Friday, 28 March 2014
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Reader Alert
Solemn Vespers for Lætare Sunday (EF) at Saint Mary's, Alexandria, VA, with @InstituteCC. See you there? http://bit.ly/1hwGi4E
Catholic Amish: Leaving or Leaven?
I have been speaking to some people about what I call the "moat mentality" among lay people of a certain ilk. Too many trads fall into this category. These people want to be "Catholic Amish", forgetting that their call is not to leave the world but be leaven in the world.
Leaving or Leaven?
The Bruderhof movement is a great example of community, but it is based on heretical ideas that the entire world is evil. Of course, this idea is either Manichean or Calvinism (or the modern equivalent-Christian Scientism, which believes that all matter is evil).
Heresies which hold that the world is evil see all matter as fallen and not redeemed by Christ.
Catholics believe in the opposite, that God recreated the world on Calvary.
The confusion is in the term "the world". Yes, the immorality of "the world" leads us astray, but the response of the Catholic is not to leave but to be leaven.
If a group developes a "moat mentality", that group becomes a cult.
This last century witnessed the rise of cults, including Christian cults.
Now, I was in a community for seven years. This was an urban community of 2,000 people. On the whole, the experience proved to be beneficial to my spiritual growth, and especially to developing a life of discipline.
This group was not cultic. However, many cults attracted people of my generation, people who wanted both a spirituality and structure.
Sadly, too many traditional Catholics have become cultic. A cultic group demands that all women dress alike, or that all people pray the same prayers.
Cultic behavior many times encircles a strong personality, such as a strong priest, who is treating his flock like children and not leading them to become adults.
Too many cultic leaders shine in the glow of specialized groupings. This "cult of personality" provides a false security which takes people away from God, away from the Church, and away from their own adult responsibilities.
An adult is one who takes responsibility for his own spiritual life without depending on either a spiritual director or a priest.
To become holy, one must become a responsible, spiritual adult, (a theme of this blog).
If one leaves the mainline Church and becomes cultic, one's soul is in grave danger. One then has a tendency to be more Roman than Rome and more holy than the saints.
None of the saints fell into cultic behavior. Those who were lay people, such as Louis and Zelie Martin, remained in the world as "leaven".
They did not leave the world, but changed it. Such is the call of the lay saint.
Is it hard to stay in the world and be a saint? Yes, but that is our call.
Leaving or Leaven?
The Bruderhof movement is a great example of community, but it is based on heretical ideas that the entire world is evil. Of course, this idea is either Manichean or Calvinism (or the modern equivalent-Christian Scientism, which believes that all matter is evil).
Heresies which hold that the world is evil see all matter as fallen and not redeemed by Christ.
Catholics believe in the opposite, that God recreated the world on Calvary.
The confusion is in the term "the world". Yes, the immorality of "the world" leads us astray, but the response of the Catholic is not to leave but to be leaven.
If a group developes a "moat mentality", that group becomes a cult.
This last century witnessed the rise of cults, including Christian cults.
Now, I was in a community for seven years. This was an urban community of 2,000 people. On the whole, the experience proved to be beneficial to my spiritual growth, and especially to developing a life of discipline.
This group was not cultic. However, many cults attracted people of my generation, people who wanted both a spirituality and structure.
Sadly, too many traditional Catholics have become cultic. A cultic group demands that all women dress alike, or that all people pray the same prayers.
Cultic behavior many times encircles a strong personality, such as a strong priest, who is treating his flock like children and not leading them to become adults.
Too many cultic leaders shine in the glow of specialized groupings. This "cult of personality" provides a false security which takes people away from God, away from the Church, and away from their own adult responsibilities.
An adult is one who takes responsibility for his own spiritual life without depending on either a spiritual director or a priest.
To become holy, one must become a responsible, spiritual adult, (a theme of this blog).
If one leaves the mainline Church and becomes cultic, one's soul is in grave danger. One then has a tendency to be more Roman than Rome and more holy than the saints.
None of the saints fell into cultic behavior. Those who were lay people, such as Louis and Zelie Martin, remained in the world as "leaven".
They did not leave the world, but changed it. Such is the call of the lay saint.
Is it hard to stay in the world and be a saint? Yes, but that is our call.
Looking Ahead
A clever mom asked me advice on what to do if home schooling becomes illegal. Short of immigrating to Greenland, I think one could consider these possibilities.
