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Blog: Maude's Tavern Topics:Culture, Religion, Politics
Author Archives: Thomas
My Parish
I find the Divine Liturgy at my parish to be very romantic, intellectually coherent, and incredibly beautiful. My love she speaks like silence Without ideals or violence She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful Yet she’s true, like ice, like … Continue reading
Charity
It is hard to convey the beauty and goodness of God. Hence, on the one hand, the necessity of the Incarnation and on the other hand, ministers focusing instead on the much easier task of saying what folks should do.
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Religion as Natural Phenomenon
The below is from David Bentley Hart’s book review Daniel Dennett Hunts the Snark …. Dennett, needless to say, has no curiosity regarding any actual faith or its intellectual tradition. His few references to Christian history make it clear that … Continue reading
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Incense Does Not Zoom
At our parish, prayer rises as incense To the Lord: at Vespers, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy. The Psalms are chanted without censoring As the censer is swung enthusiastically among the faithful. The incense reaches the hidden places, the silent … Continue reading
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A Funeral Dream
I dreamed of being at a funeral. I don’t know whom the funeral was for but do remember: that it is important to honor the dead. And the dying. that the form, the liturgy if you will, is important. that … Continue reading
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Forgiveness Sunday
In the Byzantine Catholic church, Great Lent begins this evening with Forgiveness Sunday Vespers. Especially poignant this year given the warfare in Ukraine. Forgiveness Sunday In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent – the day on which, … Continue reading
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Baptism at St George (Melkite)
Here are three videos from a recent baptism at my parish, St George (Melkite). The weight accorded to the sacrament of baptism here has transformed my outlook. https://www.facebook.com/652259618/videos/332339398821544/ (conclusion of baptism) https://www.facebook.com/652259618/videos/4856751877713561/ (teaching about baptism) https://www.facebook.com/652259618/videos/6998438110230397/ (proclamation in the sanctuary)
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What Exists
Does God exist? On the surface, this may appear to be a rather straightforward (not to say easy) question. But the disagreement between those who answer “yes” and those who answer “no” is not straightforward at all. It is, rather, “one … Continue reading
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John Muir’s Boyhood
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth by John Muir Chapter I A Boyhood in Scotland WHEN I was a boy in Scotland I was fond of everything that was wild, and all my life I’ve been growing fonder and fonder … Continue reading
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Sacramental Theology
Below is the Introduction to ‘The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology‘ edited by Hans Boersma and Matthew Levering. But first a brief excerpt from the introduction: A Handbook on sacramental theology, even more than on most other Christian topics, makes poignantly manifest … Continue reading
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Novel Openings
Dante’s Comedy: Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wilderness, for I had wandered from the straight and true. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in … Continue reading
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Preparing for Lent
Below are the first few pages from Alexander Schememann’s book: Great Lent: Journey to Pasca. Preparation for Lent THE DESIRE (Sunday of Zacchaeus) Long before the actual beginning of Lent, the Church announces its approach and invites us to enter … Continue reading
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Walking the Dogs
It is lovely, here in the Sierra – walking the dogs in the middle of the night. The air is still, the sky is clear, with the moon more than half. When I say that I get up and walk … Continue reading
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Whether Charity is Friendship
From St Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica (Second Part of the Second Part, Question 23, Article 1) Whether charity is friendship? Objection 1: It would seem that charity is not friendship. For nothing is so appropriate to friendship as to dwell with … Continue reading
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Commitment, Continuity, and Conversation
The particular spirituality of the Appalachian Riders For Our Lady is based on our three foundational principles of commitment, continuity and conversation in addition to the general Catholic evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, obedience and stability adapted to a lay … Continue reading
The Glen at Maude’s Tavern
The hills of Appalachia are wrinkled deep in time. Some places there, as the saying goes, you can’t get to from here. At least, if the here were televised America. And if not…. There are three large structures in the … Continue reading
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20220104 Journal
During his viral podcast with Joe Rogan after he was banned by Twitter, Malone explained how the global population was being manipulated into remaining in a constant state of hysterical anxiety via mass formation psychosis. “What the heck happened to … Continue reading
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20211231 Journal
The end of the year being a time to reflect My booklist reflects my roots and current interests. Israel Bible, unabridged Revised Standard Version The Liturgy of the Hours Rome Vergil’s Aeneid; Sarah Ruden translation Homilies on John; St John Chrysostom The … Continue reading
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20211220 Journal
I pray for my family: for my children, grandchildren, and siblings – that they flourish. And for my parents, that they come to enjoy eternal life in Christ. ‘But your parents have died?’ Yes, but God is the creator of … Continue reading
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20211217 Journal
My favorite Bob Dylan gospel album is the 1997 ‘Time Out of Mind’. Looking toward Christmas, our celebration of our Lord’s incarnation (Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did … Continue reading
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