No statement from the USCCB, or the Great Britain or Ireland conferences of bishops on the horrible persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Egypt. I am ashamed of my own leadership. Why the silence? If someone hears of a joint statement from these countries, let me know.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/minya-churches-cancel-second-mass-first-time-1600-years
http://www.aina.org/news/20130818125428.htm
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
A Compendium of Supertradmum on St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Happy Feast Day, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Here is an incomplete list of the posts on this blog concerning him.
26 Feb 2013
I am sure that readers can tell by now that I cannot write enough on my favourite male saints, Bernard of Clairvaux. I hope you have received his insights and experiences of God with the pleasure and amazement with which I ...
20 Mar 2013
St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Knights Templar. Posted by Supertradmum · http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html. Prologue TO HUGH, KNIGHT OF CHRIST AND MASTER OF CHRIST'S MILITIA: ...
23 Feb 2013
Therefore, when I read St. Bernard of Clairvaux and some of his commentators, one of the things which comes across very clearly is that he understands the progress of holiness as explained in these few words. Know, love ...
22 Feb 2013
Part 47: DoC: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, continued, and perfection. Posted by Supertradmum. Those of us who are workaholics have the hardest time with meditation and contemplation. But, was there ever a man busier than St.
24 Feb 2013
Words for the Papabile from St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Part 51: DoC. Posted by Supertradmum. If I remember, the subject of my discourse. to your Excellency was to be Consideration. And certainly. the matter to which I have ...
19 Aug 2012
Can you imagine in the cold and damp monastery of Clairvaux, in the refectory or monastery church, St. Bernard reading to his monks an exposition of The Song of Songs? I wonder at his audacity as well as his mystic insights ...
23 Nov 2012
The reason I encourage reading is that is the first step on the chair to Contemplation as taught by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. We must read the right books, however. Some people get bogged down in conversion stories. That is ...
28 Feb 2013
I know I started the postings on St. Augustine, which will continue on Friday, but today I was reading in the sermon of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Detraction. I am only going to refer to two ideas, both repetitions on this blog.
23 Nov 2012
Here is the quotation from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, from a homily of his at Easter. "We look for God where He is not to be found, or rather, we do not look for Him where He is chiefly to be found; hence, all the confusion, all the ...
21 Feb 2013
As those of you who read my blog know, St. Bernard of Clairvaux is my favourite saint. I discovered him when in a particularly Romantic period of my life was unfolding and he captured my imagination as well as my intellect.
24 Feb 2013
Part 52: DoC: Bernard of Clarivaux and the Perfection of Love. Posted by Supertradmum. From St. Bernard of Clairvaux on Love from Sermon 83 on the Canticle of Canticles. Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself ...
26 Feb 2013
Posted by Supertradmum. On this blog, I have already referred to the sermons of St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Song of Songs, or. Canticle of Canticles. These sermons may be considered his masterpiece as a Doctor of the ...
29 Aug 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux has a fascinating sermon on two aspects of love regarding St. John and St. Peter. St. Bernard, in St. Peter and St. John, XLI, In Joannic Evang; Tract CXXIV. Bernard says the Peter loved Christ more ...
20 Jan 2013
St. Bernard of Clairvaux would have made an excellent 21st century psychologist He understood human nature and nurture. He understood the workings of the soul, the psyche. He understood the need for the seeking of ...
23 Dec 2012
As the year comes to an end soon, and the Feast of St. John is upon us after Christmas, I want to revisit a strange saying of St. Bernard of Clairvaux He has a fascinating sermon on two aspects of love regarding St. John and ...
04 Feb 2013
All the members of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's immediate family are either Blesseds or Saints, including his father and mother. Here they are listed, plus a cousin and in-law.
07 May 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux created a movement of love outside himself, because he was in love with Christ. So too were St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila. St. Maximilian Kolbe and many, many other witnesses to the Faith.
