The Debt to the Wise and the Foolish

Cliff and Stewart Knechtle recently got into some controversy regarding their views of the Eucharist, and Cliff's response was ultimately that he doesn't care what one believes on this point, but rather what matter is whether or not you follow Jesus. He commented in turn that he strongly disagrees with anyone who think our purpose is to correct people on this matter one way or the other, arguing that there are more important thing, such as those starving and such like.  It's worth noting that this is not strictly a new position for him, he has made a similar statement on the Jack Neil YouTube channel. When asked why he is not Catholic, he noted that the issue for Christians should not be what denomination you are, but the issue is how you respond to the person of Jesus Christ, and argued that this is the orthodox Christian faith. So the above position is a natural explication of this earlier one.  In light of these comments I've been reflecting a bit more eon the nature...

 Today is Palm Sunday, where we celebrate the passion and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The Palms are a reminder of our Lord's entry into Jerusalem, where Palms were raised before him to glorify him in his entrance.  We read the passion, and contemplate in silence the death of our Lord.  The silence too is a reflection of the silence at his death, after his last words "Into your hands Lord, I commend my spirit" and again "It is finished", and then, silence.  Then, the corpses of those upon these crosses, and so the Body of Christ as well, were taken down. "Surely this man was innocent" and again "Surely this man was the Son of God" The words of the centurion who pierced his side, and so made the fifth of the Five Holy Wounds.  Mary Cradles her dead son in her arms, and by the aid of Joseph of Arimathea, as though by a certain remembrance of St. Joseph her husband, is led to place Jesus in a tomb, with a stone now closing over it, as thoug...

I hear write a reflection on a verse from St. Paul.  Note however, that I am not a professional Catholic Theologian, nor a priest; this is my best understanding of the faith and a work of my own spiritual reflection. Should what I say seem to conflict with what the Church teaches, then either I have erred or at least, I have not been adequately clear in my wording. In either case, it is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church whom I consider authoritative above all else among human persons, only Divine persons being more authoritative than him, and so him, and those bishops who teach in union with him, and so those many documents produced by this great Magisterium, especially the Catechism, are all things I take to be more authoritative than anything I might say. Thus again, if what I say bellow seems inconsistent or in tension with what is present in those documents; know that this will be in my mind a mistake on my part; and that if you find such a tension, I advise you to favor wh...

A bit more than a month ago, Charlie Kirk, when conversing with Michael Knowles, argued that our goal should be to bring people to Jesus not to Catholicism, to which Michale Knowles asked in reply, 'what's the difference?' Kirk responded that your goal should not be to bring people to a specific sect of Christianity, but to bring people to The Cross. The issue with this line of thought though is rather simple; there were many people at the Cross, some were faithful, like Mary and St. John, but others were not, like the Pharisees and Roman Soldiers, we don't want people to be at the foot of The Cross for no reason, nor for a bad reason. We want to bring 'their hearts' to Jesus, and there is a right way to do this, and a wrong way to do this. Jesus himself said: "Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be" and so we want to bring people to 'treasure' Jesus, and what is it to treasure something? Well the example the Bible gives us of this i...

 Here's another Meme I found in r/Enlightenment and decided to respond to:  I find it depends on the stranger and the exact form their resentment and hostility takes. Fir their are many people who, even in their resentment and hostility, still hold themselves up to certain rules of conduct: perhaps it's sometimes some intuitive sense of honor, or some instinctively held ideal of fair play, or some habitually held value of good morals placed in them from their upbringing; etc. Whatever form it takes, this inclination towards a certain code of conduct makes it possible, even in the midst of their hostility, to have a fruitful discussion with them, if you are willing to endure their resentment and hostility with patience. To wit, sometimes such discussions end up breaking down despite their code; since perhaps you will lose patience or they will give into the temptations of their resentment and hostility despite their otherwise sincere attempts at good conduct, or perhaps a mix o...

I came across this meme on r/Enlightenment and figured I'd share it and my response to it:  Evidently there is more than thought, since the blankness of the subsequent statement is not thought, but a sensible image, so along with thoughts there are sensible images. Sensible images clearly vary, as we have white on the one side, and black on the other; and of course, there is the sensible image of the various colors in the meme, the cartoon faces, the words, etc. in turn, outside of this meme there is the whole web-page, which is not merely a still image but a moving one, it can scroll up or down.  In turn, there is the moving image of the body before the screen; the hand holding the phone, or typing on the keyboard, etc. human bodies abound, as distinct from the bodies of animals, plans, and inanimate objects, and from the space in which these exist; and among these human bodies there is a body in experience distinct from others. It is one experienced most frequently, yet als...