Chapel Beginnings

I am setting up a little chapel in the house where I still am. It looks great, but I have no linens. If anyone has any from their grandmothers, let me know.

I have a table for an altar and two large candlesticks (borrowed). I do not have a camera on my phone, but I can take this chapel down and set it up somewhere else.

A reader got me some icons, and I shall be getting some statues.

This is a beginning, and the room is so peaceful, one can feel the presence of God despite no Eucharistic Presence. I use it for the Hours I say, rosary, chaplet, and other prayers, as well as meditation.

A small start....

Nice reminder on marriage

http://onthesideoftheangels.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-christian-marriage-arcanum.html

Yippie! Go Pope Francis!

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351011?eng=y

ROME, March 20, 2015 – “This does not resolve anything,” Pope Francis has said with regard to the idea of giving communion to the divorced and remarried. Much less if they “want” it, demand it. Because communion “is not a badge, a decoration. No.”

In his latest big interview Jorge Mario Bergoglio threw cold water on the expectations for substantial change in the doctrine and practice of Catholic marriage, which he himself had indirectly fostered:

> Los primeros dos años de la “Era Francisco” en entrevista a Televisa

“Overblown expectations,” he called them. With no more references to the innovative theses of Cardinal Walter Kasper, which he had repeatedly extolled in the past but now seems to be keeping at a distance.

Hey, Guys!

I have been on this street more than once...watch and share!

The great heritage of knowledge in our Church

http://www.vaticanobservatory.va/content/specolavaticana/en.html

 How cool is it that the Vatican has an observatory? And connected to one in Arizona? Cool, really cool.

The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. Though we can trace our roots back to the reform of the calendar by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, the modern version of the Observatory was established by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 “so that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible devotion.”

A worthy cause to which to donate. http://www.vofoundation.org/

http://www.vofoundation.org/support-us

Sad, sad, sad

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html?cmipid=fb

One of the best educational systms in the world has capitulated to Deweyite utilitarianism.

Sad. Finland, with the highest math, science and reading skill results in the Western World, will rue the day. Another sign of BB, imho. Remember, Bismarck did the same thing and what resulted what the Holocaust, because the populace had been changed from thinkers to sheeple.

Read my posts on classical education. Home school.

Knowledge of Divine Things Twenty

A genius friend of mine noted that we in the Church must discuss ignorance as well as grace.

Pointing out St. Thomas Aquinas on ignorance, I thought this would be a good inclusion in this discussion on "divine things".

St. Thomas notes in the Summa I:11; Q 6; A 8 that there are three different kinds of ignorance. I have written many times on this blog that I do not believe that in the West there is inculpable ignorance or invincible ignorance. Much teaching in seminaries and catechetical courses have distorted Church teaching on this point.
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The three kinds of ignorance are concomitant, consequent, and antecedent. My comments are in blue.

If ignorance causes involuntariness, it is in so far as it deprives one of knowledge, which is anecessary condition of voluntariness, as was declared above (Article 1). But it is not every ignorance that deprives one of this knowledge. Accordingly, we must take note that ignorance has a threefold relationship to the act of the will: in one way, "concomitantly"; in another, "consequently"; in a third way, "antecedently." "Concomitantly," when there is ignorance of what is done; but, so that even if it were known, it would be done. For then, ignorance does not induce one to wish this to be done, but it just happens that a thing is at the same time done, and not known: thus in the example given (Objection 3) a man did indeed wish to kill his foe, but killed him in ignorance, thinking to kill a stag. And ignorance of this kind, as the Philosopher states (Ethic. iii, 1), does not cause involuntariness, since it is not the cause of anything that is repugnant to the will: but it causes"non-voluntariness," since that which is unknown cannot be actually willed. 

The key to understanding this is the relationship between the will and the intellect (I do not like the word "mind" as it has been so misued in pyschology). Concomitant ignorance does not cause something, but is in the realm of the unknown consequence. But, if the end was known, one would still act.