21 Nov 2012
Bernard of Clairvaux's famous sermon on the meeting of Christ and Mary Magdalen in the Garden highlights the theme I have here and in the previous post on the Presence of Christ within us. Bernard states that Mary was ...
07 Apr 2013
Some commentators, like my friend CK, wanted a simple version of the perfection series and I have finally found a good description from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, my favourite saint. He describes in his sermon "On the Different ...
29 Jan 2012
I do not have my works of St. Bernard of Clairvaux with me, but I can paraphrase one of his sayings: There is rejoicing in heaven when a bad man becomes good, but how much more rejoicing is there when a good man ...
27 Aug 2012
I have been reading the Sermons of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, specifically on the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Without going into great detail, one of the points St. Bernard makes, which has been made by many saints, is that ...
19 Aug 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux is my favourite saint and Dante puts him high in heaven, Beatrice leaving Dante in the hands of the mystic saint. St. Bernard is, in my mind, the Saint of Love. He asks Mary, Queen and Mother, to allow ...
12 Dec 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux in his great sermons on the Bride in the Song of Songs, notes that the Church is Christ's Bride. Many of the so-called womynpriests are also liberals in other ways. The Anglican Church, which has ...
18 Feb 2013
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, Bede the Venerable, Peter Damian, Gregory the Great, and the reformer of the Benedictine Order, Bernard of Clairvaux. So, although the Franciscans claim they have the most, I count more ...
27 Aug 2012
Like the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, or Augustine, the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux give us endless spiritual milk to drink on these points. In his sermon, On Humility and Patience, Bernard writes this, “Some endure ...
15 Feb 2013
St. Bernard of Clairvaux and his family were in the highest echelons of their society. They owned great tracts of land, at least on castle, and had labourers, as well as house staff and so on. St. Bernard gave up his inheritance, ...
28 Dec 2012
Bernard of Clairvaux had seven-hundred monks and lay brothers at the peak of the monastery's history, which allows for a steady stream of visitors. We need more vocations to the religious life. There are two young ones in the ...
04 Dec 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux cooperated with grace. So did St. Paul and St. Peter. Yesterday was the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, a saint who learned the Ignatian method of prayer. Pray that God's Perfect Will be done in your life ...
09 Dec 2012
St. Bernard of Clairvaux writes that great men ask God for great things. Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and many others asked God for great things, including the revelation of the Glory of God. We do not ask because we are ...
20 Jul 2013
2 comments: Corax said... Dear Supertradmom How do guys like myself relate to this whilst still being masculine? 20 July 2013 00:12 · Supertradmum said... Read SS. Bernard of Clairvaux and John of the Cross. Good night.
07 Jun 2013
9) Christ the Bridegroom calls us to the stages of understanding that each one of us must experience, as explained, for example, by Bernard of Clairvaux; these stages are knowing one is a child of a loving Father; that one is ...
Dark Night of the Soul Part 38-The Purification of the Memory Continued...
Father Phelim writes that the purification of the memory allows these steps in the soul to occur: one, hope grows as memory is cleansed; two, this hope created a longing for God, Who will answer that longing; three, this hope increases as the soul is dispossessed of the past, of sin, of memory; four, once this happens, the soul will attain perfect possession of God in union.
There is a deep mystery here, which Fr. Phelim reminds us of in the reference to Luke 14:33. It is not just things one must give up, but the very part of one's being which one thinks is essential- memories. But, it is not merely the isolated memories one is giving up, but the faculty of memory itself. This is the insight, that the entire ability to remember is given over and God begins to purge that faculty as He chooses. The faculty, like that of understanding and the will gradually belongs to God alone.
Sometime, one must grieve over the giving up of memory. We must let memories go into the darkness of the Dark Night. One must be willing to stop thoughts which take one away from the deep suffering which is the Dark Night. Fr. Phelim reminds one that the devil uses memory and the imagination, especially, to seem like things which are in the light, when in reality, the images are of evil intent, intent on taking one away from faith in the unseen God and the hope of being one with Him.
So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple.