One, starting a home schooling school, which I tried to do in this area with another mom six years ago. The talk I presented to moms and dads attracted about 130 people. We divided a discussion group into high school and elementary school children and parents. The idea was to have me and others pool resources to have a school based on home schooling, or just classes. Of course, with the tyranny of the Common Core and the fact that the new ACT will reflect the CC, parents may not be able to avoid some rules.
Two, a school may be started easily. I highly suggest looking at the NAPCIS site. I helped start up several grade and high schools from scratch, as well as a college. This is easier than one would think.
Three, setting up a long-distance learning company and include students at home or in home schooling schools which would be legal in some states.
The most important thing, however, is to train your children in the virtues early in order to become saints, now. If the tyranny in the US continues, your children will be taken away from you.
Look at my long series on virtue training and home schooling from last summer.
One, starting a home schooling school, which I tried to do in this area with another mom six years ago. The talk I presented to moms and dads attracted about 130 people. We divided a discussion group into high school and elementary school children and parents. The idea was to have me and others pool resources to have a school based on home schooling, or just classes. Of course, with the tyranny of the Common Core and the fact that the new ACT will reflect the CC, parents may not be able to avoid some rules.
Two, a school may be started easily. I highly suggest looking at the NAPCIS site. I helped start up several grade and high schools from scratch, as well as a college. This is easier than one would think.
Three, setting up a long-distance learning company and include students at home or in home schooling schools which would be legal in some states.
The most important thing, however, is to train your children in the virtues early in order to become saints, now. If the tyranny in the US continues, your children will be taken away from you.
Look at my long series on virtue training and home schooling from last summer.
The Trad Blind Guides
Christ Himself told us we would be persecuted, and the Church has seen this over and over and over.
If you are watching daily news on television, you are being duped. If you are not praying for discernment, you will be deceived. If you are sinning and refuse to repent, you will not have the discernment to see what God is telling all of us.
I hear the laity weekly blaming the priests for abandoning their flocks. What about fathers and lay leaders abandoning their wives and children to the world?
St. Timothy in this short passage warned us.
2 Timothy 3:12
Douay-Rheims
12 And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.
I cannot convince people who are in denial about the role of the Catholic laity in days to come. All I can do is to teach people how to become holy in order to face these days.
Why are there so many trad Catholics who are refusing to face what is happening across the globe concerning the daily martyrdom of Christians?
Why are Catholics who are traditional sending their children to schools which have adopted Common Core?
You will lose your children to the evil one if you do this. They will be indoctrinated to the point where they will turn against you.
That parents and single people act as though everything in this country is the same scandalizes me.
When times get tough, old people will be tempted to suicide, and young people will capitulate to the new world order.
Yet, talk after Mass is full of trivia, as if the powers of evil have not begun a huge assault.
Wake up, trad Catholics, please.
Your souls and the souls of your children are at stake.
Do you think that merely going to Latin Mass will save you without good works, without working on daily holiness in your families, with your friends?
Do you think that the saying of the rosary will protect your children from brainwashing if you send them to Common Core schools?
Do you think and talk about things and money more than thinking and talking about God and His ways?
Do you think you are going to live in the same world, in the same manner as your parents?
It is the duty of the parent to protect the child, and it is the duty of the laity to try and change society.
But, if people are not admitting the evil is growing and forming a circle around them, they may perish, spiritually.
Pray for those who cannot see, or worse, do not want to see, the signs of the times.
God has warned us in history, in the Scriptures. Any prophet crying "Peace in our days" is false. Anyone not forming children in the way of virtue will be judged harshly by God. Anyone thinking that the forms of religion are enough to save one, is no better than the Sadducees and Pharisees.
Matthew 24
Douay-Rheims
24 And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.
3 And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?
4 And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you:
5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many.
6 And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places:
8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many.
12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.
13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.
15 When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.
16 Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains:
17 And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat.
19 And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days.
20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath.
21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.
22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him.
24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.
25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.
26 If therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not.
27 For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.
28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.
31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
32 And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.
33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.
34 Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.
36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.
37 And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark,
39 And they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left.
42 Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come.
43 But know this ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.
44 Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.
45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season.
46 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.
47 Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods.
48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:
49 And shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with drunkards:
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not:
51 And shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
The Forgotten Past Has Been Romanticized
The more I speak with young people who were not born until after Vatican II, the more I realize that many people have a romanticized view of the pre-Vatican II Church.
I remember well the old Church and can assure people that many of the things which create unpleasant feelings in liturgies or among Catholics had counterparts in the pre-Vat Church.
