Repeat offenders ...

Why we keep repeating the same sins.

We lack charity - the one thing necessary.  As St. Catherine of Siena reveals to us, we lack self-knowledge.  Getting old and constantly striving to know oneself, gradually unmasks our self-delusion.  It really is a problem of charity.

In knowing yourself, you will come to know better the overflowing generosity of my charity. But if you make no effort to know yourself, [you won’t know me]. Because you don’t know me, you won’t love me. And because you don’t love me, you won’t serve me. As soon as you are deprived of me, you automatically return to your wretched selfish love for yourself, since you cannot live without love….

This is how viciously I am offended by my creatures! - Meditation June 12, 2018

A good man.

Not too hard to find.

This weekend I came across a notice of the death of a man I knew from church.  He attended daily Mass, he was a sacristan and lector, he attended devotions and events at the parish, and he was active in many charities.  A retired teacher, he lived around the corner from me with his partner who died about ten years ago.  Later he moved into a condo, and just a year or two ago I heard that he signed himself into a home for Alzheimer's patients.  Today is his funeral Mass.

We weren't really friends, we just said hello and chatted.  I think he wanted to be friends but I kept a distance because I knew he was more 'liberal' about being gay and Catholic.  He would have no problem identifying with gay, and I expect he'd fit right in with Fr. James Martin's POV on the subject.  He would agree that people are born that way and nothing is wrong with same sex unions.  I had great respect for him, but it has always been my experience that once people knew my POV, they more or less shunned me as too narrow, and/or tried to convince me I would be happier if rejected all of that.  I wanted to be friends, but he pretty much left me alone.  When he moved away, he became more active at a more liberal parish where his priest-friend helped out at in Minneapolis.

Despite our differences on Catholic teaching - which I would never have tried to 'covert' him to - he was a good man, a much better man than myself.  (I really mean that.)  He was generous and as I mentioned, very active in the parish and devoted himself to very real charitable works which demanded sacrifice.  I mention him today because he is receiving a Catholic burial - as he should.  The surprising thing about that is his obituary mentions he was preceded in death by certain relatives and his 'life-partner'.  In some places, that note alone would have caused some priests or parishes to refuse him a Catholic burial.  Thank God that is not how this diocese treats people.

I was so pleased this did not happen to my friend/acquaintance/neighbor who just died.  Rest in peace BD.  May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

I wish I had accepted his friendship.

Pope Francis on Friday cleared an Italian layman for sainthood.

Thank you Blessed Nunzio for your patronage.

Yes!

My favorite young saint - a simple man, very much abused and very holy.

A decree recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Italian layman, Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio. He was born in Pescosansonesco (Italy) on 13 April 1817 and died in Naples (Italy) on 5 May 1836. Blessed Sulprizio is now cleared for canonization, the date for which will be fixed later in a consistory of cardinals with the Pope. - VR

Dear Blessed Nunzio, pray for us!

Thank you Fr. Horgan for your prayers and kindness to us.

A special thanksgiving for:

A miracle through the intercession of Venerable Servant of God, Maria Concepcion Cabrera de Armida was recognized. The mother of a family who later became a widow was born in San Luis Potosí (Mexico) on 8 December 1862 and died in Mexico City (Mexico) on 3 March 1937.

Low Fatima Theology?

Or High Fatima Theology?

I hate it when academia takes over and dissects and reconstructs a correct exegesis on events such as Fatima - not that it's a bad thing - but distinguishing between low and high theological interpretations somehow diminishes the simple urgency of the fundamental message.  I may be wrong about that, but it seems to me to distract and even detract from original spirit.  Of course, Our Lady intended that the Church interpret the events and secret of Fatima, as she indicated to Sr. Lucia as she wrote the secret,  Our Lady told her not to offer her own interpretation as she understood it, but instructed her to simply write what happened.  "Be at peace and write what they order you, but do not give your opinion of its meaning."  Therefore any exegesis on the texts is to be expected - but in our day it can add to the confusion.

I'm reacting here to a post by Fatima exegete Kevin Symonds, concerning his response to author Michael Lewis of Where Peter Is, who wrote: “While the term [apostasy] appears often in the claims and writings of the Fatima conspiracy theorists, the word appears neither in the Church-approved messages of Fatima or in any of the subsequent elocutions or statements by Sr. Lucia….”