This process is very painful. God cannot be held in any ideas one may have of Him or even how He worked in the past. How can one recognize God truly if one is stuffed full of images which take one away from the real moment of the now.
The less one has, the closer one is getting to union with God...If one especially clings to memories of human love, God cannot enter into the soul. The soul is simply too crowded for His Presence.
Remember, that all of this is the passive purification of the soul, and if one runs about filling up the soul with activities, even those which seem good, the process is severely hindered.
To be continued...
Prayer of St. Bernard of Clairvaux
MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum. Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere; sed audi propitia et exaudi. Amen.
Dark Night of the Soul Part 37-The Purification of the Memory Revisited
A Carmelite priest wrote some interesting words in connection with St. John of the Cross on the subject of the purification of the memory.
As I have struggled with this concept and with the actual beginnings of this change of memory, which is not really a loss, but a giving over to God the memories of the past, I am revisiting this step of the Dark Night. I have struggled with this, as a poet, writer and historian. When one is using one's memory for art or study or teaching, this purification process seems odd. But, St. John taught and preached and gave spiritual direction using his memory. At his state of holiness, this meant that God to bring to mind the things God wanted to impart, and that St. John was in the Will of God in his thoughts, speech, and deeds.
The goal of the purification of the memory by the Holy Spirit is primarily to create a state of freedom in the soul and mind. Memories can trap people into hatred, bitterness, lust, fantasies.
Father Phelim writes this, "The soul experiences tranquillity and peace of mind, and more importantly it grows in purity of conscience and purity of soul. The soul is free too from the suggestions, temptations and deceptions which the devil can arouse by means of thoughts and memories."
Now, many of us cling to memories of happier days, or past relationships which brought joy, or even loved ones who have passed away. Some use their memories for keeping hatred alive. I met a man here who is my age. He started talking about his family hatred of the British. He was horribly full of hate. I stopped him, and asked him if he thought God would let him take that hate into heaven. He said he would never forgive the past wrongs, never.
I pity him and say a Hail Mary for him, as he will not be able to take that hatred into heaven.
Father Phelim continues, "On the positive side the soul through recollection and forgetfulness of passing things acquires a spirit that is open and docile to the delicate movements of the Holy Spirit. It acquires too, a certain stability amidst difficulties, and a certain equanimity in the face of adversity. It is neither cast down by adversity or unduly elated by prosperity."
Father also cautions, "It is quite easy to confuse virtue with lofty ideas of God, whereas true virtue is always accompanied by deep humility and self-contempt. Indeed one degree of humility is of far greater worth than all manner of visions, revelations, or emotional feeling concerning God."
The purification of the memory takes away imaginings in the memory which may make one think they are holier than they actually are. Memory cannot create one act of love as much as faith and hope do, writes Father. Deception and vanity prove to be the stumbling blocks to some who think they are on the way to holiness, Father notes.
When one allows God to purify the memory, such fantasies and imaginings of holiness disappear in the cold light of truth and emptiness. Sometimes, one has to grieve away memories holding one back from living in the present, the Presence of God. This is why in the convent, the nuns never talk about their pasts and no one knows about each others past. It may seem strange, but it takes away the living on past successes or even re-thinking past failures. The purified imagination lives totally in the present moment.
There will be more on this subject. Sadly, these comments are in a pamphlet, which is old. But, I shall write more of Father Phelim's insights in the next post as well.
to be continued...
Monday, 19 August 2013
Guardian Angels
Too many adults forget to pray to their angels.
Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
to whom God's love commits me here,
ever this day,
be at my side
to light and guard,
to rule and guide.
The Dark Night Part 36-Substantial Darkness
St. Francis understood, as did most saints, the importance of contemplating the Crucifixion of Our Lord. I hear excellent sermons here in Dublin, thank God. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the need to concentrate on the Passion and to endure, rather than change a state of suffering? Here is St. John of the Cross on the Dark Night again.
