Our October Saturday meeting will be this Saturday, October 1, at 7:00 am, in the meeting room off the commons.
Note: We will be in the meeting room off the commons
The meeting will start at 7:00 AM and finish by 7:55 AM so guys can attend Mass at 8:00 AM
The following will be our points for discussion from Practical Theology by Peter Kreeft.
Chapters 290 - 309
Email from Steve:
Leon – could you post these notes for Saturday mornings session? Many thanks, Steve
Team — On October 1, we will cover lessons 290 through 309 of Practical Theology. Because it is difficult to get through all of the lessons in about 45 to 50 minutes, I’ve decided to pick several that seem to be the most interesting and focus on one quote from that lesson which I’ll use to start the discussion. Of course, that’s not intended to be exclusive and anyone should feel free to focus on other quotes in the lesson, or debate why I happen to choose this one. And, if I skip over lessons that struck you as very important, let’s focus on those as well. In any event, I hope these are good conversation starters.
Steve
290. What Penance Does to Sin.
“Thus Saint Thomas gives two very strong reasons for his radically optimistic conclusion that there can be no sin that is unforgivable in this life: to say the contrary would deny free well and it would rank our sin greater than God‘s mercy.“
293. We Don’t Get Off Scot-free.
“Even repented sin still leaves its tracks, it’s affects, in the soul … These are effects too must be removed, and that is the purpose of the punishments or penance is that remain even after sin is forgiven .… We must freely cooperate with God‘s sanctifying grace in Purgatory, and we should “rehearse“ for those on earth by accepting the humblings and humiliations that come to us in this life.“ (Italics mine.)
[How are we to know that any given “humbling or humiliation” is divine punishment, as opposed to one of the vagaries of life? And how are we to know which sin we are being punished for?]
295. Exchange: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
“ When we row each other’s boats, when we feed each other, we accomplish more than when we work only for ourselves, precisely because it is done out of charity, which is most powerful to overcomes sins.“
299. Indulgences
“If you jettison any part of the divinely commissioned cargo, you claim the authority to jettison any other as well.“
This one struck me in a particular way. It reminded me of the passage in chapter 3 of Genesis in which, while tempting Eve, the serpent says that if she and Adam eat the fruit of the tree “you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.“
I relate that to a letter in the Wall Street Journal this week by a self proclaimed “Cafeteria Catholic“ who proudly stated that she had learned in Catholic Schools that “our conscience is our ultimate guide“. That is to say, if Cafeteria Catholics can jettison part of Catholic doctrine because their “conscience“ tells them that it’s not needed, then they claim the authority to jettison all the other parts as well, do they not?
302. The Essence of Matrimony
“Therefore matrimony is the first sacrament, the only natural as well as supernatural sacrament, the most important sacrament for society, and the completist reflection of the ‘image of God’.“
304. Heaven as a Real Place
“And if we demand more clarity about this “manner“ [that heaven is a manner of place], Saint Thomas replies that it is “a manner that cannot be fully manifest to us“. Naturally. Why would we expect an unborn baby to understand “what places“ mean after birth? All he knows is the womb, a single place with no edges or contrast. We are in a similar situation; only after death will we experience it, and only then be able to understand it.“
[This passage provided an insight to me that I had not thought of before. Imagining what heaven must be like as a “place“ always struck me as some thing deeply spiritual and subjective. However, I think Saint Thomas is telling us that heaven is an actual “place“ which we have no real hope of understanding based on our limited experience any more than a unborn baby can understand what life is like outside of the womb. He can only begin to understand that reality once he passes from the world. In our case, we will only be able to understand the reality of heaven after we pass from this life.]
307. Heaven Is Pure Good but Hell Is Not Pure Evil.
“A hater of God who is something of a lover of man on earth would not be punished severely as a hater of God who was not a lover of men at all.“
[Can it be that there is a hierarchy of punishment in hell? Or, as I understood it, do you all those in hell suffer eternal punishment in the same way?]
You can purchase the book at:
The Catholic Company - https://www.catholiccompany.com/practical-theology-350-ways-your-mind-can-help-you-become-a-saint-i79986/
or at Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Theology-Spiritual-Direction-Aquinas/dp/1586179683/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FJGW0G4LYK2X&dchild=1&keywords=practical+theology+peter+kreeft&qid=1610326011&sprefix=practical+theology+peter+%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1
Thanks again to Bill A for the great pancake breakfast to start our September meeting!
Thanks to Steve G for volunteering to facilitate our October meeting.
Thanks to Steve S for facilitating our September meeting!
Email lshadowen@aol.com to volunteer to facilitate a meeting!
