Maronite Meditations

The Christian search for oneness with God is, I believe, at the basis of all which St Ignatius wrote, for what is ONE in heaven, is MANY in this world; but the many do not have to be utterly separated from God. Rather, they can be brought into relation through a hierarchy, a holy rule or state of being. This is where the unity of the Church and its hierarchy comes in: the Church, bishops, priests...

We examine, in a general manner, the seven epistles of St Ignatius of Antioch. These remarkable testaments to the faith were written within 80 to 90 years from the death of the Lord. The last of the apostles, St John, had probably died, but there were people still living who had known them. These letters hit us with the impact of a powerful and sincere faith.

It was Antioch where we were first called "Christians." Prior to this, we had been known as followers of "The Way of God" and "The Way of the Lord," showing Jesus (the Lord) was understood as God. Why? What can we draw from this? Finally, we note the critical of St Peter in ancient Antiochian tradition, and the little-known saying that while Christ Himself baptised Pe...

In this, our first podcast on Maronite History, we look at the city of Antioch, and why it was so central to the first Christian missionaries.

We complete our review of "Loss and Gain," noting the brilliance and fairness of St Newman's arguments for an against conversion, the poignancy of leaving Oxford, becoming a stranger where he had hoped to find a home, and losing the friends of his childhood and youth. We close with a summary of the greatness of this wonderful saint.

We examine St Newman's treatment of how a soul moves, slowly but surely, from one state of belief to another which is different and more satisfying. We open with his discussion of how scents and sounds affect our actions without any logic or argument, and what this means for the way we move from one faith to another. It closes with an exposition of how worship necessarily implies certain ideas...

We begin studying the story of Loss and Gain. We see how it begins by making some insightful observations on how people develop in character and in spirit. We follow Charles Reding through childhood to Oxford, and meet the various personalities who present him with a range of current ideas; all of which leave Charles unsatisfied.

We present an overview of St J.H. Newman's first novel, "Loss and Gain," 1848. We see how Charles Reding, a young man with a desire to live life consciously in the presence of God, moves - in both mind and heart - to Catholicism, and the peace he thereby finds. This under-appreciated novel anticipates the later deep ideas on belief and its development in an individual.

It might seem at first sight paradoxical that The Tamworth Reading Room is itself a logical argument. Logic can be quite useful in showing the weakness of arguments, and where they cannot look to philosophy for vindication. But St Newman never said that logic had no legitimate place, no critical role. What he said was that it does, but then, so too does faith, and the one should not usurp the role...

In this section look at The Tamworth Reading Room, we see how St J.H. Newman explains that faith is the basis of action, and is more fundamental even than knowledge (to the extent that knowledge does not fall within faith). It is faith, not secular knowledge, which we need.

In the first part of our analysis of St JHN's "Tamworth Reading Room," we see what he says about the need for something higher than science and intellectual knowledge to bring order to the internal chaos of man, and to teach virtue. True moral achievement comes from active self-conquest, not passively learning things, no matter how "scientific."

St John Henry Newman not only selects some powerful teachings from St Ignatius' epistles, but he also shows us how to think about reading the Fathers and about religion in general. His attention to method is absolutely necessary for us today.

We now consider St J.H. Newman's concise but powerful "Short Road to Perfection" from his Meditations and devotional writings.

We begin a study of the life and work of St John Henry Newman with what was perhaps his major poetical achievement, The Dream of Gerontius, a lengthy poem concerning the passing from this world into thenext. It is called a "Dream" but it is in fact an imaginative, almost prophetic glimpse of eternity. We then meditate upon its theme. (N.B. The Apologia was published in 1864 and the Dream...

We end our study of the Book of Ecclesiasticus with some wise words about speech, and the great section commencing: “Let us now praise famous men.” Finally, we meditate in lectio divina upon the farewell prayer of Jesus be Sira, the author of the book.

We see how the super-meaning of the Book of Ecclesiasticus is that whatever we do, we should remember why we are living and what we hope for at death. With that, everything in this sprawling book finds it place. Once more, we end with further study of lectio divina .

We study the proverbs in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, and see how they are concerned to teach virtuous self-control. We also examine the value of proverbs as a spiritual genre, and continue our research of the practice of lectio divina

We begin our study of the Book of Ecclesiasticus with some words about its date and authorship, and placing it in relation to other Wisdom books. We then begin to see how it develops the Wisdom tradition. We touch on its teaching about patience, and end with some lectio divina .

15 September is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. ŠubHō la.bō wal.brō wal.rou. Hō d.qoud.šō; men hō.šō wa3.da.mō l.3o.lam 3ōl.meen AmeenGlory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit from now, and unto the age of ages. Amen. Why do we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows? The only reason can be because it assists us on the path of salvation, that is, that by meditating upon th...

We complete our study of the Book of Wisdom, examining theprayer of Solomon, and the super-meaning that God is the Lord of human history. We close with more lectio divina , exploring how it can transfer an idea from our head into our feeling.

We delve more deeply into the concept of Wisdom in the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, and explore how it not only anticipates the Incarnation of Christ, but also theDescent of the Holy Spirit. We return to lectio divina, considering not only the first stage, reading; but also the second, meditation.

We introduce the Book of Wisdom, also known as The Wisdom of Solomon. We read the first chapters with their sublime teaching on the world being filled with the Spirit of God, which means that divine justice pervades the entire universe, in both space and in time, so that justice is worked out over eternity, and not in front of our very noses, as we say. At the end of this talk, we begin to study l...

We reach the furthest point of interpretation: Job is both an antetype of Christ who suffers and is raised fromthe dead after terrible sufferings, and of the ordinary person,. It is thus a symbol of the possible unity of God and man in and through the mystery of Christ.

We continue our study of the Book of Job, and ask, why does God not immediately punish evil deeds and reward good ones?

In this episode we examine the Book of Job, taking a bird's-eye view of the message of the entire book.