Lay Evangelist
Till Christ Be Formed in Every Heart
BG-1.jpg

Blog

FOR PROPHETS AND APOSTLES

mission and confidence

The message of Christianity is one of self-distrust. You cannot do it on your own. We hate hearing this because we feel like it denies or limits our power. "I have the power" we say to ourselves, "I'm confident I can do this, build this, become this." Jesus doesn't think so.

Confidence is a compound word meaning With Faith, to have faith in one's own ability to accomplish, to succeed. The gospel tells us to stop having confidence in ourselves. We cannot accomplish. We cannot succeed. Apart from Christ, "you can do nothing."

I said this is a part of the gospel message, which means that it is supposed to be "Good News". How is this good news? Are not the greatest and most powerful among us men and women who had confidence in themselves, who excelled in their abilities?

Read More
Church Life, SpiritualityMichael GormleyMission, activism, self-distrust, work
In the Beginning...

“In the beginning” life was different. It was meant to be different: better, holy, beautiful. It was not meant to be a disaster, a series of dramas, scandals, and sins, of hurt, use and abuse; of weakness, sickness, sorrow and death. That was not the original plan.

The creation story in Genesis 1 and 2 is meant to reveal how that original plan was supposed to go and how much our Father loves us. See, when we look at the rest of creation, we see things that, just by existing, given Him glory. Mice, just by being mousy, give glory to God. Dogs, cats, termites, just by being themselves, offer to God all that He created them to offer.

But for humanity, He wanted to give us more, and in return wanted more from us. God created us for love, for us to share in His love by sharing in His freedom. He gave us the ability to choose to love Him, to serve Him, because if love is forced or coerced, it is not love.

For love to be real, it must be free.

Read More
Scripture, TheologyMichael GormleyAdam and Eve, Sin
Subverting Moralizing Laws with the Natural Law

The natural law cannot and ought not be, in every instance, enforced by human laws. That is to say, human laws are a moral guide, but are not sufficient to make men moral.

Indeed, the lawgiver who wants to make other men saints by criminalizing all sin is actually stepping outside his authority over the community and is overreaching, according to Aquinas' understanding of the natural law. There are for Aquinas many things that are sinful and destructive, but which still ought not to be prohibited by human legislators. Such things, though evil, ought to be tolerated within society. Criminalizing such things causes reprocussions even more disasterous than the evil itself.

This struck me deeply.

Read More
Morality, PoliticalMichael GormleyAquinas, human laws, natural law
New Podcast series

Veni, Sancte Spiritu! Come, Holy Spirit! 

This is the theme for Life Teen, Inc., and thus for all their Summer Camps. Last week I was priviledged to host a whole week, delivering the HS as best as I could. The fine folks at the camp (looking at you, J.P.) recorded many of my talks and turned 'em into mp3 files so that I could share with you all through my podcast just what I have been up to.

The first one is the opening talk of the week, so there is a lot of invitations being extended to people who may not want or be ready for a relationship with the living God. We go easy on them because we don't want to push people away right off the bat. Faith is a big deal. We ought not to assume that everyone is open and ready to "go deeper" or "lean in" to it.

Read More
Catechesis, Church LifeMichael GormleyCovecrest, Holy Spirit, Talks