Tag: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

70th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

BonhoefferToday, is the 70th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb. 4, 1906-April 9, 1945). This Polish born Lutheran pastor was hanged for his adherence to Jesus Christ by the Nazi party.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:  God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

A recent biography by Charles Marsh, Strange Glory, is, by many reports, a fine introduction to this Christian witness.

Pastor Bonhoeffer’s witness urge me to be a more prophetic disciples of the Lord. May we ask for the grace to be convicted because of our very ALIVE Christianity!

There’s no cheap grace in following Christ & the Church

The 40 days of Lent is leading to a dramatic climax in our
liturgical imagination: the prayer, fasting, almsgiving is pointing us directly
to what we’ve been promised and hoped for–salvation. These days of Lent offered
us an entrée into the Divine Mystery and yet I fear that a great many people,
including myself–may not have heard Jesus’ prophetic rebuke of the Pharisees
and others for their errors and for their self-righteousness and have missed
the essential purpose of our Lord’s sharp words. Certainly hearing Peter deny
Christ three times indicates that same tendency in us to stand back from that
which is life-giving. In the Scriptures we heard at Mass and in the Divine
Office we hear the Lord not condemning the people for love of God’s Law but
calling them to follow him more closely and in doing so enter more deeply into
the spirit of the Law. Christ makes it clear that living in the Kingdom of God
requires us to be sacrificial: to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.
Here is the certainty we have: to follow Christ entails self-denial and the
acceptance of his cross as ours. No embrace of the cross, no life eternal.

Continue reading There’s no cheap grace in following Christ & the Church