I've also been having computer problems...

Just a heads up.

If you have emailed me and I haven't responded it's probably because there are problems with my computer.  I found that out from a friend who called to ask why I wasn't responding.  I also stopped checking out a few sites online because for some unknown reason my laptop crashes when I'm on your site.  I'm not blaming you - but you tumlr people know who you are.

I think things have been taken care of now.

Although, I may never blog again if this keeps happening.  I may blow up the computer in the back yard for November 5 festivities - bonfires of the vain and frivolous.

Just remember - I wouldn't ignore you - I need all the friends I can get.

What?

I think what is happening today has to be the unfolding of the Third Secret ...

“Tell everybody that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary...” - Blessed Jacinta

I've said it before and each time I repeat it I am more convinced.  I repeat it because we get ourselves embroiled in arguments and criticism and condemning everything happening in the Church and the world which we cannot process fast enough intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

Repeating myself again:  I think we're there. Before she died, Sr. Lucia said we were going towards the trials foretold "little by little." Closer to the date of the beatifications she told the pope we were "going towards it with great strides." Which is why I think we are there now.

"I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him." - Blessed Jacinta

Consider Jacinta's vision in light of how the Holy Father is being treated - even by Catholics - and what he himself has been saying since the beginning of his pontificate.

"Only God knows the stories of those people who have given their lives, who have died, and continue to be stoned with the hardest stone that exists in the world: language.” - Pope Francis 

The migrants and the bodies of martyrs piling up.

I watched CBS evening news last night.  They interviewed Christians who have taken refuge someplace in Syria - of all places.  The Christian woman said she would never go back to Iraq, explaining it was bad enough living with Muslims before, but now with ISIS it is intolerable.  The mass migration includes more than Christian refugees of course, what does it mean for the West?  Especially when states concede rights - as in the German example of giving up Christian festivals so as not to offend Muslims?

The mass migration crisis.

While the flow of migrants to Europe this year already represents the biggest influx from outside the Continent in modern history, many experts warn that the mass movement may continue and even increase — possibly for years to come. “We are talking about millions of potential refugees trying to reach Europe, not thousands,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said in a recent Twitter posting. Many of the migrants are fleeing persecution, poverty, ethnic and religious strife and war, but these afflictions are often symptoms of more profound changes.

In the Middle East and Africa, borders drawn by Ottoman dynasts and European colonialists are breaking down as the autocratic Arab states that enforced a grim peace for generations continue to implode.

As traditional lines of authority break down, militant groups like the Islamic State and Boko Haram, in Nigeria, seek to fill the vacuum while minority sects and ethnic groups suffer unspeakable treatment at their hands. - NYT

The following is that one part of the Secret Lucia told Jacinta not to speak about - since it referred to the third part which wasn't revealed until the year 2000.

"Look! Don’t you see many roads, paths and fields full of people crying of hunger, not having anything to eat? And the Holy Father in a Church praying next to the Heart of Mary?" - Blessed Jacinta

I think this is it.

I'm not talking about the end of the world.  However, I do not think anyone could ever have predicted what we are witnessing today - the overwhelming influx of immigrants and refugees, among them may be a sort of Fifth Column movement of Islamic terrorists?  I don't know - and heads of state appear not to know as well.

It's all very confusing and frustrating.  All the negativity online, especially among Catholics is really depressing.  Bloggers talk about war - priests and canonists and scholars discuss religious issues generated by the Synod in terms of war - one in particular, Rachel Lu, a professor from a local college kept calling liberals and fellow progressive academics losers and heretics.  Declaring war along with Ross Douthat.  As if war is a game - as if all of these events can be managed, controlled by human endeavor.  It seems to me, Catholics like these writers speak in opposition to peace.  They speak like the disciples, who before the descent of the Holy Spirit wanted to call down fire upon those who rejected them.

The temptation against faith.

The greatest temptations are now.  Against faith, against hope, and against charity.  It is a very difficult time.  We need to pray more than condemn and judge.  It's a grave temptation to fall prey to the critical spirit.  Even good people, even priests online constantly focus upon the negative, pointing out particular sins - but there seems to be little online offering encouragement and hope.

