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Showing posts from March, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The photo above is of me sitting on the grave of St. Patrick in the lovely city of Downpatrick, Northern Ireland. I don't know if C. S. Lewis ever visited Downpatrick but I imagine he did since it is in his beloved County Down. At any rate, Lewis did have this to say about asking for the prayers of the saints: "There is clearly a theological defence for it; if you can ask for the prayers of the living, why should you not ask for the prayers of the dead? There is clearly also a great danger. In some popular practice we see it leading off into an infinitely silly picture of Heaven as an earthly court where applicants will be wise to pull the right wires, discover the best 'channels,' and attach themselves to the most influential pressure groups. But I have nothing to do with all this. I am not thinking of adopting the practice myself; and who am I to judge the practices of others? I only hope there'll be no scheme for canonisations in the Church of England.

Forgiveness

I know, I know. It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog--six weeks or more! Mea culpa! Well, here is the next installment of discussion questions on Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis . These discussion questions are for chapter 9 on forgiveness: Where are you in terms of "preparing for forgiveness"? What do you think of the definition of forgiveness given in this chapter? Has theoretical belief in God's forgiveness of your sins become a reality for you? Explain. How are you doing at forgiving others? Do you find any of Lewis's suggestions helpful toward that end? What are your thoughts about confessing sins to a spiritual director? I look forward to reading your responses. . . .