Mr. Symonds takes issue with that, writing: "An examination from the “high” Fátima theology perspective demonstrates that one can discern a warning against the danger of apostasy within Our Lady’s message even if the actual word is not used. Lewis’ desire to clarify some misconceptions about Fátima is noble and he makes some other Fátima-related observations in his article that are noteworthy. His one argument on apostasy, however, emanates from the perspective of a “low” Fátima theology, which provided a short-sighted vision of the message of Fátima unequal to the argument being made. As one sympathetic to Lewis’ desire to dispel myths and falsehoods among us, I respectfully and charitably encourage him to exercise caution before taking such a heavy-handed public stand on Fátima and its relation to apostasy."

"The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome." - CCC

Urban legends and conspiracy theories have corrupted the Fatima message.

To be sure, Mr. Symonds analysis is well done and fairly balanced. I never read the Where Peter Is article until today, though I was aware of it, but I don't see Lewis being any more heavy handed than some of the papal critics and dubious Fatima exegetes he takes aim at. Quite frankly, I'm just not sure the prophecy of a genuine, outright apostasy can be discerned in the Fatima message - be it 'low or high Fatima theology'.  I think it rather to be the responsibility of the Holy Father and the CDF to make that determination and to guide the faithful accordingly. Blog posts and social media commentary not withstanding. Apostasy was never discussed in the Holy See commentary after the Third Secret was revealed under Cardinal Ratzinger.  If any one would have, could have, should have warned the faithful of apostasy it would have been Ratzinger.

It's an unfortunate distinction to make regarding low and high Fatima theology, another bit of academic snobbery and exclusion, I would say.  One must remember, the Blessed Virgin revealed herself to small, uneducated children, and as Sr. Lucia always insisted, "The part necessary for the people to know was already known since 1917."

Anyway - if you are truly concerned about Fatima and its continued relevance in our day, follow Our Lady's requests, stop offending God, do penance, pray the rosary, and practice the First Saturday devotion.  Little children understood that in 1917, and those like them understand it in 2018.

Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at his side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to her. -  St. Jacinta to Lucia

This was the idea... the effect I was after.

He first loved us ...

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you.

One summer day in Montreal ... many tears ago.

This is where it began - my return to the sacraments.

“It is not us who first loved God,” it's the other way around: “it is He who loved us first” he said. 

The Pope said the prophets used the symbol of the almond blossom to explain this reality highlighting the fact that the almond blossom is the first to bloom in spring. 

“God is like that: he is always first. He's the first to wait for us, the first to love us, the first to help us” he said. - Pope Francis, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Good catch!

H/T Campy Catholic

Venerable Matt Talbot

Man on a Bridge

(Matt Talbot on Newcomen Bridge)

T. Nelson

2018

Today is the anniversary of Matt's death.  It was Trinity Sunday, June 7, 1925.

The painting shown above is my attempt at depicting Matt Talbot in the moment of his conversion.  I imagine him here as he crossed Newcomen Bridge, after his friends ignored him.  Knowing he was probably broke, they avoided him and did not offer to buy him drink.  Though we don't know what happened on the bridge to give him the resolve to take the pledge, the bridge is a sort of metaphor of conversion, crossing over from one sort of life to another.  I imagine the 28 year old Matt Talbot as a young man, in a very private moment - looking at a crumpled piece of paper - perhaps it's a prayer, a scripture verse, or even a sort of printed notice encouraging pub patrons to take the pledge and join the Total Abstinence League?  In any case, it signifies his call to conversion.

The painting is still on the easel.

I asked him for a model and I searched Google for an "Irish lad".  Surprisingly an actor showed up and the thought came to mind as if Matt said, 'this could be me'.  I did my best to change the expression from the photo I used, but I wasn't very successful.  Perhaps one day I can try again.

The enemy of your salvation.

What Jesus told Margaret of Cortona.

St. Margaret had a lover.  She had his son.  She was his concubine - which indicate he was probably married - I can't recall.  Some biographies describe her as a servant in his household.  No one uses the term concubine these days - it's also not uncommon any longer for people to live together without benefit of marriage.  I guess that means we live in a promiscuous society - which maybe explains why marriage is so screwed up - but that's not my point with this post.

The fact that our Lord referred to her lover as the enemy of her salvation is what I find so striking.  How can one's love-er be one's enemy?  One to whom we give our entire self?  Who would believe our closest friend could be an enemy of our salvation?  How about other 'friends'?

Worldly friendships.