Being online, reading Catholic blogs, is getting to be like living in a concentration camp - but even there, in the camps, the light of faith could never be extinguished.  The mystery of Divine Providence - the Presence of God - never forsakes those who pray.  No matter the state of soul.  Pray.  Pray without ceasing.  All day.  Every day.  Pray as you know how - or better yet - pray the rosary - pray many rosaries.  As many as possible.  Prayer isn't an art form, a specialty reserved for monks or nuns - prayer itself is a teacher - it is the door which leads you to that interior communion with the Holy Trinity.  Prayer is the life of the soul ...  The rosary is the best teacher.

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. - Bl. Jacinta to Lucia

What happened to the Germans? (Aside from losing WWII)

Even though they started it.

What?

Horrible little German Christian extremists. 

Seriously - what is wrong with that country?  Drudge headlines claim they are nearing anarchy and civil war.  I blame the Germans - it couldn't be the Muslims fault.

Okay.  Really, really seriously now.

This just in from a disgruntled office worker:  German schools are abolishing a Christian celebration - St. Martin's Day - because it offends Muslim immigrants:

Primary schools and kindergartens in Germany are abolishing a Christian celebration and changing it into a generic “festival of lights” so as not to offend the hundreds of thousands of Muslim migrants pouring into the country.

According to a translated report out of the Epoch Times, schools are re-naming the Christian-themed St. Martin’s Day, an annual celebration that takes place in numerous European countries on November 11.

Several daycare centers in Düsseldorf have abolished the festival altogether out of “consideration for the refugees,” a decision that has prompted fierce criticism from head teachers at other schools in the region. - Source

I know!

I'm against it.


H/T Ronnie Dovetonsils

Right back at the beginning ...

I found my way back to the sacraments after an intense encounter with Christ ...

... alone and afflicted ... having no one but you Lord.

Priest and prophet forage in a land they know not ...

I'm back at the beginning ...

Oh! who can heal me?
Give me perfectly Yourself,
Send me no more
A messenger
Who cannot tell me what I wish.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Song for this post here.

All Saints ...

The ecumenism of blood.

When I quote the psalm, "there is no saint left" - it might be because there are martyrs ...

In the San Bartolomeo Basilica on the island in the Tiber in Rome, an unusual icon can be found: that of “the great tribulation” depicting the “contemporary martyrs.” It does not so much point to heaven as it does to earth, directing our eyes to some of the darkest and most inhumane moments of the 20th century.

The icon features a multitude of scenes ranging from the Armenian genocide to the genocide in Rwanda. - Zeger Polhuijs

The icon shown above is stunning and seems to echo the words of Pope Francis,  “today there is an ecumenism of blood."  The saints left are those whose struggle against sin and whose witness of faith endures to the point of shedding blood.

This gives me hope.  It gives me strength... and courage.

Again, as Pope Francis remarked reflecting upon the martyrdom of Blessed Oscar Romero:

“This gives me strength. Only God knows the stories of those people who have given their lives, who have died, and continue to be stoned with the hardest stone that exists in the world: language.” - Pope Francis

How Halloween foreshadows the Three Days Darkness ...

The Death-skull Halloween comet which passed by.

If you shut down the house, that is.

Close all the shutters, no outside lights, candles the only interior light.  Don't look out the windows, or go to the door, pray no one vandalizes your property because you're not giving out candy.  Little demons and witches - pimps and whores dressed to kill, scary psych nurses and vampires roam outside - but don't look out.

It's roughly about three hours darkness, from 6 to 9 PM.  Then it's over.

It's a rehearsal for the Three Days Darkness people.  I survived.  Evidently the witch next door did as well - she was out at 8 AM mowing and mulching and cackling.

Don't know what the Three Days Darkness is?

There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy. All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms. - Source

That's Halloween - a prelude to the Three Days Darkness.  And Americans think it's fun.

My big distraction during Mass.  I kept thinking

I'd like to do what Harvey Korman is doing in this

scene from High Anxiety.  I could turn around

at the sign of peace like this.  Maybe next year.

Mass notes:

The costume Mass at my parish was moved to today, so I was happy last night's Mass would be solemn and dignified.  Five minutes before Mass, the organist startled everyone with one of those classic horror film preludes: Bach:Toccata and Fugue in D minor.  I wasn't scared, but I laughed out loud.  As Tammy Baker would say, "That mean ol' devil broke the silence and recollection anyway."  Oh well. A couple of people quietly applauded.  I had to laugh again.  There were a few other instances I had to squelch laughter - but I'll keep them to myself.

