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About Me
Submitted by frlarry on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 15:14
About Me
I'm the pastor of two small country parishes in Champaign County, Ohio: St. Michael Parish in Mechanicsburg and Immaculate Conception in North Lewisburg. Both parishes are quite small and, therefore, have been able to live something close to the ideal of small faith communities. Everyone knows everyone else and feels comfortable engaging in serious conversation.
Furthermore, people readily contribute at a much higher rate than the 20% that is most typical of larger parishes. The age distribution is quite natural. We have lots of children as well as lots of grandparents and everyone in between. We have a few unmarried folks, too, as well as a few with marriages "on hold." In short, almost every demographic element is represented in spite of our size.
These factors add a depth to our communities that homogeneity could not contribute.
For further information on that, check out ChampaignCatholic.org.
Incidentally, please do not confuse me with the pre-deceased brother of the late Mr. Ronald W. Gearhart, of Boise, Idaho.
Priest
I happen to be what's called a "revert." Although I'm a cradle Catholic, I became an agnostic at the age of 18. I had a conversion experience at the age of 38, 20 years later. I returned to the Church five years later, at the age of 43. I entered the seminary at Mt. St. Mary's in Cincinnati in 1997 and I was ordained as a priest in 2003.
In the process of my reversion, I did a lot of soul searching and of studying what the Church actually teaches. I try not to get impatient with people who don't care to know the why's and wherefore's of Church teaching and the Gospel of Christ. We're all different.
I believe we live in increasingly confusing times. Most people are losing their spiritual roots, while a few are getting in touch with the depth and meaning of what has come before them. The richness of the Catholic faith tradition, in particular, seems to elude even the vast majority of faithful church goers, not to mention the more tenuously connected cafeteria Catholics among us.
To me, the difference is as striking as that between the typical native English speaker and someone who is intimately familiar with the depths of English arts, liturature, science and philosophy.
I hope to contribute to bridging the gap.
Technical Side
I happen to be a retread. My previous career was in avionics systems. I'm a computer geek, thus my experiments with blogging (and all sorts of other) software.
No one can summarize their life in a few short paragraphs, of course, but it may help get a clearer picture if I add the following.
I have a highly technical background, of course, but I should mention I have a Ph.D. in mathematics (I'm the author of what has come to be known as "Gearhart's Spectral Mapping Theorem." For a modern citation, see "A new proof and generalizations of Gearhart's theorem." More properly, the theorem, in its general form established by Jan Prüss to C0 semigroups on Hilbert Space, is known as the Gearhart-Prüss Theorem). Add to that several years of employment in advanced computing applications. Things like LAMP blogging software are pretty simple to me — thus my experiments with Wordpress and Drupal (among others).
I have had an abiding interest in physics, psychology, philosophy, major literature and history ever since high school. Later in life, I developed a practical interest in biology, especially as it relates to human welfare, both physical and moral.
Other Loves
I love music and singing, movies, and puzzles. I'm somewhat adept at crosswords, Sudoku and cryptoquips. I love puns. Shakespeare is my favorite author. Dostoevsky is a close second, though I recognize the genius of many others, and I've tried to sample them (if you call reading War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings "sampling"). At my advanced age, I've become less patient with reality, and I tend to drift quickly over a range of activities. As a result, I don't finish long tomes very often anymore. Worse, I have a few books in me somewhere, but I'm having trouble marshaling the energy to get them out. All this, of course, is part of "growing up." It's all a matter of self-discipline, the real "final frontier." I don't have a special affinity for plants, but I love animals. I have a dog and a cat. Surprisingly, they get along well together. | ||
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- If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
- Jesus commenting on the perennial project of evil to co-opt the good — Matthew 24:23-28, KJV
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.- [Isaiah 1:18-20]
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, "We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn." For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He has a demon"; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.- Jesus comparing how people received him, John the Baptist (and the prophets) — Matt 11:15-19, RSV
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me." For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.- [Romans 15:1-7]
A good hermeneutic cannot mechanically apply the criteria of inspiration, or absolute truth, in the extrapolation of a sentence or expression. The level on which it is possible to perceive Sacred Scriptures as the Word of God is that of the unity of God's history, a totality in which single elements are reciprocally illuminated and open themselves to understanding.- Pope Benedict XVI message to Cardinal William J. Levada, president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and the members of that commission. The message was issued on the occasion of the commission's annual plenary assembly, which focused on the theme of "Inspiration and Truth of the Bible," and made public on May 5, 2011.
If I ever do wind up in hell, I suspect my punishment will be to teach math to politicians and journalists. Then again, it might be, instead, locating and fixing all of the grammatical and spelling errors in everything I've ever written. (Myth of Sisyphus, anyone?)- Fr. Larry