Bad friendships can be dangerous - toxic friends can bring out the worst in us, even lead us into grave sins which we might not have been willing to engage in on your own.  I'm not suggesting they are at fault, or that a bad friend 'made' me sin - since each of us are responsible for our own actions.  Yet we can surely follow a friend's lead and be led into sin. "Everyone has enough bad inclinations of his own without burdening himself with another's. A friend who would lead us into sin has become our enemy.  False friendship brings on dizziness of mind which causes people to falter in chastity and devotion and carries them on to improper looks, sensual caresses, deep sighs, little complaints about not being loved, enticing postures, acts of gallantry, requests for kisses and other familiarities. - St. Francis De Sales

I used to justify some bad, even 'toxic' friendships because I had more fun with such friends.  Sometimes I was the culprit, my worse side would emerge and I had a willing partner to go out and have a good time with.  That's what drinking buddies are for, kinda, sorta.  Oblivious to my own propensity for sin, I'd justify the friendship loosely based upon another maxim of St. Francis: "Friends love each other despite their faults and flaws. Just as a gold miner separates the precious metal from the earth or sand, so friends must sort for the best in each other and treasure it."  De Sales was speaking of virtuous friendship and the faults, not the sins of our friend.  "We must, of course, meekly put up with a friend's faults, but we must not lead him into our faults, must less should we acquire his.  But I speak only of imperfections. As to sins, we must neither occasion them nor tolerate them in our friends. What a strange or sinful friendship that would watch the friend die spiritually!"

One needs honest discernment in our relationships with one another.

Worldly friendship impairs the judgment and leads to rationalization. False friendship, even when it is repulsed, leads to slander, trickery, sadness and jealousy. - St. Francis De Sales

I have experienced the last part of that statement many times after such a friendship has waned: False friendship, even when it is repulsed, leads to slander, trickery, sadness and jealousy.  I often thought of the friendship as close and true, yet it was false.  The gossip and detraction and slander that resulted was proof of that.  Anyone who reads this blog may have on occasion seen the contemptuous remarks left by former friends and acquaintances, although the slander gets back to me in other ways as well.  I have former friends who say terrible things about me - in some cases, I know how terrible it is by the things they have said in anger, in my presence about their other 'friends'.  It's a good learning experience, a purifying trial in some ways, which leads to an ever deeper conversion and love of what is true and good, I think.  Everything is a grace.  It also teaches us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us - with a healthy distrust of self.

I have often written about 'disinterested friendship', which seems to me is the kind that lacks any self-seeking and is above all 'detached' - devoid of sensuality and sentimentality.  Some friends want to control and direct the other, even to own or possess the other - for their own self-interest.  In effect these friendships tend to limit our freedom and are untrustworthy.

Let us not allow our will to be the slave of any. - S. Teresa of Avila, Way of Perfection, Chapter 4

Today is the day.

Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Works for me ...

"Homosexuality is an act, not an essential nature. Therefore, one cannot be a non-practicing homosexual. That would be as preposterous as being a murderer who never killed. A person born with homosexual feelings is tempted, but not sinful, unless that potential becomes actual sin by unnatural behavior." - Rev. Gerard Lessard, OP

If I can't say anything bad about anybody, why say anything at all?

That's my problem now.

After posting all of this stuff about sins of the tongue, I probably have nothing to blog about now.  Unless of course I go deeply passive aggressive.  Yeah, that might work.

An Excerpt From Fr. Ciszek

The key word, in fact, of our priestly apostolate in the camps had to be the word 'witness'. It wasn't so much a matter of preaching God and talking religion to the men around you as it was a matter of living the faith that you yourself professed. 

It was not always a matter of preaching God and religion. It was enough at times to simply respect each of your fellow men in the camp, to do good to each no matter what he himself did or said, no matter how he acted toward you ... There was little call to preach about sin or damnation or hellfire to men who experience daily the hell of loneliness and separation and anxiety. A great deal of tolerance and a great deal of understanding were required of a priest if he wished to be effective among these unfortunate and almost degraded human beings. Common sense and intuition, a feeling for the finger of God's grace behind a question or a conversation or an encounter, was much more necessary than textbook answers in theology." - The Priesthood, He Leadeth Me, Walter Ciszek, S.J.

True devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Let us not interfere with His acting in us and for us just as He wishes. - S. Margaret Mary

It seems to me that our Lord's earnest desire to have his Sacred Heart honored in a special way is directed toward renewing the effects of redemption in our souls. For the sacred heart is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.

From this divine heart three streams flow endlessly. The first is the stream of mercy for sinners; it pours into their hearts sentiments of contrition and repentance. The second is the stream of charity which helps all in need and especially aids those seeking perfection to find the means of surmounting their difficulties. From the third stream flow love and light for the benefit of his friends who have attained perfection; these he wishes to unite to himself so that they may share his knowledge and commandments and, in their individual ways, devote themselves wholly to advancing his glory.

