Today's Gospel Luke 4 14-21

The central theme of the ministry of Jesus is to free the captives. Francis of Assisi showed how deceptive the claim of spiritual poverty can be if one bathes in material comforts. Those who gazed upon Jesus condemned him as those monarchs in the church still do. The Vatican regales in splendor while millions lack basic necessities. The widespread practice in the church of sending Indian and African priests here and to other prosperous countries while most of their people are still captives living in squalor and domination is a living denial of Luke 4. Spiritual poverty and enlightenment are suspect when the physical aspects are not embraced. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127968175399519301.html#slide/1

The New Evangelization

The new Catechesis is perhaps a euphemism for control or preserving the hierarchy/empire. Is the new evangelism going to give us homilies on “consubstantial with the Father” and the revelations of Sr. Faustina? Not far from advocating declaring Mary the Mediatrics of all graces. Again. Then maybe it is a question of who needs catechesis. Bernard of Clairvoux certainly needed catechesis because he advocated the killing of infidels as he along with the pope declared the remission of all sins for those warriors who on the way to Jerusalem plundered and ruined most of the towns they passed through. Or perhaps Athanasius of Alexandria who pranced around Egypt and Constantinople declaring that he had the right to be bishop of Alexandria. Or Augustine of Hippo as he advocated soldiers to force people to become Catholics while telling married people that it was a sin to enjoy marital love making. And what about the Fathers of the Church presiding over the massive adulteration of the Christian faith? Or perhaps Pius XII, and too many German Catholic bishops who kept silent about the massacre of the Jews. …..etc. Ah yes. The New Evangelization. Pretty soon it will be declared again that it is at least a venial sin to criticize a bishop and probably a mortal sin.

Is the Church of Dogma replacing the Church of the Way. Again

I guess now that the bishops want to return to preaching dogma rather than proclaiming the scripture, we may as well go back to talking about money all the time. Discipleship is in following the way of Jesus. Not explaining fine points of doctrine and what makes a sin venial or mortal and how the Trinity works. The truth is no one has the faintest idea of the Trinity tho it is touted as more important than the crucifixion. My my. Now that the bishops have profoundly catechized us in saying "and with your spirit" rather than "also with you", we can go back to ignoring scripture which we were forbidden to read at one time. Jesus made it very clear that his anointing was to set the captives free. Now the bishops pretend they are the captives because federal funding is not the way they want it. Yet the captives are still not free. In fact they are being abandoned more and more as the bishops pay Indian and African priests to come here while those priests leave serious captives in their own homelands. So the bishops remain in palaces as they maintain they want to catechize while "the poor do not have the gospel preached to them."

New Year Resolutions to "Set the Captives Free"

Do we challenge our resolutions enough so that we may aspire to a more excellent way? Certainly controlling our weight is admirable but how about those "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" who hardly have the option to gain weight as they endure searing sufferings as they wither away in an unforgiving place. And what kind of an obligation do we have to confront the innumerable Indian priests who minister among us while the women in their country suffer ignominiously at the hands of their male countrymen while too many Indian children languish in slime and deprivation! Surely, the bar should be raised on our aspirations and solutions must be offered in ethics as much as explanations? Is not this the most Christian use of resolutions? To set the captives free. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/your-money/deciding-how-to-slice-your-charitable-pie.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/opinion/how-many-slaves-work-for-you.html?hp&_r=0