And thus it is fitting that, if the understanding is to be united with that light and become Divine in the state of perfection, it should first of all be purged and annihilated as to its natural light, and, by means of this dark contemplation, be brought actually into darkness. This darkness should continue for as long as is needful in order to expel and annihilate the habit which the soul has long since formed in its manner of understanding, and the Divine light and illumination will then take its place. And thus, inasmuch as that power of understanding which it had aforetime is natural, it follows that the darkness which it here suffers is profound and horrible and most painful, for this darkness, being felt in the deepest substance of the spirit, seems to be substantial darkness. Similarly, since the affection of love which is to be given to it in the Divine union of love is Divine, and therefore very spiritual, subtle and delicate, and very intimate, transcending every affection and feeling of the will, and every desire thereof, it is fitting that, in order that the will may be able to attain to this Divine affection and most lofty delight, and to feel it and experience it through the union of love, since it is not, in the way of nature, perceptible to the will, it be first of all purged and annihilated in all its affections and feelings, and left in a condition of aridity and constraint, proportionate to the habit of natural affections which it had before, with respect both to Divine things and to human. Thus, being exhausted, withered and thoroughly tried in the fire of this dark contemplation, and having driven away every kind148 of evil spirit (as with the heart of the fish which Tobias set on the coals149), it may have a simple and pure disposition, and its palate may be purged and healthy, so that it may feel the rare and sublime touches of Divine love, wherein it will see itself divinely transformed, and all the contrarieties, whether actual or habitual, which it had aforetime, will be expelled, as we are saying.
This exhaustion results from the death of self, the removal of what St. John calls the contrarieties, and the destruction of the ego. One is being prepared for love, in much the same way that Esther was prepared for a year with baths and perfumes, good diet, and training for her marriage to the King. Substantial darkness allows substantial purification. To be continued....
Why some youths are bored at Mass and the flesh pots of Egypt
St. John of the Cross notes that the Israelites could not enjoy the taste of the manna and complained for meat because they had ruined their taste by the excesses of food in Egypt. Even though they were slaves to the Pharaoh, they ate the food of Egypt.
Now, the upper classes, according to archaeologists, enjoyed meals with these ingredients (and this site is great for home schoolers, btw):
- triangular loaf of bread - made from emmer wheat
- form of porridge - made from ground barley
- cooked fish - cleaned and dressed with the head removed
- pigeon stew
- a cooked quail (cleaned and dressed with the head tucked under one wing)
- two cooked kidneys
- ribs and legs of beef
- identity uncertain, but containing ribs of beef
- stewed fruit probably fig
- fresh nabk berries
- small circular cakes
- small jars containing some form of cheese
- grape wine in a large jar
The food of the slaves would have included beer rather than wine, but meat and fish as well as onions, cucumbers, leeks, melons, garlic and seasonings would have been eaten. (It is interesting that three members of my family, including me, are allergic to the food family of Cucurbitaceae, a normal food family for the Egyptians of these times.)
When the Israelites complained of manna, God sent quail. But, St. John's point is that the years of slavery had deadened the Hebrews taste for manna.
The spiritual connection he makes may be applied to youth who say they are bored at Mass, a statement which is symptomatic of a spiritual problem. The Israelites did not merely complain about food and water. They also murmured against the fact that God spoke to Moses, which is spiritual envy, that God killed the bad leaders, such as Korach and folowers, that Caleb exhibited no fear and great joy in the planning of the overthrow of the Canaanites, this last being the sins of fear and negativity, revealing a serious lack of faith.
