to be the one who passed judgment on the Nazarene preacher. The Sanhedrin and Pilate worried about pubic opinion and our Lord’s popularity. (April 19, 2019)

Herod seemed disappointed that Jesus didn’t entertain him, and that’s another topic.

Choices

Pilate lost the ‘hot potato’ game.

I’ll give him credit for trying to release our Lord by offering folks the choice of freeing Jesus or Barabbas.

That didn’t work. Jerusalem’s traditional leaders had influence, and used it.

“The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.
“The governor said to them in reply, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release to you?’ They answered, ‘Barabbas!'”
(Matthew 27:20–21)

Death and Burial

By Friday evening, Jesus was dead.

Joseph of Arimathea took responsibility for burying our Lord. He put the body in his newly-cut tomb.

There wasn’t time for anything fancy. Not so close to the Sabbath.

Several women who had been with Jesus kept an eye on Joseph and our Lord’s body, making sure they’d remember where he’d been interred.

When they returned, after the Sabbath, finding the tomb was easy enough.

Our Lord’s body was another matter. The four Gospels describe what happened, but differ in details. I’m not surprised. None of the Bible was written from a contemporary Western viewpoint, and that’s another topic.

Besides, the women and the surviving 11 Apostles had experienced traumatic events and were in for more shocks.

Disbelief

All four accounts1 agree that our Lord’s body was missing.

Matthew, Mark and Luke place at least one angel at the scene.

John says that Mary of Magdala saw that the stone was rolled away and ran back to collect two Apostles before returning.

Luke has the women entering the tomb and finding no body.

“While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
“They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
“He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
“that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
“And they remembered his words.
“Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.”
(Luke 24:4–9)

The guys didn’t believe them. Peter ran to the tomb. He found burial cloths and no body.

Jesus eventually convinced Peter and the rest that he was alive. Not a ghost. Really alive.

Witnesses

At a final meeting with the surviving 11 Apostles, they asked Jesus if this was when he was going to “restore the kingdom of Israel.” (Acts 1:6)

Some Christians have been wondering pretty much the same thing ever since.

Our Lord replied that they didn’t need to have that information.

That’s still the case. Which doesn’t keep some from jumping on the latest Rapture bandwagon. And that’s yet another topic. (December 7, 2018)

Then Jesus gave us standing orders — and left. It took two angels to get the “Men of Galilee” back on task.

“He answered them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.
“But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
“While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
“They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.'”
(Acts 1:7–11)

Passing Along the Best News Ever

Two millennia later, we’re still passing along the best news humanity’s ever had.

Jesus is the Son of God. Our Lord died, and then stopped being dead. (John 1:14, 3:17; Acts 2:24; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 232–260, 456–478, 631–655)

God loves us. All of us. Each of us. And wants to adopt us. (Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:3–5; Peter 2:3–4; Catechism, 1–3, 27–30, 52, 1825, 1996)

I took God up on the adoption offer. Acting like I accept the family values make sense. (James 2:17–19; Catechism, 1814–1816)

I should love God and my neighbors. All my neighbors. Everyone in the world. No exceptions. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism, 1789)

It’s simple, and incredibly hard to do.

And that’s yet again another topic. Topics:

This post’s first picture is Piero della Francesca’s “Piero della Francesca – Resurrezione.”

The fresco was made in the 1460s. It’s in the Museo Civico di Sansepolcro, Arezzo, Italy.

1 Our Lord’s death and resurrection:

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