If all that is true ...

What the war didn't finish ... churchmen did.

If Bella Dodd was telling the truth ...

Actually, I am now convinced she was, thanks to real friends who have supplied links to documentation and personal accounts.  Another friend, in an effort to reassure me also pretty much dismissed the conspiracy saying, 'In the end, it doesn't really matter does it? Because evil is always defeated in the end and Christ is victorious.'  That is true, I guess, Pope Benedict has reassured others in that manner, Jesus wins in the end, and so on - but look at what has been done to the faith and souls.

I was reading how Archbishop Weakland's memorial plaque in Milwaukee's Catherdral will be removed.  I was reminded how, knowing nothing about him except that he was a monk, when he was named Archbishop.  I took it for granted that was a good thing, that the liturgy would be enhanced, and Catholic teaching affirmed.  I laugh at my naivete now.  I wonder why I ever thought I knew so much about ecclesial life?  Then when the Cathedral was 'wreckovated' I decided I liked it, though I preferred traditional church design.  Now I'm thinking the iconoclasm of the post Conciliar period was perpetrated and imposed as a way of destroying faith and morals. 

Milwaukee Cathedral

Maybe I was 'indoctrinated' to like this crap?

I was rereading Fr. Altier's homily which mentions Bella Dodd and points to the origins of the crisis - in 1924.  In his essay Fr. Altier wrote:

What kind of men do you think might have been elevated to be bishops by somebody like this?

You now understand why all that we get is fluff and stuff instead of good homilies? You understand why there are problems in the world that aren’t being addressed? That’s what it is about. Where is the doctrinal integrity? Where is the moral teaching? Someone that is not living it is not going to teach it. Now there are, after this grand jury report came out a few days ago from Pennsylvania, there are several more states already talking about doing their own grand jury investigation. It will probably go all over the place, so I say that to simply say there is going to be more in the news coming up. - Source

A priest friend told me a year or so that I was wrong about some things, I expect Bella Dodd being the least of them.  Still recovering from the flu, I've been able to examine myself, my conscience, and it's pretty dark.  I've been easily swayed and misled, and worst of all, I've been convinced I have been right about almost everything.  And everyone else either was wrong or didn't understand.  I'm being deliberately vague about the kind and number of my character defects and sins, but I'm grateful to be able to see the log in my own eye and recognize I'm in no shape to point out the sins of others, much less try to correct them.

Indoctrinated, deceived, led astray, or not - I'm still responsible for my actions.

That's all.

The Dream of the Secret - T. Nelson [2013-2016]

I was forewarned.

Solemnity of St. Joseph

San José, refugio de pecadores

San José, refugio de pecadores, grabado, siglo XVIII. 

Archivo General de la Nación, México.

I want to go home ...

Recovering from the flu. 

I finally made it to Mass and confession yesterday.  I was able to spend time in adoration but had to leave because my cough, which sounds bad, was scaring other adorers.  I had to leave Mass early as well.

I just want to mention a couple of things I think need to change at Mass - especially in flue season.  Stop holding hands and giving the sign of peace.  Just stop it.  I have a feeling that could be how I got sick in the first place.  Not sure.

Now that I'm old, I have difficulty kneeling, so I have to go to confession face to face, because I can sit.  Face to face confession is distracting.  I don't know where to look, and I forget that I'm confessing to Christ and I get caught up in the personality of the priest, and sometimes get confused.  I'm not looking for approval or anything like that, but it sometimes breaks down to a more natural exchange - I'm not sure how well I expressed that.

In the Mass and contemporary homiletics, as well as face to face confession, there can be a self-conscious concern for 'performance' and an expectation of reward or at least approval and affirmation.  I wouldn't mind some reform of the Mass and the sacraments more in line with the traditional rites.

Just saying.  I don't want to spend the rest of my life complaining or arguing about stuff like this, it's just that I kind of get why younger people are attracted to the traditional rite.  There is something banal about the ordinary form as it is celebrated in parish communities.

The announcements before the final blessing along with some of the fund raising presentation performances,  strike me as especially disconcerting.  It's usually all in the bulletin or online.   What a huge distraction from any recollection attained in Holy Communion, despite the constant singing throughout the thanksgiving.  (If I remember correctly there was very little musical accompaniment during Lent - not now of course.)  No wonder a huge cacophony of greetings and conversation erupts immediately after Mass.

