In the battle for chastity...

This man always writes well...

The author of the blog, Letters to Christopher posted a couple beautiful quotes from the gentle Doctor, St. Francis De Sales, which he offers as encouragement for those who struggle ...

A passage I read tonight from the good Doctor of the Church reminded me of my own thoughts where I compare my battle for chastity with a child beginning to learn to walk. I wrote recently that,

like a Father observing a child who stumbles over and over again when learning how to walk, I’m convinced God delights in the moments when we stand and walk, and realizes that stumbling and falling is a necessary part of the process.  If there’s a barrier in our way that causes us to stumble, we need to trust that God knows all about it, and knows us better than we know ourselves, which is exactly why He allowed it, because He knows we need some obstacles in our way in order to lean on Him.  He knows the places where we always tend to trip, and knows that eventually, with his guidance, we will learn to step over them.

In a letter to an Abbess, dated 14th May 1620, St. Francis urged her to not be too hard on one of the novices in the Abbey.  St Francis writes:

But look you, my dear daughter, you are a little too severe with her, this poor daughter: you must not give her so many reproaches, since she is a daughter of good desires. Tell her that as unstable as she may be she must never be disheartened nor be vexed with herself; let her rather regard Our Lord, who from the heights of heaven regards her, as a father does his child when the child as yet quite feeble can hardly take its steps, saying; gently now, my child: and if it tumble he encourages it, saying: he is up again, he is very good, do not cry–then he goes up to it and gives it his hand.  If this daughter be a child in humility, and know well that she is a child, she will not be astonished at a fall; besides she will not fall from a great height. - Stumbling and Picking Yourself Up

Read the entire post, as well as this man's blog.  Unlike me, he speaks gently, compassionately and patiently  on issues related to living with same sex attraction.

Many people give up on chastity, one blogger recently wrote about his struggle, expressing doubts he'll ever reach a point of continence.  I say, never give up.  "A saint is a sinner who keeps trying."  What seems impossible in your teens and 20's - okay, 30's and 40's  - gets better.  If you don't give up, that is.  The falling and rising, the victories and defeats is the way of holiness.  At each and every fall, Christ is there waiting to lift you up.

Conscience... confused? Again?

"Where Church authority remains fully true to her mission and where conscience becomes pure, the antinomy between freedom and constraint is dissolved." - Ratzinger

The Church offers clear teaching on conscience.  When confused by media reports of what this bishop or even Pope Francis says regarding Catholic moral teaching, search out authentic Catholic teaching in the Catechism and the official teachings of the Magisterium.  Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI wrote extensively on conscience, theology, and Church authority.  A couple of examples here:

"... Saint Paul [who] tells us, that the pagans, even without the law, knew quite well what God expected of them (Rom 2:1- 16). The whole theory of salvation through ignorance breaks apart with this verse. There is present in man the truth that is not to be repulsed, that one truth of the creator which in the revelation of salvation history has also been put in writing. Man can see the truth of God from the fact of his creaturehood. Not to see it is guilt. It is not seen because man does not want to see it. The "no" of the will which hinders recognition is guilt. The fact that the signal lamp does not shine is the consequence of a deliberate looking away from that which we do not wish to see. - Ratzinger

Blessed Pope John Paul II.

32. Certain currents of modern thought have gone so far as to exalt freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would then be the source of values. This is the direction taken by doctrines which have lost the sense of the transcendent or which are explicitly atheist. The individual conscience is accorded the status of a supreme tribunal of moral judgment which hands down categorical and infallible decisions about good and evil. To the affirmation that one has a duty to follow one's conscience is unduly added the affirmation that one's moral judgment is true merely by the fact that it has its origin in the conscience. But in this way the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity and "being at peace with oneself", so much so that some have come to adopt a radically subjectivistic conception of moral judgment.  

As is immediately evident, the crisis of truth is not unconnected with this development. Once the idea of a universal truth about the good, knowable by human reason, is lost, inevitably the notion of conscience also changes. - Veritatis Splendor

It is very important to know Catholic teaching on these issues.  Don't look to secular media for what the Church teaches, and even beware Catholic social media.*  Go to the source, the deposit of Faith:  The Church.

*Fr. Z is the exception, here:

"Newspapers are not where the Church deepens doctrine nor changes the Church’s disciplines.  Not even when the papers are El Universal or La Repubblica.  If we can be clear about that point from the onset, we are 90% there." - WDTPRS

Something is wrong with MSM reports on what the Pope says...

This is what I mean:

Pope Francis assures sceptics: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven ...

In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. - Source

Really?

C'mon!

 

Archbishop Nienstedt is unambiguous in his defense of Catholic Doctrine.

Family as the foundation of culture.

IV. The family under attack
Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life.  Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization.  The source of these machinations is none other than the Father of Lies.  Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of a good solid society, as well as the future of God’s work on earth. - Legatus Magazine

Read the entire address and keep it on file.  It is clear teaching.

God bless Archbishop Nienstedt - with prayers and thanksgiving for such a faithful Shepherd. 

“What good are closed convents to the Church?” - Pope Francis

Monastery for sale in Tuscany.

“Empty convents don’t help the Church by being turned into hotels to make money,” the Pope added.

I expect that is true.  It really makes sense to me to open old monasteries and convents to the poor and refugees.  I do not know what the laws are in Italy, or the requirements for insurance and the interference of government departments of health and human services in such endeavors, not to mention licensing requirements for such services - but in the United States these requirements usually must be addressed before a group can open the doors to provide shelter and care.

