Sunday, April 02, 2006
TODAY'S HOMILY
was about death and the moment of change that it brings to those of us who must go on without the one who has died. Father said that each time we experience the loss that death brings, and even each time that we experience a significant change in our lives, we should identify our feelings with Christ crucified.
Without the cross there could have been no resurrection. Without loss we cannot have the good things that come about because of the changes loss brings. The secret is to dedicate our lives and our will to Christ rather than to our own desires.
As I was listening to this homily, I couldn't help but think about the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff believed that we must come to remember ourselves at every possible moment of every day. His followers still teach that. Gurdjieff wanted his followers to be completely centered on themselves. So did Aleister Crowley, who taught "Do what thou wilt."
The two systems are polar opposites. On the one hand are those who surrender to the will of God. On the other are those who grasp at power and self-actualization. On one hand is the worship of Christ crucified. On the other is the worship of the self. The contrast couldn't be more obvious, and that contrast is reflected in Catholic cosmology by God and the good angels and the saints on one side and Lucifer and the fallen angels on the other.
It's rather awesome to see the truth of Scripture exhibited so plainly on the current religious landscape.
