Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

A look into the mind of one of the most random, crazy people in all the land.

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Location: East Peoria, Illinois, United States

A Lutheran seminarian eagerly awaiting the return of Our Lord. Soli Deo Gloria!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

First Council of Constantinople I


Old Testament: The First Book of the Kings 1-2
New Testament: The Holy Gospel According to St. John 15-18
Book of Concord: SD Art. 11 paragraphs 50-75
Small Catechism: The Holy Eucharist
Psalms: Morning - 73, 74
Evening - 75-77

The Orthodox Church in America seems to commemorate the holy fathers of the First Council of Constantinople today (as well as the martyr Bishop Basiliscus of Comana, St. John-Vladimir the Wonderworker, and others, including the icon of the Mother of God of Cyprus). The holy and ecumenical council included 150 bishops, all from the east.

The council's primary purpose was to defend the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father. Thus, the one homousion of God contained three hypostases. The longer third article of the Nicene Creed was added (thus the occassional name "Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed"), as well as the condemnation of Arianism (again) and Apollonarianism.

This council has some noteriety in that it declared seven canons of which three are slightly questioned. The biggest issue was the declaration of the Bishop of Constantinople having the pre-eminence of honour after the Bishop of Rome. Because of the nature of this council having only eastern bishops, it was slightly questioned as an ecumenical council until it was affirmed at the Council of Chalcedon.

"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen." - 3rd Article, Nicene Creed.

"Oh Heavenly King, O Comforter, Spirit of Truth who art in all places and fillest all things. Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life. Come and abide in us, and save our souls Gracious Lord."

"Holy Spirit, light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Chase the shades of night away,
Turn the darkness into day." - Holy Spirit, Light Divine v.1 LSB 496

Cat Cammando

The cat we found was actually about a year or so old according to dental characteristics. This is troubling because I would be willing to bet she wasn't even six pounds, and she looked the size of a kitten.

Good news: 1. She didn't have upper respitory disease.
2. We have adopted her and she was supposed to be spayed tonight. We have an appointment with the vet tomorrow when we pick her up.

Bad news: 1. Her eye could be either trauma (preferrable) and might very well have to come out. However, she could also have feline leukemia, which will lead in a very quick death.
2. A lump was on her mammary area, indicating a potential tumor. If the tumor is in the mammary gland, is malignant, and is far along, it will be fatal.

Please keep us in your prayers. When we saw her yesterday, she was quite composed and spent much of the time in my arms rubbing my neck and face and laying down as if to sleep, then kneading my shoulder and rolling around sniffing things.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

We Found a Stray, Injured Kitten

And she was skin and bones. She also has a very bad eye infection and will most likely not be able to see out of one eye. There is also a chance that it is actually a respitory disease, which would mean even the "no kill" shelters would euthenize her.

Pray for her and us. I really don't want to have her euthenized....if it is the respitory infection, maybe we could continue to keep her in the pet carrier in the garrage and give her antibiotics and food/love till she could recover. Pray it isn't that.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

LOL Cats!







The Formula of Concord and the Adoration of the Consecrated Eucharist

I've switched from the LSB daily lectionary to the "Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood" lectionary. Similarly, I have moved to using the Psalter from the "Reading the Psalms with Luther" book from CPH...quite a good price and a wonderful resource.
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 9-10
New Testament: The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke 9-12
Book of Concord: SD VIII Paragraphs 1-21
Small Catechism: Lord's Supper - The Sacrament of the Altar
Psalms for Wednesday of Pentecost: Morning - 25-27
Evening - 28-30

Yesterday, the daily lectionary from the LLPB website completed the five days of reading through article 7 in the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord. This article is addressing controversies and heresies with regard to the Lord's Supper. I found no real problem as I read the article, in fact finding several good points against the "Papists" and the view of transubstantiation which I was unaware of, or at least was unsure of.