Ignorance is "consequent" to the act of the will, in so far as ignorance itself is voluntary: and this happens in two ways, in accordance with the two aforesaid modes of voluntary (3). First, because the act of the will is brought to bear on the ignorance: as when a man wishes not to know, that he may have an excuse for sin, or that he may not be withheld from sin; according to Job 21:14: "We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways." And this is called "affected ignorance." 

Many people think that affected ignorance is invincible ignorance. But, when one freely does not pursue knowledge because one wants to continue in sin, this is not invincible but caused ignorance. This intellectual attitude may be seen in St. Augustine's famous phrase, "...da mihi castitatem et continentam, sed noli modo", "Lord give me chastity and continence, but not yet." He was not yet willling repentance and holiness.

Secondly,ignorance is said to be voluntary, when it regards that which one can and ought to know: for in this sense "not to act" and "not to will" are said to be voluntary, as stated above (Article 3). And ignorance of this kind happens, either when one does not actually consider what one can and ought to consider; this is called "ignorance of evil choice," and arises from some passion or habit: or when one does not take the trouble to acquire the knowledge which one ought to have; in which sense, ignorance of the general principles of law, which one to know, is voluntary, as being due to negligence. Accordingly, if in either of these ways, ignorance is voluntary, it cannot cause involuntariness simply. 

The first point here is that one must learn and, also, pay attention to natural law, which is denied today. Passions and habits are our faults. We fall into these through repeated sin. Ignorance of this type is voluntary and causes voluntary actions. So many people excuse others by saying, "They are deceived." No, these who live in sin have chosen deception. This type of ignorance is consequent ignorance.

Nevertheless it causes involuntariness in a certain respect, inasmuch as it precedes the movement of the will towards the act, which movement would not be, if there were knowledge. Ignorance is "antecedent" to the act of the will, when it is not voluntary, and yet is the cause of man's willing what he would not will otherwise. Thus a man may be ignorant of some circumstance of his act, which he was not bound to know, the result being that he does that which he would not do, if he knew of that circumstance; for instance, a man, after taking proper precaution, may not know that someone is coming along the road, so that he shoots an arrow and slays a passer-by. 

Now remember the previous posts this week on the movement of the will towards action and the movement of the intellect which informs the will.  Antecedent ignorance is that which involves a person acting in such a way as not to know the consequences, spiritual or physical, of his action. 

One may question, as I do, whether there are people who really live in antecedent ignorance in 2015. Natural law is in the souls of all men, because they are human. No one is exempt from natural law. The Ten Commandments are based on natural law.

Such ignorance causes involuntariness simply.

Those who chose not to reflect either on natural law, ignoring the instincts which make us human, and those who refuse to study, or be obedient, as responsible for their actions. Most problems with ignorance are owing to sin. To keep stating people are deceived is to forget the fact that these people allowed satan to deceive they by choosing sin over and over, thus destroying knowledge of the good and discernment. Those living in mortal sin are in darkness by choice.

From this may be gathered the solution of the objections. For the first objection deals with ignorance of what a man is bound to know. The second, with ignorance of choice, which is voluntary to a certain extent, as stated above. The third, with that ignorance which is concomitant with the act of the will.

Recall what I wrote days ago in this series, that the intellect moves the will. A person is responsible for those choices, even though this person has habitually turned against grace and knowledge, and has followed his passions.

Readers might want to review these older posts.

More Reposts on Free Will, Virtues, Rectitude of the Will

12 Sep 2014

3) Self-discipline. After concentration will come perseverance . ... And I add; virtues of perseverance, honesty, diligence, temperance, justice, prudence, obedience, purity, courage (bravery), self-control, rectitude, integrity, love.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Rectitude of the Will Two

22 Sep 2012

Perfect Rectitude of the Will from the Master, St. Thomas Aquinas. If God allows me to do so, I just want to study St. Thomas for the rest of my life. There is so much in his work to ponder.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Rectitude of the Will in Thomas Aquinas-One

22 Sep 2012

Rectitude of the Will in Thomas Aquinas-One. Posted by Supertradmum. The entire reason why we are here is to come to know, love and serve God in this world and to praise Him in the next. That is right out of my childhood ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: More on Natural Law

12 Sep 2014

That some people cannot see goodness is others may be because they have been subjected to so much evil that they no longer believe in rectitude of the will. One of the greatest heresies is the denial of free will. Another ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

To be continued...

