Tuesday, 22 October 2013
From the Race Site
Morning Update: Day Four Rolex Middle Sea Race
22 October 2013
Morning Glory Takes the Gun Louay Habib 2013 Rolex Middle Sea Race Line Honours Winner - Morning Glory (GER) Kristina Plattner’s Z-86, Morning Glory has claimed line honours in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The German Maxi crossed the finish line at the Royal Malta Yacht Club on Tuesday, 22 October at 04:02 19sec, in an elapsed time of 2days 16hrs 12mins 19secs. “I have only raced offshore with my father before, so this was a new experience for me and I was a bit anxious before the race about how it would turn out. However, so many of the crew are old friends and they really looked after me, so it was not too difficult and I really enjoyed the race.” commented Morning Glory skipper, Kristina Plattner. “It is a beautiful race course and watching the sunrise at Stromboli will be a lasting memory. It was so beautiful and calm but at the same time my four hour watch was just finishing, so the dawn meant we could get some rest. The long beat near the finish was very tiring but it was so nice to get a warm reception when we crossed the line.” Volvo Ocean Race skipper, Chris Nicholson was one of the after-guard on board Morning Glory. “The conditions were lighter than predicted but that doesn't surprise anyone. This is a very changeable racecourse, which definitely keeps your concentration. Weather forecast and routing software are not that useful, you have to see what is happening around you and react. We definitely lost a lot of ground in the latter part of the race. It was a dead beat to Lampedusa with a lot of tacks that really slowed our speed towards the end.” Andres Soriano's Mills 72, Alegre was the second yacht to finish the race just before dawn. Alegre beat her close rival Luca Simone's JV72, Robertissima III to the line by more than an hour.
Purgatory or The Dark Night
St. John of the Cross calls the Dark Night a "purgatory". And, as he, and later Garrigou-Lagrange tell us over and over, only the perfect see God.
Knowing that only those who have gone through the Dark Night of the Senses and who go into the Dark Night of the Spirit actually are pure enough to be free of the ego and work for God in the Church and not themselves. one wonders why more people do not cooperate with the graces of the Dark Night.
The list I made yesterday, distilling some of the characteristics of the Dark Night from John of the Cross' writings shows that one can endure this purgation here and now.
Why wait until purgatory? Why put off what can be done for the benefit of the Church as a whole and not merely for one's own benefit?
Many Church leaders are stuck in the lowest stages of spiritual growth. This is often too obvious, as actions from those cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, lay people who are caught up in acting out of their egos rather than doing God's work are clear, if one is allowing God to deal with one in purification.
I do not need to name personages, but it is clear to me that too many cardinals and bishops are acting totally out of worldly standards of seeking fame, status, or achieving worldly goals. If we had more leaders who could give us good examples of humility and a purified will, the Church would be in a different place.
That so many of the laity think they can only achieve purgatory, instead of perfection, is a tragedy of our times. One is not a saint if one makes it to purgatory. Sorry, saints are those willing to go through purgatory on earth, another name for the Dark Nights of the Senses and Spirit.
To be continued....
Monday, 21 October 2013
Interesting discussion
I and others have commented on the Times of Malta article on ssm. Do you want to jump in? We are living in increasingly godless times. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131020/opinion/No-to-same-sex-marriage-by-stealth.491096#.UmUmSnDVBD8
For any Catholic out there who still likes Obamacare...
The 2013 Deloitte Survey of U.S. Physicians, a survey of more than 600 physicians from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, found that “six in 10 physicians (62 percent) said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next one to three years.”
Based on the survey results, Deloitte found that most U.S. physicians believe that, among other worries, under Obamacare: “The future of the medical profession may be in jeopardy as it loses clinical autonomy and compensation,” and “Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements may be problematic, prompting many physicians to limit or close their practices to these enrollees.”
Instead of the established doctor-patient relationship of old, “eight in 10 physicians agree that the wave of the future in medicine … involves interdisciplinary teams and care coordinators.”
The End of the Beginning of the Dark Night And The Beginning of the End of the Dark Night
The next stage, the purification of the spirit, is the first stage for those who are called the proficients.
The early stages of the proficients only come after the completion of the purification of the senses. Here are the elements which would indicate that one is in the start of the purification of the spirit.
