More thoughts from observation then and now...

Monday, 6 August 2012 Repost

More on Perfection-some capital sins

Posted by Supertradmum

As per requests from some readers, I am briefly defining some of the sins and then will define some of the virtues from Garrigou-Lagrange.

Anger leads to violence...Bosch

I think most of us understand and have even heart this idea before from Aquinas: St. Thomas observes that the sins of the flesh are more shameful than those of the spirit, for they lower man to the level of the brute; but those of the spirit, such as pride, the only ones that exist in the devil, are more grave for they are more directly opposed to God and turn us more away from Him.(11)


And, this passage is a repetition, just as a reminder. According to St. Gregory and St. Thomas,(12) pride or arrogance is more than a capital sin; it is the root from which proceed especially four capital sins: vanity or vainglory, spiritual sloth or wicked sadness which embitters, envy, and anger. Vanity is the inordinate love of praise and honors. Spiritual sloth saddens the soul at the thought of the labor involved in sanctification, and at the thought of the spiritual good of good works because of the effort and abnegation they require. Envy inclines us to grow sad over another's good, in so far as it appears to oppose our own excellence. Anger, when it is not just indignation but a sin, is an inordinate movement of the soul which inclines us to repulse violently what displeases us; from it arise quarrels, insults, and abusive words. These capital vices, especially spiritual sloth, envy, and anger, engender a wicked sadness that weighs down the soul; they are quite the opposite of spiritual peace and joy, which are the fruits of charity.


Sadly, most people do not even consider some of these sins as sins. Sloth is a very common sin among the laity, causing people not to read, pray or work at their salvation.


Envy is also common and a basis for many of the "Occupy" movements we has seen since last Fall. Most societies are into the "politics of envy", which is easy to understand.


Sadly, however, especially in light of many events lately, anger as a capital sin, has become more and more common. In these times, some people feel like they have a right to be angry express that anger. Discipline with regard to being patient and not insulting seems to have disappeared.

Notice that all of these serious sins stop peace and joy.

I was on a train last week and a young woman across from me was on a cell phone. I could not ignore her conversations, nor could anyone else. She was unhappy about everything. I really felt sorry for her.

She had phoned several people about this and that and all the stories were negative and complaining.
This young woman will never be happy until she realizes that her anger, envy, and pride weigh her down and damage her judgement. She is in a negative spin about the entire world in which she lives. And, she is only about 23. How sad. But, sin has become a habit with her and she has no one to point out to her that her soul is heavy and not experiencing joy, peace and charity. Her words betray a habit of complaining, and we are warned against this time and again in the Scriptures. So many young people have been raised without any moral framework, and we must pray for her and all who have not the will nor the inclination to break out of negativity.

Capital sins are deadly and become habitual easily. If we are sinning in these areas, we must beg God to break through our complacency and show us the remedies. The remedies, beginning with self-knowledge, are repentance and grace to live the life of virtue.
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One cannot take a shortcut to heaven. One cannot skip stages of spiritual growth. Not to be arcane, Garrigou-Lagrange points out the consequences of the capital sins.

By the consequences of sin are generally understood the remnants of sin (reliquiae peccati), the evil inclinations left, so to speak, in our temperament even after sin has been forgiven, as concupiscence, which is a remnant of original sin, remains after baptism, like a wound in the course of healing. The consequences of the capital sins may also mean the other sins that spring from them. The capital sins are so called because they are like the head or the principle of many others. We are, first of all, inclined toward them, and by them in turn toward sins that are often more serious.

Thus vainglory or vanity engenders disobedience, boasting, hypocrisy, contention through rivalry, discord, love of novelties, and stubbornness. It is a vice that may lead to most lamentable falls and apostasy.

Spiritual sloth, disgust for spiritual things and for the work of sanctification, because of the effort it demands, is a vice directly opposed to the love of God and to the holy joy that results from it. Sloth engenders malice, rancor or bitterness toward our neighbor, pusillanimity in the face of duty to be accomplished, discouragement, spiritual torpor, forgetfulness of the precepts, seeking after forbidden things. Slipping downward on the slope of pride, vain­glory, and spiritual sloth, many have lost their vocation.

In the same way, envy or willful displeasure at the sight of another's good, as if it were an evil for us, engenders hatred, slander, calumny, joy at he misfortune of another, and sadness at his success.

Gluttony and sensuality also produce other vices and may lead to blindness of spirit, to hardness of heart, to attachment to the present life even to the loss of hope of eternal life, and to love of self even to hatred of God, and to final impenitence.

I have highlighted important points here. We need to make hard decisions to break away from sin and most of the capital sins are mortal. A good confessor can help.

To break away from such sins may mean changing one's lifestyle and even dropping some friends who lead one into sin.

May I add that calumny is not the same as slander. Calumny is lying about someone on purpose to cause that person harm. It is malicious. Slander is also malicious, but involves the spreading of perhaps true evil done by another. Gossip is usually involved in slander. A person who judges another and spreads negative information about another is committing slander.

A few others words have been defined in another post. One more is the phrase spiritual torpor. This is not quite the same thing as sloth, but can be connected. Here is a section which may help.

