{"id":6285,"date":"2020-03-07T05:51:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T10:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=6285"},"modified":"2020-03-07T06:40:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T11:40:56","slug":"homer-not-simpson-and-the-sirens-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/homer-not-simpson-and-the-sirens-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Homer (not Simpson!) and the Sirens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image wpimg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/w_homer.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/w_homer.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/w_homer-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/w_homer-500x300.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/w_homer-624x374.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s this scene in Homer\u2019s Odyssey where the\nboat of our adventurer Ulysses comes near to the\nisland of the Sirens. He tells his men to tie him fast\nto the mast of the ship so that hearing the Sirens\u2019\nseductive song he will be unable to fling himself into\nthe sea toward them.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dangerous rocks lay all about the island and to come too near meant certain shipwreck. It\u2019s a great story (written 3000 yrs. ago). We call it \u201cGreek Mythology\u201d. Did it happen in actual history? No. It\u2019s a myth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But is it true? Of course it\u2019s true. Is there a \u201csong\u201d that if you listen to it you\u2019ll be tempted to abandon your ship? You bet. Just ask the alcoholic whose friends invite him to a bar for \u201ca couple of cold ones\u201d. Ask the teenager (hormones raging) who knows of a website where \u201cyou can see it all\u201d. Imagine the hoarder who hears about \u201cbuy one, get one free\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all hear the Sirens\u2019 call. They know just the\nsong to sing to each of us to have us sail toward\nthat rocky shore.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>So what do we do? (We\u2019re talking about temptation\nof course.)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing to do is be aware of the power of\ntemptation. It has the uncanny ability to get under\nor around our desire to do the right thing. It needs\nto be respected for what it can talk us into. Be\nsmart. Know how strong temptation can be.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next thing. Be prepared. Know where you want to\ngo. Know where you don\u2019t want to go. Before the\nSirens start \u201cyour song\u201d be like Ulysses, take\nmeasures that will help you resist. You don\u2019t have\nto tie yourself to a mast (!) but do something to help\nyou resist.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Let your friends know in advance that \u201cyou can\u2019t go there\u201d. <\/li><li>Use your computer in the living room where others gather. <\/li><li>Let a trusted friend know what your temptation is and ask their help (if only to listen to you and encourage you to keep up the good fight.) Ulysses asked his crew to tie him up! <\/li><li>Pray daily for help to resist the Sirens\u2019 song. God will come to your aid. St. Paul says if all else fails, your resolve is gone. \u201cGod is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength: but with the trial he will also provide a way out.\u201d 1 Cor. 10:13 (the Spirit gives you a good idea to do in that moment). <\/li><li>Lastly . . . . <strong>RUN AWAY!!! <\/strong>Fleeing is a great way to defeat the Siren\u2019s song. It\u2019s not weakness to run. It\u2019s wisdom. Someone yells \u201cFire!!\u201d It\u2019s not cowardice to flee! <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Actually Ulysses was pretty lucky. He could have\nmessed up big time. You see he had his men put\nwax in their ears so they wouldn\u2019t even hear the\nSirens.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He however had heard how entrancing their song\nwas and he wanted to hear it for himself. So no\nwax for him! \u201cI want to hear them sing.\u201d (It\u2019s called\nthe \u201cnear occasion of sin\u201d. Don\u2019t go there.)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/homer.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6290\" width=\"250\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/homer.png 500w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/homer-281x300.png 281w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Lucky the mast held him back and he returned to\ntell his amazing story.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Homer (not Simpson!) and the Sirens <\/strong>We humans&#8230;..how patient God is with us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Springtime blessings. <br>Fr. Tim <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(This article appeared on June 11, 2017\u2019s bulletin) <\/p>\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6285&#038;t=Homer%20%28not%20Simpson%21%29%20and%20the%20Sirens&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6285&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F03%2Fw_homer.jpg&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Homer%20%28not%20Simpson%21%29%20and%20the%20Sirens\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6285&#038;text=Hey%20check%20this%20out\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-linkedin nolightbox\" data-provider=\"linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6285&#038;title=Homer%20%28not%20Simpson%21%29%20and%20the%20Sirens\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"linkedin\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/linkedin.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Homer%20%28not%20Simpson%21%29%20and%20the%20Sirens&#038;body=Hey%20check%20this%20out:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6285\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s this scene in Homer\u2019s Odyssey where the boat of our adventurer Ulysses comes near to the island of the Sirens. He tells his men to tie him fast to the mast of the ship so that hearing the Sirens\u2019 seductive song he will be unable to fling himself into the sea toward them. Dangerous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6285"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6291,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions\/6291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}