Here is St. John: For, even as the children of Israel, solely because they retained one single affection and remembrance—namely, with respect to the fleshpots and the meals which they had tasted in Egypt146—could not relish the delicate bread of angels, in the desert, which was the manna, which, as the Divine Scripture says, held sweetness for every taste and turned to the taste that each one desired;147 even so the spirit cannot succeed in enjoying the delights of the spirit of liberty, according to the desire of the will, if it be still affectioned to any desire, whether actual or habitual, or to particular objects of understanding, or to any other apprehension. The reason for this is that the affections, feelings and apprehensions of the perfect spirit, being Divine, are of another kind and of a very different order from those that are natural. They are pre-eminent, so that, in order both actually and habitually to possess the one, it is needful to expel and annihilate the other, as with two contrary things, which cannot exist together in one person. Therefore it is most fitting and necessary, if the soul is to pass to these great things, that this dark night of contemplation should first of all annihilate and undo it in its meannesses, bringing it into darkness, aridity, affliction and emptiness; for the light which is to be given to it is a Divine light of the highest kind, which transcends all natural light, and which by nature can find no place in the understanding.
Now the focus on changing liturgy to appeal to youth is misguided and has been since the 1970s. The focus is on the outside of the person rather than the inside.
Children need to formed young, very young. Parents have a duty to not allow the fleshpots of Egypt ruin the taste of spiritual things in their children.
Formation cannot be started in adolescence.
May I offer some formation tips for children?
One, as early as possible, prayer daily with the children. Pray over them and bless them at night. Make sure there is a rhythm of prayer in the family. Take them to Adoration weekly with you. Also, take them to Confession regularly with you.
Two, read the lives of the saints and the Bible daily with them. Cultivate a love for their patron saints and their guardian angels.
Three, do not let them go to state controlled Catholic schools where the curriculum is not Catholic. Catholic curriculum must include all liberal art and science studies from a Catholic point of view.
Four, train them to use the virtues given to them in baptism for a very early age. I wrote a curriculum on virtue training for pre-schoolers and early elementary students. Sadly, I do not have it with me, but a parent could develop this by using The Book of Virtues and other texts. If God allows me to ever get my notes and discs out of storage, I shall share this curriculum with you. I taught it to a group of teachers in a pe-school and grade school years ago.
Five, pay close attention to the spiritual formation of your children by spending time with them. Remember that unless the parents are the primary influence, other influences will be stronger in the formation of their thinking.
Six, do not let the fleshpots of Egypt ruin their taste for normal, daily liturgy. Take them to the Tridentine Mass, if possible, as the spirituality of that Mass is deeper and more challenging, which is a good thing for youth.
The boredom of youth is like the complaining of the Israelites in the desert. It is actually sinful, and reveals a jaded spirit. Parents must pray and help the young persons unravel the source of that boredom instead of pandering to it by emphasizing externals instead of internal growth.
Except for the very few, the generation which came out of Egypt were forbidden by God to go into the Promised Land. They died in the desert for idolatry and murmuring against God and His prophet-leader, Moses. Their deaths provide an allegory for the death of the soul. That Joshua, a man pure of heart and full of the love of God, brought the next generation into the Promised Land reminds us that one must pursue purity of heart in order to be an excellent parent, capable of leading the children to heaven. Hard work and diligence....formation of the soul begins in the womb and cannot be delayed until adolescence.
If your child moans about boredom, talk to that child about his spirit, what he thinks he wants, and pray for discernment. Boredom is a symptom, always, of a restless soul and not a mark of a person moving in the spiritual life towards holiness.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Divisions and Courage
I am almost gave up the blog again this morning. Sadly, readers, especially men, are becoming more and more aggressively evil in comments, comments which you, dear readers, never see. The various evils range from expletives to personal attacks to anger.
I suppose it would not matter so much, but I am completely isolated, living most of the time alone, without a protector or a community. This means all I can do is walk into Gethsemane and sit with the Lord, awake in suffering with Him.
What renewed my courage today was a sermon and simple talk with Fr. Canice Azuoma, who spoke on the Gospel and First Reading from his heart.
He, a Carmelite priest, told this tale. He grew up in Africa, and his grandfather worshipped many gods as well as worshipping his ancestors. His practices of worship included some bad things. When Fr. Canice's father was a child, he heard the bells of the church nearby and was curious. So, this young child went into the church and saw an Irish missionary priest teaching small children. The priest talked about Christ and the call to have courage and believe. Fr. Canice's father was so moved, he decided to become a Christian. And, the child was so excited after this initial meeting, that when he went home, he told his parents of his new faith.