Why does the spirit need purifying. by the way? Because all the evils of one's characters lie in the spirit. But, it is only after the purification of the senses that this purification can begin.
One cannot skip stages, and those who teach that this is possible are ignoring the wisdom of centuries of holy men and women who have shared their experiences with the Church.
One learns fortitude in the Dark Night of the Senses, which is absolutely necessary for the enduring of the Dark Night of the Spirit.
Here are some elements of this second part of the Dark Night taken from St. John of the Cross.
1) The time of darkness means that the intellect, memory, understanding and will are all in a shadow. One does not see the way and must rely on Divine Providence entirely.
2) One begins to finally do great works for God Alone and not for one's ego. In this darkness, one can and should work for God, with a new power which comes from the lack of reliance on the senses.
3) One is inspired by Divine Wisdom and not by one's own studies or knowledge. God places ideas in the intellect, as inspirations.
4) A person's will is inspired by God as well. This means that God is directing the will, which has been entirely turned over to God.
5) Few people persist in this state, as it is painful. Although all men and woman are called to this state, few persist in the darkness which is demanded of pure trust in God.
8) A new purification of the spirit happens, which is not understood by those who experience this. God is allowing one to experience His Love in a new manner, which leads to infused contemplation.
9) If persons do not experience this state or the one previous to this, one must endure purgatory. And, part of the pain of purgatory is understanding that one could have followed this path on earth for the good of one's soul and the good of the Church, but refused to do so.
10) Therefore, a generosity of spirit must accompany this state. The intellect, memory, understanding, will are all directed by God directly and not by the person.
11) This is still not the Unitive State, but is the last stage before the Illuminative State. The Illuminative State only occurs after the spirit has been purified.
Common Core
I have been following the evil of the Common Core Curriculum, which half the dioceses in the States have adopted. Michael Voris is doing such a good job revealing the horribleness of this curriculum, I do not need to follow this.
As you know, I was a curriculum adviser for five years in classical education and have always been convinced that the federal government should stay out of education. Also, I do not believe that Catholic schools in any country should accept money from any governments. Catholic education should be funded by Catholics who are orthodox, period.
If you want to learn more about the evils of the core curriculum, watch Voris.
As you know, I was a curriculum adviser for five years in classical education and have always been convinced that the federal government should stay out of education. Also, I do not believe that Catholic schools in any country should accept money from any governments. Catholic education should be funded by Catholics who are orthodox, period.
If you want to learn more about the evils of the core curriculum, watch Voris.
Prayers like "swift javelins"
from today's readings The Liturgy of the Hours
| A letter to Proba by St Augustine |
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| Let us turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours |
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Let us always desire the happy life from the Lord God and always pray for it. But for this very reason we turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours, since that desire grows lukewarm, so to speak, from our involvement in other concerns and occupations. We remind ourselves through the words of prayer to focus our attention on the object of our desire; otherwise, the desire that began to grow lukewarm may grow chill altogether and may be totally extinguished unless it is repeatedly stirred into flame.
Therefore, when the Apostle says: Let your petitions become known before God, this should not be taken in the sense that they are in fact becoming known to God who certainly knew them even before they were made, but that they are becoming known to us before God through submission and not before men through boasting.
Since this is the case, it is not wrong or useless to pray even for a long time when there is the opportunity. I mean when it does not keep us from performing the other good and necessary actions we are obliged to do. But even in these actions, as I have said, we must always pray with that desire. To pray for a longer time is not the same as to pray by multiplying words, as some people suppose. Lengthy talk is one thing, a prayerful disposition which lasts a long time is another. For it is even written in reference to the Lord himself that he spent the night in prayer and that he prayed at great length. Was he not giving us an example by this? In time, he prays when it is appropriate, and in eternity, he hears our prayers with the Father.
The monks in Egypt are said to offer frequent prayers, but these are very short and hurled like swift javelins. Otherwise their watchful attention, a very necessary quality for anyone at prayer, could be dulled and could disappear through protracted delays. They also clearly demonstrate through this practice that a person must not quickly divert such attention if it lasts, just as one must not allow it to be blunted if it cannot last.
