I am walking and resting. And, praying for those with back pain. And, thinking of Jesus on the way to Calvary.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Good suggestions needed for sciatica
Not involving doctors.............have had this for a week and not getting better.
I am walking and resting. And, praying for those with back pain. And, thinking of Jesus on the way to Calvary.
I am walking and resting. And, praying for those with back pain. And, thinking of Jesus on the way to Calvary.
One of my favourite psalms from Lauds today
St. David understanding the road to perfection.................
| Psalm 83 (84) Longing for the Lord's temple |
|---|
They are happy who dwell in your house, Lord.
How delightful is your dwelling-place, Lord of hosts!
My soul is weak with longing for the courts of your palace.
My heart and my body rejoice in the living God.
Even the sparrow finds itself a home,
the swallow a nest to raise her young –
in your altars, O Lord,
Lord of strength, my king and my God.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house:
they will praise you for ever.
Blessed the man whose help comes from you,
who has set his heart on climbing to you.
They pass through the valley of thirst
and make a spring there:
the morning rain will cover it with blessings.
They will go from strength to strength:
they will see the God of gods, in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, listen to my prayer;
hear me, O God of Jacob.
Take notice of us, God our protector,
and look on the face of your anointed one.
One day in the courts of my God
is worth more than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be at the doorstep of the house of my God
than live in the dwellings of sinners.
For the Lord my God is my sun and my shield.
The Lord gives grace and glory.
He will not deny his good things
to those who walk in purity.
Blessed is he who trusts in you,
O Lord of hosts.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
They are happy who dwell in your house, Lord.
Blessed be the Lord! For love of him, Thomas studied, kept watch, and laboured.
Lord, our God, since it was by your gift that Saint Thomas became so great a saint and theologian,
give us grace to understand his teaching and follow his way of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Part Four, the stuff of martyrs and G-L
At this stage, many people fall away and I believe this is the place where heretics are born.
Heretics have much knowledge and experience of the spiritual life, but fail at the waiting stage for many reasons.
Here are some reasons people abandon this place of grace:
Pride: thinking one has "arrived".
Impatience: not willing to suffer
Discouragement: not understanding the process
Interference: trying or striving too hard to accomplish what only the Holy Spirit can do
Falling out of orthodoxy: a huge problem in today's world
The virtues at this stage must include simplicity of life and obedience to grace..............
Here is Garrigou-Lagrange at this point:
....natural activity exercising itself counter to the gifts of the Holy Ghost, through self-seeking opposes an obstacle to their most delicate inspirations. In prayer, we should not seek to feel the gift of God, but should receive it with docility and disinterestedness in the obscurity of faith. Spiritual joy will be added later on to the act of contemplation and love of God; but it is not joy that should be sought, it is God Himself, who is greatly superior to His gifts.
If the soul that has reached this period of transition is faithful to what has been said, then will be realized what St. John of the Cross affirms: "By not hindering the operation of infused contemplation, to which God is now admitting it, the soul is refreshed in peaceful abundance, and set on fire with the spirit of love, which this contemplation, dim and secret, induces and establishes within it." (6)
As the mystical doctor says: "The soul should content itself simply with directing its attention lovingly and calmly toward God," with the general knowledge of His infinite goodness, as when after months of absence, a loving son again meets his good mother who has been expecting him. He does not analyze his sentiments and his mother's as a psychologist would; he is content with an affectionate, tranquil, and profound gaze which in its simplicity is far more penetrating than all psychological analyses...
A good priest said to me--keep your eyes on Christ and not yourself or others. Keep focussed on Christ.
Part Three G-L and the stuff of martyrs.
One can see the movement towards the acceptance of extreme suffering in this passage. All the graces of Confirmation are stirred up at this point and the virtues come to the forefront of one's existence. I have highlighted parts. All this is grace, but we must desire this and be open to it.
Remember that the Perfect Christ allowed Himself to suffer, so we have an example...
THE CAUSE OF THIS STATE
The theological explanation of this state is to be found in four causes. We already know its formal and material causes from the fact that St. John of the Cross tells us that it is a passive purification of the sensibility. Several authors insist on its final cause or end, which is easily discovered, and do not give sufficient attention to its efficient cause.