This divine heart is an abyss of all blessings, and into it the poor should submerge all their needs. It is an abyss of joy in which all of us can immerse our sorrows. It is an abyss of lowliness to counteract our foolishness, an abyss of mercy for the wretched, an abyss of love to meet our every need.

Therefore, you must unite yourselves to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, both at the beginning of your conversion in order to obtain proper dispositions, and at its end in order to make reparation. Are you making no progress in prayer? Then you need only offer God the prayers which the Savior has poured out for us in the sacrament of the altar. Offer God his fervent love in reparation for your sluggishness. In the course of every activity pray as follows: "My God, I do this or I endure that in the heart of your Son and according to his holy counsels. I offer it to you in reparation for anything blameworthy or imperfect in my actions." Continue to do this in every circumstance of life. And every time that some punishment, affliction or injustice comes your way, say to yourself: "Accept this as sent to you by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in order to unite yourself to him."

But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to his glory, and we will be happy to be his subjects and to trust entirely in him. - St. Margaret Mary

This just in: 'We are due for another Carrington Event.'

Keep watch over your mouth ... fake news and lies.

So you think you know the law.

People online, many people online, with a website, in the combox, clergy or laity, educated and under-educated: take note.  Study the Catechism.  If Fr. Corapi did nothing else, at least he preached/taught the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  It is clear to me, that many of us online have lost our way and daily commit sins of the tongue.  Sadly, we have a White House* which leads the way in fake news and lies, as we are all finding out today.

Lies.

2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving."²⁸¹ The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."²⁸² 

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord. 

2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity. 

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray. 

2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships. 

2487 Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another's reputation. This reparation, moral and sometimes material, must be evaluated in terms of the extent of the damage inflicted. It obliges in conscience. -CCC

Liars.

Similarly, we have Catholics who spread lies and gossip about the Pope, mocking and sneering and criticizing everything he does or says.  Just a week or so back, his critics with or without an STB or BA in theology, pretty much condemned him for telling the German Bishops to rework their proposal of inter-communion for Protestants.  Today we learn the Holy Father rejected their proposal.  Catholics online were less than charitable when speculating and discussing the subject when it made news not long ago.  If you read some of the commentary from the most notorious Catholic tabloid sites, you would have to wonder if many of these folks even understand the gravity of the sin of  slander and detraction, at times even calumny.  So often these same people speculate upon the state of soul of others who approach Holy Communion, when they themselves should examine their own conscience first. 

"Do not tell me, 'I would be a slanderer only if I lied. I am committing no slander if I tell the truth.' Error! Speaking evil of others, even if the evil be true, is always a crime. Surely the publican was really a publican and a sinner; but he left cleansed of all his defilements because he was scorned by the Pharisee. You want to correct your brother? Weep, pray to God, warn him by speaking to his heart, advise and exhort him. That is how Saint Paul acted. 'But backbiting is so sweet!' you say. Yes, but not backbiting is sweeter still. The backbiter creates deadly anxiety for himself, he is constantly besieged by suspicion and fear. He repents, but too late; he bites his tongue, but in vain; he trembles, for as his words spread, they may cause him grave danger and expose those who repeat them to enmities which so easily could have been avoided." - Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 3, Ad pop Antioch.

Back to the Catechism...

V. THE USE OF THE SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA

2493 Within modern society the communications media play a major role in information, cultural promotion, and formation. This role is increasing, as a result of technological progress, the extent and diversity of the news transmitted, and the influence exercised on public opinion. 

2494 The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good.²⁸⁵ Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice, and solidarity:
The proper exercise of this right demands that the content of the communication be true and - within the limits set by justice and charity - complete. Further, it should be communicated honestly and properly. This means that in the gathering and in the publication of news, the moral law and the legitimate rights and dignity of man should be upheld.²⁸⁶ 

2495 "It is necessary that all members of society meet the demands of justice and charity in this domain. They should help, through the means of social communication, in the formation and diffusion of sound public opinion."²⁸⁷ Solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others. 

2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences. 

2497 By the very nature of their profession, journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against charity in disseminating information. They should strive to respect, with equal care, the nature of the facts and the limits of critical judgment concerning individuals. They should not stoop to defamation. 

