#catholicposting

SPECIAL INTEREST TOLKIEN X CATHOLICISM RAMBLING INCOMING

thinking about tolkien and his catholic faith and how so much of his work centers on the idea that it is a daily, conscious choice to be good, to have hope, to do what is right, that defines us.

in the catholic catechism, sin is not just defined as an action that is wrong; for something to be a mortal sin it requires knowledge that it’s wrong AND the full and willing consent of the sinner to do it anyway. again, choice. right and wrong exist, but our willing choice to do wrong knowingly does change the gravity of offense.

catholics are taught to continue to choose the good, and that it is a daily practice. sin is seen as the rupturing of a relationship with god, and the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) provides steps towards repairing the relationship. likewise, this is true of many of tolkien’s characters: they face difficult choices between what is right and what is easy. they often have to choose between mercy for an enemy (gollum, wormtongue, hell they even offer saruman a second chance to make amends for what he has done) and vengeance, and it is their choices that keep them in the light. consider sam’s speech in The Two Towers film (“they had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t!”)

if salvation hinges on the choices and free will of living beings, and there is a daily chance to do what is right, at what point does one become irredeemable? for a Catholic like Tolkien, the hope of redemption is never truly lost.

all this to say, I have been thinking about Sauron and redemption and his lost soul. the fallen angel who remembers what it felt like to be Good, however distantly. i love the introduction of halbrand into TROP because he gives us as viewers that little glimpse and hope — is he going to be good? could he ever be? is he damned forever by his past, no matter what he does now? and doesn’t it make it sadder, somehow, if the chance for redemption is always there and yet the lost soul chooses to remain lost instead?

I have a few others mantilla style but i like this one because i wear a lot of bandanas and it looks more natural on me.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. 

Matthew 7:15-16

"Yes, my brothers, a Christian with a false piety, with a merely outward and artificial virtue, will—no matter how hard he tries to disguise himself—sooner or later reveal the true movements of his heart, whether in his words or in his deeds. No, my brothers, nothing is more widespread than these ‘apparent’ virtues, this hypocrisy. [...] At the Last Judgment, we will see that the majority of Christians had only a religion of convenience, that is, a religion of personal preference, and that very few, in what they did, truly sought God alone.

I say that an action must fulfill three conditions in order to be pleasing to God: first, it must be interior and complete; second, it must be humble and not self-serving; third, it must be persevering and enduring. If in all you do, you find these three conditions, then you may be certain: you are working for Heaven."