Halloween is fine for those who want to celebrate it - Christian origins or not - I don't really like it or care about it.  I appreciate the 'old fashioned' way of doing it - kids get dressed up, trick or treat - house to house.  Now the kids are bussed by a parent - taken to better neighborhoods to get their stuff.

The weird part is that it's adults who won't let the holiday go.  It really is a bit of 3 days darkness - since last week everything is geared to Halloween.  Television news, Network morning shows, television shows, etc.  Friday evening adults in costumes were shopping, and check out employees were in costume as well.  It's a bit like Venice during carnival, I suppose.  Nothing is really wrong with it - except we all tend to party while everything else collapses.

Mass isn't even sacred anymore.

Why does Mass have to be made entertaining or amusing?

Sometimes I envy the tradsters and the availability of the Extraordinary Form.



Song for this post here.

Blow it out your pipes.

Parabola article on Monastero Di Bose

Bianchi with Pope Francis

When I first heard of Patheos I confused it with Parabola, a print magazine on spirituality.

I came across an issue of Parabola at the grocery store which included an article on the monastic community of Bose, in Italy.  Pope Francis received the Prior, Enzo Bianchi once or twice and was criticized for doing so.  I can't recall why - but I'm pretty sure the critics believe he's some sort of heretic.

Anyway - I discovered that the article I bought the magazine for is online here: Parabola visits Monastero Di Bose.  I read it, found it an interesting take on contemporary monasticism, and didn't notice anything heretical - but I'm not a scholar or lawyer.

The community reminds me a bit of Shakers - who lived celibate lives in a mixed community, but unlike Shakers, the Bose community is liturgical.  It's an interesting concept - I maybe would want to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Speaking with Prior Enzo Bianchi

“At a certain moment there was an intuition that instead of dedicating my life to politics, toward which I was leaning, I should lead a Christian life—just that. In time I thought of monastic life. There were three with me, another young man and two women. Offices morning, noon, and night. The community started that way. I obeyed what occurred, I had no big project. I said to the Lord: a simple monastery of our time, that is all I ask. Seven or eight brothers would already be quite a few. I had no sense of what lay ahead.

“At the beginning we had many difficulties. The local bishop opposed us: we couldn’t celebrate the Eucharist, he wouldn’t receive Protestants, and he didn’t want to speak with me. However, Cardinal Pellegrino of Turin took the responsibility. He visited us in 1968 and lifted the prohibition against the Eucharist. He assigned a Jesuit to serve as an intermediary. In time the cardinal and local bishop urged me to study for the priesthood, but I preferred to remain a brother. It’s enough for me to be what I am. In the early years we went to Mass in the nearby village, like the Pachomian monks in the Egyptian desert. Now we have priests among the brothers.

“We never thought to attract attention as we have. We received confidence that we didn’t deserve. Cardinal Pellegrino had great confidence in me, as did Patriarch Athenagoras who took a few of our number to Mount Athos. Throughout my life I’ve encountered even too much confidence—the Lord has done many things in spite of me. I do try to give confidence to people: I say that if you have confidence, others will have confidence. People today have little confidence, little hope, little faith. And what they wish from us monks is a word of confidence. I believe the Lord has asked this of us more than all the rest. - Roger Lipsey for Parabola

I like very much the following insight:

Brother Enzo wrote the Rule of Bose in the early 1970s with counsel from the small community of that time (look online at parabola.org for the Prologue to the Rule and some of the characteristic music of Bose). A closing paragraph of the Rule includes a remarkable thought: “Brother, sister, you have built the community, and you build it each day. But do not worry about giving the original intuition continuity in history.” Speaking with Brother Enzo, I asked about this daring statement, in effect a plea to future generations to undo some of what he in his time had done. This was his response: “The next generation mustn’t be concerned to continue the charism of the founders. There is no ‘charism of the founders’—there is monastic life. They will have a monastic life, but as the Lord and the times require today and tomorrow. Where forms are concerned, they must not follow me; that, absolutely not. The Spirit has a newness. Gospel, celibacy, and community, these must remain; all the rest can change. The Spirit will give the possibility to find new paths." - ibid

"The Spirit has a newness. Gospel, celibacy, and community, these must remain; all the rest can change. The Spirit will give the possibility to find new paths."

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Right now ... I can't think of one contemporary Catholic writer, blogger ...

... who has anything edifying, original, or genuinely worthwhile to say.

Not one.