It's expensive to be poor and to serve the poor.

For instance, if I do not acquire health insurance by next year, I will be fined.  Insurance has become  a prerequisite for care. 

If my parish wanted to open the old convent for the homeless, they would probably have to rehab to bring it up to code, obtain permits, increase insurance coverage, and so on. 

Monasteries which empty out, or which retain only a few vocations, often may have to sell the facility in order to provide proper care for aging religious, or because they lack the income to maintain the property and the buildings.  A couple of years ago there was a story in the local newspaper about a group of nuns who had to sell their property, and the retired religious moved into a nursing home.

I think the Pope was speaking to the situation in Italy, especially Rome.  Maybe regulations are different there.  It's a wonderful idea - a return to what convents and monasteries were often founded for in the first place.  The founders and saints of religious institutions did exactly that initially.  They provided hospice for pilgrims and the poor in Rome.  I love the proposal.

However, in the United States even the Church is subject to governmental regulations and insurance requirements.  At least that is what parish Business Administrators tell the parishes which would like to open empty convents and rectories.  I could be wrong - but that is what I've always been told when I asked why an old convent couldn't be opened in the winter to allow homeless a place to sleep.

+ + +

The Pope "called on religious sisters whose convents are “empty” to “generously” and “courageously” open them to refugees, observing that the Church does not need “empty convents to be transformed into hotels (to) earn money.” - Vatican Radio



Now what about those 'new' religious communities building expensive new monasteries? 

What about dioceses tearing down venerable old landmark churches which immigrants in this country labored so hard to build?


  

Did "Legally Blonde" send the wrong message to women and girls?

 I think it did.

Whatever... Priest gives Pope an old car...

Still too ritzy...

So what? 

The Pope should probably refuse the car.  Don't accept gifts Holy Father - give the car to the poor instead. 

God therefore warned us through Moses: 'Do not receive gifts that blind even the prudent.' [Ex. 23:8]

The Pope wants old convents for refugees.  Good idea. 

He may not own them though.

Here's the deal: the Pope lives in Vatican City.  There are cars and limos and sedan chairs and toilets and showers and dining halls and lots of space in the Vatican.  He doesn't own it. 

What's all this fuss about?  All of the time?  What is this feigned austerity about?  The Pope is not homeless or starving.  There are bigger cars in the garage - right? 

Don't make such a big deal about this stuff then. 

I'm trying not to pay much attention to these stories which keep popping up.

These stories distort the papacy and the Church. 

So, if the Pope called me today, I would say:  "Give away every gift you personally receive Holy Father, and just be Pope."

Here's what I think:  Passive aggressive, ambiguous sentiment doesn't work - issue definitive policy statements and motu proprio reforms - and then see that they are implemented.  Be Pope.

If I had the wings of a dove, I'd fly away and be at rest... (Psalm 55:6)

A modern stylite?

Evidently.  A recluse in Georgia lives atop a high outcrop of rock, following the monastic tradition of ancient stylites. 

Maxime Qavtaradze is following in the ancient traditions of the Stylites, or Pillar Saints: men of the Byzantine world who believed residing up pillars would remove them from temptation and provide ample opportunity for prayer and contemplation. 

The monk's life of solitude came to light after New Zealand photographer Amos Chapple was permitted to photograph the man and his rock, but only after he had spent four days in intensive prayer. 

At first life on the Katskhi Pillar, Mr Qavtaradze's limestone monolith which stands in the Caucasus Mountains that run through Georgia, was tough for the monk. 

"For the first two years there was nothing up here so I slept in an old fridge to protect me from the weather," said the 59-year-old monk. Later, Christian supporters renovated a derelict chapel and built a cottage to provide him with a few creature comforts.  

Mr Qavtaradze makes the 20 minute and perilous climb down a ladder attached to the pillar twice a week to pray at a small monastery at the foot of the tower. But he relies on daily provisions winched to him by supporters on the ground.

Once home to Stylites, the Katskhi Pillar had remained derelict for centuries, and it was only in 1944 that a team of climbers scaled the tower, finding at the top the skeleton of its last occupant. Mr Qavtaradze moved in 1993 after taking his monastic vows, and found it moved him closer to God and help banish a troubled past.  

"It is up here in the silence that you can feel God's presence," he said. "When I was young I drank, sold drugs, everything. When I ended up in prison I knew it was time for a change.  

"I used to drink with friends in the hills around here and look up at this place, where land met sky," he added. "We knew the monks had lived up there before and I felt great respect for them." - Finish reading here.

 Earlier stylites were said to stand day in and night out, atop high columns - at least they are thus depicted in icons.  So this stylite is more a recluse, hermit whose solitude is uniquely situated atop an outcrop of rock.  It strikes me as more habitable, more hospitable.  The fact that the stylite descends twice a week suggests he is well guided or directed in the spiritual life, that is, he is probably spiritually accountable to someone.  He also has access to the sacraments.

That said, the hermitage seems sufficient protection from the elements.  I would like to live there myself, although I wouldn't want to come down twice a week.  It's somewhat edifying to know that aspects of ancient monasticism continue to be observed - especially penitence.

It's too bad his solitude was invaded and exposed to worldly curiosity.

Did you ever stop and think that monks and nuns are just ordinary men and women?

They just dress funny.

