The Pub and the Classroom (Deacon Dr. Harry Schnitker)

Deacon Dr. Harry Schnitker joins us to discuss the Maryvale Institute and its mission in Catholic theology and formation.He also shares how fellowship at the pub can become an important place for learning, conversation, and community beyond the classroom. Resources: The Maryvale Institute

🔗 https://relevantradio.com/2026/06/the-pub-and-the-classroom-deacon-dr-harry-schnitker/

#Catholic #RelevantRadio #Theology #Christian

What is the definition of theology?

https://drinkofjesus.com/2026/06/19/what-is-the-definition-of-theology/

#Bible scholars/#theology nerds/#theologians:

Question regarding the popular "eye of the needle" quote in all three Synoptic #Gospels:

Matthew 19:16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Matthew 19:17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:18 “Which ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely.
Matthew 19:19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 19:20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Matthew 19:21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Matthew 19:23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 19:24 I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Matthew 19:25 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Mark 10:17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.
Mark 10:19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”
Mark 10:20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
Mark 10:21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Mark 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Mark 10:24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God.
Mark 10:25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Mark 10:26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

Luke 18:18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.
Luke 18:20 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’”
Luke 18:21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Luke 18:23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.
Luke 18:24 When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!
Luke 18:25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
Luke 18:26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”
Luke 18:27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”

Question: Why is the disciples' reaction always "Oh gee, if rich people can't get into heaven, who the heck can!?" instead of, "Well, duh, of course they can't. Good riddance to those jerks!"

Was the assumption that wealth == favor really that deeply ingrained? Even among peasant farmers & fisherman that were struggling to pay taxes to Rome?

I went to church and the preacher forgot the end of his story

I visited a Pentecostal church a few weeks ago, and I didn’t like what I saw.

My only other experience in a church in My whole life, was attending an old-school Catholic service for a relative’s baptism. That Catholic church was formal, stuffy, and full of latin singing from little books. So I was surprised when I arrived in the Pentecostal church and heard awesome rock drumming from outside. And I was excited to learn what the new style of Christians are up to.

I actually arrived in the church through the back entrance. See, the church was positioned in between the main road and the carpark, and the front faced towards the carpark. I took the bus, so I walked from the main road to the Church, and naturally came in through the back. All that spectacle they were pointing at new visitors, and I saw it backwards. That’s thanks to car dependent architectural design, which I consider a sin.

Anyway, I came in and looked around, and they had some cool stuff. A cafe, and a couple of arcade machines, free to use. I shot some hoops into the basketball machine and had fun! But they also had these TV screens and pamphlets, advertising this upcoming “miracle offering”, which from what I gathered, is a yearly event where people give lots of money to the church. So there’s some greed, the second sin I saw that evening.

After that I followed the sound of the drumming into the auditorium, which was set up like a modern theatre, all black walls, big fancy stage, full music and light setup. A preacher was doing some pre-service hype preaching and riling up the crowd, they were cheering. See, Pentecostals put a lot of emphasis on being “moved by the holy spirit”. To them, it’s all about putting your brain in a state of spiritual ecstasy. So their preacher, rather than teaching lessons in ethics or spiritual fulfillment, was getting them excited and encouraging them to abandon their senses to, uh… well, basically it was like a rave.

I head back out of the auditorium to wait for the acquaintance who invited Me, and chat with the people in the lobby area. I get into a bit of a theological discussion with some other acquaintances, fun casual stuff, and the strangest thing happens. A lady with a big smile comes and interrupts us in the middle of our theological discussion to say hi, tell Me her name, and ask for My name. I say hi and give My name, and she just nods and walks off. She interrupted an interesting conversation for a hi and a name. And I gathered this was completely normal in this environment. Substance discouraged, the superficial appearance of connecting with each other encouraged.

Anyway, the guy who invited Me arrives, and he offers to drive Me home afterwards. I share My preference for the bus, and frame the issue in terms of Christianity. I say Elohim gave the earth to humanity to care for, and polluting with engine exhaust ain’t what he had in mind. This guy retorts that Elohim put the oil in the ground for us. I counter with a reference to the Problem of Evil and posit that the oil is there so we have the free will to sin if we want. He switches tactics, and instead says that his car produces less carbon dioxide than the bus does, because it “has eco”. And we argue about that until the service starts.

When the service begins, it is LOUD. They’ve got the volume turned all the way up, I’m talking proper rave conditions. I have autism and I cannot be in that auditorium. So we wait in the lobby for the song to end and the parts I can attend to begin. Third sin: Lack of accessibility for the disabled.

