Well, it's been a hell of a ride, laying rubber all over the road for the past decade. But it's time to call it a day and park the Rogue in the garage. Effective today, I am shutting down my blog to focus my attention on other endeavours. My thanks to the more than 2.7 million people who regularly joined me on these sojourns through news stories over the years that dealt with the places with issues of religion and faith intersecting with public affairs. May God bless you with a continuing desire to learn about and help disseminate the issues of faith throughout the public square. Happy trails in your continuing travels! Fr. Tim Moyle, p.p. Diocese of Pembroke
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.
*sigh* Hands up everyone who thinks Easter is original with Christianity. And keep your hands up if you think it's exclusively Christian.
ReplyDeleteBut the protesters have a point...things are getting way out of hand with graphic depictions of violence, "intended" to grab adults' attention, but managing only to turn adults off in disgust and scare children into nightmares. Do the perpetrators of this scenario think that children can tell the difference between what they see and what is real?
And to answer the question with which I opened...and which was raised by the archbishop...yes, in a way it is the celebration of the birth of the Easter Bunny. It's all in the perspective. And culture.
As a Christian, I understand the portrayal of the Crucifixion. If you present the Crucifixion to a group of Christians, the response is probably different. If people chose to see a movie of the death of Jesus, then they are presumed to be aware of what will happen.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where Christianity has lost its focus for so many, the Crucifixion is not a good place to start evangelizing, IMHO.
I'm not thinking that was the wisest use of time and space.
That people are celebrating the birth of the Easter bunny, rather than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is telling. It means that our society in general is believing that the Easter bunny is as real as Jesus Christ.
For those who know the love of Jesus Christ to be real, and feel it in their hearts, we should be disappointed in ourselves that we have not been able to share that love with our brothers and sisters in this world.
I bet that I can invite more people into a relationship with Our Saviour by loving them where they are at, accepting them, and caring about their needs, than I can scripture whipping them, including graphically throwing the Crucifixion scriptures in their faces.
Just my opinion.
"It means that our society in general is believing that the Easter bunny is as real as Jesus Christ."
ReplyDeleteAnd so it is. Although most people are not familiar with the story, it's still as valid as any other story.