However, when I reached paragraph 126, I had to do a double take. The paragraph condemned the adoration of the elements of the blessed bread and wine! Surely I had to be mis-reading the paragraph. Nope, it stayed the same...a big, "heck no" to that practice. It was then that it hit me...the adoration which both the Greek and Latin churches do after the Verba/Epiclesis is not thrown out, but understood against the Romanists. The paragraph is denouncing the adoration of the ELEMENTS....which, though blest, are still just bread and wine. What is adored after the consecration is Christ's body and blood "in, with, and under" the elements. Therefore, the adoration CAN be retained, just so long as those present realize it is not the bread and wine that is worshipped, but Christ Himself, present "in, with, and under" the elements, not according to the "first mode of presence," but the second (at least). The different modes of presence are covered in paragraphs 99-102 for those who are unsure of what I am referring to.

To adore the elements after consecration would be to confess that the substance of the bread and wine are destroyed and replaced with the body and blood of Christ. However, we do not adore the elements, which are the mode of transmission of Christ, but Christ Himself. This is perhaps why "impanation" is so condemned, for then one could worship the elements because Christ is actually "IN" the element. Thanks to the concept of Sacramental Union, what is to be adored is kept connected to what is not to be adored with regard to function/institution, but separated with regard to worship.

Brief news:
1. Done with classes at I.C.C. I now should receive an associates degree in philosophy...pastors who attended the Augustana Ministerium beware ;-)!
2. I move to "the Fort" (God-willing the financial details are ironed out by then) to begin Summer Greek....woot!
3. I had a good, long talk with McG about some theological and personal issues. I think I've been taking steps in the right direction to truly understand and appreciate the Orthodox view of theosis and the distinction between "essence" and "energy" of God. Though, I still had a question that was unable to be answered. Here goes: If Christ is God in essence and also man, and if man cannot witness the Divine Essence (not just "and survive" but simply not able to perceive it) because it is transcendant....was and is it ever possible for Jesus to perceive His own Divine Essence? I struggle to see how this question will be solved without drifting too far into Eutychianism or Nestorianism....but of course, I could be misunderstanding all points just mentioned ;-).
4. I'm going to try to post some of my papers, particularly the philosophy of religion ones and my ethics paper. The ethics paper I like, because I tackle a pro-choice favorite, and I think in only 6 pages I didn't do too bad of a job! The argument I will critique is Judith Jarvis Thompson's "violinist argument."
5. If anyone really knows a good source (or 10 LOL), I would like to look into several aspects of theology for personal interest:
A. Lutheran liturgy with regard to the evolution and removal of invocation of the saints and why certain hymns and aspects of worship seem to retain the practice ("Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones," the part of the Evening Prayer which says, "Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, let us commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ, our Lord," etc.).
B. Lutheran architecture and the relationship between American pietists and the decreased usage of statues, icons, vestments, and incense.
C. The debate within American Lutheranism over the role, function, and necessity of Bishops (in Apostolic Succession), Priests/Pastors, and Deacons/Deaconesses. Also, how this debate changed what was seemingly a necessity in the time of the Reformation with the current "business as usual" mode of ecclesiology. It seems odd to me that a male-led system of succession which is received by the church became a female-led system of the Bride of Christ choosing the icon of Christ Himself for a congregation.
D. The acceptance (and to what degree) of the ancient councils of the church. Do Lutherans accept the seventh and eighth ecumenical councils (the eighth being the one dealing with Photius). It seems odd to me that we accept the reasoning behind using icons/statues, yet deny this same reasoning with regard to invocation. Similarly, we don't talk of "free will" often, but then again, free will can mean different things...what did it mean in the context of the fifth ecumenical council?
E. The relationship between Lutherans and those in the Reformed tradition, particularly with regard to ecumenical dialogue surrounding the person of Christ and the Communication Idiomatum and the further relationship of Lutherans to Rome within this light. Is our current direction aimed at pleasing the Reformed or main-line Protestants (you know what I mean you Wittenberg Trail fans ;-D)?

I think this gives me enough to start with....and go to my grave not being able to finish two of those goals to my satisfaction. However, most overlap, and that's good....because I'm a "big picture" THEN "little details" guy. Even though a trained science student....I'm right brained.