Looks like I'm whining again.  My apologies.  I'm just an ordinary layman, steeped in sin since birth.

Something I discovered about St. John of God

Something hardly ever noted in popular accounts of his life.

He was abducted as a child.

John of God was born João Duarte Cidade (Portuguese form, the Spanish form is João Cidade Duarte) in Montemor-o-Novo, now in the District of Évora, Kingdom of Portugal, the son of André Cidade and Teresa Duarte, a once-prominent family that was impoverished but had great religious faith. One day, when John was eight years of age, he disappeared. Whether he had been deliberately kidnapped, or whether he had been seduced from his home by a cleric who had been given hospitality in the home, is not clear. According to his original biography, his mother died from grief soon after this and his father joined the Franciscan Order. 

The young Cidade soon found himself a homeless orphan in the streets of Oropesa, near Toledo, Spain. There, in a foreign land, he had no one to care for him, nothing on which to live and he had to be content with whatever food he could find. He was eventually taken in by a man called Francisco Mayoral and the boy settled down as a shepherd caring for his sheep in the countryside. - Wikipedia

"Seduced from his home by a cleric..."

I never noticed that before, nor do I recall coming across it in any biography of the saint.  As I noted on Facebook, St. John of God suddenly becomes an even more interesting saint, deserving of our notice in these days of child sexual abuse scandals by clergy, as well as the problem of human trafficking - especially as it involves children.

The abduction question seems to me to be more credible since it arose with his original biographer, Francisco de Castro.

Francisco de Castro was the chaplain at John of God’s hospital at Granada. As a youth he knew the Saint and he used material gathered from eyewitnesses and contemporaries of his subject. It was published at the express wish of the Archbishop of Granada who gave financial backing to its publication. Castro began writing in 1579, twenty-nine years after John of God’s death, but he did not see it published for he died soon after completing the work. His mother, Catalina de Castro, had the book published in 1585. - source

The suspicion he was taken by a cleric who might have seduced him is startling, and relates so well to our times.  Clerical seduction and abuse, albeit seemingly pervasive in the 20th century, is obviously not endemic just to our epoch.

How did John deal with it?

Obviously in his days complaints of abuse and ill treatment were not dealt with in the same manner we do today.  John didn't file lawsuits or claim PTSD, much less write a book on what he suffered as a child.  There's no evidence he complained of parental neglect or blamed any of his failings on the abuse he suffered.  He joined the military and had a string of occupations, even accused of theft and dereliction of duty.  Military life wasn't exactly virtuous, so I suspect - I may be wrong - that the saint has some moral problems as well.

After many travels and troubles, the saint had a vision of the Infant Jesus who instructed him to go to Granada, and gave him his name, John of God.  There he became a bookseller of devotional works.

Mental illness and sanctity. 

Later, after an intense conversion experience following a sermon by S. John of Avila, the saint encountered mental difficulties.  Some biographers suggested he feigned mental illness as a sort of 'fool for Christ', I wonder if it wasn't more a sort of purification, mixed with a sort of mystical grace which Teresa of Avila mentions when discussing the foolishness for Christ St. Francis of Assisi experienced.  I don't know what the Church says in that regard however.

"At the age of 42, he had what was perceived at the time as an acute mental breakdown. Moved by the sermon, he soon engaged in a public beating of himself, begging mercy and wildly repenting for his past life. He was incarcerated in the area of the Royal Hospital reserved for the mentally ill and received the treatment of the day, which was to be segregated, chained, flogged, and starved. John of God was later visited by John of Avila, who advised him to be more actively involved in tending to the needs of others rather than in enduring personal hardships. John gained peace of heart, and shortly after left the hospital to begin work among the poor." - Wikipedia

John of God was instructed in a vision of Our Lady to work with the poor, which he did, while many continued to suspect he was mentally ill.  Eventually the Bishop helped him and others came to assist him in his work, leading to the establishment of the Brothers Hospitaller.

Abducted, abused, orphaned, inconstant, eccentric, and no support group or therapy save the Love of God - Caritas.

