Memorial Day

Thank you.

Truth!

I haven't posted much lately. Been catching up on things after the end of school - things both of home and church. But I saw this on another blog and thought it an excellent comment. It is from a Roman Catholic blogger (Fr. Z), so for your church, just replace the word "priest" with "pastor" and it works just as well.

Do you want to know what true clericalism is?

The worst manifestation of clericalism is when priests “clericalize” the laity. That is nothing less than a signal that the priest doesn’t think lay people have their own dignity as lay people. In order to “be something” or “participate”, lay people have to do what priests do. Priests think they they make lay people a little better, because they have made them more like themselves.

Vile.

Boo-rah! All the baptized have their own vocations to live in that are important and valuable and where God wants them to be His representatives. As I tell my Bible classes, this world would be a terrible place if everyone was a pastor - terrible! For who would run the country, who would sell the goods that we need, who would manufacture, etc. All these are important. Let us help all people see how they serve God in their callings, where they are, and come to the Divine Service on Sunday to receive the gifts of God they need.

Another Semester in the Books

Well, today wrapped up my fourth semester of grad school. Normally that would mark the end of the classwork, but since I am only part time, I have another year+ to go. I am learning a lot and getting a lot better with my languages, which is a good thing. My task this summer is to learn how to read French so I can the proficiency exam in the Fall. Hopefully I can get into a routine and stick to it!

I am looking forward to doing some reading I want to do this summer, instead of school reading. I always have so much of that, its hard to fit in other stuff. But, as usual, this summer will fly by, so I probably won't get as much done as I hope to. In addition to French and reading, I want to translate an article I found in Latin, work on some Advent and Lenten series, put together a booklet explaining what we do in the liturgy, and add a bunch of stuff to our church web site. Already have a couple of weddings coming up, Vacation Bible School, and our family vacation! I'll have to post an update in late August and let you know how I did . . . :-)

For now, I'm just enjoying classes being done! Tonight I'm going to get a beer and watch my Phillies pummel the Nationals again. Roy Halladay is pitching - he's always fun to watch.

Osama Bin Laden

Woke up slowly this morning and watched the morning news programming of Osama Bin Laden's death. To be quite honest, I have mixed feelings about everything, which is, I think, perhaps, as it should be.

In my vocation as an American citizen, I am glad that justice has been served and this man is no longer a threat to our country and to the world. I was a pastor just about 2 miles from NYC on 9/11 and remember what the days, weeks, and months were like after that day. It was not an easy time. I am proud of our military, intelligence people, and presidents (yes, both Obama and Bush) for carrying this out and getting it done. Thank you. You have done your jobs well.

In my vocation as a Christian, I am sad that a man has been lost for eternity. I am also a little uncomfortable with the jubilation over death. I understand it and I am not condemning it. I'm just a little uncomfortable with it. One of the best comments I read about that was from Catholic blogger, Father Z, who wrote:

I can understand the urge to celebrate that a paragraph of a chapter of US history has been brought to an end. I would rather see Americans welcome this news with a quiet nod of the head than with squealing in the streets. It seems to me that his death isn’t something to strut about as if it were a gold medal win at the Olympics.