I've been thinking that the mystical life/spiritual life - the way of perfection - is really analogous with the ordinary Christian life.  It isn't something separate from ordinary life.  I suppose that sounds just too obvious of course, but what I'm trying to say is that the so-called stages of prayer, the prescriptions for the 'way of perfection' - commonly understood to mark the stages of the spiritual life, are indeed analogous with ordinary Christian life - that is, the authentic Christian life.  The acquisition of the Holy Spirit, our imitation and conformity to Christ, union with God - whatever you call it:  The means are the same, the failings as well as the progress of the soul cannot be compartmentalized or removed from ordinary life. 

In itself, climbing a high column doesn't bring us closer to God.  God is already close, closer than we 'can ask or imagine'.  As St. Paul admonished in today's first reading:

"Walk in Christ Jesus, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving..." - Colossians 2:6-15

I think the lives of the early Christian martyrs witness to this fact - from there, we understand better the purpose of standing on a column at the mercy of the elements - and the 'elemental spirits'.

I wish I could express my thought better, but I lack the vocabulary to do so. 

"We are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them." - Ephesians 2

 

Fr. Z sets my mind at ease on Liberation Theology...

Don't be fooled...

You, like I, have been hearing a lot these days about a Church of “the poor” and a rehabilitation of Liberation Theology.  This has caused concern for some who are doctrinally coherent and orthodox and elation for liberals.

Fr. Z directs us to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation“.  Explaining:

Theologians such as Gustavo Gutiérrez are not the problem.  Not every strain or aspect of Liberation Theology is unacceptable.  So, say both Card. Ratzinger and B. John Paul II.  In fact, every sound theology is a “theology of liberation”.  As a shorthand way of thinking about this, Liberation Theology without Marxism can fairly be called “Catholic Social Teaching”. 

Be alert when you see discussions of Liberation Theology in the future. 

The sort of Liberation Theology that Pope Francis eventually became interested in is not the strain that involves Marxism.  - Fr. Z

Thank you Fr. Z - that is most helpful and reassuring. 

People, be careful who you read and what you listen to. 

Charlie Rose and Assad

I couldn't wait for the interview, only to find out it wasn't Audrey Assad he was sitting down with.

What?

Seriously - I have little idea who Audrey is - I just see her name on Catholic blogs.  I know she's a singer, but I'm fairly certain I'm not into that kind of music.   Call me old fashioned, but once you go black you can never go back. 

So anyway - and very seriously.

I watched the Charlie Rose interview with Syria's leader.  I'm not sure what to think.  It was one of the few times I wasn't happy with Charlie Rose.  I'm indifferent as regards Assad.

I just do not think it is necessary to bomb the country to punish the leadership.  How can we who massacre our own children in the womb, justify such an attack.

I'm against it.



Good news here:

The Syrian government supports a proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control as a way to avert a Western military strike, Syria’s prime minister said Tuesday.

What?

I think Regis was drunk.

Two men went up to the temple to pray...

Our Lady of the Forsaken

That's how my prayer began today. 

In fact, the recollection of the text was so impressed upon me, I was convinced it had to be the Gospel for the day.  Of course it was not... but the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee formed my meditation this morning.

I always considered myself the publican, always repenting - in the sense of prayer and my stance before God, better put, as in the Jesus prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.  I sit to the side and back of church, I try to pray and remain recollected.  Yet even in that, I can think, "Thank you Lord I'm not like the rest of men who don't know themselves, don't pray, don't follow the rules."  Of course I can't acknowledge such an attitude - it isn't how I want to think, or what I want to say, you know, in the sense of Romans 7:15: "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it..."

I lack charity.

But God does not - God is love.  He knows us through and through... deep... deep down... deep calls unto deep.  It makes me want to cry.

I was thinking how over the years, even under spiritual direction, I pretty much let my 'soul be my pilot'.  I'm not an especially obedient soul - 'I can't be managed' - one of my favorite lines from Michael Scott.  But I always went to confession when I ran aground.  Sometimes about five times a week.  Yet once I had the audacity to remark to a priest, who wanted me to join a third order or something, "I have more understanding than all who teach me because I do your will." (Ps. 119)  Oh my God!  I cringe now when I think of that - only Christ can rightly say that.  I assumed I could because I had renounced a gay lifestyle, lived chastely - went to confession when I didn't - and considered that obedience.  In a sense it really was.  God calls us to repentance.  Yet somewhere in all of that was the Pharisee who well could have added to his prayer, "Thank you Lord I'm not like those people who I ran into in the bar last night but don't go to confession..."  Get it?

Anyway.

This morning I considered all the holy priests who heard my confessions and absolved me from my sins.  None of them ever said, "You stupid twit - what are you doing!"  "You're going straight to hell!  You know better than go into that occasion of sin!"  "You have to wake up!  Leave your situation, wall yourself off, don't go near even the most remote occasion of sin."  "You're so disordered and evil, you're a scumbag, a filthy homosexual pervert."  Not one priest condemned me.  Not one.  Not one ever said: "I don't get it - I don't get you.  How can you come here week after week confessing the same sins?  You ought to be ashamed of yourself."  No one said that.  Not one priest condemned me.  Not one.

No one who comes to me will I ever reject.

Jesus said that: "No one who comes to me will I ever reject" - though he knows the heart of man... he knows our adulterous generation, our propensity for sin.  Not one priest ever condemned me - all of them were compassionate and kind and encouraging to me as I struggled.

As Catholics, like the priests who over the years directed me and absolved me from all my sins, we desperately need to see the person.  We may already see a sinful condition - but within that disguise is a person.  Beneath the façade is someones son or daughter, brother or sister, friend or enemy - there is a person, a real person who may not know of what spirit he is.  Jesus told the disciples that when they wanted to call down fire from heaven on those who rejected the Gospel, "You do not know of what spirit you are speaking."  I went through whole periods in my life wherein I did not really know of what spirit I was.  Hence the prayer, "Of my hidden faults acquit me O Lord."