He's a wonderful model for losers.

 Sancta dels Folls Dona Nostra i Desamparats Innocents 

Lent

What to give up for Lent?

I'm not sure that is the right focus.

Give something up and give alms.  It's classic, but it is only a pious practice without love.  The older I get, the more I understand giving up candy and cartoons really isn't what it's all about.  Giving up sin, yes.  Giving up things that lead to sin, yes.  Giving up legitimate joys and pleasures, yes indeed.  But why?

For love.

To love God - and our neighbor as ourselves, but most importantly, to fulfill the will of God:  You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. [Dt. 6:5].  In and through this supreme act of charity, we accomplish the other, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

I like to approach Lent in this way:  Meditating on the counsels of John of the Cross, noting especially his teaching on the purification of the will through charity.  For me, it lends a more profound meaning and purpose to the observance of Lent.

For a treatise on the active night and denudation of this faculty, with the aim of forming and perfecting it in this virtue of the charity of God, I have found no more appropriate passage than the one in chapter 6 of Deuteronomy, where Moses commands: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength [Dt. 6:5]. This passage contains all that spiritual persons must do and all I must teach them here if they are to reach God by union of the will through charity. In it human beings receive the command to employ all the faculties, appetites, operations, and emotions of their soul in God so that they will use all this ability and strength for nothing else, in accord with David's words: Fortitudinem meam ad te custodiam (I will keep my strength for you) [Ps. 59:10].

The strength of the soul comprises the faculties, passions, and appetites. All this strength is ruled by the will. When the will directs these faculties, passions, and appetites toward God, turning away from all that is not God, the soul preserves its strength for God, and comes to love him with all its might. - Ascent Bk III, Ch. 16

Talk about what to give up and give alms - all must be an exercise in charity, a response of love, since as St. John notes, Without works of charity, faith is dead [Jas. 2:20].

Works for me.  I still need to pray for the grace to do it.

What predatory homosexuality looks like.

Last year Fr. Altier spoke about the origins of the 'crisis'.

I took some time to digest it, and despite his inclusion of the Bella Dodd communist plants conspiracy theory - which seems to have some foundation in truth - especially in Europe - I believe Fr. Altier's version of things.  Especially since he had to face a great deal of difficulties in his seminary experience.  He knows what he is talking about. 

We need a priest like him to affirm Catholic teaching on sexuality and marriage, and especially to recognize what homosexual abuse is and how it works.  Hence the title for this post.  One can't wave this off.  Predatory homosexuality is an inconvenient truth.  Especially in an all boys to men situation as in seminaries, high schools, Boy Scouts, sports, locker rooms, and so on.  Such environments can be opportune for predatory behavior - as everyone knows.  A friend on Facebook posted a link to Fr. Altier's homilyalong with his personal experience of seminary life in the late '90's.  His comments prompted me to post Altier's homily in order to save it in my archives. 

Where is the doctrinal integrity? Where is the moral teaching? Someone that is not living it is not going to teach it.

Now if we just use the McCarrick situation, since that’s been in the news, everyone is disgusted with what this man did to boys and to young men, and rightly so. But anybody, by the way, who thinks that all of this is just great – they’re such nice people and they’re no different – look at what McCarrick did: that is what predatory homosexuality looks like. 

These are not nice people who are just like everybody else. But as disgusting as all that is, think about the fact that this man was in the pulpit for 50 years, he sat in the confessional, he was in the bishop’s office making decisions about priests’ lives, about diocesan finances, about the direction of the diocese and so on. He served on Vatican commissions, he was a consultant to the Vatican, he made lots of bishops. What kind of advice do you think somebody struggling with some sexual problem in the confessional would have gotten from somebody like this? 

What kind of men do you think might have been elevated to be bishops by somebody like this? - Fr. Altier

I'm tired of this ...

I'll post from time to time, but I've said what I needed to say, and a bit too much more.  I appreciate those friends who found me interesting.

The Bella Dodd Conspiracies are back.

I noted that McCarrick is now thought to be a Bella Dodd plant.  