Excessive talking should be kept out of prayer but that does not mean that one should not spend much time in prayer so long as a fervent attitude continues to accompany his prayer. To talk at length in prayer is to perform a necessary action with an excess of words. To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervour at the door of the one whom we beseech. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech. He places our tears in his sight, and our sighs are not hidden from him, for he has established all things through his Word and does not seek human words.
One of my favourite passages was yesterday
Luke 18:1-8
Douay-Rheims
18 And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint,
2 Saying: There was a judge in a certain city, who feared not God, nor regarded man.
3 And there was a certain widow in that city, and she came to him, saying: Avenge me of my adversary.
4 And he would not for a long time. But afterwards he said within himself: Although I fear not God, nor regard man,
5 Yet because this widow is troublesome to me, I will avenge her, lest continually coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said: Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in their regard?
8 I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?
Finally, the fruition of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
Psalm 22
Douay-Rheims
22 A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.
2 He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:
3 He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake.
4 For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
5 Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!
6 And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.
Do not think that the fruits of the Holy Spirit will come into being without all the blocks of the soul, mind, and body being removed.
Here is a reminder of these fruits: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity (another name for kindness), goodness, long suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity.
Why is it that the fruits of the Holy Spirit do not come into fullness without the Dark Night of the Senses/
The answer is simple. We all have huge blocks in our souls to the growth of these fruits.
Blocks can be seen as one-to-one correspondences with the fruits.
Selfishness block love or charity.
Anxiety and internal chaos blocks peace.
Impatience, of course, blocks patience, as does anger.
Kindness is also blocked by impatience, anger, greed, and judgement.
Goodness is blocked by concupiscence and tendencies towards sin. Greed also blocks goodness.
Long suffering is blocked by impatience, anger and pride.
Mildness is blocked by pride.
Faith is blocked by greed, selfishness, and anxiety.
Modesty is blocked by pride and selfishness, lust and greed.
Continency is blocked by lust.
Chastity is also blocked by lust and selfishness.
And, so on. One could look at one's own main faults and do a one-to-one check list.
One's particular faults block all these fruits.
To be continued.....
King David Again
David, as tradition tells us, had a heart like God's. This means that he loved God.
St. John of the Cross writes that David "affirms that a person obtains in this night these four benefits: the delight of peace; a habitual remembrance of God, and solicitude concerning Him; cleanness and purity of soul; and the practice of virtue."
Psalm 77 reveals this movement of the soul for us.
"My soul refused consolations, I remembered God and found consolation, and exercised my self, and my soul swooned away...I meditated at night in my heart, and I exercised myself, and swept and purified my spirit..."
What a correct description of the Dark Night of the passive purification this is.
St. John notes that anger and impatience leave one at this stage of the passive purification. One becomes accepting of one's slow progress towards union and one accepts one's sinful nature with patience, realizing that God wills for one to become perfect.
The clearest sign of King David's holiness is his freedom of spirit. This liberty comes through the passive purgation.
And, just as the theological and cardinal virtues come out in the Dark Night, so, too, the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are free to flourish. I shall write more about this later today.
Again, we all have these fruits, but none of these are operative without the experience of purgation.....
to be continued...
Sunday, 20 October 2013
A good tweet for thought today
Politeness is a way of showing externally the internal regard we have for others. Good manners are the shadows cast by virtues. Fulton Sheen
Practicing the Virtues in the Dark Night
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| Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice |
A new trust in God, which is a trust in the unknown overwhelms the soul. God's peace grows. One must, of course, grow into a new trust and a new reliance on Divine Providence. Constantly, one thinks on God and if one's thoughts go away from God, one's thoughts come back to God quickly.
Then, and only then, is one finally living in the life of the virtues. As one is no longer motivated, as St. John of Cross writes, by the seeking of consolations or "satisfaction", one begins to work in and for God alone and not for the ego.
This is the largest weakness of Catholics working in and for the Church. So many do not work through the Dark Night to the point of being free enough to allow the virtues to come to the fore.
One feels and sees one's weaknesses, states St. John and, therefore, one practices fortitude.
One does not see the path clearly, so one lives in faith and hope purely.
One does not need things and no longer pursues the material, so one practices temperance.
One no longer judges others, but only actions, realizing that one is inferior to all other people. This is the virtue of justice.
One in humility sees the world and people more and more as God does and, therefore, lives in the virtue of prudence.