And finally, earplugs in My ears, I head in and prepare Myself for My first experience of the church service. But first, ads! The Miracle Offering is coming up, and I apparently may be moved by the holy spirit to donate money (greed). Also, the church is one of the fastest growing in the world (pride, fourth sin)! And they’ve recently started opening missions in Nairobi! Crowd goes wild with screaming, yay Nairobi! Yay missions! I complain about the ads to My contact, but he says it’s “just the news”.

FINALLY, TV time is over and it’s time for a preacher to preach to us about Christianity. Oh boy, here’s the good stuff! Theology, metaphysics, I hope. This guy’s some visiting preacher from America, and he’s gone to the effort of learning some jokes to tell about our local neighbourhoods! Later I turn around in My seat and see that they’ve got those neighbourhoods’ names up on a teleprompter so he can just tell generic jokes and ad lib in the local place names without any effort.

But then! Then! He tells a story, and he says the story is gonna teach us about Jesus! YES! This is church, alright, Jesus story!

And the story he tells is something I looked up quite a while later, it’s kind of famous, it’s the Rag Man story. And I’m not gonna repeat the whole thing, I’ll just give you the quick version. There’s this guy in New York who trades rags. He takes people’s old rags and gives them new ones. In the story, he visits three people: A crying woman, a girl with a head wound, and a one-armed man. He trades their handkerchief, bandages, and jacket for his, and when he does, he takes on their maladies, until at the end he’s a bleeding crying one-armed mess.

Now, in the version of the story I found online, the rag man dies of these afflictions, and then rises from the dead unharmed. You know, like Jesus. But this preacher forgot to tell the end of the story. He moves on from that story, with the crowd cheering and experiencing the holy spirit’s ecstasy like they’re high on all his bullshit, without the part where the rag man died and is reborn. So when I took the bus home from the church service, I was thinking “Gee, Jesus is like a man who takes on others’ maladies and then just goes on with his life? Christians are so selfish! You shouldn’t enable a person with such self-destructive urges. If it’s an emergency then yeah, pray to Jesus. But if you have the strength to heal your own wounds, do that instead of crippling the Jeebus man!”

So yeah, I don’t think you’re supposed to go to a Pentecostal church with your brain turned on. I say get drunk and pop some pills if you wanna have a good time. Everyone there seemed to be really happy at Rave Church.

Oh, and I learned how to perform a swell from that church drummer. I’m just starting out as a drummer and it’s good to see an expert at work. Church musicians are professionals, I do recommend church if you want to learn about music.

What I Tell You in Darkness, Speak in the Light

I want to begin this blog post with …

https://oursaintfrancis.org/blog/what-i-tell-you-in-darkness-speak-ordinary-time-2026

#oldcatholic #mass #faith #saints #ministry #outreach #theology #jesus #franciscan #bishop #deacon #community #homily #parish

The see drained Selene temple
https://subspacewagon.systems/the-see-drained-selene-temple/

no primary language of the afterlife
https://subspacewagon.systems/no-primary-language-of-the-afterlife/

___
https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Richard+J+Tilley%22
https://www.subspacewagon.io
https://www.selections.directory
___

@poetry
@writingcommunity

#Poetry #PoemADay #PoetryCommunity #Poem #TodaysPoem #WritingCommunity #books #humanities #amwriting #CreativeWriting #WritersOfMastodon #writing #art #poetics #critcalThinking #community #bookstodon #sociology #theology #humanRights #ableism #RuleOfLaw #Law #myth

the missing caretaker
https://subspacewagon.systems/the-missing-caretaker/

Adrianne Lenker spilling lilies in the garage
https://subspacewagon.systems/adrianne-lenker-spilling-lilies-in-the-garage/

you cannot use God as a refuge from a broken canopy
https://subspacewagon.systems/you-cannot-use-god-as-a-refuge-from-a-broken-canopy/

_
https://www.subspacewagon.io
_
@poetry
@writingcommunity

#Poetry #PoetryCommunity #Poem #TodaysPoem #WritingCommunity #books #humanities #amwriting #theology #family #history #writing #art #community #bookstodon #sociology #humanRights #ableism #RuleOfLaw #Law #IndieMusic #SmallWeb #SupportHumanArtists

Resolutions and Desolations

https://subspacewagon.systems/resolutions-and-desolations/

__
notes and customs
https://archive.org/details/notes-and-customs-by-richard-j-tilley_202605
https://www.subspacewagon.io
https://www.patience.earth
https://www.tilley.earth
__

@poetry
@writingcommunity

#Poetry #PoemADay #PoetryCommunity #Poem #TodaysPoem #WritingCommunity #books #humanities #amwriting #CreativeWriting #WritersOfMastodon #writing #art #poetics #theology #critcalThinking #community #bookstodon #June #Love #ableism #RuleOfLaw #Law #SmallWeb #SupportHumanArtists #Culture #rain