Beyond his horrendous evil of homosexual predation for decades, Church Militant has learned exclusively that McCarrick may also have been clandestinely trained by Soviet Communists here in Europe during his younger years, making him effectively a Communist plant in the heart of the Church. 

Through a back channel, Church Militant has obtained information from former Communist personnel who were instrumental in setting up a secret network of indoctrination and training centers throughout Europe in the aftermath of World War II, and their information directly implicates the involvement of Theodore McCarrick. 

A little history to set the stage first: When Stalin gained control of the former Soviet Union in the early 1920s, he set about plans to cripple the influence of the Catholic Church in the West, if not completely destroy the Church — all part of communism's plan for world domination and warned about by Our Lady in Fatima in 1917. 

A key component of the plans involved infiltrating seminaries with young men who would work to undermine the Church's teaching in the area of morality. 

This was testified to on multiple occasions by Bella Dodd, a high-ranking member of the U.S. Communist Party. She herself claims to have orchestrated the placement of 1,100 men into U.S. seminaries. - CM

I've read a couple of posts by a priest or two elsewhere agreeing with this theory.

Everything is based on hearsay and gossip, no proof such as names are ever provided to back up these claims.

I have no doubt Communist ideology has greatly influenced academia and culture, and even infiltrated the Church, but the Bella Dodd claims have always troubled me.  The reason being, if the claims are true, more people other than Bella Dodd would have known.  How is it that Dodd is the only defector?  No matter how secret, who were all of the agents who infiltrated?  Where are they now? 

Bella Dodd Seminary

St. Peter Damian

 I hope he influences the Sexual Abuse of Minors Summit in the Vatican.

“Just as Saint Basil establishes that those who incur sins [against nature] … should be subjected not only to a hard penance but a public one, and Pope Siricius prohibits penitents from entering clerical orders, one can clearly deduce that he who corrupts himself with a man through the ignominious squalor of a filthy union does not deserve to exercise ecclesiastical functions, since those who were formerly given to vices … become unfit to administer the Sacraments.” - St. Peter Damian

Just as in the days of Noah.

Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,

and he sent out a raven...

Just a thought.

This morning's reading at Mass reminded me of those photos of the dove being attacked by a crow or raven in St. Peter's Square after the Pope would release them from the papal apartment window.  It always seemed like an omen.

At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the ark,
for there was water all over the earth.
Putting out his hand, he caught the dove
and drew it back to him inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came back to him,
and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven days
and then released the dove once more;
and this time it did not come back. - GN 8:6-13

It's probably just me.

Today is the feast of St.s Jacinta and Francisco Marto as well.  I'm praying they will guide the Holy Father and bishops assembled for summit on sexual abuse this weekend.   Pope Francis noted how those who are actively criticizing and hurling accusations may be guided by a bad spirit.

One cannot live a whole life accusing, accusing, accusing the Church. 

Whom does the office of the accuser belong to? Who is he that the Bible calls the great accuser - the devil! And those who spend their lives accusing are - I won't say children, because the devil doesn't have any - but they the friends, cousins and relatives of the devil. 

Well, when things are not right, one has to report the defects to correct, but when you report the defects, you make known the defects, you love the Church. Without love is something from the devil. - VR

St. Jacinta devoted herself to prayer and suffering for the Pope, may she intercede for him in these times of crisis.  St. Francisco was deeply contemplative and hidden, praying to console the 'Hidden Jesus' and making reparation for sins.  Both Jacinta and Francisco prayed earnestly and constantly for the conversion of sinners.  May these little saints, who have now reached full stature and maturity in Christ, intercede for all of us.

Prayers for former Cardinal McCarrick

Banished, expelled.

Today's First reading alerted me to the sad fact McCarrick's canonical punishment would be announced today.

The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden,to till the ground from which he had been taken.When he expelled the man,he settled him east of the garden of Eden;and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword,to guard the way to the tree of life. - GN 3:9-24

Expelled from the clerical state.

“On 11 January 2019, the Congresso of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the conclusion of a penal process, issued a decree finding Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C., guilty of the following delicts while a cleric: solicitation in the Sacrament of Confession, and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power. The Congresso imposed on him the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state,” the statement form the congregation explained.


The ex-cardinal then appealed this decision but was told on the 15 February that the decision to laicise him was definitive.