*2498 "Civil authorities have particular responsibilities in this field because of the common good. . . . It is for the civil authority . . . to defend and safeguard a true and just freedom of information."²⁸⁸ By promulgating laws and overseeing their application, public authorities should ensure that "public morality and social progress are not gravely endangered" through misuse of the media.²⁸⁹ Civil authorities should punish any violation of the rights of individuals to their reputation and privacy. They should give timely and reliable reports concerning the general good or respond to the well-founded concerns of the people. Nothing can justify recourse to disinformation for manipulating public opinion through the media. Interventions by public authority should avoid injuring the freedom of individuals or groups. 

2499 Moral judgment must condemn the plague of totalitarian states which systematically falsify the truth, exercise political control of opinion through the media, manipulate defendants and witnesses at public trials, and imagine that they secure their tyranny by strangling and repressing everything they consider "thought crimes." - CCC

"He who speaks against his brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law." Jas 4:11 -  Sins of the Tongue

Corpus Christi ...

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, 

Yeah.  So the next time someone tries to tell you the Pope doesn't kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, show them this photo.  

The online comedy club has a lot to answer for ...

III. OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH

2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."²⁷⁴ By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."²⁷⁵

2476 False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness.²⁷⁶ When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused.²⁷⁷ They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions.

2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.²⁷⁸ He becomes guilty:

- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;

- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;²⁷⁹

- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.²⁸⁰

2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.

2480 Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation, or complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse conduct. Adulation is a grave fault if it makes one an accomplice in another's vices or grave sins. Neither the desire to be of service nor friendship justifies duplicitous speech. Adulation is a venial sin when it only seeks to be agreeable, to avoid evil, to meet a need, or to obtain legitimate advantages.

2481 Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior.

God made you that way.

Created in the image and likeness of God.

Of course the Holy Father knows and teaches that. 

“The Devil is behind every persecution, both of Christians and all human beings. The Devil tries to destroy the presence of Christ in Christians, and the image of God in men and women. He tried doing this from the very beginning, as we read in the Book of Genesis: he tried to destroy that harmony that the Lord created between man and woman, the harmony that comes from being made in the image and likeness of God. And he succeeded. He managed to do it by using deception, seduction…the weapons he uses. He always does this. But there is a powerful ruthlessness against men and women today: otherwise how to explain this growing wave of destruction towards men and women, and all that is human”.

We must not be ingenuous. In the world today, all humans, and not only Christians are being persecuted, because the Father of all persecutions cannot bare that they are the image and likeness of God. So he attacks and destroys that image. It isn’t easy to understand this. We have to pray a lot if we want to understand it”. - Vatican Radio

Pastoral care.

I was blessed to experience the pastoral care of patients in hospital, administered by priests and deacons this past week.  Of all the ministries in the Church, this is one which most clearly demonstrates the Holy Father's image of the Church as 'field hospital' and going out to the peripheries.  Every time a Eucharistic minister or EMC carries the Blessed Sacrament through the halls, in a very unique manner, Christ is passing by ... some are able to touch the hem of his garment, others can ask to be brought to him - in the most stealthy manner - like the paraplegic lowered through the roof tiles.  Sometimes loved ones ask him to visit those who may think they are not worthy to ask for him.   Others he blesses with his gaze, his touch, his presence - imperceptible to the senses.  There are so many ways God comes to us, oftentimes unexpectedly.

I intend to pray for priests, deacons, religious and laity who minister to the sick, the dying, the imprisoned and the fallen.  I also think we need to pray for the sick and dying and elderly daily - and those who care for them.  Hospital workers are extraordinary people - from care-givers, to housekeeping, to dietary staff.  Though they are close to God in their mission, I think they too very much need our prayers.  Every day must be a challenge, no matter how much they love their job.  A priest once told me the devil tries to disrupt hospitals and hospice especially, in order to destroy the good being done, and drag souls away from God.  It makes sense. 

That said, none of us know the day or the hour.  Even the good - not just 'sinners' - need prayer and the sacraments to accompany them in their last days and moments.  "God can do infinitly more than we can ask or imagine."

Prayers requested for a special intention ...

Death before mortal sin.

Center, Mother of Maria Goretti

Another interesting discussion on Facebook.

A friend posted a commentary on something a spiritual-director woman online posted about preferring that one's child die rather than commit a mortal sin.  (She did a poll.)  The comments were 'against it' or rather censorious, to put it mildly.  I love little exchanges like that.  There are so many examples of the saints, even in the Old Testament, who would rather die than sin against God.  The most classic example is from the Book of Maccabees about the mother and her seven sons she urged to die rather than eat pork. One by one they were tortured and killed, rather than offend God.