The passage just quoted from St. John of the Cross indicates the efficient cause. It is, in fact, a special and purifying action of God, from which comes, says the saint, a beginning of infused contemplation. In this contemplation we have the explanation of the keen desire for God experienced by the soul, since man ardently desires only that of which he experimentally knows the charm. This keen desire for God and for perfection is itself the explanation of the fear of falling back (filial fear). Finally, sensible aridity is explained by the fact that the special grace then given is purely spiritual and not sensible; it is a higher form of life. St. John's text explains this state rationally.
On penetrating more deeply into the theological explanation of this state, we observe that in it there is a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, whose influence then becomes more manifest. Theology teaches that every just soul possesses the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, which enable it to receive His inspirations with docility and promptness.(16) Here, therefore, the influence of the gifts is quite manifest, especially those gifts of knowledge, filial fear, and fortitude.
The gift of knowledge, in fact, explains the first sign pointed out by St. John of the Cross: "No comfort in the things of God and none also in created things." The gift of knowledge, according to St. Augustine (17) and St. Thomas,(18) makes us know experimentally the emptiness of created things, all that is defectible and deficient in them and in ourselves. Knowledge indeed differs from wisdom inasmuch as it knows things not by their supreme cause, but by their proximate, defectible, and deficient cause. For this reason, according to St. Augustine, the gift of knowledge corresponds to the beatitude of tears. The tears of contrition come actually from the knowledge of the gravity of sin and the nothingness of creatures. The gift of knowledge reminds us of what Ecclesiastes says: "Vanity of vanities, . . . and all things are vanity," except to love God and to serve Him.(19) This thought is repeatedly expressed in The Imitation (20) and in the works of great mystics like Ruysbroeck. (21) Before St. John of the Cross, Ruysbroeck pointed out the relations of the gift of knowledge to the passive purification of the senses, in which the soul knows by experience the emptiness of created things and is led thereby to a keen desire for God.(22)
In the passive purification of the senses which we are speaking of, there is also a manifest influence of the gifts of fear and fortitude, as the second sign given by St. John of the Cross indicates: "The true purgative aridity is accompanied in general by a painful anxiety because the soul thinks that it is not serving God. . . . For when mere bodily indisposition is the cause, all that it does is to produce disgust and the ruin of bodily health, without the desire of serving God which belongs to the purgative aridity. In this aridity, though the sensual part of man is greatly depressed, weak and sluggish in good works, by reason of the little satisfaction they furnish, the spirit is, nevertheless, ready and strong." (23)
The second sign manifests, therefore, an effect of the gift of fear, of filial fear, not the fear of punishment but that of sin. Filial fear evidently grows with the progress of charity, whereas servile fear, or that of punishment, diminishes.(24) By the special inspiration of this gift the soul resists the strong temptations against chastity and patience which often accompany the passive purification of the senses. The Christian, who then experiences his indigence, repeats the words of the Psalmist: "Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear: for I am afraid of Thy judgments." (25) According to St. Augustine, the gift of fear corresponds to the beatitude of the poor,(26) of those who do not pose as masters, but who begin to love seriously the humility of the hidden life that they may become more like our Lord. In this poverty they find true riches: "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
In the keen desire to serve God which St. John of the Cross speaks of here, a desire that subsists in spite of aridity, temptations, difficulties, there is, at the same time, a manifest effect of the gift of fortitude, corresponding to the fourth beatitude: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill." (27) The ardent desire to serve God at no matter what cost is truly this hunger, which the Lord arouses in us. He gives rise to it and He satisfies it; as was said to Daniel: "I am come to show it to thee, because thou art a man of desires." (28) The gift of fortitude comes here, in the midst of difficulties and contradictions, to the assistance of the virtues of patience and longanimity; without it spiritual enthusiasm would die away like sensible enthusiasm. This is the time when man must give heed to what The Imitation says about the holy way of the cross: "Follow Jesus, and thou shalt go into life everlasting. He is gone before thee, carrying His cross. . . . If thou carry the cross willingly, it will carry thee and bring thee to thy desired end. . . . And sometimes he gaineth such strength through affection to tribulation and adversity, by his love of conformity to the cross of Christ, as not to be willing to be without suffering and affliction. . . . This is not man's power but the grace of Christ, which doth and can effect such great things in frail flesh, and that what it naturally abhors and flies, even this, through fervor of spirit, it now embraces and loves [i.e., to bear the cross]." (29)