There is something so packaged and marketed in what is available online and in print - it is so boring. Sterile.  Impotent.  It's about branding, I think.  Or better, labeling oneself, and assuming a title, a job description-persona one feels the duty to live up to and promote - propagate.  Everything one says and does emanates from that. Even those with a real vocation seemed to have turned it into a career.  The soul is gone.  The first fervor has grown cold.

There is nothing so boring as diocesan newspapers, or Catholic news papers, with their stable of writers... and that is what blogging and online magazine-news portals seem to have turned into.

I kind of like it that way though - less to be distracted by.

That said, I think Pope Francis may be the only voice to speak authentically at this time - which may explain why he is so opposed.  

Local news: Person of interest in the Jacob Wetterling case.

Investigators are cautiously saying they may have a break in the case.

It's a creepy story and one that most Minnesotans will never forget - the abduction and disappearance of a young boy.  It is heartbreaking - and the details surrounding the suspect's 'proclivities' is even worse. The suspect is charged with child pornography.  He kept boy's clothes and shoes, several binders of child porn - mostly boys.  Evidence of bondage - duct tape and so on.  Seriously evil and perverted.

The latest on this story.

After 26 years of mystery surrounding the abduction of Jacob Wetterling, hope of resolution for his parents and the city of St. Joseph emerged on Thursday. 

The arrest of Annandale’s Daniel Heinrich on child pornography chargesbecame even more significant when a subsequent link to the case of another Stearns County boy who went missing around the same time as Wetterling was revealed. 

Though he has not been charged with Wetterling’s abduction and denies involvement, authorities led by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger went public with the information, identifying him as a “person of interest” in the cold case. 

Wetterling’s parents Patty and Jerry, who opened a child protection centerbearing their son’s name after he went missing, issued a statement that was hopeful, but also asked “for time” as the investigation progresses. 

“The search for Jacob is an ongoing investigation and we will watch and learn with everybody else,” they said, adding: “For 26 years we have said that somebody knows something … we are so grateful for the prayers, the support and hope shared in our search for Jacob and the search for answers.” - Source

Following all the links in this story opens up an entire underworld of perversion and sexual exploitation of children and teen aged boys most of us never knew existed.  The guy arrested in the Wetterling case had photos of teen boys from local yearbooks, he cut out the faces and pasted them onto existing porn he down-loaded from the Internet.   He secretly video taped neighborhood boys delivering papers and doing ordinary things - focusing the camera on their crotch.

I'm too upset to write about this stuff.

Stop sexualizing children.

Stop using any kind of porn.

Stop engaging in sexual perversion of any kind.

Pray that the pervert in this case, Daniel Heinrich confesses to his involvement in the Wetterling case.  Pray that he will have a change of heart and confess his crimes.

Pray for Jacob's parents.

Pray for kids.  Protect your kids.

Going 'postal'...

Postal posts.

That phrase originated with postal workers who went nuts and caused mayhem at their job-sites.

Then it got to be commonplace and spread to other businesses and schools - tragically.  Although the term 'going postal' can have a sort of humorous context - like saying someone is going nuts - it's probably not the best term to use.  Despite the fact it could really apply to blogs, bloggers, and the art of blogging.  A friend axed me if I was 'going posty' the other day when I posted on why Fr. Longenecker sometimes pisses me off.  I took the post down because no one needs to know that or see that.

More seriously, I was kind of, sort of, afraid of going postal-posty.  It happens when you read too many crackpots online - and since I'm one of them - how could I not react to some of those postal bloggers?

Years ago, there was a very popular blogger with great taste in art and architecture who went postal-posty.  He freaked out online, called out Catholic bloggers and literally spewed venom at the whole lot of us.  I had the feeling he had some issues.  I was afraid I was on the verge of getting to be like him.  He maybe met a lot of his online friends in chat-rooms and forums, something I never did - but for those who did, friendships were formed and when they began blogging they had a built-in following.  Somehow this fellow felt betrayed by the Catholic blogosphere - and went postal-posty.  I miss him.

I think that still happens - not always in the same way, to be sure.  But we can get too wrapped up in editorializing the news, one another - even ourselves, as well as world and church events and scandals - and gul-darn-it, start thinking we're important.  On the other hand, we maybe aren't getting the attention and respect we think we deserve... and just like Joan Crawford, we go a little nuts.

I've had to watch out for that myself.  Which brings me back to Fr. L.  Just kidding.  

