The Original Church
Spirituality/Belief
The Original Church, with Dr. James L. Papandrea, is an ecumenical Christian community exploring our common roots in the early Church for the purposes of spiritual growth and practicing the Christian faith. No politics, debates, or proselytizing, just "faith seeking understanding" from the perspective of the early (and medieval) Church and the Church fathers. Jim Papandrea is an author and Professor of Church History and Historical Theology.
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The Cafe

I like to think of our little community here as a safe haven away from politics. And I consider myself mostly apolitical, in the sense that I don't follow politics, or get involved in political debates. But every once in a while I do get kind of bummed out about the state of things and the direction we are heading in this country, which is to say, we are heading away from God and deeper into chaos and confusion. If you're like me, it creates an unsettled feeling that can be hard to shake. But God is good, and more often than not, he gives me what I need through my reading and prayer.

But it has to be said that evil is real. Was it C.S. Lewis who said that the greatest deception of the devil is convincing people he doesn't exist? I can look at all the sin in the world, and most of the time I can chalk it up to one of the seven deadlies. I can say, well, people are greedy, and someone is profiting from that. But then there are those things that have no adequate explanation other than pure evil, and the reality of spiritual warfare and the aggressive agenda of the demonic to create chaos and confusion in our world, with (I believe) the specific goal of destroying the family. There is no simple human explanation for things like child trafficking, the proliferation and celebration of abortion, and the abuse of children that comes in the form of promoting gender confusion - other than the fact that it is just evil.

As many of you know, I've been reading some of the deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament, and I've also been branching out into the apocryphal books, to see how people prayed in that tradition. So yesterday and today in my Lectio Divina, I was reading a prayer of the priest Eleazar, from the book of Third Maccabees. This stuff feels so relevant because the people of God are being treated like strangers in their own land, as the land is being taken over by godless people. If you want to read the whole prayer, it's in 3 Macc 6:2-15, but I'll just give you a couple parts that jumped off the page for me (this is my translation):

Oh, Eternal One, you are omnipotent and almighty
Watch over us, and have mercy on us
We are being deprived of life, treated like traitors
by the illogical irreverence of the immoral...

Now, that alliteration only really works in English, but the meaning of the phrase stands out for me: the illogical irreverence of the immoral

When I see what people say in public, including politicians, and how illogical they are in their hypocrisy, how irreverent they are in their smug rejection of even the reality of God, let alone the Word of God, and how they defend immorality, tooth and nail, with self-righteous rage, I can understand what Eleazar feels as he prays:

All-merciful Protector of all,
who hates irreverence,
come quickly to those of your people
who are insulted and mistreated
by the profane and immoral unbelievers.
Even if our lives have become stained with sin in our exile,
rescue us from the hand of the enemy...

So it made me feel a little better to pray these ancient prayers, and then I ended my prayer time today with the Divine Mercy chaplet, in which the prayer is repeated: For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.

Yes, Lord - Have mercy on us, and on the whole world

Finally, the good news is that we don't have to fix the world. In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshephat prays a similar kind of prayer (they are literally being attacked), and there he actually gets an answer from God (it's 2 Chron 20:15-17, if you want to look it up) - here's my translation:

Do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged
when you have to face this vast multitude
for the battle is not yours, but God's...
It is not for you to fight
Take your positions, and stand firm
and you will see the Father's deliverance.
Do not be afraid
and do not be afraid to go out tomorrow and face them
and the Father will be with you

So we do not have to respond with equal aggression or anger. We do not have to join the shouting match. We do not have to fight to win. We only have to stand firm, and let God do the fighting. Neither fight nor flight, but something in between, like confident conviction. Another good alliteration 😊

I welcome your thoughts, as always!

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Sneak Peek into my NEW OFFICE!

I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:

00:02:17
In case you missed it, here's my Gospel Reflection

This was for March 24th, recorded for the Ascension App

00:02:57
The Journey is BACK!

Thanks for your patience - here is our next installment of The Journey - it's session # 96, but I'm also calling it PART 1 of a "miniseries" on John chapter 6.

Whoever watches it first, please let me know if it looks good or if there are any problems with it - I get through the first two sections of the text on the feeding of the 5,000.

Enjoy!

00:36:42
Here's another song... Come Let Us Climb the Lord's Mountain

I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:

In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

I hope you like the song!

Here's another song... Come Let Us Climb the Lord's Mountain
THE JOURNEY 101

This is Part 6 of our mini-series on John Chapter 6

Here's the latest from The Way of the Fathers

The second episode on St. Hildegard of Bingen

Here is Episode 100 !! of The Journey

Something to celebrate! 100 Episodes! Here it is, Episode 100 (which is part 5 of the series on John, Chapter 6) - post comments and questions!

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