Finally, the third sign which St. John of the Cross speaks of, "the growing difficulty in meditating discursively," shows the influence of the gift of understanding, the source of initial infused contemplation, above reasoning.(30) In the same chapter of The Dark Night,(31) the saint speaks in exact terms of this "beginning of obscure and arid contemplation" by which God nourishes the soul while purifying it and giving it strength to go beyond the figures, to penetrate the meaning of the formulas of faith that it may reach the superior simplicity which characterizes contemplation.(32)
St. Thomas also speaks clearly on this subject: "The other cleanness of heart is a kind of complement to the sight of God; such is the cleanness of the mind that is purged of phantasms and errors, so as to receive the truths which are proposed to it about God, no longer by way of corporeal phantasms, nor infected with heretical misrepresentations; and this cleanness is the result of the gift of understanding." (33) Thereby this gift preserves us from possible deviations and makes us go beyond the letter of the Gospel to attain its spirit; it begins to make us penetrate, beyond the formulas of faith, the depths of the mysteries that they express. The formula is no longer a term but a point of departure. This purifying influence of the gift of understanding will be exercised especially in the passive purification of the spirit, but even at this stage it is manifest. Under the special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the soul now makes an act of penetrating faith, which is called an infused act, for it cannot be produced without this special inspiration.(34)
The stuff of martyrs and Garrigou-Lagrange, part two
One of these many reasons was that I am convinced we shall not always have the sacraments.
We shall not always have priests.
Therefore, we must pray and beg God to lead us to the place wherein we shall keep, defend and persevere in the Faith.
This way of perfection is the only way.
Now, if you cooperate with grace and do not fight God by fighting suffering and His Will, this stage will go quickly. Otherwise, one can be years and years in this stage, until God is finished melding the soul.
Here is one description and then I want to move on.............I want to highlight what happens next, as many of you are familiar with the dark night of the senses.
We cannot skip any of this..............................
HOW THE PASSIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES IS
PRODUCED
PRODUCED
This state is manifested by three signs which St. John of the
Cross describes as follows:
Cross describes as follows:
The first is this: when we find no comfort in the things of God, and none also in created things. For when God brings the soul into the dark night in order to wean it from sweetness and to purge the desire of sense, He does not allow it to find sweetness or comfort anywhere. It is then probable, in such a case, that this dryness is not the result of sins or of imperfections recently committed; for if it were, we should feel some inclination or desire for other things than those of God. . . . But still, inasmuch as this absence of pleasure in the things of heaven and of earth may proceed from bodily indisposition or a melancholy temperament, which frequently causes dissatisfaction with all things, the second test and condition become necessary.
The second test and condition of this purgation are that the memory dwells ordinarily upon God with a painful anxiety and carefulness, the soul thinks it is not serving God, but going backwards, because it is no longer conscious of any sweetness in the things of God. . . . The true purgative aridity is accompanied in general by a painful anxiety, because the soul thinks that it is not serving God. Though this be occasionally increased by melancholy or other infirmity - so it sometimes happens yet it is not for that reason without its purgative effects on the desires, because the soul is deprived of all sweetness, and its sole anxieties are referred to God. For when mere bodily indisposition is the cause, all that it does is to produce disgust and the ruin of bodily health, without the desire of serving God which belongs to the purgative aridity. In this aridity, though the sensual part of man be greatly depressed, weak and sluggish in good works, by reason of the little satisfaction they furnish, the spirit is, nevertheless, ready and strong.
