Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 40
June 17, 2022
The Radical Message of Jesus Christ!
It seems fashionable, especially among those who seem to preach a utopian ideology, to claim Jesus was a “radical” that would agree with “us.” As someone whose lived a long life already, I can tell you I’ve witnessed radicals all claim Jesus was one of them. I watched as the socialists and the communists claimed Jesus was a socialist and a communist. I watched as the “Moral Majority” insisted Jesus was a…
The post The Radical Message of Jesus Christ! appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 16, 2022
Where Do Your Choices Come From?
It seems the backlash against political correctness has become stronger and stronger in our society. There is even a hashtag on Twitter that says #GoWokeGoBroke! Societies are always struggling to enshrine this or that ideology as “the best way” but, inevitably, the societal pendulum swings back the other way! Erick Erikson wrote a book a few years ago entitled “You WILL Be Made to Care.” In it, he rightly observes that the…
The post Where Do Your Choices Come From? appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 15, 2022
The WORK of Being In Communion
There seems to be a cottage industry that has developed in America surrounding the notion that modern life is lonely. It seems this sense of loneliness flows from the notion that we are to be “self-sufficient” and not “need” anybody to help us. We live in a society of radically autonomous people all insisting that their own immediate desire is the highest good and must be achieved! Of course, there is nothing…
The post The WORK of Being In Communion appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 14, 2022
The Difficult Summer Months
Dear Faith Encouraged Family, We are entering into the dreaded “summer months” for non-profits! It’s the time of year when budgets are stretched thin because of a variety of factors. But I don’t want to focus on what we don’t have! I want to first thank you for your faithful support during this year! Your faithful financial support means so much to us to pay for website fees, publishing design, email services,…
The post The Difficult Summer Months appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
The Beatitudes that Truly Heal
A dear priest friend of mine is on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and other holy sites in the area. Recently he and his fellow pilgrims came to the final resting place of Lazarus, the man the Lord raised from the dead. And that got me thinking about Lazarus and his miraculous healing and what followed. You see, Lazarus died a second time and we have his relics with us to this…
The post The Beatitudes that Truly Heal appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 13, 2022
A Dangerous Homily About God – Sunday’s Homily
On this Feast of Pentecost, we face a culture that has increased the power of shallowness and decreased the value of depth and maturity to the point where there is no sobriety, but only division and individual focus. This is absolutely opposed to how God created us. Because He created us in His Image and He knows Himself as Persons in Communion. And this is the only way you will know yourself.…
The post A Dangerous Homily About God – Sunday’s Homily appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
Love Takes Work!
I’ve heard this so many times: Why can’t I find love? What’s wrong with me? The expectations of some fairy tale notions wound us and wound our children. Add to that, the utter chaos in today’s society where love is reduced to mere feelings or, worse, just physical desire, and you have the perfect recipe for societal disaster! And that, dearest, is precisely the evil one’s intentions. Because the end result of…
The post Love Takes Work! appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 10, 2022
The Timeless Wisdom of God
The famous philosopher Aldus Huxley once wrote: “If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.” Huxley wrote “The Perennial Philosophy” in 1945 and suggested that the basic wisdom of authentic human reality is common to all religions. An interesting historical note, he died the same day as C.S. Lewis and President John F. Kennedy. There is a great little…
The post The Timeless Wisdom of God appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 9, 2022
Made Able to Ask Anything
“All you gotta do is rub that lamp!” “Mr. Aladdin, sir, what will your pleasure be. Let me take your order, jot it down. You ain’t never had a friend like me!” So sue me, I’m in an “Aladdin” kind of mood today! But seriously, isn’t it a wonderful fantasy to have your own personal “genie” to grant you wishes? To be able to “ask anything!” And yet, the old story of…
The post Made Able to Ask Anything appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
June 8, 2022
The Cosmic Power of Gratitude
“All is gift.” This phrase captures both the simple and profound message that embodies the mystery of living a Eucharistic life. You may ask “What does that mean?” And I understand. We moderns are far removed from a world where mystery and wonder and story dominated our human society. And we are impoverished by this reduction of true mystery in our lives. Although, I will say that our modern world is slowly…
The post The Cosmic Power of Gratitude appeared first on Faith Encouraged.