At first I responded with my idea of where people get these ideas from - the examples of the saints.  I wrote the following comment to be a bit tongue in cheek, making light of their 'piety':

Francis de Sales quotes Bl. Blanche of Castile, the mother of St. Louis King of France: "My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin." Similarly, St. Rita prayed that her sons wouldn't take revenge upon her husband's murderers, and they died before they could do anything. These examples are meant to instill great fear of God - in a good way, that is, their devotion be so great, their greatest fear would be offending God. Traditional piety has always been full of drama of course. Consider that the modesty and chastity of St. Aloysius moved him to avoid looking at his mother. Pious folks seem to want to repeat these examples and are very good at trying to scare the hell out of apostates, heretics and libertines. Although it seems to me the notion of mortal sin is pretty much lost on us these days - this strategy doesn't work especially well.  

It's good to remember that the children of the saints weren't always well treated or coddled, as we do today.  We try to shield children from all sorts of evils and send them to counsellors whenever tragedy strikes. Just imagine Margaret of Cortona's son, what he had to go through with her penitence and poverty, only to be sent to a monastery when he was old enough? Then of course all of Angela of Foligno's kids died and she was free to pursue the penitential life. Jane de Chantal walked over the body of her (adult) son who laid on the threshold in his attempt to keep her from founding a convent. There are so many examples of saints doing crazy stuff. LOL! Religious people are rather queer, haven't you noticed? - My comment  

I took my comment down, pretty much because contemporary people seem to regard this sort of 'heroic detachment' as mere hyperbole, and one is more or less forbidden to even suggest such a horrific example to others.  I was also ashamed that I made light of another person's piety.  The original objection on Facebook was that it somehow contradicted pro-life ideology.  To be sure that's beyond my competence - so I thought I better back off.

In another reply I had also cited Dominic Savio who at seven years of age vowed: "Death before sin!"  I noted I made the same promise when I was about Savio's age, but it didn't work for me.  I tried to make light of the whole thing, but it was wrong for me to play games like that.  Gratefully I suddenly remembered something St. John Paul II wrote regarding this very same issue - which confirmed my reluctance to add more to the conversation.

The Church proposes the example of numerous Saints who bore witness to and defended moral truth even to the point of enduring martyrdom, or who preferred death to a single mortal sin. In raising them to the honor of the altars, the Church has canonized their witness and declared the truth of their judgment, according to which the love of God entails the obligation to respect his commandments, even in the most dire of circumstances, and the refusal to betray those commandments, even for the sake of saving one’s own life. - Veritatis Splendor, 91

Of course, this leads one to consider the 'virgin martyrs', especially in modern times, with Maria Goretti at the lead.  Parents are loathe to consider such an end for their kids.  I'm thinking this must be the pivot of the argument.  It seems to turn the tables and becomes a pro-choice argument against pro-lifers?  I'm not sure, but I think I need to stay away from these online battles.

St Shmouni and her seven sons.

Teach us to pray.

Rublev's 'Trinity'

It is not the Trinity represented here,

it is the 'mystery' of the Holy Trinity.

Something about the Trinity.

I want to share a comment I left on another website about 'the forgotten person of the Holy Trinity'. A sacred mystery words and images are inadequate to express. And we all keep trying to explain it - often leading us into many errors and bogus devotions based upon locutions and imperfect private revelations.  We keep writing, talking, reading - but we can only know these things by faith, in mystery, in silence. There is no forgotten person in the Holy Trinity, rather I think it is the Trinity who is forgotten.

Oddly enough, authentic Marian devotion leads one to a deeper understanding of the Holy Trinity - it is inseparable from it - just as devotion to the Sacred Humanity leads one into the very 'bosom of the Trinity'. (I like St. Elizabeth's terminology better - 'plunges us!') The rosary is a decidedly Trinitarian prayer, and the Fatima revelations clearly exemplify what I am trying say about that.

The initial prayer the angel taught the children is the epitome of Trinitarian prayer. "My God I believe, I adore, I hope in and I love you ... I pray for those who do not, etc. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, etc." (What follows demonstrates the Trinitarian dimension of the Mass and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as well.)

All Catholic spiritual teaching on prayer and recollection is traditionally embedded in the mystery of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity, and it seems to me the epistles of St. Paul are a sort of gospel of the Holy Spirit. So this talk of forgotten persons in the Trinity strikes me as misleading. The Mass and Eucharistic devotion is incomprehensible without a correct Trinitarian devotion.  This may be the real reason for why fewer attend Mass or observe Sunday as a holy day.

Roman Catholic devotion has been corrupted by silly novelties and false revelations, which leads to major theological error - and apparently, apostasy.  As the Catechism says:  Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

Fatherhood icons of this type 

may be good, but they aren't a solution

or an adequate understanding of the mystery.

