Catholic. Professor of Systematic Theology. Hierarchical communitarianism. 'The gentlest face of Integralism' - Worker and Parasite pod. https://teapawt.org/t.co/ADeReaIWPR
London
Joined May 2009
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The discourse about Ayaan Hirsi Ali and civilisational Christianity made me think back to that devastatingly unwelcome moment when I realised not only that I believed in God, but I was even going to have to seek baptism, for @TheCriticMag.
thecritic.co.uk/against-chri…
Big shout to those understanding that preaching explicit conversion in certain contexts can on occasion be imprudent while maintaining there could never be anything "better" than converting a soul to the supreme mystery of human life that is only found in the Triune God.
Consent is absolutely necessary for sexual intimacy to fulfil basic ethical criteria, but it isn't sufficient to do so.
The Russell Brand trial is interesting because in it rank promiscuity and a pornographic mindset are clearly beinf presented...
...as implying a likelihood to engage in nonconsensual behaviour.
It's as if, on some deep level, people still sense in the depths of their consciences that consent is the tip of a moral iceberg linked to a range of other criteria of which few people speak:
Jacob Phillips retweeted
Up on the @CTSpublishers stack talking about the liturgical year.
Are you wasting opportunities for spiritual change? Every year, the Church gives us liturgical feasts and seasons to help us become more deeply united to Jesus. But if you don't enter them intentionally, you miss the great changes God wants to work in you.
Discover how the liturgical year can leave you changed with our latest Substack article from @counteredlogos: buff.ly/i5tvBem
"Concretely, this means prayerfully reflecting in the run-up to Advent on how the real and personal circumstances of your life reveal a heart that yearns and longs for the coming of the Saviour. It means making space in that heart during the Octave of Christmas for Jesus to be born anew in your soul, and tending lovingly to it in the spirit of Mary until Candlemas."
Up on the @CTSpublishers stack talking about the liturgical year.
Are you wasting opportunities for spiritual change? Every year, the Church gives us liturgical feasts and seasons to help us become more deeply united to Jesus. But if you don't enter them intentionally, you miss the great changes God wants to work in you.
Discover how the liturgical year can leave you changed with our latest Substack article from @counteredlogos: buff.ly/i5tvBem
"Concretely, this means prayerfully reflecting in the run-up to Advent on how the real and personal circumstances of your life reveal a heart that yearns and longs for the coming of the Saviour. It means making space in that heart during the Octave of Christmas for Jesus to be born anew in your soul, and tending lovingly to it in the spirit of Mary until Candlemas."
Yes, many times, but it was always immensely unfulfilling until I found God and then I never went back.
Peak very online Catholicism is letting all the daily opportunities for further sanctification pass you by to debate how much time was or wasn't given to a prelate to celebrate Mass.
Jacob Phillips retweeted
I've been reading Last Testament: In His Own Words by Peter Seewald after hearing about it on @RealMattFradd 's Pints With Aquinas podcast with @Counteredlogos. The episode was great and the book recommendation has opened my heart to Pope Benedict. Read it!
Jacob Phillips retweeted
“At every hour of her existence, therefore, the Church bears the weight of that part of humanity that is her contemporary.”
-Charles Journet
Jacob Phillips retweeted
“Is hell below us or above us?” A five-year-old’s question opens up a fascinating discussion about how we describe spiritual realities.
Digging through the earth won’t take us to hell, but does the traditional language of heaven “above” and hell “below” express a truth beyond physical geography? In this clip from REGINA Unscripted, @Counteredlogos explores why poetic language still matters when speaking about faith.
How would you answer a child asking this question?
#Catholic #HeavenAndHell #ReginaUnscripted #Shorts
Not something I'm likely ever to do, but the propriety of interactions like this is relative to a complex web of situational particulars centred on the individuals and the chemistry that does or doesn't exist between them, so simply saying it's 'wrong' doesn't really work.
“I couldn’t, I suppose, have a kiss?”
John Simpson caught live on BBC asking Geeta Guru-Murthy for a kiss, thinking the cameras were off. They weren’t. 😳
Geeta Guru-Murthy wraps up her interview with John Simpson (celebrating 60 years at the BBC), signs off, and thinks the cameras are off. She tells him “That was lovely,” he replies “I couldn’t, I suppose, have a kiss?”, she says yes, and you hear the kiss.
Then she realises they’re still live: “Sorry, sorry, we are still on air. Sorry, I hadn’t realised that.” 🤣
@BBCNews
I get the point - but it's not that unusual for the Church to distinguish between those who were unfortunately or even tragically led into some sin and those with no mitigating circumstances - and to do so while holding firm to the objective wrongness of the deed nonetheless.
Some people suggest that the divorced and remarried should attend Mass, and be welcomed as part of the community, and should just go up for a blessing instead of receiving Communion. They might even say, like Bishop Varden here, that such an example would be a beautiful testimony in our churches.
But this is nonsense.
If John comes to Church, and we all know that he is cheating on his wife, we would be sinning to just smile and welcome him and continue fellowshipping with him, on account of he goes up for a blessing rather than receiving communion. We would not find his "example" to be a "beautiful testimony" among us. We would find his deliberate and unrepentant adultery to be an offense among us, a judgement against us, and we would be objectively obligated to confront him and expel him from out midst until he repented.
But we all know that a divorced and remarried person is not even remotely in that situation. And the fact Bishop Varden here wants to take this approach to them, shows he knows the difference too. And his opposition, like the rest of the opposition who knows this difference and who does not take that approach - does not treat them like adulterers, but wants to welcome them to be part of the community, just receiving a blessing but not Communion - is an inconsistent opposition.
Jacob Phillips retweeted
“The model of enlightened reason cannot assimilate the structure of faith...But faith...is comprehensive enough to assimilate the...Enlightenment & give it a task that is meaningful also for faith. That is our opportunity. We must make the effort to accept it."
- J. Ratzinger
Jacob Phillips retweeted
Some of the most powerful witnesses to the Real Presence are Catholics who do not receive Holy Communion.
Bishop Erik Varden's reflections following the Vatican's Amoris Laetitia meeting deserve careful attention, particularly his recognition of Catholics in irregular marital situations who faithfully attend Mass, participate in parish life, but refrain from receiving Holy Communion.
He describes their fidelity as a genuine contribution to the Christian community, beautifully observing that “Sacramental exile sustained over time can prepare a joyful homecoming.”
Professor Jacob Phillips @Counteredlogos makes a particularly interesting observation here. In a city like London, such Catholics could attend Mass anonymously, receive Communion and nobody would be any the wiser. Yet many choose not to.
Consider what this tells us. Their fidelity is not imposed by surveillance or fear of embarrassment, rather it springs from conscience, reverence for the Eucharist and a recognition that the sacraments possess an objective reality which cannot simply be subordinated to our personal circumstances.
Surely this raises a question about the whole synodal enterprise?
We hear a great deal about listening to those who experience the Church's teaching as burdensome, and rightly so. But how much attention is given to those who embrace that teaching despite the burden it places upon them? Are their sacrifices, their consciences and their "lived experience" being taken equally seriously?
There is a danger of treating every painful pastoral situation as a problem whose solution must involve relaxing sacramental discipline but the Christian life has never promised freedom from suffering. It promises that suffering, united to Christ, can become fruitful. Bishop Varden's great insight is that Christian accompaniment must be ordered towards conversion and holiness, not simply affirmation. Genuine mercy does not pretend that difficult truths cease to exist. It helps people live in the light of those truths, confident that God's grace is already at work.
Perhaps one of the most important voices in the debate over Holy Communion belongs to those who quietly, faithfully, choose not to receive it.