The father of this child reacted severely, forbidding the child to ever return to the church. He said this new religion was strange and not part of their people's heritage. But, the next time the bells rang, the boy returned, again, and again, and again. His mother stood between him and the anger of his father, but the persecution in the house became so intense, the boy eventually had to leave.
Many, many years later, the grandfather became very ill and was ignored by his own family in his illness. But, the Catholic son returned and visited him daily, moving in again, finally, to take care of his father.
One day, the old, dying man said to his son, "I want the religion you have. I have seen how it has affected you." The son replied that the old man would have to be baptised. The dying man said, "I want that. I want baptism". By this time, there were no priests in the area. All were far away. The son went into the kitchen and filled a bowl with water. He came back into the bedroom and baptised his own father, who died within a few hours.
Fr. Canice told me to have courage. He told me that my suffering was for my son, who is going to be a priest. He told me that the suffering of his father all those years of being estranged from the family was a gift for Father Canice's own priesthood.
I know this is true. As Father Canice blessed me today, I knew I could not give up the blog. The suffering is like a heart pumping life to another young person far away in the seminary. So be it. Divisions in families are so painful, one does not think about what is missed in love and support, but none of this really matters. What matters is forgiveness, love, and the courage to spread the Good News.
"Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth," said Christ in today's NO Gospel. His own passion is ours, if we accept it. We cannot see the Resurrection, but neither did Father Canice's father expect his own father to rejoice with him in heaven. God is good.
Small thoughts on a Sunday
A good man that I know told me today that this present generation "trumps" objective argumentation with feelings.
How can one discuss truth with those who insist that their emotions are the locus of truth?
The arrogance of personalism and relativism shuts doors in conversation. We are fast losing the art of conversation regarding ideas.
Today, in the readings, we are reminded that Christ did not come to abolish the Law, but is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. We are reminded that we walk by faith.
Those who love the Law, love Christ, and those who love Christ love the Law. Charity, that is, real love, is not in the emotions, but in the will. Obedience follows love. I can tell if an adult is in love with themselves or God first. If an adult is obedient to the laws of the Church and the Ten Commandments, that adult loves God.
Now, to really love the Law, one must be walking in faith. That is the point of St. Paul's epistle this morning. Abraham is honoured as the Father of our Faith because he loved God, and had a personal relationship with God, initiated by God, but responded to with a full heart.
If we do not feel the love of God, take heart, if you are being obedient to the Church. God recognizes the love of His obedient children.
When one is in a Benedictine monastery, love is shown by following the Rule and being obedient to one's superiors. So, too, this dynamic occurs in marriage.
If we are still confused on this point, St. Therese, the Little Flower can help us on our way to Love.
Do not pass up opportunities to love or to obey. These opportunities are life-giving. Do not say no to love or obedience.
Writing to An Audience and Conversion
When one writes or "rights", always, as G. K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc and all writers know, one writes with an audience in mind.
From the beginning of this blog, I have written for two groups, mainly. The first group is that of new Catholics who sincerely want to learn more about the Faith. The second is that of traditional or orthodox Catholics, who want to grow deeper in love with God, as I do. This is not a blog which tries to convert, or convict at the level of the first conversion, which is giving one's life to Christ, although that can happen by reading, for example, the Doctors of the Church, or commentaries on the lives of the saints. Absolutely.
However, there are some people who honestly misunderstand conversion. They think that one is converted only through a dramatic, singular experience of Christ. This is limiting how God calls people to conversion. Sometimes conversion is a slow process of working one's way through the beauty of the teaching of the Catholic Church, to find Christ in His Church. Sometimes it means reading the Early Church Fathers, or St. Augustine's Confessions.
God is not limited in His giving of grace. But, the fullness of truth is in the Catholic Church and I write within that context.
That is why Christ set up His Church-to evangelize and to feed.