I had to correct a priest who said Reiki was OK...

The Laity...coming into it's own.

The Meaning of A Fast Lent

The word Lent is actually from the root word meaning longer days, as in those days past the Spring Equinox. The root may be lencten---long or longer day(s).

Lent seems long to some people who are not use to fasting or abstinence. Lent may seem long this year as it came so early, when winter lasted long into February and March with a vengeance.

Lent goes slowly for some, but for me, this has been a "fast Lent". In fact, I want it to go on longer. Because I am far away from a church, I did not get to Ash Wednesday or any Stations of the Cross. I cannot get to daily Mass and there is no adoration for miles. I cannot afford taxis, and buses do not run at night in this area, or on Sunday, and are irregular during the week.

My Lented penance has been the absence of Christ in the Eucharist, a fast imposed on me.

I feel that I have not practiced Lent long enough, that there is so much more purgation and suffering to endure and I desire to do this. Joy comes in suffering. This is the big change. Like the souls in purgatory, I want to suffer. I desire the purgation. I want to suffer for those certain people for whom I pray. Suffering is efficacious. I think I know how the souls in purgatory feel when they have had a glimpse of God in the particular judgment, but are not yet ready for heaven. They must feel torn between the loss of the Beauty of God, and the absolute need for suffering.

Dante has souls in purgatory leaping back into the fire with joy to continue their purgation. This is where I am-leaping back into the suffering with joy and pain side-by-side.

Easter is coming too fast. Perhaps, because I am older, and things appear to go more quickly to the old rather than to the young, Lent has been too short.


This Lent, I have come into a great peace and acceptance of suffering with the newish knowledge that God's plans are so much bigger and more mysterious than one can ever imagine.

The falling away of a lifetime of some oppressions and the awareness of a grand scheme in life, which is just revealing itself, has been part of this Lent. So many people have come into my life asking me for spiritual direction, I have accepted this new role, which started in Malta.

Remember my posts on "God makes new doughnuts every day"? Well, my Lent has seen the making of dozens of new doughnuts. 

But, like someone facing the day of death, I want more time of purgation. Easter is only two weeks away, too soon is the time for rejoicing coming upon me. I want the struggle to continue until the goal is met. I am still in the race and that goal is so far away, that like a person in a marathon, I have to keep on running without the ribbon in sight.

Some people feel that time slows down almost to a stopping point in great suffering. For example, when one is in the hospital with a serious illness or operation, time becomes strangely inverted as schedules are lost, as night and day become confused, as the calendar seems set aside.

Physical and mental suffering mess up one's awareness of time. I remember the happy days of being pregnant with STS. I was the envy of friends, as I never had any morning or evening sickness and felt better preggers than I did most of my life. And the time went so fast, getting ready, making a nursery, until the last few days, which seemed to drag on, as I waited for Baby.

Those last three days seemed like an eternity. Time slowed to a painful hour-by-hour waiting.

I am hoping that the last two weeks of Lent will "slow down", with the days becoming longer, I hope my awareness of God becomes more enlightened.

I am not ready for the great celebration of the Resurrection.

This has been a fast Lent.

Series on Divine Knowledge

...will resume tomorrow.  I have been involved in several things across many states and I need a break today. After midnight GMT I shall have posts back on the blog.

God has just answered a little prayer I said as I wanted some statues, ( I have none), to grace the empty house where I am still in residence. A reader just told me she was going to get rid of some statues as she is downsizing, and will give them to me, somehow. I am thrilled.

When I get these, I shall try and get photos of them to put on the blog.

Today's Gospel

The Scripture today does not merely focus our attention on to Good Friday, but to the Second Coming of Christ.

Christ is telling us that His hour of glory is coming, which is the winning of salvation for mankind through the Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

But, the prophecy which Christ is giving about His death also points to the final glorification of His coming at the end of the world.  Christ's Second Coming will be the great moment of His glorification, as the entire world, all the living and the dead will look on Him whose hands, feet, and side hold the wounds of His victory.

