conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

sermon mumblings

He who labours as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.
— St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Today for some of the church is the feast day of St Bernard of Clairvaux. I have been paging through a book by Merton on Bernard's life. Merton calls him "the last of the church fathers." It's an interesting honor. I find Bernard to be a bit of a mixture for me...but then that's what makes him such an interesting human being. He wrote treatises on Love and God and also orchestrated a Crusade that fell apart because of the political infighting between princes and abbots and bishops. It was more than just a little mess, really. Here's another interesting quotation: "The Christian glories in the death of a pagan, because thereby Christ himself is glorified"

He was a famed preacher...known to get people fired up for things like Crusades. The very troubling quotation above is a great example of his rhetoric. Performer of miracles...inciter of violence and crafter of Crusades. Holy cow but was this guy a mess.

So, Peter is in the scripture assigned for Sunday. "Who do people say that I am?" asks Jesus. Peter has an answer. Doesn't he always? "You are the Messiah!" Good on Pete. Truly. He, too was a mess, a complicated mess of a man who was put in charge (given the keys) some say of the whole kit and kaboodle known as The Church. Somewhere in here is a sermon. I just know it.

Posted by tripp at August 20, 2008 04:10 PM