Encyclicals, The Beatles and weddings, oh my!
I feel I have been way too greedy sometimes for my own good. That is a bad thing. I have been trying to find out how to be a more generous person in line with Christian thought, but doing that as well as walking the fine line of staying true to my core principles of freedom. Thankfully, I have fallen upon two papal encyclicals that describe things well that were written by Pope Benedict XVI. Let's see...great thinking on social problems from the leader of the Christian world...I'm in!
I've never really read an encyclical before so I look forward to reading these both in depth:
Deus Caritas Est (God is Love)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html
Caritas En Veritae (Charity in Truth)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
Check em out! It kills many preconcieved falsehoods about the Catholic Christian faith i.e. the Church condones socialism...totally false. Benedict XVI gives socialism a butt kicking in this paragraph:
Love-caritas-will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable. The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person-every person-needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support. In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)-a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.
I've been listening to the Beatles alot lately. It's no secret to anyone on here that I am a fan. Let's just say that they invented EVERYTHING in rock n' roll. EVERYTHING. Progressive rock? Did it! (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band) Heavy metal? Invented it! ("Helter Skelter", "Revolution", the cool riffs in "Paperback Writer" are very metal-ish) Hard rock, country rock, folk rock, world music...you name it...the Beatles did it. Getting the re-masters of all the albums and The Beatles: Rock Band video game re-awakened the Beatle-maniac in me that was not dead, but asleep because I could find none of their CD's for a while (I had tapes but they were worn out).
After reading all of that, how can anyone think Elvis was great? He never wrote a song, his music didn't "rock", all he did was wiggle his hips and eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches. King of rock and roll? The Beatles were the REAL kings of rock and roll!
I'm excited because my dear friends Jon and Steph are getting married next month. It will be my first Catholic wedding so I am really looking forward to it. Also, as much as I love my little Lily Bean, it will be an adults only weekend, so we can have a good time while Lily has fun with her nanna (my mom). PARTY! I want to get drunk and have a good time. I've been too Puritan as of late! I'm an Irish Catholic, dammit! We drink hard and pray harder!
I've never really read an encyclical before so I look forward to reading these both in depth:
Deus Caritas Est (God is Love)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html
Caritas En Veritae (Charity in Truth)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
Check em out! It kills many preconcieved falsehoods about the Catholic Christian faith i.e. the Church condones socialism...totally false. Benedict XVI gives socialism a butt kicking in this paragraph:
Love-caritas-will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable. The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person-every person-needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support. In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)-a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human.
I've been listening to the Beatles alot lately. It's no secret to anyone on here that I am a fan. Let's just say that they invented EVERYTHING in rock n' roll. EVERYTHING. Progressive rock? Did it! (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band) Heavy metal? Invented it! ("Helter Skelter", "Revolution", the cool riffs in "Paperback Writer" are very metal-ish) Hard rock, country rock, folk rock, world music...you name it...the Beatles did it. Getting the re-masters of all the albums and The Beatles: Rock Band video game re-awakened the Beatle-maniac in me that was not dead, but asleep because I could find none of their CD's for a while (I had tapes but they were worn out).
After reading all of that, how can anyone think Elvis was great? He never wrote a song, his music didn't "rock", all he did was wiggle his hips and eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches. King of rock and roll? The Beatles were the REAL kings of rock and roll!
I'm excited because my dear friends Jon and Steph are getting married next month. It will be my first Catholic wedding so I am really looking forward to it. Also, as much as I love my little Lily Bean, it will be an adults only weekend, so we can have a good time while Lily has fun with her nanna (my mom). PARTY! I want to get drunk and have a good time. I've been too Puritan as of late! I'm an Irish Catholic, dammit! We drink hard and pray harder!