Sloth in general, pigritia, is a voluntary and culpable repugnance to work, to effort, and consequently a tendency to idleness, or at least to negligence, to pusillanimity,(2) which is opposed to generosity or magnanimity.
Sloth is not the languor or torpor in action which comes from poor health; it is an evil disposition of the will and of the sensible appetites, by which one fears and refuses effort, wishes to avoid all trouble, and seeks a dolce farniente. It has often been remarked that the slothful man is a parasite, who lives at the expense of others, as tranquil as a woodchuck when he is undisturbed in his idleness, and ill-humored when an effort is made to oblige him to work. This vice begins with unconcern and negligence in work, and manifests itself by a progressive dislike for all serious, physical and mental labor.
When idleness affects the accomplishment of the religious duties necessary to sanctification, it is called acedia.(3) It is an evil sadness: opposed to spiritual joy, which is the fruit of generosity in the love of God. Acedia is a disgust for spiritual things, a disgust which leads one to perform them negligently, to shorten them, or to omit them under vain pretexts. It is the cause of tepidity.
This sadness, which is radically opposed to that of contrition, depresses the soul and weighs it down because it does not react as it should. Then it reaches a voluntary disgust for spiritual things, because they demand too much effort and self-discipline. Whereas devotion, which is the promptness of the will in the service of God, lifts the soul up, spiritual sloth weighs down and crushes the soul and ends by causing it to find the yoke of the Lord unbearable and to flee the divine light, which reminds it of its duties. St. Augustine says: "Light which is so pleasant to pure eyes, becomes hateful to infirm eyes which can no longer bear it."
This depressing sadness, the result of negligence, and this disgust, which is at least indirectly voluntary, are quite different from the sensible or spiritual aridity which, in divine trials, is accompanied by true contrition for our sins, by fear of offending God, by a keen desire for perfection, by a need of solitude, of recollection, and of the prayer of simple gaze.

Sloth by Bosch

Torpor is a state which must be broken to grow and move away from sin. It can be depression from sinning.


One last long quotation, which will bring hope follows here:



Happily, contrary to what is true of the virtues, these vices or defects are not connected. One may have some without the others; several indeed are contradictory: for example, one cannot be avaricious and prodigal at one and the same time.

But we have to practice numerous virtues, forty or more, if we count all the virtues annexed to the principal ones. With the exception of justice, each stands like a summit between two contrary vices: the one by excess, such as temerity; the other by defect, such as cowardice.
Moreover, certain defects resemble certain virtues: for instance, pride is in some ways similar to magnanimity. It is important to have discretion or Christian prudence to discern clearly the virtue from the defect which in certain respects resembles it. Otherwise, false notes may be struck on the keyboard of the virtues: for example, pusillanimity may be confounded with humility, severity with justice, weakness with mercy.


This is why we cannot grow on our own. We must be in relationships. This is God's plan for us.


to be continued...

Stupidity and Intelligence

Today, I have been musing on what makes people act in a stupid manner.

I know what intelligent actions involve-prayer, reflection, rational discourse, using the gifts of the Holy Spirit given in confirmation, getting advice from a spiritual director, reading, studying the Faith, doing penance.

Intelligence involves the entire person being focused on using the gifts at hand to learn the Faith and use it daily.

We are all made in the image and likeness of God, and the intellectual gift of thinking and decision making using will power-the will being one way we are like God, the other being our freedom and the third, which is the likeness, is grace.

I have written much on grace, so follow the tags, but using one's intellectual capacity to the fullest potential defines being human.

So, what makes people stupid and what does it mean to be stupid?

Second definition first-stupidity is dullness of mind, ignorance, and even obtuse, or stubbornness.

What makes people freely chose to be dull, ignorant and stubborn is, simply, sin.

Stupidity grows out of many sins, in fact, and here is an incomplete list:

lust
sloth
greed
anger
pride
gluttony
envy.....

I hope you recognize these as the seven deadly sins.

Lust consumes the imagination with false idolatry, thus making people dull of mind. Intemperance of thought, such as curiosity, and the chasing of emotional religious experience, are rooted in lust.

Sloth stops growth, makes one give up on holiness and ignores the virtue of studiosity.

Greed consumes one with false gods of money, things, status, power, making one into a beast instead of a thinking human being.

Anger brings about unforgiveness, rash judgements, prejudices, and intemperance, allowing the mind to dwell upon real or imagined hurts.

Pride creates an entire false world by which a person judges everything but themselves. Pride also dulls the mind, the soul, one's conscience.

Gluttony absolutely makes one stupid, as intemperance in food and drink slow down the thought processes and make a person dwell on satisfaction and comfort rather than study or reflection. Those who spend too much time on eating and drinking have little time or inclination for study.

Envy stops mental acuity by causing a person to dwell upon what others have and what others do. Envy causes shallow thinking and gossip, leading a person away from reflection and prayer.

I add fear to this list, as fear deadens the intellect. Fear makes a person fall back into the morass of negative emotions, protection, paranoia and self-preservation, all which stop intellectual growth.

Sin causes stupidity. Not facing and eliminating one's predominant fault causes stupidity. Refusing to follow the wisdom of the ages of Church guidance regarding holiness causes stupidity.

Wanting one's own way over and over and over is just plain stupid.

I incorporate the ideas of an old post to reveal how one can break out of stupidity. Humility is the answer.



Sunday, 22 July 2012

Perfection Series: Our Predominant Fault Two

Posted by Supertradmum

Newark Cathedral in England has some amazing stained glass. The Seven Deadly Sins plus one, 

show that the Medievals were being taught what we moderns have forgotten--that sin binds us to 

Satan and death.

Garrigou-Lagrange states that "it is of primary importance that we recognize our predominant 

fault and have no illusions about it. This is is so much the more necessary as our adversary, the 

enemy of our soul, knows it quite well and makes use of it to stir up trouble in and about us. In the 

citadel of our interior life, which is defended by the different virtues, the predominant fault is the weak spot, undefended by the theological and moral virtues." 

On this picture above,  Envy and Pride are depicted. 

Most of the characters have chains.


Many times we forget who is out to claim us for hell.

Lust and Sloth (who has beads) point to the need for deep, persistent prayer, as do all the other Deadly Sins. Garrigou-Lagrange writes that we must ask God, seek Him, for enlightenment as to one's predominant fault. We must ask him to remove the fault, help us to cooperate with Him is purification. We must be serious about our personal daily examinations of conscience.

What is really tricky is that the fault may seem like a virtue.