This final glorification encompasses the entire Gospel message. All will be judged by this Gospel.

The judgment which happens on Calvary will be finalized on that Last Day.

Through suffering, Christ earns His Kingdom, as God the Father willed.

Christ is the grain and we are the harvest. Do not waste His suffering in your life.

John 12:20-33 Douay-Rheims 

20 Now there were certain Gentiles among them, who came up to adore on the festival day.

21 These therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying: Sir, we would see Jesus.

22 Philip cometh, and telleth Andrew. Again Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23 But Jesus answered them, saying: The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

24 Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die,

25 Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal.

26 If any man minister to me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour.

27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. A voice therefore came from heaven: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

29 The multitude therefore that stood and heard, said that it thundered. Others said: An angel spoke to him.

30 Jesus answered, and said: This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

31 Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.

33 (Now this he said, signifying what death he should die.)

The Mirror of Suffering

The spiritual warfare is racheting up and those who refuse to see that is happening in the Church will not have the weapons with which to fight satan.

It is he who is behind this hatred of the Truth, the Church, Tradition and Revelation.

He is the great blasphemer. He is the great deceiver.

How we withstand the onslaught of evil is the same way soldiers prepare for battle. Discipline and self-knowledge.

In today's psalm, we read this, a plea for purity of heart, steadfastness, which is courage, and the presence of God in our lives.

Read my perfection series, please. Read about purgation and reparation.

Last week, a friend of mine said she was afraid that many, many people will go to hell.

We have to face this fact and pray for those we love and even our enemies to repent.

Even those in the Church are in danger of apostasy.

Mirrors are being held up to us in these times so that we can see ourselves are we really are.

Mirrors in literature symbolize self-knowledge from reflection or deceit, depending on the usage. There is the famous mirror in Snow White, and in Shakespeare's Richard II, which I saw on stage years ago with Jeremy Irons playing the lead, there is reference to a mirror when Richard is no longer king. He has to adjust his view of himself.

Mirrors are in The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of the most frightening of tales, and in Through the Looking Glass,

God is allowing tribulation so that we have to look into the mirror of suffering and see who we really are.

There is a scene in the now old movie of Pride and Prejudice which haunts me, as it is an analogy to our lives of faith.

Elizabeth Bennet has just finished hearing Darcy's proposal and she is staring in the mirror for what seems hours. She is so absorbed in her thoughts, she does not notice Darcy coming in with the letter.

When she reads it, she begins to have to face the reality of her own prejudice, her own pride.

She has to face this new knowledge of herself and her previous uncritical view of her family.

She comes into truth, and when she does that, she is finally open to love. Truth first, then humility, then love....Jane Austen understood this in human relationships, and we have to understand this in our relationship with God.

This is an analogy for us as well. When we face the truth of ourselves, we are finally open to God's love for us.

God sometimes opens up our small worlds, just as Darcy came from a large, bigger world than Longbourn, a small world which Elizabeth has to leave in order to find herself, just as we must leave our petty kingdoms in order to find God and real love.

Now is the time for reflection and the choice to appropriate our adult faith. Now.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

  put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

  nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

New Bishop of Arundel and Brighton

Bishop Richard Moth, Bishop of the Forces, has been bishop for about five and a half years over the armed forces.

Pray for him. He will be installed in late May.

Hatred of the Truth

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3002530/Another-blow-Christianity-civilisation-ISIS-destroy-4th-Century-Mar-Benham-monastery-Iraq.html

Some Muslim scholars claims that the Jews and Catholics took ideas from the Koran in order to write the Talmud and the Bible. Of course, we know this is bogus history. But, in order to prove this point, ancient Catholic sites are being systematically destroyed to remove evidence of the true history, that Mohammed got his ideas from himself, the Talmud and the Bible.

If one destroys physical evidence of truth, it is much harder to convert people to Catholicism, and much easier to convert people to Islam.