Did people complain about priests? Yes!
Did people complain about the music? Yes!
Were people critical of dry sermons, or sermons which were without scholarship? Yes!
Did people complain of sermons on raising money? Yes!
Priests were less engaged in the daily lives of their parishioner on some levels. For example, priests in certain urban or rural communities could visit the parishioners and bless houses, but in some areas, the priest shortage began before Vatican II.
Priests rarely talked about politics. If they did, it was about communism and socialism as evils in general.
Priests did not talk about sexual matters at all. Things like adultery or the growing promiscuity of the larger culture were not mentioned from the pulpit. Nor were books or movies discussed from the pulpit.
At daily Mass, most priests did not have sermons at all.
Where there were large religious orders, people saw nuns and monks more than in rural areas, or highly protestant areas. Some people today say that there daughters have never seen a nun in a habit. That is tragic.
But, there have always been areas where nuns were scarce. To romanticize that America was highly Catholic is not to look at the real history of the Church here in the States.
This country has always been Protestant first.
People also romanticize about how active the priests were in leading groups.
To be fair, there were more lay leaders in activities pre-Vatican II than now.
Men's and women's groups were found in every parish. Now, most parishes do not have Altar and Rosary Societies, or the Sodality of Mary, or the Children of Mary, or the Legion of Mary, or the Holy Name Society.
The laity were not sheep, but active members of groups, including financial groups which aided in fund raising and being accountants in churches.
Some men and women in my diocese when I was a child were Benedictine Oblates. Some were Third Order Carmelites.
It is the liberalization of some of these orders which led to the laity not pursuing membership.
In my own family, over 100 hundred years ago, the laity published and wrote for two Catholic magazines, help found a grade school, help found a large monastery, organized international Catholic charities, wrote Catholic novels, and gave generously to the building of churches.
To think that priests were the only movers and shakers in the "old" church is just not true.
The laity have become less involved in church life, rather than more so.
And to believe the priest had responsibility for every detail of parish life is just a myth.
A priest or two or even three could not do all the things people think priests did pre-Vatican II.
And, there is only one Fulton J. Sheen....
Do not romanticize the past. Do not burden your priests with unrealistic expectations. Do not think that the laity should not be very, very active in the Church.
I remember well the old Church and can assure people that many of the things which create unpleasant feelings in liturgies or among Catholics had counterparts in the pre-Vat Church.
Did people complain about priests? Yes!
Did people complain about the music? Yes!
Were people critical of dry sermons, or sermons which were without scholarship? Yes!
Did people complain of sermons on raising money? Yes!
Priests were less engaged in the daily lives of their parishioner on some levels. For example, priests in certain urban or rural communities could visit the parishioners and bless houses, but in some areas, the priest shortage began before Vatican II.
Priests rarely talked about politics. If they did, it was about communism and socialism as evils in general.
Priests did not talk about sexual matters at all. Things like adultery or the growing promiscuity of the larger culture were not mentioned from the pulpit. Nor were books or movies discussed from the pulpit.
At daily Mass, most priests did not have sermons at all.
Where there were large religious orders, people saw nuns and monks more than in rural areas, or highly protestant areas. Some people today say that there daughters have never seen a nun in a habit. That is tragic.
But, there have always been areas where nuns were scarce. To romanticize that America was highly Catholic is not to look at the real history of the Church here in the States.
This country has always been Protestant first.
People also romanticize about how active the priests were in leading groups.
To be fair, there were more lay leaders in activities pre-Vatican II than now.
Men's and women's groups were found in every parish. Now, most parishes do not have Altar and Rosary Societies, or the Sodality of Mary, or the Children of Mary, or the Legion of Mary, or the Holy Name Society.
The laity were not sheep, but active members of groups, including financial groups which aided in fund raising and being accountants in churches.
Some men and women in my diocese when I was a child were Benedictine Oblates. Some were Third Order Carmelites.
It is the liberalization of some of these orders which led to the laity not pursuing membership.
In my own family, over 100 hundred years ago, the laity published and wrote for two Catholic magazines, help found a grade school, help found a large monastery, organized international Catholic charities, wrote Catholic novels, and gave generously to the building of churches.
To think that priests were the only movers and shakers in the "old" church is just not true.
The laity have become less involved in church life, rather than more so.
And to believe the priest had responsibility for every detail of parish life is just a myth.
A priest or two or even three could not do all the things people think priests did pre-Vatican II.
And, there is only one Fulton J. Sheen....
