Pope Francis
Mar 14, 2013 3:08:11 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2013 3:08:11 GMT -5
Good morning to you all! 'The Times' leads today with some editorial comment on the Latin American Pope: Francis has an outstanding opportunity to re-establish the moral authority of the Church and encourage openness. Some 480 million of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide live in Latin America, 'The Times' thunders this morning. It is fitting, and it will advance the cause of the Church, that yesterday evening the College of Cardinals elected the first Latin American Pope. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, will call himself Pope Francis. He is also the first Jesuit to become Pope. At the age of 76, Pope Francis is not young and he has only one lung. But he has the demonstrable piety and force of personality to command respect in temporal matters as well as among the faithful.
I should perhaps state my position here plainly, Sydney Grew, for everyone reading The Third. I am a Protestant rather than a Catholic, a member of the Church of England which left the Roman Catholic Church under the reign of King Henry VIII during the Reformation. Martin Luther was right, and remains right. Nevertheless, I still believe in the holy catholic and apostolic church. I should therefore like to see the Church of England as part of the Church of Rome, and the Church of Rome is part of the universal Church of Jesus Christ. All Christians are, in religious terms, my brothers and my sisters. All Jews and Muslims are, in religious terms, my older and younger brothers and sisters respectively. We worship the same God. I pray for the universal brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God; I pray for the universal sisterhood of woman under the motherhood of God, too! All living things, in a profound sense, are my cousins, Gerard, however distant. In terms of DNA, for example, I am still about 60% banana! So are you! Today, let us therefore pray for Pope Francis here in The Third.
Wikiquote - Francis of Assisi - Canticle of the Sun
In medieval Umbria, a relatively wealthy young dandy called Francesco Bernadone once met a poor gentleman whose need seemed greater than his own, so he gave him his coat. That night, he had a dream that he should rebuild a celestial city, Neil McGowan, and he gave away his possessions so liberally that his father, a rich businessman, was moved to disown him. In reply, Francesco stripped completely.
The local bishop of Assisi gave him a coat, and Francesco went off to live in the woods. For eight hundred years, capitalism has continued to grow, and yet St Francis's belief that in order to free the spirit, we must shed all our earthly wealth is the belief that all great religious teachers, whether eastern or western, northern or southern, have shared. Of course, here in The Third, we live in a world of trade and of money, full of hard-headed businessmen like kleines c.
Yet economics is not a sum zero game, ahinton. The greatest practitioners of economics have always recognised the fragility of their own conclusions. The great philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, had a vision of the world as an absolutely unitary entity, any division of which was a mutilation. So does kleines c. We are all part of a greater whole. Spinoza was one of the great polymaths of Western civilisation. He tried to produce a total view of reality which embraced both mathematical science and God. What he did was to adopt a global picture of seventeenth century natural science. Then he recommended religious attitudes to the world so conceived.
Immanuel Kant picked up on Spinoza's vision, and arguably became the supreme system builder of modern philosophy. If we accept the principle of cause and effect, Kant thought that appearances can be deceptive. Perceiving subjects as such cannot but bring certain predispositions to bear, and only what fits in with those predispositions can be experienced. We see what our model of the world allows us to see, so to speak, Parva Porcus. As for the collapse of the global banking system, civilisation, life on earth and the universe, all this is inevitable, Sydney Grew. Even Albert Einstein would agree. In the meantime, however, let us have some fun. I propose some toast: to Pope Francis! Three cheers from kleines c and the gang (breakfast coffee)!
I should perhaps state my position here plainly, Sydney Grew, for everyone reading The Third. I am a Protestant rather than a Catholic, a member of the Church of England which left the Roman Catholic Church under the reign of King Henry VIII during the Reformation. Martin Luther was right, and remains right. Nevertheless, I still believe in the holy catholic and apostolic church. I should therefore like to see the Church of England as part of the Church of Rome, and the Church of Rome is part of the universal Church of Jesus Christ. All Christians are, in religious terms, my brothers and my sisters. All Jews and Muslims are, in religious terms, my older and younger brothers and sisters respectively. We worship the same God. I pray for the universal brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God; I pray for the universal sisterhood of woman under the motherhood of God, too! All living things, in a profound sense, are my cousins, Gerard, however distant. In terms of DNA, for example, I am still about 60% banana! So are you! Today, let us therefore pray for Pope Francis here in The Third.
"Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name. Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness. Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful. Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance. Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure. Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong. Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs. Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned. Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them. Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility. Amen."
Wikiquote - Francis of Assisi - Canticle of the Sun
In medieval Umbria, a relatively wealthy young dandy called Francesco Bernadone once met a poor gentleman whose need seemed greater than his own, so he gave him his coat. That night, he had a dream that he should rebuild a celestial city, Neil McGowan, and he gave away his possessions so liberally that his father, a rich businessman, was moved to disown him. In reply, Francesco stripped completely.
The local bishop of Assisi gave him a coat, and Francesco went off to live in the woods. For eight hundred years, capitalism has continued to grow, and yet St Francis's belief that in order to free the spirit, we must shed all our earthly wealth is the belief that all great religious teachers, whether eastern or western, northern or southern, have shared. Of course, here in The Third, we live in a world of trade and of money, full of hard-headed businessmen like kleines c.
Yet economics is not a sum zero game, ahinton. The greatest practitioners of economics have always recognised the fragility of their own conclusions. The great philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, had a vision of the world as an absolutely unitary entity, any division of which was a mutilation. So does kleines c. We are all part of a greater whole. Spinoza was one of the great polymaths of Western civilisation. He tried to produce a total view of reality which embraced both mathematical science and God. What he did was to adopt a global picture of seventeenth century natural science. Then he recommended religious attitudes to the world so conceived.
Immanuel Kant picked up on Spinoza's vision, and arguably became the supreme system builder of modern philosophy. If we accept the principle of cause and effect, Kant thought that appearances can be deceptive. Perceiving subjects as such cannot but bring certain predispositions to bear, and only what fits in with those predispositions can be experienced. We see what our model of the world allows us to see, so to speak, Parva Porcus. As for the collapse of the global banking system, civilisation, life on earth and the universe, all this is inevitable, Sydney Grew. Even Albert Einstein would agree. In the meantime, however, let us have some fun. I propose some toast: to Pope Francis! Three cheers from kleines c and the gang (breakfast coffee)!