tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903753219690060538.post2486708803067514476..comments2023-08-10T05:33:53.647-05:00Comments on The Specious Pedestrian: Friday after Ash WednesdayFr. Dominic Holtz, O.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17434607164801449682noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903753219690060538.post-6026923144689086802009-03-04T20:26:00.000-06:002009-03-04T20:26:00.000-06:00An interesting question. Certainly Jesus' words he...An interesting question. Certainly Jesus' words here do not amount to a command (i.e. he did not say "Make sure always to have the poor with you.") So, eliminating poverty is a laudable and proper goal. Of course, even in the absence of poverty as such, there will still be people in need, so we should have no fear of the loss of the occasions for some kind of almsgiving.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps the deeper worry about a secular utopia would be that, at the expense of things far more important, we would seek to create a place where there is no physical need unmet. In some sense, this is the dilemma of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". Huxley was by no means a Christian, but he did see the way that the desire for comfort and peace might lead to a society in which the more spiritual goods, which themselves produce a certain degree of loss and pain, might be systematically eliminated.<BR/><BR/>So, while we should most certainly seek to eliminate poverty as we are able, we are right to worry about what price we are asked to pay in order to do so.Fr. Dominic Holtz, O.P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17434607164801449682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903753219690060538.post-57597837484511421702009-03-04T17:06:00.000-06:002009-03-04T17:06:00.000-06:00I have a certain fear that I associate with the su...I have a certain fear that I associate with the subordinating of fasting to almsgiving.<BR/><BR/>When the costly jar of spikenard was broken, the Lord said, "The poor you have with you always."<BR/><BR/>But our secular leaders have undertaken the elimination of poverty in the name of humanism. Is it a matter of faith that they are doomed to fail, or is it possible that by the year 3000, they will have eliminated physical and psychological suffering as we know it?<BR/><BR/>This may seem a silly question to ask in the light of our current economic crisis. But suppose the economy had just continued to get better ... and better and better.<BR/><BR/>In the absence of anyone who needs our almsgiving, will we still recognize a need for fasting and prayer? Would a secular utopia sound the death knell for our spirituality?Mike Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02805680754872799992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903753219690060538.post-50573285719322682712009-03-02T11:03:00.000-06:002009-03-02T11:03:00.000-06:00Dear Heather,I am glad that the homily was helpful...Dear Heather,<BR/><BR/>I am glad that the homily was helpful. Whatever stance we have taken on choosing to eat (or not to eat) meat in our lives, we should never be unaware of the moral and spiritual implications of the table. The Gospel is indeed not about food or drink, but that does not absolve us from being attentive to how our eating and drinking impacts both ourselves and our neighbor.<BR/><BR/>Pax tecum,<BR/>Dominic Holtz, O.P.Fr. Dominic Holtz, O.P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17434607164801449682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7903753219690060538.post-73431931591842441242009-03-01T16:27:00.000-06:002009-03-01T16:27:00.000-06:00Thank you for this homily. I shall recall it when...Thank you for this homily. I shall recall it whenever I am tempted to give up fasting/abstinence from meat. It's easy to forget where our food comes from, and to take it for granted.<BR/><BR/>God be with you,<BR/>HeatherHeather Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00885565314956012423noreply@blogger.com