He gives us these questions to ask ourselves: "Toward what do my most ordinary preoccupations 

tend, in the morning when I awake, or when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spontaneously?"

For the sake of our souls, we must be brutally honest with ourselves.

Here is a great question from the Dominican: "What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy? What is the general motive of my action, the ordinary origin of my sins...a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit my exercises of piety?" On the right, we see Violence and Gluttony. I would think that Gluttony is one of the most prevalent of the Deadly Sins in the West. That Violence is obvious in certain countries indicates certain people have this fundamental, predominant sin.

If we deny something which someone else points out, it is probably our dominant fault fighting to 

remain hidden to our consciousness. We need grace. We need God.

Satan watches us. He hears us speak. He knows our predominant fault and uses temptations to lead 

us to yet another sin. And, here is the big point, quoting St. John 8:34, made by Garrigou-Lagrange.

"Whosoever committeth sin 

is the servant of sin."

Also, quoting Thomas Aquinas, 

the author states "Every man 

judges of what is good according to his good or evil interior dispositions."


The good priest gives us the example of how the predominant fault becomes our greatest virtue. He shows the text revealing the anger and vengeance of St. John, who later in life, wrote the most beautiful passages on love. 

The "son of anger" became the 

poet and apostle of love. Wrath and Avarice on the right from Newark show contorted souls. Notice 

again the chains.

We have much work to do. Let us pray for good spiritual directors, holy wives and husbands, excellent companions in monasteries and convents, and holy friends to point out our worst flaw and to work on 

the remedy.

For the sake of our souls...to be continued.

What Is Patience?

So many people in America, myself included, have grown up with instant satisfaction in some many physical ways. We turn on the air-conditioning, or heat or humidifier and our environment becomes as comfortable as we desire.

We buy food of any variety and quality, ready-cooked, or almost cooked, even delivered to our door.

We save coupons, get coupons in our e-mail, and have coupons on our smart phones to buy any amount of things whether necessary or not.

We drive where and when we want to do so, with or without whom we want to be with at any given time.

We communicate on the Net, on our phones, but less and less over coffee or drinks.

We are the fast living, fast moving people of progress and daily new items are invented to tease us into more and more comfort with less and less work.

I remember when remote controlled Venetian Blinds became popular. I knew something was terribly wrong then. Or, when the automatic lights which go on when one enters a room, perfectly tuned to one's mood or needs require no effort but settings, I suspected we had fallen from grace.

Working with one's hands has become less and less a desire or a need. But, using one's hands brings patience, and a relationship with things, with nature, which is a good.

Most of my friends hire gardeners to mow lawns, trim hedges and bushes and shovel the snow in the winter. Most people I know have every possible gadget one can imagine in their living rooms and kitchens.

When I told someone I never used a microwave until I moved into their house this past summer, she was shocked. And, I also had to share that I never used a crockpot.

I always made things the "long way".

Several friends have brought up the fact that they lack patience. I am not surprised. We are so use to having everything the way we want it NOW, that patience seems no longer necessary-except in one area of our lives-relationships.

However, more and more people cannot communicate, do not talk things out in their families, do not share either difficulties or joys. Talking about serious things must be avoided at all costs, even the cost of family unity and love.

Discussing and working out problems among people takes time and effort, plus patience.

So, the next question was, well, what is patience anyway?

The dictionaries give us these definitions:

1.
the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2.
an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay:
to have patience with a slow learner.
3.
quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:
to work with patience.

But, patience is really humility. If one is humble, one can be uncomfortable, provoked without an angry response, enduring pain, irritation and so on.

The proud want everything "just so" and as they like it--and do not tolerate any inconveniences.

I learned humility waiting for Maltese buses.

I learned humility in Montessori training.

I learned humility by watching a long-suffering wife, who is a close friend and very old, and a saint.

But, mostly, I remind myself, when I begin to feel impatient that I am not God, I am not in control of life or other people or events. God is .

Learning patience comes with self-knowledge.

I do not get angry when driving and see mistakes of others. I have learned that road rage is pride.

Pride makes one critical of others to the point where one expects something from the other person, something the other person may not be able to effect.

Many people get impatient with phone trees on calls. This development is part of our lives, Patience is learning that we cannot change somethings to what they were in the past-like desiring good customer service from humans and not machines.

Part of learning patience is flexibility and not rigidity towards life. Those who want to be in control of every aspect of life will not only fail at becoming patient, but fail to learn to love.

People are "messy" and different and strange. Some humans guard themselves against the mess by purposefully isolating themselves from people, or by surrounding themselves with clones.

One does not learn patience in a vacuum, or in a group which seems homogeneous. 

Daily, I witness more and more anger among people-in shops, on the roads, in families. This anger reveals not only a lack of patience, but deep-seated pride. The meek are not valued anymore.

But, they will inherit the earth. And, what does that mean?

Why will the meek inherit the earth? What does it mean to inherit and what is meant by the earth?

Meekness or humility creates freedom in the soul. One become free to give up certain annoyances, and irritations. This freedom allows one to see things from different perspectives and not merely one's own.

For example, some people complain about the time they must wait in the doctor's office, an event which has sadly become more and more common.

I see waiting as an opportunity to either read an interesting book or even to pray silently.

To be able to use time which seems to be wasted is a gift from patience and from humility.

Why should my time be more valuable than someone else's time?

Meekness implies a gentleness and not an aggressivity towards others. Meekness implies that one knows how to suffer and in silence.

The meek will inherit, will be given something passed down to them, earned not by grace, but freely.

One does not earn an inheritance. One is given an inheritance as a gift. One does not deserve to inherit anything.

But, God promises us that the meek, the gentle, the humble, will be given.....what?

The earth...

Not heaven, the earth...the poor in spirit get heaven, while the meek are given the earth.