Do not romanticize the past. Do not burden your priests with unrealistic expectations. Do not think that the laity should not be very, very active in the Church.
Are you fighting the wrong battles? Could be a sign of spiritual sloth.
Christ said this of us:
Matthew 5:13-16
Douay-Rheims
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.
16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
But, too many Catholics are not being salt or light. The main reason for this is the lack of their own holiness. The mediocre cannot be salt or light.
A second reason has been the clericalization of the laity, a theme on my own blog in 2007 or so. Too many lay people want to be seen being Eucharistic Ministers, or readers.
But, the third reason is more subtle.
The vast majority of the laity are picking up battles which are not theirs to fight. We are not clergy, we do not work in the Vatican or have influence in the chancery offices.
We are not privy to what goes on in the deanery meetings regarding priestly formation.
We are lay.
So what fights are the laity picking up which are not their "business" and what fights should we be fighting?
One, wherever we live or work, our first job is to evangelize or re-evangelize our siblings and co-workers. We should be honest, and defend the Church when we can. We should not be accepting evil. We should be reaching out to the unbelievers.
When I had my own house, no unmarried couples stayed as guests in the same room. That is a decision of a real lay Catholic.
When I had my own house, and it was Friday, only fish or vegetarian dinners were served. That was showing solidarity with the entire Church, and under my watch as the cook.
As a teacher and a tutor, I only spoke the truth. I never inflated grades or compromised the Faith.
That is what we as lay people are called to do. Be salt in the world.
It is not our job to tell bishops or cardinals what to do. Can we pray? Yes.
Example. Too many lay people waste time working on the consecration of Russia. Folks, this is not our business, but the Pope's and the bishops'.
Example. Too many lay people waste time praying for changes in the Church regarding apparitions. Folks, this is not our business, but the bishops' and the Pope's.
They have their area of authority and we have ours.
The fact that the lay men and women in the Church are weak is the fault of the faithful laity.
I see this weekly.
Why are not Catholic men and women talking to others in the congregation about the evils of Common Core and not having kids in the public schools? Why are they not presenting the need for home schooling if there are no independent Catholic schools in the area not using Common Core? Your children's involvement in education is your business, primarily.
Why are Catholic men and women accepting discussions about petitions to Rome on topics the bishops and Pope need to decide, rather than talking about things we can do daily to make the Church strong?
Why are Catholic men and women not supporting pro-life candidates actively? Why are the laity not running for office when some can afford this?
Why are Catholic men and women not steering their peers away from yoga classes, Reiki, chiropractic procedures, certain occult books their children are reading, and so on?
Why are Catholic men and women not telling Catholic home schoolers not to use protestant books, which are slanted against the Church; parents continuing to give money to those publishers which hate the Catholic Church?
Why are men and women not speaking to those in the TLM who are calling Francis a fake Pope, which he is not, but our true Pope?
Why are men and women at the TLM saying that the NO is invalid, when it is not? Why do some not receive Communion at the NO, giving bad example and being holier than Rome?
Why are men and women pretending that members of their own families are not exhibiting evil, those who are living in serious sin, and not just sexual, instead of facing this and dealing with this?
Why are parents not teaching their children the Faith in the home, not disciplining, not forming the children in the virtues?Why are Catholics not boycotting stores like Starbucks or brand names like Pepsi, one of the biggest supporters of PP? Lay people buy things and need to lead in boycotts, not the clergy. One of my TLM priests relied on me to give him boycott details.
Why are so many of the laity not studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or not reading such documents as Jesus Christ, Bearer of the Water of Life?
Why are the laity wasting time with old forms of groups which do not speak to the times and not forming new groups?
To be a lay person is hard.
To not follow Rome is to be a protestant, either on the left or on the right.
To not follow Rome is to be a protestant, either on the left or on the right.
We are the Church Militant, not the Church Pansy.
It is easier to concentrate on things not under our authority than to deal with things that are. But, this is spiritual sloth.
Think about this. If you are not acting like a lay person, not living up to your baptismal vows, even though you are attending the TLM, your own soul may be in danger for not living out your vocation.
The Church is not a democracy, folks. It is a hierarchy. And the lay life is not that of the clerics.
Period.
Prayer for the Beatification and Canonization of Father John Anthony Hardon
Almighty God, You gave Your servant,
Father John Anthony Hardon of the Society of Jesus,
the grace of religious and priestly consecration after the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Father John Anthony Hardon of the Society of Jesus,
the grace of religious and priestly consecration after the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Through Father Hardon,
You provided for your Flock an extraordinary teacher of the faith.