But, to get to this point of actually living the virtues, one must, must, must allow God to purify one's self.
And, one chooses to love freely in the will, willing to love God.
Thus, the cardinal and theological virtues come into being really for the first time in one's life in and through the Dark Night.
If one can think that a person can live in the virtues without this purification, one is lying to one's self. So many activities in the Church come from those who are acting out of egotism and not the virtues. And, so the Church is weakened from within.
to be continued.....
The Dryness of the Dark Night Two
Sometimes, in the Dark Night, God brings one to a taste of His Great Love. We do not will this or even ask for it. This just happens. This good is not continuous in the Dark Night. And, one does not even perceive the Love of God in the beginning. One merely becomes more aware of the desire to please God above all things and above all people.
The detachment and objectivity which comes are graces of this purification of the senses. One sees one's smallness and misery more and more. The purpose of all this is the emptying of self so that God can fill one's heart and mind and soul.
When one is empty, one is unhindered...without attachments. This is also called holiness. One also sees that most people are better than one is....a good sign of the benefits of the Dark Night. To get to this stage, one must face a great deal of humiliation. There is no holiness without humility.
The Psalms of David provide all of us with the great journey of the Dark Night into complete Union.
The detachment and objectivity which comes are graces of this purification of the senses. One sees one's smallness and misery more and more. The purpose of all this is the emptying of self so that God can fill one's heart and mind and soul.
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Muledeerleavenworth.jpg |
When one is empty, one is unhindered...without attachments. This is also called holiness. One also sees that most people are better than one is....a good sign of the benefits of the Dark Night. To get to this stage, one must face a great deal of humiliation. There is no holiness without humility.
The Psalms of David provide all of us with the great journey of the Dark Night into complete Union.
Psalm 41
Douay-Rheims
1 Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Core.
2 As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
3 My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?
4 My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?
5 These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.
6 Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance,
7 And my God. My soul is troubled within myself: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill.
8 Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me.
9 In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life.
10 I will say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me?
11 Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me; Whilst they say to me day be day: Where is thy God?
12 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.
The Dryness of the Dark Night
This attitude takes great faith.
That is the whole point.
One does not find sweetness and delight in anything. Here I sit in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and it does not matter to my soul.
I have not created this detachment, but God has. Why? Because all distractions, even beauty and inclinations towards beauty must be destroyed. While the outward "man" dies, the inward "man" becomes stronger and more solicitous to the things of God.
I desire to be more alone and to use a phrase from St. John of the Cross, "in quietude". Simple contemplation requires solitude. Do not let liberal teachers, either nuns or priests, tell you that you are contemplating until you go through these stages of purification. Do not let those who have not made the journey themselves lead you on into dead ends.
One must move from active contemplation to passive contemplation. One can no longer will meditation or contemplation. This is key to understanding this phase.
All one's efforts are useless. All.
And, one moves beyond the use of the imagination as well.
One moves, as I have written before, from memory to understanding to will.
However, in this desert of thought and imagination, God sometimes comes through to give one consolations.
He does this to encourage one.
Also, there is a mystery of this call. Some people get more consolations than others, but this does not matter.
One cannot compare one's self with another on this road.
To be continued....
Yet one more sign of the decadence in Europe
Malta is about to pass a ssm bill, which I explained a few days ago, which gives gay and lesbians the same rights as heterosexual couples.
I am still reeling from an article this morning in the Times of Malta wherein Fr. Borg, who writes a regular column for that paper, came out for civil unions.
Why such a liberal priest, who is out of touch with the excellent teaching of the Catholic Church is allowed to write such a deceitful stand is beyond me.
And, why the rush in Europe on ssm? Why is this being pushed?
The same with shariah law banking, which is also being pushed through the banking back-door of almost all countries of Europe.
If people want real news, they have to search for it.
Sad, sad days...
I am still reeling from an article this morning in the Times of Malta wherein Fr. Borg, who writes a regular column for that paper, came out for civil unions.
Why such a liberal priest, who is out of touch with the excellent teaching of the Catholic Church is allowed to write such a deceitful stand is beyond me.
And, why the rush in Europe on ssm? Why is this being pushed?
The same with shariah law banking, which is also being pushed through the banking back-door of almost all countries of Europe.
If people want real news, they have to search for it.
Sad, sad days...
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