If called to do so, we must defend the faith - even with our lives - but we have to stop condemning one another and setting ourselves up as arbiter and judge of everyone else.  We can judge behavior and recognize sin - and in certain situations - when challenged as to why we believe what we do, we defend the faith, the truth - in charity, but we must recognize and love the person who rejects the faith.  We do not need to brow beat them, berate or 'hammer' the truth home to them.  Many already know the things we can tell them - even though they reject it.  To attack and condemn only drives 'others' away further - and discourages those who are especially weakened by the 'world's slow stain'..  

Anyway - that's some of the stuff I've been thinking of while I was offline.  It's really good to be 'cut off' for awhile, to pray and get to know oneself.   This is my personal opinion of course, and I may be wrong.  If what I write doesn't work for you or make sense - it wasn't for you.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

"Love is a teacher, but one must know how to acquire it, for it is hard to acquire, it is dearly bought, it is won slowly by long labor.  For we must love not occasionally, for a moment, but forever." - Dostoevsky, Fr. Zosima

The Three Days Darkness

For the second time in two weeks my computer succumbed to a virus.  The three days darkness - no Internet access from Thursday/Friday to Sunday.  Two weeks in a row.

I'm losing interest in being online.

I checked my emails - I have nothing to say.  Oh - except if there are any attachments, links embedded, or I do not know you - your email will not be opened.

I checked the updates of blogs I follow - same old same old.

Haven't checked Catholic news portals yet - not sure if Voris is still under fire.

Not interested.

Seriously, Catholic bloggers are generally a bunch of whiners and complainers and mudslingers.  Stay offline for a few days to a week, and then check the main blog-a-rama-bama listings.  Predictable, boring, self-promoting gas bags. 

 I've wasted the past 7 years here.

Prayers for Syria, prayers for peace.

Everyone knows by now that the Holy Father asked for prayers and fasting on Saturday, September 7, the vigil of Our Lady's birthday.

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative. - Angelus address

I've been preparing for Our Lady's Birthday, offering my rosary for Syria.  I look forward to the vigil fast. 

At Fatima, Our Lady requested at each visit that the children pray the rosary every day, for peace, for an end to the war.

What I don't understand now, is how bombing Syria in retaliation and as punishment for using chemical weapons is a remedy?  How can bombing and killing more people make for peace? 

I'm launching an investigation into the Patheos monopoly and advertisement earnings....

What?

Power struggle online...

Professional Catholics and Michael Voris and Church Ladies...

It's a business.

It's an ego trip.

Infallible blogists.

No donations for you.

 

This is very good: Fr. Paul Check on why chastity is an essential virtue for those with same-sex attraction—and for all Christians.

Fr. Paul Check is the director of Courage.

Catholic World Report has an excellent interview with Fr. Check on homosexuality, identity and the grace of chastity.  I will post some important points below.

Yesterday I touched on identity and 'causation' - Fr. Check does too in this interview.

The Catechism describes the same-sex inclination as objectively disordered. Now, we need to be plain, those words fall very hard on some ears because when they are heard it immediately sounds as if, or can sound as if, we are talking about a person—that a person is somehow disordered, not whole, not complete. But from the context of the Catechism, we can see that is not what is being said at all. What is being said is that the appetite, the erotic attraction to a member of the same sex, is out of harmony with human nature, it is misdirected. And because it is misdirected, and because we live in a world governed by cause and effect, then perhaps with some careful reflection we might be able to ascertain what it is that has caused that disordered attraction. 

On the recent decision by the Boy Scouts to allow openly homosexual scouts, but not leaders?

 My first concern is the boys who self-identify as “gay” or “homosexual.” And the question is: why are they doing that? If we go back to our prior discussion about identity, the Church is reluctant to label people in this way, and I think we want to do anything we can to avoid encouragement of that label, particularly for adolescents. The teenage years are a period of discovery and adventure in a certain sense and a time of coming to know oneself. And that has to be guided properly so that self-entanglement doesn’t take place. Many different things are happening at this age and it seems, at best, premature in that stage of development for someone to take a label for himself that is not reflective of his entire being. 

[...]

In Veritatis Splendor, Blessed Pope John Paul II says that we are in some degree changed by our actions, although we have a fixed human nature. The more a young person self-identifies, the more he is already making a choice in order to firm up that identity in his mind. The better hope is to caution a great reserve in this and to charitably and prudently establish trust with the young person and see what may lie behind the same-sex attraction, so that very real help can be given. But encouragement to act out, even if it is just self-identification—certainly encouragement to act out sexually—is not going to be good, but is going to reinforce what is in fact a false identity which can only lead them to unhappiness. The point is that the same-sex attraction or desire can never be acted upon consistent with our human nature and therefore it will always put the person at cross-purposes with himself or herself.  

"Nothing is outside god's providence."

We have to want to live chastely, cheerfully, and joyfully. The problem of pornography and the problem of contraception are things that are wide-spread within the Catholic community, including Mass-going Catholics. We have to examine our own conviction that chastity is essential for the joy of human relationships. We cannot expect that other people are only going to do what we say they should do, such as, “Don’t marry someone of the same sex.” We can hardly expect to be a compelling voice if we are not already convinced of the veracity of all that the Church teaches us, so we have to live that virtue cheerfully and joyfully. And if we do, other people will see it and be attracted to it.