Simple. Blow up the monasteries. Destroy Jewish and Christian sites that defy revisionist history.

Today's Gospel

Today's Gospel deals with the authority of Christ.  A few bullet points.

• Christ came on the scene from the outside of the establishment. This irritated those in the Sanhedrin as they had no power over Him.
• All Jewish men knew their Scripture, and could point to Galilee as not the home of the Messiah. But, did anyone bother to ask Christ were He had been born?
• Christ did not have the "credentials" to teach and preach. Neither did John the Baptist, but because they taught with authority, those who heard them were moved.
• Envy and the fear of the loss of power caused those in the Sanhedrin to be afraid of Christ. And, as He was speaking the Truth and they had compromised the spirit of the Law and the Prophets, these men were on the defensive
• Does this not remind us of so many chancery offices, and ministries in the Church which demand certifications for people to work who may have gifts from God without such certs?
• Authority comes from God first, men second. 
• Nicodemus tried, as one of two who were trying to support Christ, to stem this tide of bigotry Of course, because of God's plan for salvation, Nicodemus failed. The harden wills of the Sanhedrin turned against their own God.

John 7:40-52Douay-Rheims 

40 Of that multitude therefore, when they had heard these words of his, some said: This is the prophet indeed.

41 Others said: This is the Christ. But some said: Doth the Christ come out of Galilee?

42 Doth not the scripture say: That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem the town where David was?

43 So there arose a dissension among the people because of him.

44 And some of them would have apprehended him: but no man laid hands on him.

45 The ministers therefore came to the chief priests and the Pharisees. And they said to them: Why have you not brought him?

46 The ministers answered: Never did man speak like this man.

47 The Pharisees therefore answered them: Are you also seduced?

48 Hath any one of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?

49 But this multitude, that knoweth not the law, are accursed.

50 Nicodemus said to them, (he that came to him by night, who was one of them:)

51 Doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him, and know what he doth?

52 They answered, and said to him: Art thou also a Galilean? Search the scriptures, and see, that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not

Detachment Again

A long time ago, I wrote in the perfection series about detachment.

When one truly becomes detached from one's own desires and no longer prefers something to something else, one can finally hear God.

People ask me, "How can I hear God."  I answer, "Become totally detached from everything."

In fact, imperfect love can be a distraction and is a sign of the lack of detachment. One can only truly love a person when one loves that person for the sake of Christ. One has to become detached from affections. One reason why so many marriages fail is the lack of detachment which allows one to love the other in the marriage freely.

This scares people, as they think that detachment means unlove. On the contrary, one is capable of real love, sacrificial love once one is detached. One loves more like God loves.

Too often, people cannot discern, (see my series on discerment), because they are too attached to people, things, places.

How can one know God's Will if one cannot determine what is from God and what is from the flesh, the world, or the devil? One learns how to determine God's working in one's life through detachment.

I write this for four men who are friends of mine and who are struggling with detachment. Not all of them read this blog, but I pray for them and ask that you do as well. They do not mind me referring to them in a general way, as it will help other men discern reality in their lives. These men are called to move on in their faith in a huge and demanding way. Without detachment, they cannot go on to the next stage of holiness to which God is calling them.

The same is true for each one of us. Without detachment even from our own desires, one cannot see what it is that God desires for our lives.

We must be detached so that we can hear God speaking to us in the quiet of prayer, and in the daily movements of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Hints from the Jesuits

http://vocations.jesuits.org/life/Spirituality

Look at the last video on this page. The explanation of the examen is superb.

Something we can all do.

In case you missed this on Monday

http://jesuits.org/news-detail?tn=news-20150313014126

An Aside in The Middle of A Series

The walk through Fides et Ratio is half-way accomplished. Caritas in Veritate comes next.

In the days gone by, encyclicals were read from the pulpit. With the coming of the printing press, encyclicals were made into pamphlets or little booklets and sold. This continued down to the present day, with one exception.

Many of the older encyclicals are out-of-print. I remember phoning a famous religious Catholic publishing house years ago for a copy of a 19th century encyclical and was told the house would no longer be printing that one, or any before the mid-20th century.