The cause of this dryness is that God is transferring to the spirit the goods and energies of the senses, which, having no natural fitness for them, become dry, parched up, and empty; for the sensual nature of man is helpless in those things which belong to the spirit simply. Thus the spirit having been tasted, the flesh becomes weak and remiss; but the spirit, having received its proper nourishment, becomes strong, more vigilant and careful than before, lest there should be any negligence in serving God. At first it is not conscious of any spiritual sweetness and delight, but rather of aridities and distaste, because of the novelty of the change. The palate accustomed to sensible sweetness looks for it still. And the spiritual palate is not prepared and purified for so delicious a taste until it shall have been for some time disposed for it in this arid and dark night. . . .(12)
But when these aridities arise in the purgative way of the sensual appetite the spirit though at first without any sweetness, for the reasons I have given, is conscious of strength and energy to act because of the substantial nature of its interior food, which is the commencement of contemplation, dim and dry to the senses. This contemplation is in general secret, and unknown to him who is admitted into it, and with the aridity and emptiness which it produces in the senses, it makes the soul long for solitude and quiet, without the power of reflecting on anything distinctly, or even desiring to do so.
Now, if they who are in this state knew how to be quiet, . . . they would have, in this tranquillity, a most delicious sense of this interior food. This food is so delicate that, in general, it eludes our perceptions if we make any special effort to feel it; it is like the air which vanishes when we shut our hands to grasp it. For this is God's way of bringing the soul into this state; the road by which He leads it is so different from the first, that if it will do anything in its own strength, it will hinder rather than aid His work. Therefore, at this time, all that the soul can do of itself ends, as I have said, in disturbing the peace and the work of God in the spirit amid the dryness of sense.(13)
The third sign we have for ascertaining whether this dryness be the purgation of sense, is inability to meditate and make reflections, and to excite the imagination, as before, notwithstanding all the efforts we may make; for God begins now to communicate Himself, no longer through the channel of sense, as formerly, in consecutive reflections, by which we arranged and divided our knowledge, but in pure spirit, which admits not of successive reflections, and in the act of pure contemplation (to which the special inspiration of the Holy Ghost gives rise in us).(14)
In regard to this third sign, St. John of the Cross points out that this inability to meditate in a reasoned or discursive manner "does not arise out of any bodily ailment. When it arises from this, the indisposition, which is always changeable, having ceased, the powers of the soul recover their former energies and find their previous satisfactions at once. It is otherwise in the purgation of the appetite, for as soon as we enter upon this, the inability to make our meditations continually grows. It is true that this purgation at first is not continuous in some persons." (15)
Though this state is manifested by two negative characteristics (sensible aridity and great difficulty in meditating according to a reasoned manner), evidently the most important element in it is the positive side, that is, initial infused contemplation and the keen desire for God to which it gives rise in us. It must even be admitted that then sensible aridity and the difficulty in meditating come precisely from the fact that grace takes a new, purely spiritual form, superior to the senses and to the discourse of reason, which makes use of the imagination. Here the Lord seems to take from the soul, for He deprives it of sensible consolation, but in reality He bestows a precious gift, nascent contemplation and a love that is more spiritual, pure, and strong. Only, we must keep in mind the saying: "The roots of knowledge are bitter and the fruits sweet"; the same must be said in a higher order of the roots and fruits of contemplation.
The real key to getting through the suffering is perseverance in the Faith. There is no sensible consolation and if people keep insisting on these, they will never pass into the fullness of the Illuminative stage.
To be continued................
The Stuff of Martyrs and Garrigou-Lagrange Part One
I find it interesting that some young people accept that they will suffer, in some way, for their Catholic Faith in the future, and some do not.
Suffering is part of life and we either suffer because that is a direct consequence of our own sin, or the consequence of the sin of Adam (death, illness, clouding of the intellect, concupiscence and the weakening of the will), or we suffer because God has invited us to join Him in His Passion.
The latter is the road of the martyr. Christ invites a person to walk the way to Calvary with Him and face the horrible, degrading death He accepted for our sakes.
Some are called to do this. And, all Catholics are called to suffer with Christ once they have been purified of serious sin and are in the Illuminative State.
This purification is the last stage of such. Here is Garrigou-Lagrange on this point.
Interesting that we not only have to accept the Cross Christ gives us, but add mortifications we choose as well?
Georgetown professor----Are You Serious?
There are some scary people out there.....
From Georgetown law professor Louis Michael Seidman:http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2013/01/27/CBS-Runs-Segment-Calle-Lets-Give-Up-On-The-Constitution
I've got a simple idea: Let's give up on the Constitution. I know, it sounds radical, but it's really not. Constitutional disobedience is as American as apple pie. For example, most of our greatest Presidents -- Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and both Roosevelts -- had doubts about the Constitution, and many of them disobeyed it when it got in their way.