We have to return to that kind of thinking of the early Christians, knowing full well that the current culture will be hostile. It gives us a spirit of purpose. We know it will be hard. Chesterton said, “Christians go gaily into the dark.” Now maybe we have to change that to “Christians go cheerfully into the dark” because of the way that word has been distorted, but Chesterton was right. A down-faced, angry Christian fulminating at the world is not going to be a good instrument of evangelization. We need that trust and confidence in God that St. Thérèse had and showed us so magnificently. We need that now and to try to live it, and we can! God’s grace will make it possible. - Catholic World Report

 Read the entire interview - it's very good.  My apologies for venting frustration over not being understood on this subject at times.  Thanks for putting up with me.

 

 

Self-knowledge.

 

 

Build yourself a spiritual cell, which you can always take with you, and that is the cell of self-knowledge; you will find there also the knowledge of God's goodness to you. There are really two cells in one, and if you live in one you must also live in the other, otherwise the soul will either despair or be presumptuous; if you dwelt in self-knowledge alone you would despair; if you dwelt in knowledge of God alone you would be tempted to presumption. One must go with the other, and thus you will reach perfection. - St. Catherine of Siena

From my hidden faults acquit me O Lord.

Monsignor Pope wrote a short post on the subject of 'hidden faults' - not those faults we intentionally hide from others, but the faults we do not even realize we have... though we see the splinters in other men's eyes, we miss the log in our own.  Just as we may see the faults of others, those they may not be aware of, they too see faults in us that we may not be aware of in ourselves.  Oddly enough, the faults we condemn in others can sometimes even mirror our own hidden faults.  But I digress from Monsignor's original thought.

Indeed we all have sins and behaviors that are often clear to others but of which we are unaware. Indeed there are even deeper faults of which no one is aware except God himself who sees our innermost heart.

Yes, some of our sins are obvious to us and we may rightfully work upon them. But lest we sin through pride, we ought always recall that we have sins and faults that are often hidden from us. Others may see them, or perhaps only God. 

At the end of the day we’re all going to need a lot of grace and mercy! - Monsignor Pope

Catherine of Siena, and all the mystics, over and over stress the need for self-knowledge.  Teresa of Avila insists upon humility at every stage of our spiritual life.  Yet we are so easily deceived.  We think by doing what is right and good, as best we can, that we are on the way to perfection, if not already there.  We think we are 'alright'.  We can even think we are good enough to instruct and guide others, or at least to point out the errors others commit... not understanding of what spirit we are. 

Damnable pride.

I think today, the Pope has something to say regarding these mysteries...

“How many believe they are living in the light and they are in darkness, but they don’t realize it? What is the light like that Jesus offers us? The light of Jesus can be known because it is a humble light, it is not a light that imposes itself: it is humble. It’s a meek light, with the strength of meekness. It’s a light that speaks to the heart, and also a light that offers you the Cross. If we, in our inner light are meek, if we hear the voice of Jesus in the heart and look on the Cross without fear: that is the light of Jesus.”

But if, on the other hand, a light comes that “makes you arrogant,” he warned, a light that “brings you to look on others from on high” to despise others, “that leads you to pride” – that is not the light of Jesus: it’s the light of the devil, disguised as Jesus, as an angel of light.” The Pope pointed out the way to distinguish the true light from the false: “Wherever Jesus is, there is always humility, meekness, love, and the Cross.” But, he added, sometimes “we find a Jesus that is not humble, that is not meek, that is without love, and without the Cross.” So we must follow the true Jesus “without fear,” following His light because the light of Jesus “is beautiful and does so much good.”

In today’s Gospel, he concluded, Jesus cast out the devil and the people are lost from fear in the face of a word that casts out unclean spirits:

“Jesus doesn’t need an army to cast out the demons, He has no need of pride, no need of force, of arrogance. ‘What is there about His word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ This is a humble word, meek, with so much love; it is a word that accompanies us in the moments of the Cross. Let us ask the Lord to give us today the grace of His Light, and to teach us to distinguish when the light is from Him, and when it is an artificial light, made by the enemy to deceive us.” - Francis' homily for 9/3/13

We don't know ourselves.

I think that is the problem much of the time, we don't know ourselves.  We neglect to examine our conscience in the light of Christ.  We neglect mental prayer in the interior cell of our heart, in the presence of the Sacred Humanity of Christ Crucified.  We fear humility and meekness and the cross.  We cover ourselves in spiritual and material vanities and falsehoods, we distract ourselves with trifles, fascinated by  "a light that “makes you arrogant, a light that brings you to look on others from on high - to despise others - that leads you to pride – that is not the light of Jesus: it’s the light of the devil, disguised as Jesus, as an angel of light.”

Because we don't know ourselves, we can't know our hidden faults.  God can purify us of them in 'the dark night' or in purgatory - his mercy remedies them.  Sometimes he allows us to see - in his light, his mercy - some of our hidden faults.  Sometimes he allows others to point them out to us.  Sometimes he even allows us to fall into serious sin, to bring us to a deeper humility and repentance which keeps us from presumption. 

Just thinking through some things here...

Thinking out loud, trying to formulate my thoughts.  So when I write 'you' or 'we' I'm really speaking to myself - don't think I'm writing about this person or that person - I'm working through something in these posts.