“The Holy Father has recognised the definitive nature of this decision made in accord with law, rendering it a res iudicata (i.e., admitting of no further recourse).” - source

Today I pray for McCarrick.  Imagine such a fall from grace, to have gained the whole world, to have your reputation and honor stripped from you.  Imagine those who supported and protected and covered for him - how shameful.  Sharing the lies, participating in the charade. How infinitely sad.

I pray for McCarrick.

Adam: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden. 

Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel.

The Mexicans are coming! The Mexicans are coming!

Evacuate

OMG!  Trump declares a National Emergency!

President declares National Emergency because of the invasion. "We're talking about an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs."  Thousands of them!

The Mexicans are coming! Crap! 

Why aren't there Civil Defense Directions? Do I need to evacuate? 

Gabby, get the bug-out bag, we're leaving!

They're taking over pharmacies.

Keep the faith ...

If you really seek God, don't go to strangers.  Go to Christ, to the Church.  He is living and present in the sacraments, touchable in the Eucharist.  Peter points the way for the Catholic.  The Pope is Christ's vicar on earth.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Catholic teaching cannot change.  God's mercy is inexhaustible.  If on your way you see it differently, keep praying, keep trying, keep seeking, the Holy Spirit will correct you.  Be close to the Blessed Virgin and trust in the Divine Mercy. 

"What the devil can't do himself he does by using other people. He takes up his position on the tongues and in the hearts of his servants and before their mind's eye. He makes them see what doesn't exist. So they conceive within their hearts all sorts of evil thoughts and resentments regarding their neighbors - often regarding those they most love." - S. Catherine of Siena

Read the Scriptures, the New Testament.  Go to adoration - it doesn't matter if the Sacrament is exposed - Christ is in the tabernacle.  Visit him.  Pray deeply, hidden with Christ in God.

It is the will of God, even if you were living among devils, you should so live as not to turn back in thought to consider what they are doing, but forget them utterly. You are to keep your soul wholly to God, and not to suffer the thought of this or that to disturb you. - John of the Cross

On the sexual abuse of nuns ...

"Don't ever think for an instant, Sister, that your habit will protect you." 

- Mother Mathilde’s warning to Sr. Luke - The Nun’s Story 

RIP Albert Finney 1936-2019

St. Francis and the Sultan ... How it wasn't the exact same situation with Pope Francis, and that's fine.

How some are dubious when the comfortably affluent 'Franciscans' and cultural Catholic clerics profess to know so much about our holy father, St. Francis of Assisi.

Not that I know any more than anyone else, but little kids know, unlettered 'peasants' know, and many, many ordinary people know.  They don't have to be told that Francesco Bernardone was not a-sissy.  They don't have to be disparaged by the message that  he wasn't a 'bunny-hugging bird kisser'.  Manly men who carry guns and are on constant awareness of their surroundings, ready to shoot anyone who seems threatening do not impress me as the type of guy who can explain the manliness of St. Francis to me.

That said, ordinary people, even little Cord-bearers of St. Francis, recognized something deeply moving and edifying - not to mention hope-filled - about the visit of Pope Francis to the UAE this past week.  Along with the Pope, we also see, or recognize a reminder of  the “visit of St Francis Assisi to Sultan al-Malik al’Kamil”.  There is a significant spiritual connection to that episode in the life of St. Francis.

The legenda or details of the life of St. Francis was carefully recorded by his contemporaries; Thomas of Celano was one of the first biographers not long after the canonization, which took place only two years after the Saint's death.  (Commissioned by Pope Gregory IX in 1228)  Celano records the meeting with the Sultan, which differs slightly from other accounts: "Francis would have liked to suffer martyrdom at the hand of the Moslems. He attempted a voyage to Morocco, but became ill in Spain and had to turn back. In 1219 he went to Syria where a crusade was in progress, and enjoyed the following experience, according to Celano."