To be clear, I don't think we should give up on everything in the Constitution. The Constitution has many important and inspiring provisions, but we should obey these because they are important and inspiring, not because a bunch of people who are now long-dead favored them two centuries ago. Unfortunately, the Constitution also contains some provisions that are not so inspiring. For example, one allows a presidential candidate who is rejected by a majority of the American people to assume office. Suppose that Barack Obama really wasn't a natural-born citizen. So what? Constitutional obedience has a pernicious impact on our political culture. Take the recent debate about gun control. None of my friends can believe it, but I happen to be skeptical of most forms of gun control. I understand, though, that's not everyone's view, and I'm eager to talk with people who disagree.
But what happens when the issue gets Constitutional-ized? Then we turn the question over to lawyers, and lawyers do with it what lawyers do. So instead of talking about whether gun control makes sense in our country, we talk about what people thought of it two centuries ago. Worse yet, talking about gun control in terms of constitutional obligation needlessly raises the temperature of political discussion. Instead of a question on policy, about which reasonable people can disagree, it becomes a test of one's commitment to our foundational document and, so, to America itself.
This is our country. We live in it, and we have a right to the kind of country we want. We would not allow the French or the United Nations to rule us, and neither should we allow people who died over two centuries ago and knew nothing of our country as it exists today. If we are to take back our own country, we have to start making decisions for ourselves, and stop deferring to an ancient and outdated document.27 Jan 2013, 9:40 AM PDT
from a great blog-EF pastoremeritus and thanks for the heads up
http://efpastormeritus.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/full-text-of-message-of-his-holiness_27.html
Full text of Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for 47th World Communications Day 12 May 2013 - “Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelisation.”
As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in which people today communicate among themselves. I wish to consider the development of digital social networks which are helping to create a new “agora”, an open public square in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being.
These spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively promote the harmony of the human family. The exchange of information can become true communication, links ripen into friendships, and connections facilitate communion. If the networks are called to realize this great potential, the people involved in them must make an effort to be authentic since, in these spaces, it is not only ideas and information that are shared, but ultimately our very selves.
The development of social networks calls for commitment: people are engaged in building relationships and making friends, in looking for answers to their questions and being entertained, but also in finding intellectual stimulation and sharing knowledge and know-how. The networks are increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society, inasmuch as they bring people together on the basis of these fundamental needs. Social networks are thus nourished by aspirations rooted in the human heart.
The culture of social networks and the changes in the means and styles of communication pose demanding challenges to those who want to speak about truth and values. Often, as is also the case with other means of social communication, the significance and effectiveness of the various forms of expression appear to be determined more by their popularity than by their intrinsic importance and value. Popularity, for its part, is often linked to celebrity or to strategies of persuasion rather than to the logic of argumentation. At times the gentle voice of reason can be overwhelmed by the din of excessive information and it fails to attract attention which is given instead to those who express themselves in a more persuasive manner. The social media thus need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation; of people who strive to cultivate forms of discourse and expression which appeal to the noblest aspirations of those engaged in the communication process. Dialogue and debate can also flourish and grow when we converse with and take seriously people whose ideas are different from our own. “Given the reality of cultural diversity, people need not only to accept the existence of the culture of others, but also to aspire to be enriched by it and to offer to it whatever they possess that is good, true and beautiful” (Address at the Meeting with the World of Culture, Bélem, Lisbon, 12 May 2010).
The challenge facing social networks is how to be truly inclusive: thus they will benefit from the full participation of believers who desire to share the message of Jesus and the values of human dignity which his teaching promotes. Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is important. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there.
The ability to employ the new languages is required, not just to keep up with the times, but precisely in order to enable the infinite richness of the Gospel to find forms of expression capable of reaching the minds and hearts of all. In the digital environment the written word is often accompanied by images and sounds. Effective communication, as in the parables of Jesus, must involve the imagination and the affectivity of those we wish to invite to an encounter with the mystery of God’s love. Besides, we know that Christian tradition has always been rich in signs and symbols: I think for example of the Cross, icons, images of the Virgin Mary, Christmas cribs, stained-glass windows and pictures in our churches. A significant part of mankind’s artistic heritage has been created by artists and musicians who sought to express the truths of the faith.