I was shocked, to be honest, that the one publishing company which had kept so many encyclicals in print was no longer committed to doing so.

Now, one has to look carefully for some encyclicals, all of which are infallible, of course, and not all of them are easily found online.

But here is a link to this excellent site, which I have used for this blog in the past.

http://www.papalencyclicals.net/

If you are a homeschooling mom or dad, this site would be an important part of your curriculum sourcing. Other papal and Vatican documents may be found here as well.

The other great source on this superb site is the list of councils and the canons of these councils.

If there are any infallible or interesting teachings you want to know, please go to this site.

Church Councils

1. The First General Council of Nicaea, 325

2. The First General Council of Constantinople, 381

3. The General Council of Ephesus, 431

4. The General Council of Chalcedon, 451

5. The Second General Council of Constantinople, 553

6. The Third General Council of Constantinople, 680-681

7. The Second General Council of Nicaea, 787

8. The Fourth General Council of Constantinople, 869-70

9. The First General Council of the Lateran, 1123

10. The Second General Council of the Lateran, 1139

11. The Third General Council of the Lateran, 1179

12. The Fourth General Council of the Lateran, 1215

13. The First General Council of Lyons, 1245

14. The Second General Council of Lyons, 1274

15. The General Council of Vienne, 1311-12

16. The General Council of Constance, 1414-18

17. The General Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence, 1431-45

18. The Fifth General Council of the Lateran, 1512-17

19. The General Council of Trent, 1545-63

20. The First General Council of the Vatican, 1869-70

21.Vatican II - 1962-1965

Knowledge of Divine Things Nineteen Fides et Ratio Eleven

The Church, like a good mother, has watched over the forms of philosophy, especially in this modern era of mega-confusion. St. John Paul II points out that at the First Vatican Council, the relationship between reason and faith was stated clearly in the Catholic context.

It is not only in recent times that the Magisterium of the Church has intervened to make its mind known with regard to particular philosophical teachings. It is enough to recall, by way of example, the pronouncements made through the centuries concerning theories which argued in favour of the pre-existence of the soul,⁵⁶ or concerning the different forms of idolatry and esoteric superstition found in astrological speculations,⁵⁷ without forgetting the more systematic pronouncements against certain claims of Latin Averroism which were incompatible with the Christian faith.⁵⁸

If the Magisterium has spoken out more frequently since the middle of the last century, it is because in that period not a few Catholics felt it their duty to counter various streams of modern thought with a philosophy of their own. At this point, the Magisterium of the Church was obliged to be vigilant lest these philosophies developed in ways which were themselves erroneous and negative. The censures were delivered even-handedly: on the one hand,fideism ⁵⁹ and radical traditionalism,⁶⁰ for their distrust of reason's natural capacities, and, on the other, rationalism ⁶¹ and ontologism ⁶² because they attributed to natural reason a knowledge which only the light of faith could confer. The positive elements of this debate were assembled in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Filius, in which for the first time an Ecumenical Council—in this case, the First Vatican Council—pronounced solemnly on the relationship between reason and faith. The teaching contained in this document strongly and positively marked the philosophical research of many believers and remains today a standard reference-point for correct and coherent Christian thinking in this regard.

To stray from Rome into pseudo-philosophies not based on Revelation or Tradition is to invite confusion. We see this in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the long list of "isms". And, yet, as adult Catholics, we need to learn how to argue these "isms" by recognizing why they include fallacious thinking.

All "isms" which seem so popular are based on either a faulty view of who man is or what the goal of man is. Materialism, for example, denies the spiritual life entirely, emphasizing that the here and now is all there is-only the material is real, not the spiritual, which simply does not exist for the materialists.

Remember that encyclicals are written for the entire Church, not just clerics. The popes speak to us in all of these words. St. John Paul II notes the progress of the First and Second Vatican Councils in dealing with questions of philosophy, with the happy resurgence of Thomism and Scholasticism form the pre-Thomist, Anselm, called the Father of Scholasticism.