Now, a person who is not Catholic may become interested in the Church when reading something more than the Penny Catechism, which is a good start. But, apologetics may be confusing to some, especially if that person only dips into reading and does not pursue study.
The art of apologetics is not about basic evangelization, but the systematic defending of the Faith through reason.
My regular readers know this, and realize that my blog is for those who are on the way. I try to give meat, not milk, as St. Paul writes. But, milk and meat can be given together.
Protestants who read my blog may be interested in the Catholic Faith. I hope so. If a Protestant, or a liberal Catholic is offended, I only apologize in so far as I have not, then, made my points as clear as I could have done. Such people who are regularly offended do not have to read my blog. But, one can always follow up sources for real Catholic teaching, of which their are hundreds on this blog.
Also, many posts are not independent, but part of the whole of this blog, which includes many series.
Most of my readers already have a personal relationship with Christ, and want to grow deeper in that relationship. If someone wants a blog which discusses the beginnings of the Catholic Faith, I can recommend many others. There are millions of Christian blogs. I am sure Protestants or non-Catholics rarely if ever read Rorate Caeli, for example.
Blogs have focus, just like any other writings.
If someone wants to discuss matters on this blog, fine, but I do not publish Anonymous comments, which I have noted many times. I see that some people hide behind a non-name merely to be rude. And, if one is hyper-critical without wanting to discuss, and does not leave a name, or uses ad hominem fallacies, personal criticisms instead of reason, I shall not engage.
Rational discourse and faith are the great gifts which the Catholic Church has given to the world.
God bless all those who want to think like Catholics. The world needs you.
If someone wants something else, that reader has millions of blogs from which to choose. I am not into numbers games.
From the beginning of this blog, I have written for two groups, mainly. The first group is that of new Catholics who sincerely want to learn more about the Faith. The second is that of traditional or orthodox Catholics, who want to grow deeper in love with God, as I do. This is not a blog which tries to convert, or convict at the level of the first conversion, which is giving one's life to Christ, although that can happen by reading, for example, the Doctors of the Church, or commentaries on the lives of the saints. Absolutely.
However, there are some people who honestly misunderstand conversion. They think that one is converted only through a dramatic, singular experience of Christ. This is limiting how God calls people to conversion. Sometimes conversion is a slow process of working one's way through the beauty of the teaching of the Catholic Church, to find Christ in His Church. Sometimes it means reading the Early Church Fathers, or St. Augustine's Confessions.
God is not limited in His giving of grace. But, the fullness of truth is in the Catholic Church and I write within that context.
That is why Christ set up His Church-to evangelize and to feed.
Now, a person who is not Catholic may become interested in the Church when reading something more than the Penny Catechism, which is a good start. But, apologetics may be confusing to some, especially if that person only dips into reading and does not pursue study.
The art of apologetics is not about basic evangelization, but the systematic defending of the Faith through reason.
My regular readers know this, and realize that my blog is for those who are on the way. I try to give meat, not milk, as St. Paul writes. But, milk and meat can be given together.
Protestants who read my blog may be interested in the Catholic Faith. I hope so. If a Protestant, or a liberal Catholic is offended, I only apologize in so far as I have not, then, made my points as clear as I could have done. Such people who are regularly offended do not have to read my blog. But, one can always follow up sources for real Catholic teaching, of which their are hundreds on this blog.
Also, many posts are not independent, but part of the whole of this blog, which includes many series.
Most of my readers already have a personal relationship with Christ, and want to grow deeper in that relationship. If someone wants a blog which discusses the beginnings of the Catholic Faith, I can recommend many others. There are millions of Christian blogs. I am sure Protestants or non-Catholics rarely if ever read Rorate Caeli, for example.
Blogs have focus, just like any other writings.
If someone wants to discuss matters on this blog, fine, but I do not publish Anonymous comments, which I have noted many times. I see that some people hide behind a non-name merely to be rude. And, if one is hyper-critical without wanting to discuss, and does not leave a name, or uses ad hominem fallacies, personal criticisms instead of reason, I shall not engage.