Anyway - I bet everyone regrets something they said online at one time or another.  What you post or put in writing pretty much stays there.  I've found when I insist I'm right or what I wrote needed to be said - well, that's ego talking.

I can't tell you how many letters of resignation from this job or that parish still haunt me.  At least with blog posts you can return them to draft, delete content, repost and then delete the post entirely - and it's pretty much no longer available.  But God knows what you said, wrote.

Penance, penance, penance.

I bet that the Polish gay priest, Fr. Krzy lives to regret his letter to the Pope.  At least I hope he will.

Was this post necessary?  

No.

That said, I should do a list of bloggers who have gone postal-posty...

Some of the pros seem to have learned to avoid crazy talk - or couch it in more diplomatic terms and respectful conversational tones.  Like, 'engaging Fr. Toonces' - rather than, 'Taking down the evil-sodomite-assface, Fr. Toonces' - see the difference?  

Have a nice day family - we love you!

- Bob and Penny

Well this came out of nowhere: Krzystof Charamsa claims the clergy is full of homosexuals.

"Now don't be Krzy honey."

Really?

Charamsa's story is very difficult to believe.

Father Krzystof Charamsa was stripped of his post earlier this month on the day he announced he was in a relationship with another man. 

In a scathing letter to Pope Francis, he accused the Vatican of hypocrisy because he said the clergy was 'full of homosexuals'. 

He also condemned the Church for causing 'immeasurable suffering' to homosexual Catholics and their families. - Full story here.

Now who would ever believe such statements, coming from a homosexual priest?  Perhaps if he said Same Sex Attracted, one might accept that - but gay?  Homosexual?  Aberrosexual?  Nah.

What?


Straight story here.

I thought of the soul as resembling ...

At the center of the soul is the Blessed Trinity.

The nearer one got to the centre, the stronger was the light ...

I thought of the soul as resembling a castle, formed of a single diamond or a very transparent crystal, and containing many rooms, just as in heaven there are many mansions. If we reflect, sisters, we shall see that the soul of the just man is but a paradise, in which, God tells us, He takes His delight. What, do you imagine, must that dwelling be in which a King so mighty, so wise, and so pure, containing in Himself all good, can delight to rest? Nothing can be compared to the great beauty and capabilities of a soul; however keen our intellects may be, they are as unable to comprehend them as to comprehend God, for, as He has told us, He created us in His own image and likeness ... Teresa of Avila,  Interior Castle

You talking to me? - Papal rebukes, admonitions, or just insults?

"Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well." - Luke 11:45

I wonder if we all think we are experts in the Law - better than the rest of sinful humanity?  I wonder if we think we deserve praise for our good works and fidelity - when in fact, at best, we have only done our duty?  And perhaps, not all that well.  I think we may all be Pharisees, seeking praise from men and places of honor at dinners and award ceremonies - or just a jump in stats on one's website.

So many people feel insulted by the Holy Father?

I wonder why?  If they came from my background, they maybe wouldn't feel so put down.  If they knew the scripture, "If a good man reproves me it is kindness" maybe they would have a deeper, spiritual experience of what the Holy Father says.  I don't know - I'm just as much a Pharisee for even writing about this stuff.  I've been steeped in sin since birth, like the man born blind - I can't presume to teach or advise, much less correct others.  I dare not even criticize any longer, lest I sin even more.

I was a little surprised today by comments and articles on Catholic sites, more and more people seem to feel insulted by the Pope.  It's not so surprising I guess - nevertheless it is so strange to read - coming as it does from teachers and doctors ... of the faith.  

Calling names without naming names.

The following are a summation of the Pope's comments on the Synod - explaining what the Synod was supposed to be about:

It was about bearing witness to everyone that, for the Church, the Gospel continues to be a vital source of eternal newness, against all those who would “indoctrinate” it in dead stones to be hurled at others.

It was also about laying bare closed hearts, which frequently hide even behind the Church’s teachings or good intentions, in order to sit in the chair of Moses and judge, sometimes with superiority and superficiality, difficult cases and wounded families….