I think men who are same sex attracted - that sounds so dumb - gay men, have an especially hard time with humility and self-knowledge.  First of all, there seems to be an aversion to authentic self-knowledge within the gay Catholic community.  Understanding the root causes of sin is important in Catholic spirituality, for how else can one battle temptation if one doesn't know one's weakness and propensity for sin?  How else can one avoid the occasions for sin?  To be sure, in and of itself, homosexual inclination is not a sin, and if one never engaged in homosexual behavior or fantasy, one hardly has any need to 'identify' as a homosexual, since the inclination is nothing more than a temptation.  However, if one is so inclined, and acts upon it - the acts are sinful - disordered.  Therefore a person may want to know the why and wherefore of the inclination in order to adapt.  My POV sounds dated and old fashioned, I'm sure, especially since contemporary gay Catholics believe "debates about causation are not important."  Yet it begs the question.

Last week I came upon an interesting letter from C.S. Lewis to Sheldon Vanauken, wherein he discusses the issue of homosexuality.  The author of the post, Ron Belgau remarked that the section of Lewis' letter cited below, was somewhat insulting, although I recognized it to be right on the mark.  Lewis wrote:

"I have mentioned humility because male homosexuals (I don’t know about women) are rather apt, the moment they find you don’t treat them with horror and contempt, to rush to the opposite pole and start implying that they are somehow superior to the normal type. I wish I could be more definite. All I have really said is that, like all other tribulations, it must be offered to God and His guidance how to use it must be sought." - Source 

One thing I hope I've learned is not to generalize regarding homosexuals, however a serious lack of humility is something I've experienced in myself and have recognized in others.  Speaking of Rosie O'Donnell and her fall from grace on The View, Barbara Walters said one of her problems was that she "wasn't content with riding along - she had to drive the bus."  - in other words, she wanted to call the shots.  The observation accords with what Lewis pointed out, "I have mentioned humility because male homosexuals (I don’t know about women) are rather apt, the moment they find you don’t treat them with horror and contempt, to rush to the opposite pole and start implying that they are somehow superior to the normal type."

I may be wrong of course, but it has been my experience and I've lived with and worked with homosexual men all of my life. 

The lack of self-knowledge and lack of humility is a serious deficit - at least it has been in my life.



Ed. note:  I would add 'to be continued' but everyone already knows I write about this stuff way too much.
 

Hold the phone...

The first papal telephone, donated to Pope Pius XI by Catholics in the United States.

source

The Pope phone.

"Get that and say I'm not here."

Which makes me think... What if Pope Francis called me? 

I don't answer the phone. 

Ever.

"Quit calling here!"

 

The Pope's daily homilies are back!

He walked in peace through the midst of them...

Once again, there is something to look forward to online.

"Where there is God there is no hatred, envy or jealousy, and there is no gossip that can kill.

This was the message at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily this morning as he celebrated Mass in the Casa Santa Marta after the summer break."

"... they wanted to kill Jesus. Because of jealousy and envy. This – he said – is not just something that happened two thousand years ago: “this kind of thing happens every day in our hearts, in our communities”. And he made the example of when somebody new enters a community, on the first day – he said - people speak well of him; on the second not so well; and from the third on gossip and badmouthing starts to spread and end up skinning him”. - Vatican Radio

I wonder if the Pope reads blogs?  

Anti-Papist - Anti-Magisterial - Anti Catholic Sentiments ... how to recognize error.

Martyrs of the French Revolution

"At all times, but particularly in the last two centuries, the Popes, whether individually or together with the College of Bishops, have developed and proposed a moral teaching regarding the many different spheres of human life." - Veritatis Splendor


From the Protestant Reformation to the French Revolution to the Spanish Civil War to now, the Catholic Church has been attacked and persecuted, often explicitly requiring Catholics to renounce, at the very least, Papal authority: teaching on faith and morals. 

I was reminded of these things after reading the short biography for today in Magnificat of Bl. Armand Chapt De Rastignac, who had been imprisoned with nineteen other clerics for having refused to take the revolutionaries' anti-papal oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.  They were all put to death by a revolutionary mob which stormed the prison.

The Spanish Civil War witnessed the “most extensive and violent persecution of Catholicism in Western history, in some way even more intense than that of the French Revolution. 
“More than 6,800 Catholic clergy were slaughtered, including 13 bishops, more than 2,360 monks and friars, 4,172 diocesan priests and seminarians, as well as 283 nuns. Thousands of churches were destroyed.  Most of the intense killing occurred in the first six months of the conflict, but by the end of the war about 20% of the nation’s Catholic clergy was dead." - Stanley Payne 

Today it is fashionable on the 'popular front' to reject and attack Papal authority and Magisterial teaching, although, pretty much only Islamic countries and China are engaged in outright persecution of Christians. 

Within the Church there are progressives who reject papal authority and Magisterial teaching on a host of subjects.  Some of the dissenters claim to remain in the Church, but that is questionable.  Nonetheless, they claim to be faithful Catholics - those who have not formally left the Roman Catholic Church, though they reject Catholic teaching.  Some have left the Church for other denominations more sympathetic to their cause.  Others formed their own faith communities, or joined schismatic sects.  These have clearly left the Church, and should be given credit for their honesty and integrity in doing so. 

Others remain in the Church and claim to be Catholic, though they reject Catholic teaching.  Many criticize and condemn Papal-Magisterial teachings.  We can recognize them by their errors. 

1. Called to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, "the true light that enlightens everyone" (Jn 1:9), people become "light in the Lord" and "children of light" (Eph 5:8), and are made holy by "obedience to the truth" (1 Pet 1:22).  