This means that those who are meek, are gentle, and humble are given the gift of loving what is around them now, at this present moment.

When Christ states this, He indicates that a peace and joy may be found now, on this earth, despite irritations, annoyances, misfortunes.

Lately, some difficult things have happened in my life. I am dealing with some difficult situations. I could get annoyed, or irritated. Or, I can learn to be gentle, humble, meek and accept these situations which are out of my control as part of God's plan for my life which I do not understand.

I live with more discomfort than most Americans could tolerate. I am not in control of so many things because I am poor, The poor become humble, if they let go of anger and frustration, through patience.

One of my favorite characters in fiction is Joe Gargery in Great Expectations. He is the opposite of the proud, wasteful Pip, who has to learn humility the hard way. Joe had married a shrew, and yet, when she is beaten by an intruder and needs care, he cares for her tenderly. Joe teaches Pip patiently, and bears with Pip's rejection, when this young man no longer wants to associate with the "lowly" blacksmith. But, when Pip needs rescuing, it is Joe who comes to aid and take care of him.

Why Joe is "saintly" is that he is humble. He has unique self-knowledge and is comfortable with who he is. He is long-suffering and finally rewarded with a good wife and Pip's deep respect, as it is fiction, as Oscar Wilde notes in The Importance of Being Earnest, "The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."

Joe images patience because he is true to his good self. He sacrifices for others and does not place himself first. 

To learn patience, one must be willing to take second, or third, or the last place.

The Blame Game Part Three

I found out today from one of my friends of psychology generation that she had a school psychologist in the 1960s. WOW!

Needless to say, Catholic schools did not have school psychologist. I was amazed when I heard that public schools had these so early.

So, the damaging rot came into the schools exactly in the generation I call that of psychology. Can one imagine these kids growing up in a hot-house atmosphere of being  examined for psychological reasons for acting up, which in days earlier would have resulted in being refused cookies and milk, or staying in for recess, or having a note sent home to dad, and then, oh-oh.

Sin disappeared from the consciousness and conscience to the extent that kids were not allowed to suffer from consequences, which would have taught them natural law philosophy from little on.

One breaks something, one sweeps it up and pays for it. One causes a person to suffer, one apologizes. One steals something, one must not only give it back but do restitution for the sin.

One of the members of the generation of psychology did not know, even though he has been a Catholic all his life, and goes to daily Mass, that purgatory was punishment due to sin. Until our recent discussion, he had no idea that sin had consequences past the confessional box, or that one did not get into heaven unless one was purified.

It never occurred to him that sin had consequences beyond this life, and, as a NO Catholic, in his mid-50s, he claims that he has never heard any teaching from the pulpit on purgatory, except on All Souls' Day--sermons which were vague and confusing.

The priest of his parish is probably a member of the generation of psychology.

Some seminaries in America have psychologists and even psychiatrists on staff to meet with the young men on a regular basis. Some men actually see this counselor more often than they do their spiritual director, who may come from "off campus" only once a month.

We have fallen for this false religion of psychology, using it to explain sin, rather than teaching and forming the conscience through examination and reflection.

After several discussions recently with members of the generation of psychology, I have to admit I am ready to throw up my hands in frustration and walk-away from an entire group of people, who honestly believe they have never chosen sin.

Sigh....I think this cultural shift was a great victory for the evil one and part of the psywars, about which I have written in the past.

Enough, already...if one does not think one is sinning, but merely unhappy because of emotional upheaval owing to those actions of some who sinned against them, one will never take responsibility for one's own salvation-something we all must do, begging God for the grace of conversion, change, and final perseverance.

The Blame Game Part Two

Continuing with thoughts this morning's thoughts and observations, which are not new, I have seen the denial of sins, both venial and mortal, from people who refuse to think outside the psychological box.

One man I know has never comes to grips with his falling away from the Church by his own volition, because he blames his parents.

Another couple blames the bishop for charging for annulments, which he does not in their diocese, for being in an unholy, irregular marriage.

Yet another young woman blames a priest for saying something against contraception, which she did not like, as she was contracepting and did not want to hear the truth--so she blames, still, the Church.

And so on....

The refrain of complaints reveals the lack of truth, the continuation of lies, which cover up the fact that these people, like others, have left the Church by an act of the will, their own wills.

For years, parents have not taught consequences--no time out bench will curb a rebellious spirit, and few parents take away things, such as rights to the TV or own computer, or the use of "grounding", a popular punishment for teens in my day.

I know one parent who literally saved the soul of her girl by refusing to let her to finals in a band competition because of very bad behavior. Yes, for awhile, the teen was angry, but then, she cooled down and recollected that what she had done required a consequence.

I am reminded of the famous scene from the Peter O'Toole version of Good-by Mr. Chips, in which a young lad was not allowed to play in the tennis finals because he had not done his Latin homework.

Where are those adult heroes today?

Too often people think being "strict" with children will harm them when in actuality, in psychological studies. done on adults with problems and parenting styles, children from families with lax parents have more problems than those from strict families.

Boundaries and consequences create maturity.

The blame game has to stop, and adults who are whingers must stop looking to reasons why they sin and stop sinning.

Reading the lives of the saints may help, as the saints are hardest on themselves, as real sinners, realizing that God will not excuse sin.

Is God merciful? Of course, but He is also just, and the two attributes cannot be separated.

Do some people suffer more than others in trying to combat sin? Yes.

Are some people naturally more good than others by grace? Yes.

But, we are not given a pass if we must fight against our natural tendencies towards sin just because we were hurt or even damaged as children or even as adults.

I remind readers of the four heroes of Faith in my own family-three women and a man molested for years and years by a priest in a boarding school. None left the Church, three got married and had as many children as God sent, and all loved God the entire life.

Were their marriages difficult sometimes? Yes. Have they struggled with deep feelings of hurt and rejection? Yes.