That's why I love this song, 'Living for the love of you':

Love to be
Ridin' the waves of your love, enchanted with your touch
And it seems to me
We could sail together in and out of mystery, well

I wanna be livin'
For the love of you, alright now
All that I'm givin'
Is for the love of you; you got me, 

I wanna be livin'
For the love of you, alright now
All that I'm givin', givin'
Is for the love of you, oh, yes, I am

Paradise I have within

Can't feel insecure again
You're the key, well
And this I see, for I see

Now and then I lose my way
Usin' words that try to say
What I feel, yeah
Love is real, oh, love is real, oh

I know that I'm livin'

For the love of you, oh, yes, I am
I know that I'm livin'
For the love, love of you

Every, every day I'm livin'
For love of you
I'm livin' for the love
Each and every day

I'm, oh, whoa, I'm, oh, yes, I am
I wanna say it one more time
Said I'm livin'
For the love of you .... - Ron Isley

Summer time.

I'm working in the yard.

I was looking through photos from last year and I think I was temporarily insane, I planted the wrong stuff and built really crazy stuff to protect it, and now I'm so embarrassed that I posted photos online.  So this year I'm doing very simple plantings and plan to kill rabbits.

The Pope on admitting gay men to the seminary ...

I saw it first on Fr. Z.

Apparently the Holy Father reaffirmed 'Catholic policy' on admitting gay men to seminary, in a private meeting with the Italian bishops.

“If there’s a doubt about homosexuality, it’s better not to have them enter the seminary.”

The words of the Pope in the closed door session with the Italian bishops: “Discernment is needed”. Reaffirmed what was in the Vatican documents of 2005 and 2016.

With the pastors of the CEI (Italian bishops conference) – Vatican insider learned – Francis, speaking about the downturn in vocations, one of his “three worries” for the Italian church, he was, instead, more straightforward and, inviting the bishops to oversee more the quality of future priests, then the quantity, explicitly mentioned cases of homosexual persons who desire, for various motives, to enter into the seminary. Then he invited the bishops to a “careful discernment”, adding: “if you have also the slightest doubt it’s better not to let them enter”. - Fr. Z

Evidently bishops in Chile appointed active homosexual priests to seminaries:

The Pontiff denounced verified problems in seminaries where – as he wrote – bishops and religious superiors have entrusted control to “priests suspected of practicing homosexuality”. - Fr. Z

Fr. Z knows as well as I do this has happened in the United States over recent decades.  It has been an open secret, if you will.  In my opinion, there's no 'gay mafia' to speak of orchestrating it, it was simply a fact of clerical life.  I'm convinced my archdiocese has fixed all that, but that it had been a problem here many years ago, is no secret.

I really only wanted to cite the recent statement by the Pope to demonstrate that the Holy Father definitely supports Catholic teaching on sexual morality as it concerns homosexuality.  I know others will disagree with me on that, but I have not lost my confidence in Pope Francis as a faithful son of the Church.  Some day, everyone will see that clearly.  I also think people would be surprised if the bishops who have entrusted such priests, or who have looked the other way, permitting them to stay on in their positions, were to be revealed or identified.  It's not just so-called 'liberal' prelates who have done that.  There are those who continue to encourage and support gay men to pursue seminary or monastic life.

It's a problem - a very serious problem, as the translation Fr. Z published explains:

One indication, from the Pope, that expresses his deep concern: these tendencies, which are “deeply rooted”, and the practice of “homosexual acts”, can compromise the life of the seminary beyond that of the young man himself and an eventual future priesthood. They can generate those “scandals” of which the Pope had spoken in his discourse at the opening of the assembly of the Italian bishops in the new hall of the Synod, that disfigure the face of the Church. - Fr. Z

And I will tell you why I agree.

I know many guys who have tried their vocations - over and over - convinced after each repentance, after each lengthy period of continence, that they are suited for religious life, and or priesthood.  After every attempt, many fall back into the old patterns of masturbation, porn, and anonymous sex.  It's not an addiction, but a 'deeply rooted' inclination.  Deep seated.  I'm not talking about a teen boy who is just 'horny' and wants to 'get off'.  Celibate priesthood and religious life - even in community - does not 'take care' of inordinate desires.  Homosexual acts are indeed gravely disordered and will compromise seminary and religious life.  What I'm saying is that men with deep seated homosexual tendencies should be discouraged from seminary and religious life. 

