Fr. Kenneth Allen
In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God
and God was the word.
He was in the beginning
with God.
All things came to be
through him,
and without him
nothing came to be.
In him was life,
and life was the light
of human beings;
And the light shines
in the darkness,
and the darkness
has not overcome it.
In Agua Callientes
Sunday, January 30, 2005
No, I'm not in hot water, I'm waiting for a train in Agua Callientes after touring Machu Pichu again. Last time I had hiked the trial, oh, I mean the trail, but this time just rode up on a bus with a guide who explained so many things so remarkably well. It was a most fascinating time, and of course, a beautiful place.
I remember last time when I was so terrified of falling off ther trail up to the top of Huayna Pichu, and this time I had no fears whatsoever. I was just more out of breath since my exercise regimen has been rather slack. Ahem.
Well now I'm inspired! I need a completely different training regimen. One which actually involves exercising! Just kidding... different exercises.
Well the train has arrived....mas tarde!
Verano en Per�
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
It�s summertime here in Per�, and I�ve already grown fond of saying, "This is summer?" It�s hot because the sun is strong, but it's rather mild in the evening. It�s absolutely wonderful getting back to Chimbote again. Everything has changed so much!
But the poverty and all of the misery still abounds in so many areas, it�s difficult to take it all in at once. I hope to return again when I can stay a bit longer than three days.
Also, I am moving this site back to it's original locatoion, if anyone�s interested. More on that later, some work to be done there is...
A New Mass Translation?
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
A New Translation of the Mass has been rumored for a time now (and the Office of Worship told me not to worry about it until after I was ordained, which I now am,)and Cantica Nova has a copy on their site.
Wondering I am, if we will use it.
Know Islam
Friday, January 14, 2005
Evening linx include: IntreText
Daring Fatwa Poetess
Know Islam is a community of people who have voluntarily left Islam.
Balking.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Circumcision has been forced on hundreds of Christians,...
...including children and pregnant women, in a campaign by extremists to spread Islam through the war-ravaged Maluku islands.
Victims have told the Herald of multiple cuttings with the same knives and razors that caused many to suffer infections.
In the biggest city in the islands, Ambon, church and other groups have gathered evidence that 3,928 villagers on at least six islands have been forced to convert to Islam under the threat of death, torture or destruction of their homes.
They believe that local Muslim clerics, possibly under duress from extremists, circumcised almost all the converts.
Another example of peaceful Islam, spreading peace and joy in the world.
Catholics Against Circumcision
Just when you are extremely tired and don't know what to think about anything, you come across e-mails expounding upon things such as Catholics Against Circumcision. What do you think about that?
The Baptism of the Lord
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Isaiah fortells: "A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench."
Jesus the Christ came to heal sinners, to save those who are downtrodden and outcast, those who hurt, those who mourn, those who are human. We are the buised reeds, we are the wicks whose light was blown out.
Peter, in this reading from Acts of the Apostles, says that Jesus went about "healing all those opressed by the devil."
He doesn't say heal the sick or the infirm. He says, "healing all those oppressed by the devil." This is why we need to keep our focus on Jesus Christ; the very real person of Jesus Christ who truly wants us to reach out to him.
We read in the book of Genesis how man and woman were created, in the image abnd likeness of God, with dominion over all of creation. Then of course we immediately read of their disastrous fall from knowledge of, from intimate union with, God.
Then in the book of Wisdom, Chapter 2, we read that: "God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his posession experience it."
St. Hillary refers to this loss of our original state in his Treatise against Heresies, like this: he says that the world was "overtaken by a band of brigands."
So.. God created a beautiful shining kingdom, and it was gradually overtaken and revamped by those not of God. And somewhere along the way, human kind lost it's shining lustre, lost its understanding of, and intimate relationship with, God the Creator. Peter puts it very well, we were oppressed by the devil.
Many people have asked over the last two weeks, about the tsunamis in Asia, 'How can a loving God allow this to happen?' I really had to take that to prayer, and what I came to understand was the message of the animals. Many workers said that they were not finding the bodies of any animals, because the animals knew to get out of the way. The animals knew what was coming, and were able to get to safety. We, who were created to have dominion over all of the animals, and over all of creation, have become so out of touch with our own nature, and with nature itself, that the animals are smarter than we are! [This reminded me so much of the story of Bala'am and the donkey that I really wanted to tell it, but did not.]
In the Letter to the Ephesians we read: "our struggle is not with but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens." (Eph 6:12)
This is why we must be 'transformed by the renewal of our mind.' We read in the Letter to the Romans: "Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is pleasing and perfect." Rom 12:2.
Then, trusting and going to the Lord, as we read in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, that "All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Cor 3:18.
To truly grow in peacefulness, to truly partake in the richness of God's creation, we need to allow our minds to be renewed by Christ; we need to relive our baptism and our annointing with the Holy Spirit, and have a truly personal relationship with our Creator.
As Jesus stood and let the glory of the Father shine upon him, and transorm him into even greater glory, so are we invited to simply allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine upon us, and to transform us.
Sr. Briege McKenna, who is known worldwide for the many miraculous healings which Jesus works through her, says of prayer, (and specifically of Eucharistic Adoration, which is her preferred prayer. She does three hours a day, but readily acknowledges that not everyone has the time and place for that.) She shares that at one point that initially she did not know what to do in prayer. Then she: "got an image of a person going out of his house and sitting in the sun. As he sat in the sun, he didn't do a thing, but he started to change color. People who saw him knew he had been in the sun, because his skin showed it. The man knew it too, because he felt the effects of the sun: the warmth and the light."
"She heard Jesus saying to her: 'So it is when you come into my presence. You will experience the effects of your time spent with me. People will see it in your actions.'
But it points out the simplicity with which we can set aside a time and place to specifically allow the person of Jesus Christ to work in our lives, and to develop a very real relationship with Him, with Mary, with all the saints, who are our spiritual friends and who want to help us.
A time of great spiritual renewal is upon us. While it may seem a time of upheaval, it is truly a time of blessing and purification, and the way to meet these times is by casting aside all fear and truly coming to live in the presence of the Lord.
As our minds and hearts continue to be transformed by Christ, let us spend more time with Him, and reflect on His very real presence as we take Him in the Eucharist, and allow him to transform us, so that we too may stand and let the Glory of God shine forth, as he did at his baptism in the Jordan River so many years ago.