In the thirteenth year of his conversion, Francis proceeded to Syria, for great and deadly battles between Christians and pagans were going on there every day. Francis, who was traveling with a companion, was not afraid to present himself before the sultan of the Saracens. But who can say with what constancy of mind he stood before him, with what strength of spirit he spoke, with what eloquence and assurance he answered those who insulted the Christian law? Before he was brought before the sultan he was captured by soldiers, insulted, and beaten with a lash; yet he was not afraid, was not terrified by the threats of torture, and did not grow pale when threatened with death. And though he was reproached by many who were opposed in mind and hostile in spirit, he was very honorably received by the sultan. Trying to bend Francis' spirit toward the wealth of this world, he honored him as much as he could and gave him many presents; yet when he saw that Francis despised such things as if they were dung, he was filled with the greatest admiration and regarded Francis as different from all others. He was moved by Francis' words and listened to him willingly. In all these things the Lord did not fulfill Francis' desire for martyrdom, since he was reserving for him the prerogative of a singular grace.  - source

"[T]he unarmed Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp, crossed the Nile, and approached the Muslim fortifications." - Thompson, Augustine. Francis of Assisi: A New Biography

So you see class, accounts of the mission of St. Francis differ - to some extent, even in his lifetime, and as time went on.  A century or so later when other biographers gathered the oral and written legends together, stories were embellished.  Much later 'cultural Catholics' adapted these stories to edify modern ears.  Today, hagiographers adapt their stories to dismiss an earlier piety. A piety which edified and encouraged believers, sparking the spiritual imagination of the young, who accounted for numerous vocations over the centuries, and so on.  Alas, the Friars Minor have been depleted, and aside from a few fervent new groups, they seem almost unrecognizable as Friars Minor, having more clothes than just one tunic, more shoes than sandals, and luxurious friaries instead of poor houses.  But I digress.

Some Catholic critics spend their time online criticizing and condemning the Pope's pilgrimage to the UAE, dismissing any symbolic connection with the visit of St. Francis.  Perhaps they hoped the Pope would be martyred, yet God willed that neither one of the poor men, St. Francis or Pope Francis would face martyrdom.  One may hope the effects of their pilgrimage would be similar, that peace takes a step forward, and the reconciliation of peoples may be possible in the long term.

In the Fioretti, we have a charmingly pious account of the visit of our holy father St. Francis to the Sultan.  Do remember that these things are also visually recorded in early Tuscan-Umbrian iconography and numerous illuminations.  The visual record, frequently based upon oral tradition, can be as informative as the written accounts.

HOW ST FRANCIS CONVERTED TO THE FAITH THE SULTAN OF BABYLON

At length St Francis, seeing he could do no more good in those parts, was warned by God to return with his brethren to the land of the faithful. Having assembled his companions, they went together to the Sultan to take leave of him. The Sultan said to him: "Brother Francis, most willingly would I be converted to the faith of Christ; but I fear to do so now, for if the people knew it, they would kill both me and thee and all thy companions. As thou mayest still do much good, and I have certain affairs of great importance to conclude, I will not at present be the cause of thy death and of mine. But teach me how I can be saved, and I am ready to do as thou shalt order." On this St Francis made answer: "My lord, I will take leave of thee for the present; but after I have returned to my own country, when I shall be dead and gone to heaven, by the grace of God, I will send thee two of my friars, who will administer to thee the holy baptism of Christ, and thou shalt be saved, as the Lord Jesus has revealed to me; and thou in the meantime shalt free thyself from every hindrance, so that, when the grace of God arrives, thou mayest be found well disposed to faith and devotion." The Sultan promised so to do; and did as he had promised. Then St Francis returned with his company of venerable and saintly brethren, and after a few years ending his mortal life, he gave up his soul to God. The Sultan, having fallen ill, awaited the fulfillment of the promise of St Francis, and placed guards in all the passes, ordering them if they met two brothers in the habit of St Francis to conduct them immediately to him. At the same time St Francis appeared to two of his friars, and ordered them without delay to go to the Sultan and save his soul, according to the promise he had made him. The two set out, and having crossed the sea, were conducted to the Sultan by the guards he had sent out to meet them. The Sultan, when he saw them arrive, rejoiced greatly, and exclaimed: "Now I know of a truth that God has sent his servants to save my soul, according to the promise which St Francis made me through divine revelation." Having received the faith of Christ and holy baptism from the said friars, he was regenerated in the Lord Jesus Christ; and having died of his disease, his soul was saved, through the merits and prayers of St . - Fioretti, Part 1, Chp. 24

So you see Phyllissyfussi...

