Tag Archives: Religion

Ep12 Interpreting the Bible

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Father Len describes the challenges of accurately interpreting the Bible and reveals what it takes to understand its full meaning.

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Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

  • Three levels of interpretation are essential to accurately interpreting the Bible: literal, symbolic, and contemplative.
  • Complete understanding of the Bible is impossible if you just interpret it literally because 50% of the Bible is poetry and it contains many allegories and parables. The full meaning of poetry, allegories, and parables is obscured or lost in strict literal interpretation.
  • Jesus teaches in parables because he wants us to think about the meaning of what he’s teaching.
  • Atheists love to interpret the Bible literally so they can mock it.
  • The New Testament was originally written in Greek which is more sophisticated than English. There are words in Greek that can only be interpreted literally. Like when Jesus says about the Eucharist, “you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. Do this in memory of me.”
  • Father Len reveals symbols contained in the gospel where Saint Peter walks on water to demonstrate how symbolic interpretation of the Bible is essential to understanding its full meaning.
  • Father Len explains the symbols present in the story of the prophet Elijah’s experience with God on Mount Horeb and how they reveal what is possible when we’re able to hear God in silence and how our knowledge of God grows over time.
  • Father Len demonstrates how knowledge of context at the time it was written and understanding the meaning of its original Greek and Hebrew language are vital to accurately interpreting the Bible. He uses this context and understanding to debunk the notion that the Bible says Jesus had siblings, brothers and sisters.

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Ep8 Why God Chose to Take on Human Flesh

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Father Len explains that God became one of us to establish a different religion because 2000 years of religion based on laws, regulations, and teachings from the prophets on how to love wasn’t working so well.

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Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

  • Father Len shares a fun story about a student’s reaction to his teaching in a class on Jesus and the point of God taking on human flesh.
  • Christmas celebrates the love that created the universe taking on human flesh and becoming one of us to establish a different religion to help us love like God.
  • God’s standards for life and the religion of Jesus are unconditional forgiveness and sacrificial love.
  • The only way for us to live God’s standards for life and love is to let Christ live in us.
  • Father Len explains how “religion” kept everyone in Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem from opening their hearts and homes to Mary and Joseph in their time of need at the birth of Jesus.
  • Religion based solely on laws and regulations doesn’t create love in the world.
  • In the Eucharist, Holy Communion, we feed on the love and life of Christ so that Christ’s influence and power grow in us more and more.
  • Father Len tells the story of Grandmother Spider to illustrate how the light of Christ should inspire each of us to form a web of light and love over the earth to protect everyone’s life.
  • Father Len explains the meaning of the symbols swaddling and army of angels present in the story of Christ’s birth.
  • Father Len explains why in spite of all the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah only the humble showed up for the birth of Christ.

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Ep4 What divides and unites us?

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Father Len takes a deep dive into what divides us and what unites us. He introduces us to Communio, the one thing that can unite us forever and where to find it.

Highlights, Ideas and Wisdom

  • Communio is this invisible union between us and God. It’s also the thing that makes us united with each other.
  • Communio celebrates the mystical communion that makes us one community.
  • Father Len illustrates the effect of Communio by telling the story of a former Nazi who became friends with a former member of the French Resistance that fought against the Nazis.
  • Communio is never based on externals like religion, race, politics, ideology or even superficial morality.
  • Real community at its very heart is spiritual. It’s a deep belief that we’re inextricably connected to each other by something greater than us. It’s rooted in love and compassion and can never be severed, even by death.
  • Facebook is a hollow substitute for real community.
  • The Book of Revelation in the Bible describes Heaven as ultimate communion. Like a city where everyone is wearing a wedding dress because they’re all in love. That’s true Communio.
  • We came from community, the Trinity. We are meant to live in community, the body of Christ. We end in perfect community, heaven.
  • The really big issue of life is God.
  • More and more people these days are sorting themselves into ideological bunkers. Nine times out of ten, the only thing these people have in common is they hate the same people.
  • If Christ is Communio, Satan is the opposite. The word devil means divider. Satan is always offering us a substitute communion based on who we reject.
  • Christ came to knock down the dividing walls that keep us separated.
  • At the end of our life, we’ll be judged on what we did to others and what we did for others. How united we were with other people. In the final judgment we’ll be judged on how strong our community was.
  • Perfect worship is done together because it’s in a community where our egos are always challenged. Community challenges us to be more loving.
  • Ego keeps us separated from each other and from our true selves.
  • The Bible tells us God will destroy our enemies because God will form us into a community of brothers and sisters.
  • Religion is supposed to be about community, but often times, people confuse conformity with community. The opposite of community is social conforming. There’s a difference between belonging and fitting in. Conformity is just the appearance of community. In conformity, there’s no communion. You just have to act and dress in a way that’s pleasing to the group.
  • Our deepest need is to be in community and be loved.
  • In the Bible, God is always working to save a community, not just an individual.
  • The book of Proverbs says, in a community we’ll develop new eyes. We’ll see the world differently by living in a community.
  • The Catholic Church celebrates Communio.
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Ep2 The Religion of Jesus

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Father Len explores the Bible story of a wealthy and powerful man and a bankrupt and outcast old woman. Both seeking healing from Jesus. The story reveals the essence of the religion of Jesus and puts our beliefs about religion on trial.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

  • Jesus pushes us to take religion beyond just believing that He is the Messiah and being a good person obeying moral laws.
  • Jesus dismisses laws in the Book of Leviticus that reject or marginalize people.
  • “If the best that you can say about your life is that you’re a good person who obeys all the moral laws, you’re boring and lack spiritual depth.” – Father Len
  • The Book of Wisdom tells us that God is about love, life, and healing. God rejoices in welcoming and loving all people.
  • Jesus gives us a test of religion. Do we want a religion that is about rules, regulations, and moral laws that causes us reject or marginalize some people? Or, do we want the religion of Jesus that accepts and loves all people unconditionally?
  • “Let your heart be broken when people are marginalized, rejected, or treated as if they’re dead. Believe in the way of Christ. Believe in life and unconditional love for everybody.” – Father Len
  • Bible stories explored in this episode:
    • Book of Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
    • Gospel According to Mark 5:21-43
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