Did they forgive the priest, long dead? Yes.

Forgiveness and long-suffering form the two pillars of heroic virtue.

One does not have to walk away from God because of the sins of others. In fact, many times, the gross sins of others can be the means of coming towards God more readily.

Lies and Misdemeanors

Deceit at every level of society seems to be stalking the land, like a giant with big boots. More and more, I am meeting people who have chosen freely to live in lies, and create sins which are misdemeanors, especially in their families.

Some young people have become so jaded and cynical that they think that all people lie and that it is ok to lie.

Some very old people have become so weary that they, too, think most people lie.

I am being told this by men and women of various levels of society. Few now believe in truly "good people", stating to me that everyone is out for themselves and so on.

Sad, sad that our society now lacks the cohesiveness of trust.

I find this trend troubling, especially among the young and the elderly. One should not be going into life jaded and one should definitely not be leaving life with cynicism.

Cynicism is a sin. It stems from two sources: hatred and pride.

Because the cynic has no grace, he or she believes that all people cannot attain nobility or greatness.

Because the cynic hates humanity, he or she hates goodness to the point of not believing goodness is possible.

Of course, the cynic has no relationship with God.

Recently, I found myself in a discussion with middle-aged people younger than myself. I was shocked at the level of cynicism revealed, and the number of lies people said, when I knew the truth of the situations they were sharing. Why people lie is mainly to avoid suffering.

Lying makes one feel safe, defended from the truth, and protected from suffering.

Truth brings clarity, but frequently, suffering.

Misdemeanors include rudeness, infidelity, malice and slander. How common these sins have become actually had saddened me, especially when I have witnessed the loss of Faith because of the lack of common courtesy.

Courtesy is politeness based on mutual respect for the dignity of individuals. The cynic, the liar, cannot be courteous. He or she cannot see the value of the other persons around them.

The courteous person is elegant, long-suffering, compliant when he or she can be. The courteous person thinks of others first, and self second. The courteous person is gentle and kind.

This ability to be courteous is fast disappearing from families. The reason may be gross individualism, relativism, or even narcissism.

But, I think the main reason that in a post-Christian society, there is no shared framework for respect.

When people no longer see themselves as brothers and sisters in Christ, what is left can be brutal.

I am sorry that I have to witness the death of truth, even among some who claim they are Christian.

I am sorry that I have to witness the growth of cynicism, lies and misdemeanors.

From Today's Office of Readings and Remorse

The ancients understood remorse. They understood the pain of remembering past opportunities for love, for generosity of spirit, passed up and then paid for by guilt.

 Erinyes, Furies or the "infernal goddesses" pursued those who sinned with justice and vengeance, unless the other gods of the Greek cosmos had pity on the person who experienced such. Charity to the Greeks did include alms, but also the avoidance of the capital sins, especially vengeful murder.

But, we have a higher call to charity, one which is embedded in our Faith.

1 John 3:17-19 Douay-Rheims 

17 He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him?

18 My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.

God has encouraged me, even in my simple lifestyle, to be generous, as the days of generosity will be stopped by God's justice.

We have been living in the time of mercy, which I predicted over a year ago, will end soon.

One reason why I am asking for help for the house of prayer now is that the time is coming when those who want to give will not be able to do so. The governments of the world are changing banking and financial rules even as I write.

If you are thinking of being generous, of creating a safe-haven, a hidden heart of prayer in the Church, now is the time.

Can you imagine, those who are able to give, how you will feel on that day when you go to your account and will not be able to take money out as you so desire? One of my friends learned the hard way, in a place relatively far away, what remorse comes from thinking one can be charitable "tomorrow". She lived in regret for past opportunities for giving out of her surplus, and now, she is no longer able to do this, not because she is poor, but because of outside influences on her income.

Pray, think, reflect. 

Those who give will be remember in prayer daily.

Collective Selfishness

Years ago, in England, in the late 1980s, a priest told me that Margaret Thatcher had "institutionalized greed". She was not the only one, and in fact, the same type of "collective selfishness" burst out of psychobabble into the mainstream politics of America and Europe.

The Pope is a good examiner of corporate sin and the reality that a sense of responsibility for the common good has all but vanished.

We are experiencing a serious shortage of doctors, nurses, teachers, and all service oriented types of jobs. Volunteerism has all but disappeared (remember my old article on Bowling Alone?)

The Pope is correct is both assessments; that the problems of narcissistic consumerism is dire, but that human beings can rise above this.....but only, in and with Christ, through His Church.

204. The current global situation engenders a feeling of instability and uncertainty, which in turn becomes “a seedbed for collective selfishness”.[145] When people become self-centred and self-enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. It becomes almost impossible to accept the limits imposed by reality. In this horizon, a genuine sense of the common good also disappears. As these attitudes become more widespread, social norms are respected only to the extent that they do not clash with personal needs. So our concern cannot be limited merely to the threat of extreme weather events, but must also extend to the catastrophic consequences of social unrest. Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining it, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction.

205. Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start, despite their mental and social conditioning. We are able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction, and to embark on new paths to authentic freedom. No system can completely suppress our openness to what is good, true and beautiful, or our God-given ability to respond to his grace at work deep in our hearts. I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us.

Ah, the beginning of self-knowledge and knowledge of others leads to knowledge of God.

Again, the Pope quotes the Pope Emeritus' encyclical Caritas in Veritate, which I examined on this blog almost two years ago.  Follow the tags.

“Purchasing is always a moral – and not simply economic – act”.[146] Today, in a word, “the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle”.[147]

I shall finish this encyclical tomorrow...I feel like reading Hard Times, by Dickens.

Sins Which Cry Out to God for Vengeance

These sins may even be found in the CCC, as noted here before. What many Catholics do not understand is the Justice, Righteousness, Innocence of God, Who is not "hurt", as we sometimes are by sins against us, but "offended" because He is All Good. See my other posts on this.