This obedience is not always easy. As a result of that mysterious original sin, committed at the prompting of Satan, the one who is "a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44), man is constantly tempted to turn his gaze away from the living and true God in order to direct it towards idols (cf. 1 Thes 1:9), exchanging "the truth about God for a lie" (Rom 1:25). Man's capacity to know the truth is also darkened, and his will to submit to it is weakened. Thus, giving himself over to relativism and scepticism (cf. Jn 18:38), he goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself.  - Veritatis Splendor

O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, and in revealing them you can neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen

I really liked this meditation while I was offline...

source

... they love to receive praise, and sometimes they even seek it.  In this they resemble the foolish virgins who had to seek oil from others when their own lamps were extinguished... - St. John of the Cross

- when their own lamps were extinguished...

Mass Chat: I'm back.

The computer was down. 

It's fixed now.

It was good to be off.  Such silence.  I didn't even miss being online.  I'm afraid to open emails and go to my sites because I don't want to lose this peace. 

I'm back though.  I'll try to make email replies within the next day or so.

It was good to be offline.



 

Passion of St. John the Baptist

The defense of marriage cost St. John ...

John was chosen by God to prepare the way for Jesus, and he revealed him to the people of Israel as the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29). John consecrated himself entirely to God and to his envoy, Jesus. But, in the end, what happened? He died for the sake of the truth, when he denounced the adultery of King Herod and Herodias. How many people pay dearly for their commitment to truth! Upright people who are not afraid to go against the current! How many just men prefer to go against the current, so as not to deny the voice of conscience, the voice of truth! And we, we must not be afraid! Among you are many young people. To you young people I say: Do not be afraid to go against the current, when they want to rob us of hope, when they propose rotten values, values like food gone bad — and when food has gone bad, it harms us; these values harm us. We must go against the current! - Pope Francis

Michael Voris is truly prophetic on this one ...

Echoing this week's Gospel.


The most amazing indictment of U.S. Catholic Bishops I have ever heard. 

Go here: http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/2013/08/voris-says-it.html

Pope Francis just told young people to make noise ...

Careful what you wish for, Holy Father.  Voris is doing just that. 



 Ed. note:  Bishop Tobin might agree... he blames himself.

"Not precise but dead on."

"'... it was a truant’s freedom that I loved' - Not precise but dead on."

That's what Fr. Z wrote regarding a translation of The Confessions of St. Augustine by Pine-Coffin.

For example, when Augustine is talking about his profligate youth in Carthage, P. renders “amans vias meas et non tuas, amans fugitivam libertatem” (3.3.5) as Good article - or well-intentioned.  I've thought along these lines as well - but it would be opposed by gay activists all the same.  She mentions Dr. Nicolosi and they hate him and his research - gay Catholics like Tushnet and friends at Spiritual Friendship totally reject his stuff as well as Courage.  I'll read this again and may work it in to some posts, but the resistance to this type of thing is strong - precisely because the gay Catholic movement wants to keep the gay identity thing and 'sanctify' it., not yours, but it was a truant’s freedom that I loved”.  Not precise but dead on. - Quaeritur

 I think the quote from St. Augustine is dead on for many reasons.  It may be difficult for me to be 'precise' however.  I've been outsmarted by better writers and thinkers, and my thoughts on particular moral issues are considered by some to be dated, at best.

That said, I really think the still-pagan-Augustinian 'problem' is what affects many younger people and their rejection of faith and morals.  Augustine is a great saint, a great example, in every aspect of his life, from his relentless search for truth to his licentiousness.  Of course penitents of all ages have been drawn to the Saint on account of his repentance and conversion, and most especially his teaching.  Today I see mirrored in Augustine's pre-converted life, something similar to what I see in the new atheists turned new converts, as well as many - though not all - gay-Catholics/Christians.  It seems to me not a few struggle to assimilate their sort of 'personal truth' into their Christian experience.  Yet once again, Augustine is a wonderful example of how to do that, as well as what not to do.  Nevertheless, some would disparage his example as too culturally bound, feeling the need to revise and reinterpret his 'stuff' to suit progressive thought. 

"I loved my own way..."

So you see, I'm already in way over my head, but I think many today retain an inordinate attachment to that "truant’s freedom" and subsequently remain ensnared to some degree, holding on - perhaps only by a thread, to the "I loved my own way, not yours..."  POV.  (At least when challenged.)

I've been reading many things on the 'problem' of 'gay-Catholic'.  Most of these people feel the linguistic battle over gay vs. same sex attracted is a waste of time.  I think SSA works for official Church publications, but ordinary, every day use of gay is pretty universal - so what can I say?  The debate reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Frank Costanza was discussing chickens while at dinner in Susan's parents house.

Frank Costanza: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?
George Costanza: Why don't we talk about it another time.
Frank Costanza: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something's missing!
Mrs. Ross: Something's missing all right.
Mr. Ross: They're all chickens. The rooster has sex with all of them.

I'll take it a bit further.  "You got your LesbianGayBiTrannie ... which one is SSA?"  Like Susan's dad, I answer, "They're all queer.  Some just don't have sex."  Or something like that - but you get the idea.

And that, people, is one more reason why gay people hate me.

Moving along...

Reading gay-Catholics is helpful in understanding some of the problems they still have in understanding Catholic teaching.  It also helps explains how non-gay Catholics seem to be second guessing themselves, Church teaching, pastoral care of homosexual persons, mean Pope Ratzinger, and same sex marriage issues.  Joseph Bottum's about face comes to mind - followed up by his explanation for that here:  "What’s changed is my encounter with young people, or what has changed me is my encounter with young people. My reading of the rising generation of Catholic bloggers…these are 20-somethings. They’re out of college, they’re serious Catholics […] and they’re saying, “Look I understand the theology and I accept the theology but I have a phenomenological crisis, because here in front of me are these people who are growing […] to see the Catholic Church as the image and the focus—to use a literary word, as the synecdoche—for all oppression of homosexuals.”   There are bishops and priests and many Catholic spokesmen who agree with him as well.