Membership in Courage or years of therapy to overcome homosexuality is no guarantee.  Nor is the rejection of identifiable terms such as 'gay' in favor of 'ssa'.

Fr. Z says "This bridge is closed!"  A probable reference to Fr. Martin's book - although I don't think the bridge is closed, and it never has been.  Priests, bishops - even cardinals - with great sympathy for homosexuals, have always admitted these men, or encouraged their vocations.  Because, at one time or another, they have been encouraged to consider a vocation  to priesthood or religious life, the candidates themselves will seek out and find persons willing to admit them and write letters of recommendation.  Not a few become priests within monastic or religious communities, only to leave for diocesan work.  Few question that sort of instability.

People may ask, 'what about gay men already ordained?'  I agree with the Pope when he responded to that question years ago, "Who am I to judge?"  Unless of course they break the law or have sex with underage young men, engage in public sin, create scandal, and so on.  That said, there are wonderful priests who are gay - or rather, experience same sex attraction.  They do just fine.  The Pope is talking about reforming a 'system' which admits men with deep seated homosexual tendencies.

I've gone back and forth on this issue, but after all these years of blogging and reading the literature, as well as seeing several priests fall from grace and leave the priesthood, I am convinced the Church should not ordain gay men.  I wanted always to be charitable and to believe that maybe the rules should be bent for this one or that one, but I can't say that now.  It's a delusion to overlook all the evidence against the practice today.

“If you have also the slightest doubt it’s better not to let them enter”.  The Holy Father is right.  And it is not homophobia to insist upon that.

What the Pope said ... I spoke too soon.

Mr. Cruz and Pope Francis.

“I saw a compassionate man, I saw someone who was caring for someone, 

not worrying about if we are gay, straight, brown, white. 

He was hearing from someone who has been hurt, abused,” Mr. Cruz 

The story and commentary is growing and getting dissected.

Not to worry.  Prayer obtains all.  I should have known better than to respond to the story so quickly, but it is a really good reminder of how deeply I need 'to allow myself to be taught', to paraphrase St. John of the Cross.

So anyway.  I think I get it now. What the Holy Father reportedly said is entirely consistent with his way of approaching those alienated from the Church. It is consistent with his style of evangelization and his concept of the Church as field hospital.

Having more background on the story helped me out - Juan Carlos Cruz was reportedly discredited by the Chilean bishops, whose spokesmen pointed out that he was gay and therefore unreliable, a blame and shame the victim strategy.  So it fits that the Holy Father would make such a comment privately and personally, without feeling the need to hold up the catechism and point out what actual teaching is.  I'm sure Mr. Cruz knew it already.  It was a private exchange and was a kindly affirmation of an individual person, and as I've said before, it was not 'for me' nor did it change Catholic teaching.  I'm not sure the Pope expected it to be made public, nor did he intend it as a correction of doctrinal teaching, and I highly doubt he will clarify it.  

My initial reaction had more to do with how media and social media especially erupted, and it reveals how deeply my own 'doctrinal adhesion' if you will, became a barrier to a basic sense of empathy. On one level, it reveals my own self-righteousness based upon my personal sense of 'dogmatic fidelity'.  (It kind of adds credence to what Pope Francis warns us all about regarding strains of 'Neo-Pelagianism and Neo-Gnosticism' infecting Catholics.)  

That said, it's amazing how many outside the Church, especially former practicing Catholic celebrities, seemed to have understood the gesture immediately.  I know conservative writers seem to think 'liberals' consider the Pope's gesture to be a sea change in Catholic doctrinal teaching, but I don't see it that way at all.  Of course Fr. Martin, S.J. might see it that way, yet so do traditionalists, who are already predicting the Youth Synod will be corrupted by the 'liberal' POV.  This sort of projection of what could happen or not happen is typical of those who have come through the culture wars, and it is outside my expertise and competence.  It's also very often completely devoid of charity.

Again, I love the Holy Father and I am grateful for his humble leadership.

I forgot I had written about the Chilean scandal in 2015 here.

Mary, Mother of the Church

Prayer to Mary at the conclusion of the Encyclical Lumen Fidei (29 June 2013)

Image of Mary – Our Lady of the Column in St Peter’s Basilica

-source-

Just like clockwork: And Paul VI wept.

So anyway.

Fr. Z is the 'second source' for the myth.  Archbishop Magee was the first.  So two sources still doesn't convince me.  How could Blessed Pope Paul not know the Octave of Pentecost was suppressed?

Then it all became very clear to me.  It had to be the impostor Pope Paul who wept.  (Because the real Pope was drugged and imprisoned.)