Posted on 04/10/2007 1:29:39 PM PDT by NYer
Umm, only priests live in rectories. Where are his wife and children going to live? He is probably going to live with his family, so that likely means renting a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment. I don't know what the market rental rate is in New Mexico, but I'll bet that the rent will be a good chunk of his net income.
John, being the younger one, reached the tomb first. And it was just as Mary Magdalene had said: the stone was off to the one side, and when John stooped down to look inside, he saw the linen which had been used to wrap the body after they had taken Jesus down from the cross. But he didn’t go in — at least, not yet.
Consider that this is the first account of a disciple deferring to petrine primacy. John with his youthful physique arrived first but waited for the one named by Jesus as His successor. Who better to assess the situation than the 'rock' on whom our Lord built His earthly Church. And so it has been for 2000 years.
This story does not alter his situation. Marriage must be chosen before the priesthood. It becomes the first vow. Sinkspur chose the priesthood first, then broke that vow to marry.
The take away line, for me, anyway, was “we’ve actually got to go in.”
In other words, stop hanging around and keeping your options open, just go in, commit.
The Maronite Church has its seat in Lebanon since the 5th century. The Patriarch and his Church have learned over the centuries how to co-exist with the Muslims. I strongly doubt the Church will leave there. But, I am no expert so I have pinged Patrick_k who is in Beirut. He has a better handle on the situation.
I too am not an expert, but I can report what I see and live first hand that the daily newsmedia neglect to report.
The so called ‘exodus’ of Christians from Lebanon can be summarized in a few words. Fifteen years of war (1975-1990) could not convince the majority of Lebanese Christians to choose the way of exile. After 1990, the combination of several circumstances have led to the aggravation of the problem. The Christians found out that the 1989 settlement sponsored by the USA (David Satterfield) and Saudi Arabia (Rafic Hariri, lebanese-saudi binational) has brought them to be second class citizens. A few believed firmly this fact at that time (1990-1991) and chose to leave. And remember at that time, Al-Qaeda and Saudi money were the champions of the US administration.
The second wave of immigration that still continues till now has been triggered by a high unemployment rate, especially among the qualified university graduate youth. The financial policy of the Hariri era (1992-...) has relied on heavy public debt, fuelled by a system of treasury bonds starting in 1992-1994 at an indecent interest rate of 43%, and gradually dropping until a still indecent 12% right now.
Imagine this sort of policy applied upon a population of 4 million, freshly coming out of a civil war of 15 years. So, no investments since the interest rates assure a better dividend. Then issuing more treasury bonds to pay the annual interests and getting now to a declared public debt of +$45 Billion. I am not going to comment on whose money is fuelling this debt, it is obvious who holds the I.O.U’s of the Lebanese finances.
What devastating effects could result? empoverishing the population, while huge amounts of money were brought in from the arab oil rich states to buy real-estate and to finance the moslem part of the population. No real apparent harm was done. Everything was legal. The real-estates of the Catholic Church(es), of the Orders and of the christian communities (waqf) were immune to this wave of selling properties because it claimed explicitly the approval of the Vatican, approval that would never be given. Else, some entire communities disappeared, they can be found mainly in Australia or in Canada, entire classes of graduates could only be found in the oil rich arab countries, in western Europe, in Northern America and in Australia.
After the end of the civil war, everything political and financial was done to incite the Christians to leave the country. Look at the fate of the main three Christian leaders in 1990: Michel Aoun was sent to exile to return home after the syrian withdrawal 2005, Danny Chamoun was murdered with all his family, and Samir Geagea was sent to prison in 1994 and released after the syrian withdrawal. During all that time the “international community” (sarcasm) considered Syria as a stabilizing factor in Lebanon. The Christians who used to count 6 to 5 moslems before the civil war, count now less than 3 to 5.
The Church will stay, but what a difference in the influence of Patriarch Hoyeck who drew by himself the boundaries of the State of Lebanon in Versailles in 1919, and Patriarch Sfeir who could do nothing but express his wishes for this and that, and he is never heard. He expressed his wishes for a certain form of electoral constituencies beginning 2005 just to permit to the christians to elect the majority of their own representatives. The law adopted in May 2005 went to the opposite side, creating heavily gerrymandered constituencies so that more that 50% of the christian seats were imposed by moslem votes in June. It was considered undemocratic by the US and France to ask for a 2 months postponement of the elections just to reach a just and equitable electoral law.
On Dec. 24, 2004, Patriarch Sfeir, in his Christmas address, said that the future of Lebanon depends on the correctness and accuracy of representation of the coming elections. He was right all the way.
Thank-you for the info. The sad truth is that with more of the population becoming more Muslim, it puts more pressure on the Maronite Christians to leave.
It was considered undemocratic by the US and France to ask for a 2 months postponement of the elections just to reach a just and equitable electoral law.
This is most disheartening. Lebanon is one of only two nations in the Middle East, that is democratically run. It sets an example for others to follow. Lebanon has such a rich history and it pains me no end to see the devastation that has been inflicted upon this nation. I feel totally helpless.
Thank you for the info. I came across some commentaries which suggested staggering rates - someone claimed to have polled the Maronite community in the north and found that ALL of them would emmigrate if they could. (Probably an exagerration.) In addition to the factors which you mentioned, I have heard Lebanese state that because of foreign buyers, real estate is unobtainable - it is so scarce and expensive, especially on the coast. So the communities cannot sustain themselves.
I agree with your point. Some Catholic priests who do wish to marry, must envy the Anglican converts.
See the paragraph on Sola Scriptura. A man after your own tagline.
Unfotunately that is true. Much more, selling and buying real estate on the shoreline is illegal, though all this shoreline is actually occupied by huge concrete ‘tourism’ complexes, protected mafia style against the law by the same politicians who are monopolizing the state apparatus, creating tightly controlled areas within the State.
As for the Maronite community in the North, it is the most anchored one in its land. They may have polled a tiny part living in the city Tripoli, next to the al-Qaeda affiliated Fatah Al-Islam, where the petro-dollars of the sunnis are most felt. Tripoli’s weekend goes thursday and Friday instead of saturday and Sunday.
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