Then there are those well meaning advocates who believe a new approach to homosexuality is needed.

If we are going to save our culture, it is important that Christians change their approach toward homosexuality. Fighting the GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) agenda in the legislatures and courts will not succeed as long as the GLBTQ activists define the debate. We must treat same-sex attraction and sexual identity disorders (the so-called transgendered and queer) as what they are—preventable and treatable problems. 

Such a change in attitude has happened before with alcoholism and abortion and needs to happen again. - Crisis

As I wrote to a friend: "Good article - or well-intentioned.  I've thought along these lines as well - but it would be opposed by gay activists all the same - 'preventable and treatable' are red flags even to the most faithful 'gay-Catholic'.  The author mentions Dr. Nicolosi and most 'gay-Catholics' despise him and his research - NARTH - 'gay-Catholics' totally reject his stuff, as well as Courage Apostolate.  Which, BTW, is 'new' in the Church - it's been tried and is true - rejection of the Apostolate suggests to me at least, a certain elitist resistance.  Resistance to the idea of homosexuality as a 'preventable and treatable problem' is pervasive and strong - precisely because the 'gay-Catholic' movement wants to keep the gay identity thing and 'sanctify' it."

Yep. 

... to be continued.
 

Ganswein speaks: "Zher iz nating twue ein ze article."

The Archbishop was talking about the story circulated by the "Zenit report of Pope Benedict telling an anonymous visitor that his decision was the result of some form of extraordinary "mystical experience" rather than a decision made after long and careful thought and deep prayer." - NCR

I knew that.
 

Repentance...

I was especially struck by today's collect for St. Monica.

Grant us, through the intercession of them both (St. Monica and her son Augustine),

that we may bitterly regret our sins and find the grace of your pardon. 

Bitterly regret ... 

St. Monica

Celebrated as patron of alcoholics, St. Monica seems to have had an inordinate attachment to wine as an adolescent, but she wasn't a drunk.

Monica cried a lot though.

St. Monica also had a great influence upon her son

St. Augustine.

 

Twisted: Queen Elizabeth II ...

The Queen (left) dances the Twist

with a friend in a rare unguarded moment

at Balmoral in August 1962

Song for this post here.

Who are we to judge?

 

 

I thought it was, "Who am I to judge?"

 

The Pope started it.  Wasting no time, opportunists have taken up the mantra, the banner, the sash... adding to the confusion.

“A gay identity can inspire and deepen a Christian faith,” author John Paul Godges told the Ignatian News Network in its new video series on gay Catholics. The quote took on a life of its own, making the headline of a news item about the series in The Raw Story, a progressive news site that reaches five million viewers per month.

“My Christian faith has been a source of strength in my spiritual journey throughout my life as a gay man,” Godges told the Ignatian News Network. “My experience as a gay man has been a source of strength in my Christian journey.”

Ignatian News Network is affiliated with Loyola Productions, a Jesuit-sponsored film production company based in Los Angeles. The network’s series on gay Catholics is called “Who Are We to Judge?”—a reference to a comment made last month by Pope Francis, the Catholic Church’s first-ever Jesuit pope. - Press release

And then there is this from The Most Reverend Jose Raul Vera Lopez, Roman Catholic Bishop of Saltillo - he was inspired by Pope Francis' statement, "Who am I to judge?"  Homophobia is a mental illness.

Call me crazy, but I think just an 'irrational fear' of homosexuality may be classified as a phobia/mental illness/disorder.  Heterophobia might be classified as such too - but In 1973 the Board of Trustees of the APA voted to remove homosexuality as a disorder category from the DSM.

What?

Bonus! 

Jeopardy Answer: "The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls." - CCC

Jeopardy Question: "Who am I to judge?" 

Someone tell Francis. ;) 

Pop culture

Will Smith family at the VMAs when Miley Cyrus took the stage. 

 

Yet people wonder why the culture is so completely screwed up and amoral.

 

Disney grooms their child stars - and audience. 

 

 

Mass Chat: That '70's Show

Trend is so dated.

And I laugh...

A few nights ago I finally re-watched Brother Son, Sister Moon - and laughed out loud.  It had been years since I watched the film - and so my memory of it was even more romanticized than the real thing.  Shortly after the election of Pope Francis, I defended the film since several critics were making fun of Zeffirelli's interpretation of poverty and ecclesiastic corruption, extravagance and so on - insisting the depiction of the life of St. Francis was NOT AT ALL like Brother Son, Sister Moon.  They were right - the film is very dated, very hippie, a little protestant - but many scenes, the costuming, the sets, landscapes - are all still captivating.  One would have to be something of a scholar, or an attentive student on the life of St. Francis to catch a lot of the poetic interpretation of the saints life in the film - that is, if you can get by the anti-establishment messages.

Oh well.  I still think Zeff is a maestro.

I also watched Angels and Demons again - Da Vinci Code is so much better, that is for sure.  Again - sets and location shots are the best - in both films.

Next on my list is to go to the theater to see Blue Jasmine - I can't wait.  The storyline reminds me of a well known blogger - we'll see if I'm right.

Oh look Poodle, I'm all Barb Nicolosi-Harrington today!

"Love her!"