In social networks, believers show their authenticity by sharing the profound source of their hope and joy: faith in the merciful and loving God revealed in Christ Jesus. This sharing consists not only in the explicit expression of their faith, but also in their witness, in the way in which they communicate “choices, preferences and judgements that are fully consistent with the Gospel, even when it is not spoken of specifically” (Message for the 2011 World Communications Day). A particularly significant way of offering such witness will be through a willingness to give oneself to others by patiently and respectfully engaging their questions and their doubts as they advance in their search for the truth and the meaning of human existence. The growing dialogue in social networks about faith and belief confirms the importance and relevance of religion in public debate and in the life of society.
For those who have accepted the gift of faith with an open heart, the most radical response to mankind’s questions about love, truth and the meaning of life – questions certainly not absent from social networks – are found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is natural for those who have faith to desire to share it, respectfully and tactfully, with those they meet in the digital forum. Ultimately, however, if our efforts to share the Gospel bring forth good fruit, it is always because of the power of the word of God itself to touch hearts, prior to any of our own efforts. Trust in the power of God’s work must always be greater than any confidence we place in human means. In the digital environment, too, where it is easy for heated and divisive voices to be raised and where sensationalism can at times prevail, we are called to attentive discernment. Let us recall in this regard that Elijah recognized the voice of God not in the great and strong wind, not in the earthquake or the fire, but in “a still, small voice” (1 Kg 19:11-12). We need to trust in the fact that the basic human desire to love and to be loved, and to find meaning and truth – a desire which God himself has placed in the heart of every man and woman – keeps our contemporaries ever open to what Blessed Cardinal Newman called the “kindly light” of faith.
Social networks, as well as being a means of evangelization, can also be a factor in human development. As an example, in some geographical and cultural contexts where Christians feel isolated, social networks can reinforce their sense of real unity with the worldwide community of believers. The networks facilitate the sharing of spiritual and liturgical resources, helping people to pray with a greater sense of closeness to those who share the same faith. An authentic and interactive engagement with the questions and the doubts of those who are distant from the faith should make us feel the need to nourish, by prayer and reflection, our faith in the presence of God as well as our practical charity: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1).
In the digital world there are social networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation and sharing the word of God. But these networks can also open the door to other dimensions of faith. Many people are actually discovering, precisely thanks to a contact initially made online, the importance of direct encounters, experiences of community and even pilgrimage, elements which are always important in the journey of faith. In our effort to make the Gospel present in the digital world, we can invite people to come together for prayer or liturgical celebrations in specific places such as churches and chapels. There should be no lack of coherence or unity in the expression of our faith and witness to the Gospel in whatever reality we are called to live, whether physical or digital. When we are present to others, in any way at all, we are called to make known the love of God to the furthest ends of the earth.
I pray that God’s Spirit will accompany you and enlighten you always, and I cordially impart my blessing to all of you, that you may be true heralds and witnesses of the Gospel. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).
From the Vatican, 24 January 2013, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.
Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Mass
I have a list of personal patrons and St. Thomas Aquinas is one of these. Today is his feast day.
Sadly, we have no Mass today for some good reasons, only a Communion service, which I shall skip, as it is in the evening, in the darkness and I have sciatica still.
Oh well. So, to celebrate without the Mass, here is a great idea from the greatest philosopher who ever lived and the most important one for the Catholic Church.
He states that the Eucharistic Sacrifice is so elevated that Christ Himself must offer this. Ergo, the priest is the alter Christus, the other Christ, offering the most sacred sacrifice. Here is Garrigou-Lagrange explaining Aquinas on the Mass. This section is truly sublime and most beautiful. From REALITY—A Synthesis Of Thomistic Thought, Chapter 40.
This sacrament is so elevated that it must be accomplished by Christ in person. [944] And again: In the prayers of the Mass the priest indeed speaks in the person of the Church, which is the Eucharistic unity; but in the sacramental consecration he speaks in the person of Christ, whom by the power of ordination he represents. [945] When he baptizes, he says "I baptize thee": when he absolves, he says "I absolve thee"; but when he consecrates, he says, not "I consecrate this bread," but, "This is My body." [946] And when he says "Hoc est corpus meum," he does not say these words as mere historical statement, but as efficient formula which produces what it signifies, transubstantiation, namely, and the Real Presence. But it is Christ Himself who, by the voice and ministry of the celebrant, performs this substantiating consecration, which is always valid, however personally unworthy the celebrant may be. [947].