You see how the accounts vary.  Amazingly many, many vocations to the Friars Minor followed Francis upon his return to Italy after his visit to the Sultan.  In those days, life in the OFM was very difficult, very, very poor, something many of those who like to set the record straight on the manliness of the skinny little Francesco di Bernardone refuse to admit - or at least attempt to explain away in some symbolic interpretation for today's taste.

To be sure, Francis was not a sissy or a romantic - though entirely in love with Jesus Crucified, he and his first followers went about as the fathers of old, and the words of St. Paul certainly apply to them: "The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and on mountains, in caves and in crevices in the earth."  The authentic reformers in the history of the Friars Minor certainly recognized that primitive fervor, and tried to emulate it.  They would see the similarities in the visit of Pope Francis to the expedition of St. Francis.

St. Francis had great love and respect for priests, and especially the Pope.  As Benedict XVI noted:

Pope Innocent III's dream. In it, he saw the Basilica of St John Lateran, the mother of all churches, collapsing and one small and insignificant religious brother supporting the church on his shoulders to prevent it from falling. On the one hand, it is interesting to note that it is not the Pope who was helping to prevent the church from collapsing but rather a small and insignificant brother, whom the Pope recognized in Francis when he later came to visit. Innocent III was a powerful Pope who had a great theological formation and great political influence; nevertheless he was not the one to renew the Church but the small, insignificant religious. It was St Francis, called by God. On the other hand, however, it is important to note that St Francis does not renew the Church without or in opposition to the Pope, but only in communion with him. The two realities go together: the Successor of Peter, the Bishops, the Church founded on the succession of the Apostles and the new charism that the Holy Spirit brought to life at that time for the Church's renewal. Authentic renewal grew from these together. - P. Benedict

Pope Benedict also left a beautiful commentary on the mission of St. Francis to the Sultan and its effect upon the Church and the Holy Land.  He ties it to Nostra Aetate, something P. Francis clearly had in mind as well:

Innocent III's Successor, Pope Honorius III, with his Bull Cum Dilecti in 1218 supported the unique development of the first Friars Minor, who started missions in different European countries, and even in Morocco. In 1219 Francis obtained permission to visit and speak to the Muslim sultan Malik al-Klmil, to preach the Gospel of Jesus there too. I would like to highlight this episode in St Francis' life, which is very timely. In an age when there was a conflict underway between Christianity and Islam, Francis, intentionally armed only with his faith and personal humility, travelled the path of dialogue effectively. The chronicles tell us that he was given a benevolent welcome and a cordial reception by the Muslim Sultan. It provides a model which should inspire today's relations between Christians and Muslims: to promote a sincere dialogue, in reciprocal respect and mutual understanding (cf. Nostra Aetate, 3). It appears that later, in 1220, Francis visited the Holy Land, thus sowing a seed that would bear much fruit: his spiritual sons would in fact make of the Sites where Jesus lived a privileged space for their mission. It is with gratitude that I think today of the great merits of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. - Benedict, General Audience 27 January 2010

Works for me.

For a good bibliography on the Life of St. Francis, go here, The Internet Guide to St. Francis.  Then read modern biographers if you like.

Losers in love ...

Margaret Cortona

Loser saint.

Some advice about losing I try to follow.

"Let the dead bury their dead."


From Mother Elvira Petrozzi, foundress of Comunita Cenacolo, on the subject of losing:

"... Someone will have to 'lose' so that peace can reign. Yes, peace is more important than anything, and to know how to 'lose' is our security."

"Let the dead bury their dead."


Christians are not approved by the world - indeed, Christians often do not approve of one another - all the snark online verifies that much. But how does that concern me when my job is to follow Christ? St. Seraphim Sarovsky assures us, "Keep yourself in peace and thousands around you will be saved." So there you have it - that is what I understand by the words, let the dead bury their dead. It is in reality a going out of sorts - outside the city gates, bearing the insult Christ bore. For here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come. Through him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips which acknowledge his name. Our life is hidden with Christ in God and I need to fix my eyes on him, who inspires and perfects my faith.

