Integral Holiness

Mystical writers pretty much from the earliest years of the Christian era have insisted that the unavoidable first step in walking the way of the mysteries is to embrace a life of holiness. Not so much that we can just decide “I want to be holy now,” like someone decides they’ll learn how to play the guitar; for holiness is a grace given, not a skill achieved. Nevertheless, since Divine gifts are not foisted upon us without our consent, holiness demands that we at least choose to cooperate with the dynamics of grace at work in our lives.

But what does it mean to be holy?

Feast of the Visitation

Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. This morning during mass the monks chanted this lovely hymn to the Mother of God:

Alleluia.
Ave, Stillans Melle Alvearium;
Ave, Veri Salomonis Ferculum;
Ave, Verbi Dei Tu Sacrarium;
Ave, Deitatis Receptaculum,
Maria.

Here it is again in English:

Alleluia.
Hail, Beehive Dripping with Honey;
Hail, Offspring of the True Solomon;
Hail, Shrine of the Word of God;
Hail, Recepticle of the Godhead,
Mary.

Thanks to Youtube and Robin Meyers, the UCC “Bouncer” Ad Lives On…

I’m reading Robin Meyers’ wonderful if infuriating book Why the Christian Right is Wrong (I plan on posting a review once I’m finished). Today I’m reading the chapter on the Christian right’s hostility to gay and lesbian persons, and Meyers mentions the ad that the United Church of Christ attempted to run on national television in 2004, but couldn’t because the major networks deemed it “too controversial.” In honor of that ad, which deserves to be seen by everyone, I’m happy to note that some good folks have made sure that it lives on in Youtube, which of course allows me to embed it here:

Beckwith

Dr. Frank Beckwith of Baylor University has resigned his position as the president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Why? Because he has been received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Read about it here. Apparently, even in 2007 it’s not cool for an evangelical theologian to be a Catholic.

Even more interesting is Dr. Beckwith’s blog (and the wide array of commentary that it engenders). Check out a few posts here, here and especially here. Alas, you don’t have to look very far to see just how pervasive anti-Catholicism remains in our world, particularly among conservative Protestants. But let me not end on that negative note: here is a gracious, wonderful letter written by an evangelical pastor in support of Beckwith’s conversion.

That Crazy Jesus…

Of the many qualities I love about Jesus, chief among them was his willingness to flout social rules and hang out with the kinds of people that “polite society” of his day wanted nothing to do with. Jesus himself was in all likelihood a solid member of the Jewish middle class, as exemplified by the earthy nature of the hard but honest work that he and his family and friends and associates did: carpentry, shepherding, fishing. Some scholars have speculated that Jesus was himself a Pharisee, since much of his most vitriolic criticism was leveled at the Pharisees and, after all, don’t we criticize what we know and even love the best? If so, that would make Jesus as religiously respectable as we was socioeconomically. But Jesus wasn’t about respect. He really couldn’t give a fig about what the neighbors thought, apparently. After all, he was known to associate with Samaritans, tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners.

The Seven Monstrances

In Catholic Eucharistic devotion, a consecrated host is sometimes displayed, either during a liturgical service of benediction, or in a special chapel where people gather for silent prayer and adoration to Christ present in the host. In these settings, the host is exposed in a monstrance (a word etymologically related to “demonstrate”), a vessel considered to be sacred since it contains the veritable Body of Christ, present in the host. Now, I know this is the kind of thing that makes not only most Protestants but even some liberal Catholics grind their teeth — “wafer worship” is how one Episcopal priest described Eucharistic adoration to me — but I think to dismiss veneration of the consecrated host as mere idolatry is to make the same mistake as the iconoclasts did in the eighth century. Sacramental or mystical spirituality is grounded in the conviction and belief that the entire universe is shot through with the grandeur and presence of God. Thus, to venerate Christ present in the Eucharistic host is simply to acknowledge the particularity of the Divine presence which we know to be truly universally present, for “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).