Is it then sufficient to say [948] that Christ offers each Mass, not actually, but only virtually, by having instituted the sacrifice and commanded its renewal to the end of the world? This doctrine, from the Thomistic viewpoint, depreciates the role of Christ. Christ Himself it is who offers actually each Mass. Even if the priest, the instrumental minister, should be distracted and have at the moment only a virtual intention, Christ, the one high priest, the principal cause, wills actually, here and now, this transubstantiating consecration. And further, Christ's humanity, as conjoined to His divinity, is the physically instrumental cause of the twofold transubstantiation. [949].
It is in this sense that Thomists, together with the great majority of theologians, understand the following words of the Council of Trent: "In the two sacrifices there is one and the same victim, one and the same priest, who then on the cross offered Himself, and who now, by the instrumentality of His priests, offers Himself anew, the two sacrifices differing only in their mode." [950].
Substantially, then, the Sacrifice of the Mass does not differ from the sacrifice of the cross, since in each we have, not only the same victim, but also the same priest who does the actual offering, though the mode of the immolation differs, one being bloody and physical, the other non-bloody and sacramental. Hence Christ's act of offering the Mass, while it is neither dolorous nor meritorious (since He is no longer viator): is still an act of reparative adoration, of intercession, of thanksgiving, is still the ever-loving action of His heart, is still the soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass. This view stands out clearly in the saint's commentaries on St. Paul, [951] particularly in his insistence on Christ's ever-living intercession. Christ also now, in heaven, says Gonet, [952] prays in the true and proper sense (by intercession): begging divine benefits for us. And His special act of intercession is the act by which, as chief priest of each Mass, He intercedes for us. Thus the interior oblation, always living in Christ's heart, is the very soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass; it arouses and binds to itself the interior oblation of the celebrant and of the faithful united to the celebrant. Such is, beyond doubt, the often repeated doctrine of St. Thomas and his school. [953].
Each Mass, finally, has a value that is simply infinite. This position is defended by the greatest Thomists against Durandus and Scotus. [954] This value arises from the sublimity both of the victim and of the chief priest, since, substantially, the Sacrifice of the Mass is identified with that on the cross, though the mode of immolation is no longer bloody but sacramental. The unworthiness of the human minister, however great, cannot, says the Council of Trent, reduce this infinite value. Hence one sole Mass can be as profitable for ten thousand persons well disposed as it would be for one, just as the sun can as easily give light and warmth to ten thousand men as to one. Those who object 41 have lost sight, both of the objective infinity which belongs to the victim offered, and of the personal infinity which belongs to the chief priest.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
On choosing mortification on the road to perfection
Although spiritual directors are slim on the ground, one should try and ask a priest for advice on mortifications.
Two months ago, in Ireland, I did just that. The answer was interesting.
The holy priest said he did not suggest standing in cold water or extreme fasting. He said for me my life was a penance.
And so it is for many of us.
For those who live alone, loneliness and isolation, as well as the deprivation of love are part of a huge mortification.
For those who are poor and lack freedom to do what they want, when they want and how they want, or to have what they want, poverty is a limiting mortification.
For those who lack status in society and are even looked down upon daily and judged, such things are mortifying.
For the ill, whose activities are limited by pain and inconveniences, mortifications happen daily and the illness itself is mortifying.
That was the priest's point.
For those who have no mortifying circumstances, such sufferings must be sought out.
No kidding.
No pain, no gain.
Why?
Simple answer = pride of life.
One of the saddest persons I met years ago, although she did not know she was a sad case, was a woman of moderate wealth, who bragged that God gave her money to decorate her house over and over in order to glorify Him.
I wondered who exactly was her god.
I found it odd that her extravagance was couched in the language of suffering. There was no suffering in her shopping for the best and the latest and the most for her large house. None.
She said it glorified God to have all those those things.
