The Annunciation

When the archangel Gabriel appeared to the humble maiden, the Blessed Virgin Mary, all creation held its breath in silence waiting for her response. Indeed, her answer would decide the doom of the world. Neither the great armies of ancient Egypt nor Babylon nor Persia nor Alexander the Great nor even the great Roman Legions could save the world from from its doom of eternal slavery to Mordor (Satan and his minions). Only the Humble Virgin and her divine Son could do this. The humility of this simple, humble virgin overcame Satan's pride and made it possible for the Son of God to take flesh and save us from the doom that was brought about by Adam's sin.

Such was God's plan for saving the human family; it is his "method" of heroism. The heroism found in Tolkien's writings are a faint but wonderful reflection of God's plan of heroism: "In both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the ways of providence, often managed and interpreted by Gandalf, are to use unheroic, humble figures ... in a heroic manner. The world is to be saved by humble, ordinary people, not the mighty, powerful and wise." [Colin Duriez, The J.R.R. Tolkien Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1992) 114]

It is beyond doubt that we are saved by the Incarnation and Redemption of Jesus the Christ. In other words, the Son of God became man and died on the Cross and rose from the dead to redeem us and save us from the evil clutches of Satan. It is only through his Redemptive Act that we are saved; however, the Blessed Virgin Mary had a wonderful role of cooperation and consent (and suffering) to make our salvation possible, that is, to provide her living flesh so that the Son of God would become flesh. God chose to give her---and through her all who would be saved---the wonderful opportunity of saying "yes" to God's awesome plan.

The trees will clap their hands.

The mountains and hills will sing praise to God; all the trees of the forest will clap their hands, for he is coming, the Lord of a kingdom that lasts forever, alleluia.

The Church, in The Liturgy of the Hours, offers us this beautiful antiphon for meditation on the First Sunday of Advent in the Year of Our Lord 2008. Yet there do exist persons who downplay the truth and beauty of Scriptures such as these, claiming they are just metaphorical, or even questioning the inerrancy of Scripture itself.

My friends, I ask you, “Why can’t we say that the trees clapped their hands (branches)?” Forget that irrational modern empiricism which says that only observable data can be true. Use your God-given imagination. How do you know that the trees weren’t able to clap when all was new and Adam, and with him all creation, was in the state of Original Justice? Were you there? It is definitive Church teaching that Adam sinned and as a result every human being was changed in a negative way. This change, or fall, was reflected in nature and all creation—including the trees. Perhaps before Adam sinned, they could clap, or maybe they were so alive with God’s creative power that they at least seemed to us to clap with joy as they did their movements completely in conjunction with a loving and almighty God. Face it: We are dull. We don’t fully comprehend reality and we don’t love God and neighbor as we ought, because we have a fallen (yet redeemed) nature. Furthermore, we are selfish and we don’t love as we ought. If we would only use our imagination and our heart along with our knowledge, then the world would be much better. We would see the trees clap their hands in obedience to an all-good, all-powerful Father. We would love our brother. We would see the redemption of all creation before our very eyes!

Yet we must not forget the second part of the antiphon. Wouldn’t it be right for the trees to clap for the righteous Adam? For then he was king of all creation—by God’s decree (Cf. Genesis 1). But if it was right for the trees to clap when Adam was righteous (in the state of Original Justice), then it is even more right for the trees to clap for the New Adam, the true King of the Universe, Jesus Christ, the King whom God the Father has anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Certainly, J.R.R. Tolkien would have agreed with all the above, for his Middle-earth was so much like the world of the Bible.

In Tolkien’s world, nothing in nature is dead but all is alive, so much so that modern readers will call this cosmos “magical”. A better word is “biblical”. In Tolkien’s cosmology, the earth as well as the heavens is not dumb but declares the glory of God” [Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005) 85].