It was about trying to open up broader horizons, rising above conspiracy theories and blinkered viewpoints, so as to defend and spread the freedom of the children of God, and to transmit the beauty of Christian Newness, at times encrusted in a language which is archaic or simply incomprehensible. - Dr. Mirius

Dr. Jeffery Mirius wrote that the Pope's tendency of 'calling names without naming names' is his least likable characteristic.  Nothing wrong with saying that, nor is there anything wrong with not liking the Pope or pointing out personality traits one doesn't like in him.  Dr. Mirius obviously likes the Pope, but he expresses something other Catholics have used to berate the Pope with, even denouncing and mocking just about everything else he says and does because of it.  For instance, almost from the beginning of his papacy, bloggers have collected and cataloged Francis' 'insults' - into his 'little book of insults'.  Mirius isn't doing that, of course - but many are.  One priest mocking the pope as 'a baby throwing his toys out of his pram'.

I don't know.  I don't get it.

It seems as if everyone is now making a living online hurling insults at one another - blaming this one and that one for all the troubles in the world and the Church - and turning on the Holy Father - something they predicted liberals would do.  (There are those outside the Church who have no love for the pope and have said as much - but when Catholics use the term liberal - they mean other Catholics.  It is a political term - the Church is not a political institution - it is the Mystical Body of Christ.  They overlook the supernatural dimension when they speak that way.)

Maybe they don't need a pope?  Maybe they can be sedevacantists or protestants?

No one listens to popes anyway.  Just when they say things they want to hear, or when they confer honors and honorary titles.  (Unless of course they canonize this or that person whom they don't like.)  Benedict XV was ignored when he offered his peace plan - WWI followed.  Paul VI was ignored for Humanae Vitae.  JPII and Benedict XVI were conveniently ignored on various teachings and by alternate groups ... while Vatican II has been largely ignored by traditionalists.

In conclusion.

I don't know why I wrote this.  Dr. Mirius' essay is fine - other complainers and whiners - they're fine too.  These poor Catholics in the United States seem to be so bullied and abused... If they came from my background - I think they might interpret things another way.

I'm sure I'm wrong, however.  Steeped in sin and perversion since birth - blind, deaf and dumb.  Please pray for me.  Thanks.

"To attain the ideal life of the soul, I believe we must live on the supernatural level." - Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity

You cannot tell by careful watching ...

The world revolves, but the cross remains the same.


One translation of Luke 17:20 warns against 'careful watching' to perceive the reign of God, because the kingdom is already in our midst ...

I think of this  Gospel all of the time, since it more or less forms the basis for my prayer.  The practice of the presence of God, the prayer of recollection is the awareness of the indwelling of the most Holy Trinity in our souls.  The kingdom of God is within you.  "Realize that your soul is the temple of God - it is St. Paul who teaches this.  At every moment of the day and night the three Divine Persons are living within you." - Elizabeth of the Trinity

Therefore, if the mountains fall into the sea, the earth quakes and every structure collapses - nothing can separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ.  It is Christ who begs us, "Remain in me": "It is the Word of God who gives this order, expresses this wish.  Remain in me, not for a few moments, a few hours which must pass away, but 'remain' - permanently, habitually.  Remain in me, pray in me, adore in me, love in me, suffer in me, work and act in me." - Elizabeth of the Trinity

So.  It is not by careful watching, judging the orthodoxy of others, questioning every report and searching every word to see if it indicates this or that, is true or false, or may open the door to error, and so on.  None of that is necessary for simple souls ... not even for ordinary people.

Why do you concern yourself with who goes to communion?  What they are wearing?  What their posture, their demeanor is like?  Are you worthy to receive?  Do you prepare your soul to receive the sacred humanity - body, blood, soul and divinity?  Do you stay a long time with Jesus when you do receive him?  Do you acknowledge him?  Do you cling to him in love, in recollection from one communion to the next?  Why do you care about the interior lives and practices of others?  Is it love?  Is it out of charity that you are so concerned?  Or is it care-filled watching others?

You can't tell by careful watching - because the conscience of others is hidden - it is the sacred place of encounter within each person ...  God is the judge.  God dwells in the soul.  If you spend all of your time watching, you necessarily leave the presence of God - you become a voyeur - and the devil shows you your subject's faults.  Sometimes real, but often false - because neither can he read the conscience - God alone is judge.  In the end, the accuser of our brothers is cast out - be careful, lest you are cast out with him.

You can't tell by careful watching ...  If you cry out, "But father!  But father!" Do it only to the One, using the words Christ taught us, "Our Father ..."

Remain within, in Him ... ask Him to make you entirely teachable.  Only cry out 'Abba' - don't go to strangers.

It sounds too simple?  Too ordinary?

It is.

Keep yourself in peace

and thousands about you will be saved.