Today, I am reminded of these sins, as I have been witnessing PDAs (public displays of affection), right here in suburbia, between lesbians, several who live in this neighborhood.

God will not be mocked. He created us and gave us natural law, which is being spurned by those who accept such lifestyles.

I repeat the CCC on these sins:

1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel,¹³⁹ the sin of the Sodomites,¹⁴⁰ the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt,¹⁴¹ the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan,¹⁴² injustice to the wage earner.<sup>14

These are considered the sins which will bring down God's vengeance on all of us.</sup> 

Those people who are violent---look at the news; those people who are sodomites--look in your own areas; those people who are abandoned to poverty, loneliness, even penury--look here; those who receive unjust wages to we can buy cheap goods--look at most of the stores and name brands and what they pay for goods, as opposed to what they charge; slavery, such as sexual abuse of children, (as in Great Britain), sexual slavery of women, slavery of those who are under tyrannies--look at the news.

God will not ignored these sins much longer. Reparation is needed. 

We cannot lose the virtue of being shocked by sin. Complacency deadens the soul. We should be intolerant of our own sin, first, and then not tolerate sin in a society. But, as Fulton J. Sheen stated, intolerance is the only sin most Americans believe in. And, he said and wrote about this two generations ago. God will not be mocked.

http://www.northamericanmartyrs.org/pdf/Plea-for-Intolerance.pdf

Compunction Six-Regret And The Worm of Conscience

"Maud-Muller-Brown" by John Gast, artist, after J.G. Brown  Public Domain

This is the last in this part of the series on contrition, on repentance. Pray for the sense of compunction if you have lost this. Offer up suffering for those who are hell-bound. Where there is life, there is hope.

Regret for wrong decisions will be the everlasting torment of those in hell.

My comments in blue...
PART III. ON HELL. 
VII. The Worm that Dieth Not. 

OUR Divine Saviour says: "If thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than, having two hands, to go into Hell, into the fire that cannot be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter lame into life, than, having two feet, to be cast into the Hell of unquenchable fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out; it is better for thee with one eye to enter the kingdom of God, than, having two eyes, to be cast into the Hell of fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished" (Mark ix. 42-47).

By these words our blessed Redeemer wished to impress on our minds the necessity of avoiding the occasions of sin and of making even the most painful sacrifices to avoid sin and thus escape the endless pains of Hell. He, moreover, wished to engrave deeply in our minds the fact that two of the most fearful torments of Hell are its unquenchable fire and its never-dying worm. We have seen in a foregoing chapter in what consists the terrible fire of Hell. It now remains to us to examine in what consists "the worm that dieth not."

We have reason, which the lower creatures do not. Our intellects can be enlightened by grace and faith.  Faith can be enlightened by the intellect.

Those in hell still have the same intellect, but now eaten up, like the worm eats dirt, by regret.

This remorse never ends in forgiveness or mercy, as that time for the sacraments is gone.

All the senses of the reprobate have each their peculiar punishment; their reason, or intellect, is punished by the pain of loss, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, a punishment far surpassing that of the senses. The memory of the reprobate is tormented by " the worm that dieth not," that is by a most keen and constant remorse of conscience, which will give them no rest.

Each one of us, because we are sinners, can look back with regret on many sins of omission and commission. But, on earth, while we are still alive, we can change. 

How many Catholics think of sins of omission, the passing up of opportunities to follow grace upon grace?
The lost sinner will remember how many graces and means of salvation he had during life to save his soul ; how God sent him so many holy inspirations, how he received so many good instructions, how he had the grace of prayer within his power to enable him to practise the virtues of his state, to overcome temptation, to keep the Commandments of God and of His Church; how his pious friends exhorted him to lead a good life both by their exhortations, but especially by their good example; how he had so many opportunities of instructing himself in his obligations by the hearing of the word of God and the reading of good books, and of strengthening himself in the discharge of his duties by the reception of the Sacraments and by the practice of devotion to the Blessed Virgin!

As Catholics, we are not merely given sufficient grace for heaven, but, as this good priest notes, "a superabundance of means of salvation".

The lost sinner will, in a word, remember with how little trouble he might have saved his soul and avoided Hell. He will say to himself: " So little effort was required for my salvation; even after my numerous sins a good confession would have sufficed. But through shame, through human respect, I did not make it. How foolish I was! How often did my conscience, my family, my friends urge me to go to confession! But it was all in vain. Others committed greater sins than I did, but they bewailed them, went to confession and changed their life, and now they are enjoying unspeakable happiness in Heaven! And as for me, I am lost forever, and that through my own fault, for I had at my disposal a superabundance of means of salvation. But now repentance is unavailing, it is too late!"

But let us consider the expressions of regret of the various lost sinners. Their sorrow is vain, for, like that of Judas, it is the sorrow of despair.

"During life," these lost sinners will say to themselves, "I loved ease and comfort and luxury, fine garments, costly jewellery and princely mansions. To gain these I did not scruple to defraud my neighbour in every available way. I stole from my employers, I took false oaths, I joined secret societies, I even sold my virtue! I stayed away from Mass, I ate meat on forbidden days, I neglected the Sacraments, I went so far as to deny my faith. I contracted marriage before a civil magistrate, or before a heretical minister; I contracted a mixed marriage without dispensation; I got a divorce and then ventured to break the laws of God and of the Church by getting married again! I wished to be free, to do just as I pleased.

This could have been written yesterday and it was written 116 years ago. Could those who give bad advice in the synod, or from their cardinals' or bishops' chairs not tremble if they read these words?

The laws of God and of His Church forbade me to frequent dangerous occasions, and I spurned these laws because I wished to enjoy myself and gratify my passions by going with persons and into places that were dangerous to me, and thus I fell repeatedly into sins, even the most shameful.