She was stuck in the fear of suffering. As long as we fear suffering, we cannot advance.
So much better if God permits mortifications. I have a list, which I published last year. Paul had a list. Some have a life of the Cross. They are blessed.
Good. I do not have to run after false crosses, but only accept those which are given to me.
Do not make an own goal.
Allow Christ to share the Cross He do desires. And, if you have little or no suffering, you must choose something hard, not easy, but hard.
Surprise, surprise-communists like Obama's attempt to steal guns
A must read: from New American--here a snippet, but read the entire excellent article.
The American Founding Fathers, on the other hand, recognized that the armed private citizen is the ultimate check and balance against the centralized monopoly of force which invariably turns tyrannical and deadly. Nagin and People’s World, not surprisingly, side with communist tyrants and deride American commitment to our natural rights enshrined in our Constitution.
“The Second Amendment is obsolete and now has been twisted to threaten the basic safety and security of all Americans,” says Nagin. Nagin, according to the profile provided on Keywiki by Trevor Loudon, has been a member of the CPUSA for several decades and a writer for the People’s World and other communist publications since 1970. He is a member of the Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America as well as a political coordinator for the AFL-CIO in Ohio. In 2012 he was the Democratic Leader in Cleveland Ward 14 and served on the County Democratic Party Executive Committee.
We recognize the totalitarian ideology and objectives of Nagin and other communist propagandists when they advocate disarming of civilians and a total monopoly of force in government. Many of the other people advocating the same gun control policies may not have those totalitarian objectives in mind — but by their support of these policies they would lead us down the same deadly path nonetheless.
Europeans ask me why we want to keep our guns. I say that we do not trust our governments. Then, they ask, "Why?" End of conversation.................
A reminder on some recent posts on perfection and use the tag
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/a-serious-subject-and-nod-to-those-who.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/on-spiritual-direction-two.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/there-is-no-true-religious-experience.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cassian-and-perfection-part-three-more.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/perfection-and-martyrdom.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/on-will-and-perfection.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/readings-from-today-point-to-perfectioin.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/why-perfection-one-reason-out-of.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/perfection-again-and-holy-trinity.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cassian-on-way-to-perfection.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-battle-for-purity-and-saintliness.html
Wondering why
Hillary's glasses get national attention for days and 500,000 people on a March for Life gets barely a nod.
Hmmm...
Hmmm...
Birds in a cold climate
Right now, it is raining.
Saw the ducks on earlier in the week.
Saw these this weekend!
I love the birds in Britain. They were singing on Saturday.
Now, Sunday morning, these must be hiding from the rain and wind.
Anyone downsizing?
Are there are readers out there who want to pass on two series of the Great Books, (Adler) to two other families?
Please let me know. Thanks.
A Hiding Place
Most of us live relatively unknown lives of ordinariness wherein we work out our salvation in prayers and cooperation with the Holy Spirit of God.
That we are unknown is a great blessing. To be unknown means one has great freedom.
Can your imagine being a celebrity and having to have body guards and agents and secretaries and dog-sitters?
I mean, the famous cannot move around easily in their own home towns.
We unknowns have a great freedom.
There are many, many saints who are unknown-the majority of people who are in heaven are unknown.
This is part of the mystery of the Incarnation.
Christ came almost in disguise. He came to a lowly couple, a young woman and man of the decrepit
House of David. He entered the world at midnight, in a small, insignificant shelter. He became a carpenter.
Here is Christ in Matthew 11 on St. John the Baptist.
Jesus said, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed[a] blown by the wind? 8 What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes live in kings’ palaces. 9 So why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet. 10 This was written about him:
‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare the way for you.’ Malachi 3:1
The unknown saints have the advantage of being protected from evil and the evil one particularly does not notice insignificance. He missed Christ.
So, too, we are protected in our littleness and obscurity. For those of you who are known, I pray for your protection. From my hiding place, I can see and pray and not desire ever to be known, except by Christ Alone, the Bridegroom.
You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me about with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7
Prayers
One of my friends in the north of England is without heat and another in the south of England is without hot water. Both problems are not able to be fixed immediately. They both need a rocket stove, like our ancestors had.
Prayers, please.
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| http://www.permies.com/t/12096/stoves/History-Rocket |
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