Just a note:  Live the Catholic faith, stay with the Pope.  Stay away from the doomsayers.  Trust in God.  I'm not a follower of Mark Mallet, but he has a good post on why sticking with the Pope and ignoring media reports and gossips is more necessary than ever.  For your consideration: Peter Speaks.

Pray for priests - especially for those who squander their lives and vocation on matters outside their obedience, engaging in partisan politics and polemics, neglecting themselves and the ministry they were ordained for.


Song for this post here.

Another look we like ...

Freddy Fabris 

Homage to Renaissance master painters.

H/T - E

Photography I like...

Cristian Tagliavini

Post-Synod Church Terms.

Remember St. John of Cologne, one of the Gorkum martyrs,

 killed by Calvinists because they would not deny 

the supremacy of the pope nor the Real Presence.

St. John, a Dominican was captured exercising his priestly ministry,

having gone to the aid of the other priests imprisoned before him.

New and old terms.

Post-Synod commentary will become a money-making venture for Catholic bloggers and journalists, and many new - and old - expressions will be employed in the contest.  I might start a list.  Maybe not.

Well, maybe a short list to start out:

• On the side of angels.

Really?  I thought that was the name for a blog in the UK?  Fr. Z picked up the term at a dinner with Remnant people in Rome.  Taking sides in the Church?  In the Catholic Church.  Hmmmm.

• The Conservatives won.

So the Synod was a competition?  Like a football game, I guess?

• Power in the Church.

Women want more power in the Church.  Aberrosexualists want more power.  Conservatives want more power.  Power is not what it's about. 

So anyway.

Not sure where I saw it, but one priest described Francis as a baby throwing his toys out of his pram - evidently the author believes the Pope is upset that he didn't get his way.  Sounds like something a loyal son of the Church might say?  No.  I don't think so either.

Fomenting division instead.

I wonder if priests should take care of their flocks instead of vying for Internet-literary stardom and monetary compensation?

One of my favorite martyrs ...

-source-

.

Francisco de Zurbarán

Saint John Houghton (detail), 1637-39

_{Saint John Houghton, O.Cart., (c. 1486 - 4 May 1535) was a Carthusian hermit and Catholic priest, and the first English Catholic martyr to die as a result of the Act of Supremacy by King Henry VIII of England. He was also the first member of his Order to die as a martyr. - Houghton, along with two Carthusians, Fr. Reynolds, and John Haile of Isleworth, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 4 May 1535. Catholic tradition relates that when Houghton was about to be quartered, as the executioner tore open his chest to remove his heart, he prayed, “O Jesu, what wouldst thou do with my heart?” A painting of the Carthusian Protomartyr by Zurbarán depicts him with his heart in his hand and a noose around his neck.}

Today is his feast day.

Something from yesterday's meditation confirmed a sentiment of mine I've carried in my heart most of my life, concerning the psalm verse,

Mercy and truth shall meet;

Justice and peace shall kiss. 

It is from  D. Augustin Guillerand, O. Cart:

"It is there, in the depths of our nothingness, that his mercy and his justice - two things we do not usually associate with one another - meet." - Guillerand

I won't rewrite the entire meditation - it's in the October Magnificat for October 24.

I just want to say this may be many people's problem.  They do not understand God's love and mercy - and insist justice must be meted out before mercy can be received.  I'm not a theologian, but that strikes me as misunderstanding Christ himself - judging as humans judge and not as God.

This is so clear, to me at least, in how many have responded to the disputations at the Synod.  We separate justice and mercy - when in fact, God's justice is so clearly expressed in mercy.

I think the Carthusian explains this here:

"In raising us up from the depths of our fallen state, God has remitted our debt; he has restored his glory and repaired the damage done by sin.  He has truly resumed all his rights over us; he has completely satisfied the demands of that glory; He has done himself full justice. And we must learn to love that splendid glory and to accept generously our wretchedness, which has procured it." - Guillerand

How Thereseian, how Franciscan.

Remember how Therese taught her novices to love their weaknesses?  Recall how Pope Francis speaks about mercy and love - reaching out to the most far away?  See, this is scriptural.  This is doctrinal.  This the meaning of mercy, which Christ tells us over and over to study and understand, and now in these times - to practice.  To put into action.  I often quote Betsy Ten Boom who said, "No pit is so deep his love is not deeper still."  She witnessed to that in the horror of the Nazi camp - where sin seemed to reign as a foretaste of hell.  Yet she encountered Christ - as every sinner does when he falls in even the worst sin - if he only looks next to himself, he sees Christ has fallen there with him - carrying the cross, his teeth biting the dust ...  "No pit so deep - his love is not deeper still."  Justice and mercy have met.