Rational discourse and faith are the great gifts which the Catholic Church has given to the world.
God bless all those who want to think like Catholics. The world needs you.
If someone wants something else, that reader has millions of blogs from which to choose. I am not into numbers games.
By whose authority will we be judged on earth?
Three hundred years before I was born, King Charles I gave this speech in Parliament at his mock trial.
I suggest Catholics look at this and realize the same sham justice will most likely be used against us in England, in Ireland and in America.
The enemies of Charles could not understand that laws which are only made by men, can be broken by men to be turned against men.
But, laws of God cannot be broken and if these are, God will judge those who ignore His Law and His order. Those who deny natural law and the Ten Commandments, as well as the laws of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church will have to stand before God and explain why God's Church was persecuted. This will come, friends. Be noble now, daily, and understand that we are witnessing the type of tyranny of men's passions and false ideologies which created divisions in families and parishes.
King Charles I's Speech at his Trial
January, 1649
I would know by what power I am called hither ... I would know by what authority, I mean lawful; there are many unlawful authorities in the world; thieves and robbers by the high-ways ... Remember, I am your King, your lawful King, and what sins you bring upon your heads, and the judgement of God upon this land. Think well upon it, I say, think well upon it, before you go further from one sin to a greater ... I have a trust committed to me by God, by old and lawful descent, I will not betray it, to answer a new unlawful authority; therefore resolve me that, and you shall hear more of me.
I do stand more for the liberty of my people, than any here that come to be my pretended judges ... I do not come here as submitting to the Court. I will stand as much for the privilege of the House of Commons, rightly understood, as any man here whatsoever: I see no House of Lords here, that may constitute a Parliament ... Let me see a legal authority warranted by the Word of God, the Scriptures, or warranted by the constitutions of the Kingdom, and I will answer.
It is not a slight thing you are about. I am sworn to keep the peace, by that duty I owe to God and my country; and I will do it to the last breath of my body. And therefore ye shall do well to satisfy, first, God, and then the country, by what authority you do it. If you do it by an usurped authority, you cannot answer it; there is a God in Heaven, that will call you, and all that give you power, to account.
If it were only my own particular case, I would have satisfied myself with the protestation I made the last time I was here, against the legality of the Court, and that a King cannot be tried by any superior jurisdiction on earth: but it is not my case alone, it is the freedom and the liberty of the people of England; and do you pretend what you will, I stand more for their liberties. For if power without law, may make laws, may alter the fundamental laws of the Kingdom, I do not know what subject he is in England that can be sure of his life, or any thing that he calls his own.
I do not know the forms of law; I do know law and reason, though I am no lawyer professed: but I know as much law as any gentleman in England, and therefore, under favour, I do plead for the liberties of the people of England more than you do; and therefore if I should impose a belief upon any man without reasons given for it, it were unreasonable ... The Commons of England was never a Court of Judicature; I would know how they came to be so.
It was the liberty, freedom, and laws of the subject that ever I took - defended myself with arms. I never took up arms against the people, but for the laws ... For the charge, I value it not a rush. It is the liberty of the people of England that I stand for. For me to acknowledge a new Court that I never heard of before, I that am your King, that should be an example to all the people of England, for to uphold justice, to maintain the old laws, indeed I do not know how to do it.
This many-a-day all things have been taken away from me, but that that I call more dear to me than my life, which is my conscience, and my honour: and if I had a respect to my life more than the peace of the Kingdom, and the liberty of the subject, certainly I should have made a particular defence for my self; for by that at leastwise I might have delayed an ugly sentence, which I believe will pass upon me ... Now, sir, I conceive that an hasty sentence once passed, may sooner be repented of than recalled: and truly, the self-same desire that I have for the peace of the Kingdom, and the liberty of the subject, more than my own particular ends, makes me now at lest desire, before sentence be given, that I may be heard ... before the Lords and Commons ... If I cannot get this liberty, I do protest, that these fair shows of liberty and peace are pure shows and that you will not hear your King."
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