"Not all tears are an evil." -Gandalf the White

When the hobbits are assembled at the Grey Havens and Frodo is about to depart Middle-earth, Gandalf tells them, “I do not say, ‘Do not weep,’ not all tears are an evil.” Here he is encouraging the cultivation and expression of emotion. Is that wise advice from one of the Wise? Are not emotions evil since they can get us into trouble? The resounding answer is yes to the first and no to the second.
Emotions are not intrinsically evil. In fact, they are part of our nature or essence, since we are bodily creatures. Without emotions, you would not be a human being. (I don’t know what you would be, maybe an angel, maybe a robot, maybe a rock.) Emotions are a problem and can lead us to sin if they are not under the control of reason. When they are under the control of reason, emotions are actually perfective of our being. They make us better beings, better persons. May right reason always be the captain of your ship as it sails in the stormy sea of earthly existence!

Why Are Hobbit Holes So Large?

The Dunadan (my pen name) holds that the essential thought of Tolkien is Catholic, consonant with Scripture, and pro-life. Hobbit holes are large. Why? They are large because Hobbits have large families with many wonderful Hobbit children! They need plenty of room. Take, for instance, the home and the family of the perennial Hobbit, Samwise Gamgee. As Frodo and the three other Hobbits of the Fellowship travel to the Grey Havens, Sam finds out that Frodo will not be returning, and he objects:
“But,” said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, “I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done”[J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994) 337-338].
Then Frodo consoles Sam with the following words, words that illustrate the love of the Hobbits for family, life, and children.
“I thought so too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I have and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose and Elanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin, and perhaps more that I cannot see.”[Ibid., 338]
Here Frodo is reminding Sam of the joy that he will have in his family, because he and his wife, Rose, were generous in having children. In their married love for one another, they were open to the transmission of human life, and so God gave them the wonderful gift of children. This is an essential part of the natural law that God wrote into our hearts (into our nature) when He created us. Sam and Rose already have one child, Elanor. They will have at least five more, whose names will be Frodo, Rosie, Merry, Goldilocks, and Pippin. Thus, they will have at least six children and truly will live happily ever after.
My friends, the story of Samwise and Rose Gamgee need not be a mere fairy-tale. Such can be our life and happiness as long as we live according to the natural law – as long as we live our lives in a way that is consistent with our nature as God created us. Children are a gift from the Lord!

The Dawn of Our Salvation

When the archangel Gabriel appeared to the humble maiden, the Blessed Virgin Mary, all creation held its breath in silence waiting for her response. Indeed, her answer would decide the doom of the world. Neither the great armies of ancient Egypt nor Babylon nor Persia nor Alexander the Great nor even the great Roman Legions could save the world from from its doom of eternal slavery to Mordor (Satan and his minions). Only the Humble Maiden and her divine Son could do this. The humility of this simple, humble maiden overcame Satan's pride and made it possible for the Son of God to take flesh and save us from the doom that was brought about by Adam's sin.

Such was God's plan for saving the human family; it is his "method" of heroism. The heroism found in Tolkien's writings are a faint but wonderful reflection of God's plan of heroism: "In both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the ways of providence, often managed and interpreted by Gandalf, are to use unheroic, humble figures ... in a heroic manner. The world is to be saved by humble, ordinary people, not the mighty, powerful and wise." [Colin Duriez, The J.R.R. Tolkien Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1992) 114]

Jesus Our Healer-King

While John was baptizing Jesus in the Jordan, God the Father anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus is the King, the Anointed One of God. The very name "Christ" is derived from the Greek word for "king". Furthermore, the Hebrew word for messiah means "anointed" or "king". But how does the Gospel from today's Mass end? "He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people" (Mt. 4:23) Curing or healing is a great prophetic sign of the Messiah, the King!

The hands of the king are the hands of a healer; and so shall the rightful king be known. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994) 140

Jesus the Christ is the center of time and history. Anne Carroll's high school world history book is aptly named: Christ the King: Lord of HIstory.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

Our humble beginnings

What follows, my friend, is the essential text that inspired both this blogsite and The Dunedain:

‘But this is terrible!’ cried Frodo. . . . O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’
‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began the ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Frodo. “I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.’
‘You have not seen him,’ Gandalf broke in.
‘No, and I don’t want to,’ said Frodo, ‘. . . He deserves death.’ ‘Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when it comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.' (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994) 65-66.)