Hello, Everyone
Catholic Carnival hosts usually look for a theme among the posts suggested for each week’s carnival. For Catholic Carnival 41, I found several around the question of discernment of my own and societal attitudes. For me this is a critical question. As we do our morning prayers and evening review (aka an examination of conscience) we look for the “next right thing” to do. (If we focus on that, we won’t waste time worrying over the thing after the next one.( Mt. 6:30 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.) I often look to the complete version of the Serenity Prayer for guidance.
This week’s Carnival submissions challenged me to look at my own and society’s attitudes in discerning the “next right thing”
Donna, at gives us a selection from Newman’s Sermons on hypocrisy. I was struck by Newman’s contention that hypocrites are not just lying to others, they are usually hiding the truth from themselves. This is a call to prayer and asking God that we not be unconsciously selfish as we seek to learn God’s will for us and the power to carry it out.
Mitchell Hadley looks at authority From the workplace to the athletic field, from prostitution to abortion, many of society's problems revolve around the use and abuse of authority. Those in positions of power must understand that their authority comes from God, and they are ultimately answerable to Him for the ways in which they exercise it. This is an important aspect of one my favorite topics: the ten disciplines of workplace spirituality. The Hadley’s and I may have many interests in common.
Christine, that Rambling GOP Soccer Mom, reflects on the Sabbath rest. She gives some scriptural and Catechetical background and the benefits of the Sabbath rest. I would add, there are not just benefits. Rest and reflection protect us against becoming self-deceiving hypocrites and help us in discerning the next right thing.
As we all reflect on Hurricane Katrina and it’s consequent death and destruction, Penitens offers us They Didn’t Make it: Reflections on death, on life, on God’s comfort, and on God’s challenge.
Steve J.looks at Martin Sheen’s politicizing the Rosary at Camp Casey. Martin Sheen leads the people at Camp Casey through a recitation of the Rosary, but instead of meditating on the Mysteries, they read out the names of dead soldiers with each Hail Mary. The Rosary is supposed to be meditative exercise. It is not supposed to provide the rhythm for an angry political anti-war rap. Martin Sheen should not be subverting the forms of his faith to the functions of his politics.
While it is not my position to judge Martin Sheen’s conscience, I wonder if he might benefit from reading Newman’s essay on hypocrisy as well as Steve's exposition on the proper prayer of the Rosary. Again a question aids to discernment.
Kevin, at Heart Mind and Strength offers the Stumbling Block. Like us, Peter had is own problems with self deception and failed to discern the right thing to do. Keven offers us some suggestions for countering this.
Sometimes discernment in the working world has to do with the day to day – but important – questions of respect for our coworkers, customers and acquaintances. (See Mitchell Hadley, above). On other occasions we confront crucial moral issues. Cehweidel takes on the question of Pharmacists as Conscientious Objectors “A recent post by Amy Wellborn about a rider in an appropriations bill meant to gut the Weldon Amendment sent me poking around the Internet, where I found an issue brief on the website for NARAL Pro-Choice America. After reading it, I decided that a whole lotta prayer is needed, and vigilance. My post is part of the vigilance.”
In a related post, John Bambenek looks at legislation that would force doctors and hospitals to perform abortions. Look at Abortion Advocates Fight Against Choice for his comments.
Rob titles his entry Wow. It is about orientation week at Franciscan University of Steubenville. If ever there were a time when young people needed the gift of discernment, this is it.
Last, we get some tips on blogging and internet with Sharing and Reading Catholic News via RSS. This is good advice. Learning to use these tools is definitely among the right things that I need to be doing – but not next. One of the disciplines of spirituality of work concerns improving our own skills.
I’m not adding a post of my own today. In the next few days I hope to do some comments to my previous series of postings on the religious freedom at the Air Force Academy. This is back in the news, but I need to do a little research before I opine.
Thanks, its been interesting. At least for this morning I knew that the next right thing was to get the 41st Catholic Carnival on-line
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