Just a thought.

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Read this instead:

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Bishop Barron on Pope Francis and mercy.

Bartimaeus and "all those kept on the fringes who are crying out to" Christ.

I love the story of Bartimaeus.  He could listen.  Imagine his interior silence - Bartimaeus' recollection was so deep, so intense - he heard Jesus approaching - amidst the fervent clamor and enthusiasm of the crowd.  Likewise, the heart of Jesus sensed - heard the prayer of the blind man.  This exchange is prayer - deep prayer.  As Jesus approached, Bartimaeus called out more ardently, more loudly - those nearby tried to silence him, they tried to stop him.  Nevertheless, Christ heard him and called him.  That is so profound.  So reassuring for me.

Fr. Martin re-posted what the Holy Father had to say in regard to this Gospel today.  It sums up everything for me.  How much we have learned from the Synod, how deep has been the exchange - heart speaks to heart - so loudly - no one could silence ...  So many see doom, I see life, love, and mercy.

"There are, however, some temptations for those who follow Jesus. The Gospel shows at least two of them. None of the disciples stopped, as Jesus did. They continued to walk, going on as if nothing were happening. If Bartimaeus was blind, they were deaf: his problem was not their problem. This can be a danger for us: in the face of constant problems, it is better to move on, instead of letting ourselves be bothered. In this way, just like the disciples, we are with Jesus but we do not think like him. We are in his group, but our hearts are not open. We lose wonder, gratitude and enthusiasm, and risk becoming habitually unmoved by grace. We are able to speak about him and work for him, but we live far from his heart, which is reaching out to those who are wounded. This is the temptation: a 'spirituality of illusion': we can walk through the deserts of humanity without seeing what is really there; instead, we see what we want to see. We are capable of developing views of the world, but we do not accept what the Lord places before our eyes. A faith that does not know how to root itself in the life of people remains arid and, rather than oases, creates other deserts.

"There is a second temptation, that of falling into a “scheduled faith”. We are able to walk with the People of God, but we already have our schedule for the journey, where everything is listed: we know where to go and how long it will take; everyone must respect our rhythm and every problem is a bother. We run the risk of becoming the 'many' of the Gospel who lose patience and rebuke Bartimaeus. Just a short time before, they scolded the children (10:13), and now the blind beggar: whoever bothers us or is not of our stature is excluded. Jesus, on the other hand, wants to include, above all those kept on the fringes who are crying out to him. They, like Bartimaeus, have faith, because awareness of the need for salvation is the best way of encountering Jesus.

"In the end, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on his path (v. 52). He did not only regain his sight, but he joined the community of those who walk with Jesus. - Finish reading here.

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Oh God, I want to see,
grant that I may see, rather than seek to be seen,
grant that I may hear, rather than seek to be heard,
Grant that I may follow you
and remain in your company,
moment by moment,
day by day.

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains." - John 9:41

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

At the conclusion of the Extraordinary Synod: The edifying address of our Holy Father Pope Francis.

"So, the Church is Christ’s – she is His bride – and all the bishops, in communion with the Successor of Peter, have the task and the duty of guarding her and serving her, not as masters but as servants...

The is the Church, our Mother! And when the Church, in the variety of her charisms, expresses herself in communion, she cannot err: it is the beauty and the strength of the sensus fidei, of that supernatural sense of the faith which is bestowed by the Holy Spirit so that, together, we can all enter into the heart of the Gospel and learn to follow Jesus in our life. And this should never be seen as a source of confusion and discord.

Many commentators, or people who talk, have imagined that they see a disputatious Church where one part is against the other, doubting even the Holy Spirit, the true promoter and guarantor of the unity and harmony of the Church – the Holy Spirit who throughout history has always guided the barque, through her Ministers, even when the sea was rough and choppy, and the ministers unfaithful and sinners.

And, as I have dared to tell you , [as] I told you from the beginning of the Synod, it was necessary to live through all this with tranquillity, and with interior peace, so that the Synod would take place cum Petro and sub Petro(with Peter and under Peter), and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee of it all." - Read the entire address here.

I told you so.

Ed. note:  My oversight.  I posted last year's address.  To read this year's concluding statement, go here.