Clubs. porn websites, evil computer games, bad movies, or bad television shows....the list is endless.

God commanded me to be pure and chaste, and I took delight in gratifying my basest passions in every possible way, and sought every occasion of doing so. How criminally I acted in neglecting to give my children a religious education, and thus caused them to lose their souls ! 

This part is, frankly, scary, as too many parents are not educating their children correctly. Yes, and many young people, even children, will lose their souls.  It is terrifying....Remember Padre Pio telling the mother he would not hear her confession as her son was in hell because of her...and she had not repented of whatever sin she had committed to cause her own son's damnation. Horrible thought, indeed

During life I was fond of listening to and joining in backbiting, calumny, obscene discourses, and even irreligious conversations. I loved to read filthy novels and to gaze on immodest pictures and objects. While on earth, I yielded to my passion for strong drink, and indulged in it to excess, until I degraded myself below the brute and committed crimes innumerable against my wife and children, against my neighbour.

During life I delighted in cursing, swearing, in uttering fearful oaths and imprecations and in quarrelling, in gambling and in almost every crime.

And now I find myself in the gloomy prison of Hell, in company of a countless multitude of villains, murderers, of the most degraded beings that have ever lived  I have no longer a loving parent, a loving child, a sympathizing friend. No; all the ties of friendship, all the ties of nature, are forever broken, forever turned into devilish hate. Every evil spirit, every reprobate insults me, curses me, tortures me, seeks to make me suffer the more. I must submit to all this, because during life I refused to submit to the holy will of God. I could so easily have been saved, and now I am lost, lost forever, and that through my own fault! Never shall I see God, never shall I enjoy the delights of Heaven, never more shall I be released from these terrible torments. It is now too late!"

All this, and much more, will the worm of conscience say to the damned, stinging him with reproaches so relentlessly that he will almost be driven crazy with despair. In fact, the damned will rave and rage as if they were possessed, and will invoke curses on themselves. But all in vain; it is too late for repentance. This terrible remorse will do nothing towards atoning for their sins, it will only add to their anguish.

Consider this, obdurate sinner, who dost sin so boldly, and even when thy conscience pricks thee, turnest a deaf ear to its reproaches. Be assured that one day thy own conscience will be thy tormentor, and will plague thee more pertinaciously than the demons themselves. If thou dost desire to escape this never-ending misery, listen to the voice of conscience now, follow its counsel when it bids thee abstain from doing evil, and urges thee to do that which is right. 

Enough! These posts must help each one of us to have compunction. Without contrition and the turning away from sin, we are lost.

But, thanks be to God for His Mercy.

Compunction Four-On The Loss of The Beatific Vision 1

Staying with the same source, one reads that the loss of seeing God is the worst punishment of all--lost Love, lost Beauty, lost Innocence, lost Peace...all that is Good and Wonderful lost forever.

Yet of all these pains, that which gives the keenest anguish is being deprived of the vision of God. It will never be given to the damned to behold the Divine countenance. This pain will far outweigh all the other torments of which we have spoken. 

It is impossible for mortal man to understand how this can be so great an affliction for the damned. 

Yet such is the teaching of the Fathers ; they all maintain that there is nothing which the lost bewail so bitterly as being shut out forever from the vision of God. Whilst we live in this world, we think but little of the vision of God, and what it would be to us to be deprived of it eternally. This arises from the bluntness of our perception, which prevents us from comprehending the infinite beauty and goodness of God, and the delight experienced by those who behold Him face to face. But after death, when we are freed from the trammels of the body, our eyes will be opened, and we shall at least to some extent perceive that God is the supreme and infinite Good, and the enjoyment of Him our highest felicity. 

...

Imagine loving the most Beloved Person of all and never being able to see Him. We crave to be loved and to love. We rarely understand that Who we crave is the Trinity.

St. Bonaventure bears witness to this, when he says: "The most terrible penalty of the damned is being shut out forever from the blissful and joyous contemplation of the Blessed Trinity." Again, St. John Chrysostom says: "I know many persons only fear Hell because of its pains, but I assert that the loss of the celestial glory is a source of more bitter pain than all the torments of Hell." 

No Beauty, no Awe, no completeness...

The evil one himself was made to acknowledge this, as we read in the legends of Blessed Jordan, at one time General of the Dominican Order. For when Jordan asked Satan, in the person of one who was possessed, what was the principal torment of Hell, he answered: "Being excluded from the presence of God." "Is God then so beautiful to look upon?" Jordan inquired. And on the devil replying that He was indeed most beautiful, he asked further: "How great is His beauty?" "Fool that thou art," was the rejoinder, "to put such a question to me! Dost thou not know that His beauty is beyond compare?" "Canst thou not suggest any similitude," Jordan continued, "which may give me to some extent at least an idea of the Divine beauty?" Then Satan said: "Imagine a crystal sphere a thousand times more brilliant than the sun, in which the loveliness of all the colors of the rainbow, the fragrance of every flower, the sweetness of every delicious flavour, the costliness of every precious stone, the kindliness of men and the attractiveness of all the Angels combined; fair and precious as this crystal would be, in comparison with the Divine beauty, it would be unsightly and impure." 

No Perfection, no Sweetness, no Proportion, no Light...

"And pray," the good monk inquired, "what wouldst thou give to be admitted to the vision of God?" And the devil replied: "If there were a pillar reaching from earth to Heaven, beset with sharp points and nails and hooks, I would gladly consent to be dragged up and down that pillar from now until the Day of Judgment, if I could only be permitted to gaze on the Divine countenance for a few brief moments." 

to be continued....more later

Compunction Three-On Hell Two

Saul Alinsky said that he would not be happy in heaven. Here is wiki's account of his famous interview two months before he died. These words create dread in me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky

Alinsky died at the age of 63 of a sudden, massive heart attack in 1972, on a street corner in Carmel, California. Two months previously, he had discussed life after death in his interview with Playboy:^[4]

ALINSKY: ... if there is an afterlife, and I have anything to say about it, I will unreservedly choose to go to hell.