...Pope Leo XIII with his Encyclical Letter Æterni Patris took a step of historic importance for the life of the Church, since it remains to this day the one papal document of such authority devoted entirely to philosophy. The great Pope revisited and developed the First Vatican Council's teaching on the relationship between faith and reason, showing how philosophical thinking contributes in fundamental ways to faith and theological learning.⁷⁸More than a century later, many of the insights of his Encyclical Letter have lost none of their interest from either a practical or pedagogical point of view—most particularly, his insistence upon the incomparable value of the philosophy of Saint Thomas. A renewed insistence upon the thought of the Angelic Doctor seemed to Pope Leo XIII the best way to recover the practice of a philosophy consonant with the demands of faith. “Just when Saint Thomas distinguishes perfectly between faith and reason”, the Pope writes, “he unites them in bonds of mutual friendship, conceding to each its specific rights and to each its specific dignity”.⁷⁹
58. The positive results of the papal summons are well known. Studies of the thought of Saint Thomas and other Scholastic writers received new impetus. Historical studies flourished, resulting in a rediscovery of the riches of Medieval thought, which until then had been largely unknown; and there emerged new Thomistic schools. With the use of historical method, knowledge of the works of Saint Thomas increased greatly, and many scholars had courage enough to introduce the Thomistic tradition into the philosophical and theological discussions of the day. The most influential Catholic theologians of the present century, to whose thinking and research the Second Vatican Council was much indebted, were products of this revival of Thomistic philosophy. Throughout the twentieth century, the Church has been served by a powerful array of thinkers formed in the school of the Angelic Doctor.

We know that St. John Paul II had a soft spot in his heart for phenomenology, but he uses Thomas actually more, even in this encyclical. The point is that the tradition of reason and faith moving together into the 21st century is a good sign of life in the Church. 

But, what happened, one might ask, between this encyclical written in 1998, and so full of optimism, and 2015? The saint encouraged philosophy in the seminaries, but I know of one seminary in which th studies of Aquinas are an option, not a requirement. 

59. Yet the Thomistic and neo-Thomistic revival was not the only sign of a resurgence of philosophical thought in culture of Christian inspiration. Earlier still, and parallel to Pope Leo's call, there had emerged a number of Catholic philosophers who, adopting more recent currents of thought and according to a specific method, produced philosophical works of great influence and lasting value. Some devised syntheses so remarkable that they stood comparison with the great systems of idealism. Others established the epistemological foundations for a new consideration of faith in the light of a renewed understanding of moral consciousness; others again produced a philosophy which, starting with an analysis of immanence, opened the way to the transcendent; and there were finally those who sought to combine the demands of faith with the perspective of phenomenological method. From different quarters, then, modes of philosophical speculation have continued to emerge and have sought to keep alive the great tradition of Christian thought which unites faith and reason.


...This idea of philosophy as an important basis for theological studies is not a new one in the Church-merely forgotten. I am happy to see that John Paul II mentions Suarez, who I like very much.  Sadly, real thinkers are still not being formed in the seminaries, and the previous lack of such a discipline was obvious last October on the synod floor.

I wish to repeat clearly that the study of philosophy is fundamental and indispensable to the structure of theological studies and to the formation of candidates for the priesthood. It is not by chance that the curriculum of theological studies is preceded by a time of special study of philosophy. This decision, confirmed by the Fifth Lateran Council,⁸⁷ is rooted in the experience which matured through the Middle Ages, when the importance of a constructive harmony of philosophical and theological learning emerged. This ordering of studies influenced, promoted and enabled much of the development of modern philosophy, albeit indirectly. One telling example of this is the influence of the Disputationes Metaphysicae of Francisco Suárez, which found its way even into the Lutheran universities of Germany. Conversely, the dismantling of this arrangement has created serious gaps in both priestly formation and theological research. Consider, for instance, the disregard of modern thought and culture which has led either to a refusal of any kind of dialogue or to an indiscriminate acceptance of any kind of philosophy.

I trust most sincerely that these difficulties will be overcome by an intelligent philosophical and theological formation, which must never be lacking in the Church.

I suggest praying to this saint for the synod.

to be continued...