Holy Scripture with a Twist - an introduction

I grew up Catholic. When it came time to read the bible I knew two things: how to spell it and knew there were two sections… being the Old and New Testaments. I think I knew there were four Gospels, but that’s about it. This should not be a surprise to many non-Catholics.   

 

However, as I grew in my faith I realized how important scripture was. St. Jerome said it best, “Ignorance of scripture, is ignorance of Christ.” Oh, so true. My favorite books are Jeremiah, Daniel, Proverbs, 1Kings, the 4 gospels (especially John), Acts, James, and the letters of John. I’ve read the New Testament 3 times and a good bit of the Old Testament. (Those historic books are something else, as in, difficult, for me, to comprehend.) 

What prompted me to read scripture was an, miraculous for me, incident in 2012 that caused me concern regarding my faith in Jesus. (That is a post for another time as it takes quite a few words to tell.) I came to the quick summation that Faith is either on or off. I learned, if I doubted God at all, my faith was off. One cannot quantify Faith. This virtue, just like Hope and Charity, require 100% focus, or we're simply not following Christ. One may disagree, several have, but it's the truth. Paul is pretty specific in his first letter to the Corinthians.

 

In addition, I read a lot of Christian, albeit, mostly Catholic books. But the one book that stands out as the one book I would keep, if only allowed to keep one, is Thomas Kempis’ “Imitation of Christ.” Have you heard of Thomas? He was a remarkable man. This will be the emphasis of my posts.

Some facts to support my claim: 

• The book was written anonymously in Latin in the Netherlands c. 1418–1427and Thomas à Kempis is generally accepted as the author. Several sources of authority, including members of his own order, name Kempis as the author, and various contemporary manuscripts, including one autograph codex, bear his name
• Sir Thomas More, England's famous lord chancellor under Henry VIII (and subject of the film A Man for All Seasons) said it was one of the three books everybody ought to own. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, read a chapter a day from it and regularly gave away copies as gifts. Methodist founder John Wesley said it was the best summary of the Christian life he had ever read.
• Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises in writing and in copying manuscripts. He copied the Bible no fewer than four times, one of the copies being preserved at Darmstadt, Germany, in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read and his works abound with biblical quotations, especially from the New Testament.
• Saint Augustine viewed the imitation of Christ as the fundamental purpose of Christian life, and as a remedy for the imitation of the sins of Adam. Saint Francis of Assisi believed in the physical as well as the spiritual imitation of Christ, and advocated a path of poverty and preaching like Jesus who was poor at birth in the manger and died naked on the cross. The theme of imitation of Christ existed in all phases of Byzantine theology, and in the 14th-century book Life in Christ Nicholas Cabasilas viewed "living one's own personal life" in Christ as the fundamental Christian virtue.
• Thomas himself entered Mount St. Agnes in 1406. He was not ordained a priest, however, until almost a decade later. He became a prolific copyist and writer. Thomas received Holy Orders in 1413 and was made sub-prior of the monastery in 1429

Impressive, yes? However, his writing is unique in the way he writes with humility. From the first page, I was hooked. This book has helped me in ways that even my family doesn't understand.

You see, there was a time in my life where I was vain. Vanity is indirectly related to humility as it leads to sin, most likely produced with pride. I had picked up "Imitation of Christ" a few years ago. I loved it. But I never went back to it. So, after recovering from a nasty back surgery in October, 2022, I picked it back up and found myself noting the daylights out of it. I recently completed it, but what now? How do I, effectively, deliver the message of the book to others? 

Just this past week I was invited by Joanne to provide content to her blog. I sincerely thank her as she provided the vehicle I was looking for. I hope that the content I provide will do nothing but help readers change their lives. I have learned, nothing on this earth keeps you happy. It might make one happy, but it's short term. Only Jesus can keep us happy and that is through His mercy. Therefore we all need to be merciful in His ways, by following Him and imitating Him.

Lastly, you may have noticed the title of this blog... Catholic Hardball. In the spirit of our Lord, I am tough on Catholics. I spent years studying the Catholic Church. I had parents who couldn't answer my what and why questions. My conclusion? The Catholic Church is the One True Church. Even Google gets it. When challenged all I do is ask them to Google "who founded the Catholic Church". Of course, Jesus Christ. My wisdom told me, if the ONLY infallible man who has ever walked this earth founded a church. that is the one I want to be a part of. Every other faith is founded by fallible men.

Most importantly, I explain things, with conviction that even some Catholics have issues with, like:

• Why confession to a priest?
• Is Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist?
• Is there a purgatory?
• How important is the Blessed Virgin Mary?
• Why do we pray to dead people (saints - which are in fact very much alive)?

I will admit, Mother Church is having a heck of a time. I obey Pope Francis the best I can, but find some things he says confusing. Other clergy, that are clearly in violation of canon law and border on heresy allow me to pray as hard for them as I can. We all should. I won't name names, but I have challenged them directly in a charitable way. And that's how Kempis would like for us to approach these things.

The next post will be the about the sin of vanity and the holiness of humility. Of course, according to Thomas Kempis.

God Bless you!!