PLAYBOY: Why?

ALINSKY: Hell would be heaven for me. All my life I've been with the have-nots. Over here, if you're a have-not, you're short of dough. If you're a have-not in hell, you're short of virtue. Once I get into hell, I'll start organizing the have-nots over there.

PLAYBOY: Why them?

ALINSKY: They're my kind of people.

But, what does Father von Cochem write about the "kind of people". 

V. On the Company of Hell. 
 THERE are many bold sinners who, when they are punished for their crimes and threatened with Hell-fire are wont audaciously to answer: "Wherever I go, I shall at any rate not lack company," as if the presence of others could afford any solace to them, or any alleviation of their torment. In order that these shameless sinners may see how wrong they are to speak thus, and how little cause they have to anticipate any relief from the company in which they will find themselves, this chapter shall be devoted to showing them how woeful that company will be, and how it will aggravate their misery. 

Would one want to live in grief, confusion, misery, tyranny and pain forever?

The society of the damned consists of devils and lost souls. Both of these are countless in number. As for the society of the devils, this is so detestable that it may be reckoned as the worst penalty of the lost in Hell. The place of torment would be far less deserving of this name were there no devils in it. On account of the multitude of demons there, such confusion, such grief, such misery, such tyranny prevails, that it is heartbreaking even to think of it. 
We mortals have no worse enemy than the devil, who hates us with so intense a hatred that he longs every moment to hurl us down into the abyss of perdition. And when at length he has got some one into his power, he deals with him more barbarously than savage despot ever dealt with his deadliest foe. 

Would one want to live in hatred forever under a being which is the most horrible tyrant of all?

All the envy and hatred which at the time of his fall he conceived against God, and which he cannot vent upon Him, he vents upon the damned, tormenting them with plagues the very thought of which makes a man s blood run cold. Even if he were not to do any harm to the damned, the mere fact of his dwelling with them for all eternity would be such terrible misery for the unhappy sinners, that the horror of their position would be like a continual death to them. 

Everlasting death does not mean peace....we all have time to repent and that time is now.

Of all the fallen spirits, not one is so abominable as the chief of all, the haughty Lucifer, whose cruelty, malice and spite render him an object of dread not merely to the damned, but also to the devils subject to him. This Lucifer is called by various names in Holy Scriptures, all indicating his malignity. On account of his repulsiveness he is called a dragon; on account of his ferocity, a lion; on account of his malice, the old serpent; on account of his deceitfulness, the father of lies; on account of his haughtiness, king over all the children of pride; and on account of his great power and might, the prince of this world. 

Hell is physical, not just spiritual torment...after the Last Day of Judgement, the Final Judgement.

Listen to what the Fathers of the Church and some expositors of Holy Scriptures say of the dreadful appearance that Satan presents: they apply to him the description given of the leviathan in the book of Job: "Who can discover the face of his garment, or who can go into the midst of his mouth? Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. His body is like molten shields, shut up close with scales pressing one upon another. One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them. His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth. 

In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face. His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil. When he shall raise him up, the Angels shall fear and, being affrighted, turn to God for protection. He shall make the deep sea to boil as a pot; there is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one. He beholdeth every high thing ; he is king over all the children of pride" (Job xli.). 

It is the opinion of St. Cyril, St. Athanasius, St. Gregory and other learned expositors of both the Greek and Latin Churches, that although this description, taken literally, is that of a monster of the sea, yet it is intended, in its mystic sense, to apply to Lucifer. And if one compares what is said of the leviathan with the attributes ascribed to the prince of darkness, it is impossible to deny their coincidence; moreover, one knows as a general fact that evil things have their types and figures in the natural world as well as good things, the one serving us for warning, the others for an example. 

Besides the prince of darkness there are hundreds of thousands of inferior devils, which though less bad and abominable than himself, are yet so wicked and horrible that one could hardly look upon them and live. 

Just think of all the monstrous people who ever lived for a view of the companions of hell. Devils are worse. 

St. Antony relates that one of the Brothers of his Order uttered a piercing scream at the sight of a devil who appeared to him. His fellow-monks, running to him in alarm, found him more dead than alive. After giving him something to revive and strengthen him, they asked him what was the matter. Then he told them that the devil had appeared to him, and terrified him so that all the life had gone out of him. And on their inquiring what the devil looked like, he answered: "That I really cannot say; I can only say that if the choice were given me I would rather be put into a red-hot furnace, than look again at the countenance of the demon." 

We read much the same thing in the life of St. Catharine of Sienna. She too declared that she had rather walk through a flaming fire than gaze for one instant at the devil. 

If the mere sight of the evil one is so appalling that the Saints think it more intolerable than the pain of exposure to a burning fire, what, my God, must be the fear and horror of the damned, dwelling forever in the midst of countless fiends! 

How terrified thou wouldst be if a mad dog were suddenly to spring upon thee, pull thee to the ground, and begin to tear thee with his teeth ! Do not imagine that the devil will fall upon the damned with less fury, or treat them more mercifully. The account Job gives of his persecutors describes very accurately the state of a lost soul in Hell: 

"My enemy hath gathered together his fury against me, and threatening me he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me; he hath beheld me with terrible eyes. They have opened their mouth upon me and reproaching me they have struck me on the cheek, they are filled with my pains. He hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark. He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath wounded my loins, he hath not spared. He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me like a giant" (Job xvi. 10-15). This passage will give us some idea of the awful character of the company the damned will find themselves among in Hell. 

The Torment of St. Anthony by Michelangelo

I hope this is enough to cause compunction in some who may not have had true contrition for sins.

to be continued....