"To lose always and let everyone else win is a trait of valiant souls..." - Maxim 58, St. John of the Cross

Pope Francis walks in peace among the 'Mohammedans'.

Blessed or the peacemakers.

Seek Christ and his humble love, Pope Francis exhorts Catholics in UAE: Preaching on the Beatitudes during his visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Pope Francis called on those present to seek communion with Christ before all else.

“Let us together ask here today for the grace of rediscovering the attraction of following Jesus, of imitating him, of not seeking anyone else but him and his humble love,” the pope said Feb. 5 during Mass at Zayed Sports City, a stadium in Abu Dhabi.

“For here is the meaning of our life: in communion with him and in our love for others,” he added. - CNA

I wrote the following on Facebook:

This is amazing. As an American Catholic I am always tempted to be self-reverential regarding the Church and the faith, completely forgetting that there is an entire world of Roman Catholics from many disparate nations for whom the Holy Father is a sign of unity. These events help us step out of our narrow understanding of the faith. The joy of the Catholics living and working on the Arabian Peninsula, far away from their homelands is truly edifying, if not humbling. Viva il papa! - TN

I got a little flack, some Catholics are upset about the Pope signing a document on “Fratellanza Umana per la Pace Mondiale e la convivenza comune… Human Fraternity for world peace and living together” with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahamad al-Tayyib.  A dispute has once again arisen over something the document says: "The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom."

Not a problem for me.  As I replied to a priest who commented on my post: 

I didn't need a footnote for that statement, I'm not highly educated but I do appreciate Thomist thought on the will of God - such a complex, mystery. The whole teaching on 'the distinction of antecedent (inefficacious) will from consequent (efficacious) will' seems to me to help our understanding; but like I said, I'm not well educated. Nevertheless, I at the very least see the good in this, and if I had a shred of doubt, I would in charity at least understand the statement in the sense of God's 'permissive will'. Humanity is in the hand of God, in Him we live and move and have our being. Nothing exists outside His will. The beauty of the Holy Father's pilgrimage is to strengthen our brother and sister Catholics in Muslim territory. To read their comments and joy is a consolation for all Catholics. TN

Fr. responded saying that the problem was he didn't say 'permissive will'.

Looks like people will add this to the dubia, or list of questions they want the Pope to answer or clarify.

Continuity.

Another FB friend, Fr. Stephanos Pedrano posted something I would have thought most people understood by now:

On God's will and plan of salvation for those who are not Christian

"But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place among these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Savior wills that all men be saved."

[From paragraph 16 of the dogmatic constitution "Lumen gentium"]

Of course, many now doubt Vatican II as much as they doubt Pope Francis.

I am with the Pope and with the thousands who welcomed him in the UAE, especially those Christians who joyfully are quoted in the news:

“The pope has made pleas for ending the Yemen war, greater tolerance and more,” said Lina Ghattas, a 48-year-old Egyptian who had traveled from Bahrain.
“I am not sure what will change: time will tell - hope, hope,” she said. - Reuters

I'm just an ordinary Catholic like those people who welcomed the Holy Father, I'm not a theologian or a scholar, I believe in God - I hope in God.  I'm older now, I see myself very close to the end - I'm in my 'end times' and I rejoice to see the Pope walking in peace among the 'Mohammedans'.  The Holy Father brought Christ to the UAE, to strengthen the faith of believers, in peace.  He walked in peace through the midst of them.  God's wonders never cease. Viva il papa!

"Neither arguments or disagreements."

“We Christians try to implement the order Saint Francis gave at his time to his brothers and to 'live spiritually among the Muslims ... not to engage in arguments and (simply) to acknowledge that (we) are Christians.'” - Bishop Hinder

Here's a few things I have been working on ...

St. Nunzio Sulprizio

12"x12"

Acrylic on paper

T. Nelson

2019

First edition.

I've been painting steadily, but fail to photograph it and post it.  I need to do that.

Background for Nativity

30"x40"

Acrylic on canvas.

I did about 25 panels to form a continuous

impressionist landscape.  It was fun.

(My apologies for lack of styling in the photo.  LOL!)

More here.

N.S. de Candelaria

Happy Candlemas!