You provided for your Flock an extraordinary teacher of the faith.
You entrusted Father Hardon into the loving
care of the Blessed Virgin Mary
whose counsel, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5)
he faithfully followed and whose intercession he unceasingly invoked.
care of the Blessed Virgin Mary
whose counsel, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5)
he faithfully followed and whose intercession he unceasingly invoked.
If it be Your holy will, please grant the request I now make,
calling upon the help of Father Hardon,
so that his heroic sanctity may be recognized in the whole Church.
calling upon the help of Father Hardon,
so that his heroic sanctity may be recognized in the whole Church.
I ask this through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
with You and the Holy Spirit, is one God forever and ever.
Amen.
with You and the Holy Spirit, is one God forever and ever.
Amen.
All favors granted should be reported in writing to :
The Father John A. Hardon, S. J. , Archive and Guild
4440 Maryland Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108-2402
Please pray to him that the obstacles keeping me from England are removed. Thanks.
What part of this does this government not get?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Grumpy STM time
Please, trads, do not let your little children eat in Mass. There is no need for this.
The Cheerios brigade has invaded out Traditional Latin Mass. I cannot understand this.
Feed the kids in the car, or before you leave for Mass.
I think the problem is that there is a certain generation of parents who have not learned appropriateness in certain locations.
I took my son to plays when he was five; to concerts, earlier than that, as he started violin at three.
No one eats at a concert or a play.
Why at Holy Mass?
Is it laziness on the part of the mums, or is it the belief that a three year old or a six year old cannot go without food for two hours?
I am really shocked that this is happening at the TLM.
I grew up pre-Vatican II and no kids ate in Mass, except babies with bottles or nursing babies.
What is the problem?
The Cheerios brigade has invaded out Traditional Latin Mass. I cannot understand this.
Feed the kids in the car, or before you leave for Mass.
I think the problem is that there is a certain generation of parents who have not learned appropriateness in certain locations.
I took my son to plays when he was five; to concerts, earlier than that, as he started violin at three.
No one eats at a concert or a play.
Why at Holy Mass?
Is it laziness on the part of the mums, or is it the belief that a three year old or a six year old cannot go without food for two hours?
I am really shocked that this is happening at the TLM.
I grew up pre-Vatican II and no kids ate in Mass, except babies with bottles or nursing babies.
What is the problem?
Sigh...got one today or rather, yesterday
Recently, I have seen that the seminaries have turned from true spiritual direction to psychology. One sem told me that the discussions in spiritual direction involve to much “understanding” sin but not dealing with repentance.
Are we raising another generation of priests who do not know how to deal with sin because they themselves are not taught the road to holiness in the seminaries? I have seen this here in the Midwest, where some directors do not lead the young men into prayer or fasting, leading to metanoia, but merely to the so-called “pastoral”. This type of direction depends on the seminary.
To find an excellent confessor is rare because of the lack of sensitivity towards sin and repentance not being emphasized in some seminaries. We need to pray for holy priests in training. Without that, more mediocre priests will be leading the laity astray.
Prayers, Please
Now that both eyes are "done", I am experiencing the time wherein I have no glasses that work for two weeks. Also, some not too serious complications on right eye-so keep me in your prayers.
It snowed here again, and we are all waiting for warmer weather. This winter has been long and difficult for many.
Am waiting for answers to prayers!
Cardinals have returned to the area.
It snowed here again, and we are all waiting for warmer weather. This winter has been long and difficult for many.
Am waiting for answers to prayers!
Cardinals have returned to the area.
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
A Saint for Our Times
Did you know a prominent scientist who first identify dinosaur teeth and laid the grounds for natural selection, was beatified in 1988? He also discovered the fact that stuff found in rocks could be dated as existing before human beings.
Interesting.
He converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism. Blessed Nicholas Stenor is a man to be reckoned with both intellectually and spiritually. He was a geologist and discovered attributes of crystals as well.
Here is a note on his conversion: After making comparative theological studies, including reading the Church Fathers and by using his natural observational skills, he decided that Catholicism, rather than Lutheranism, provided more sustenance for his constant inquisitiveness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Steno
Google did a Google doodle for him two years ago.
Jan 11, 2012
He converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism. Blessed Nicholas Stenor is a man to be reckoned with both intellectually and spiritually. He was a geologist and discovered attributes of crystals as well.
Here is a note on his conversion: After making comparative theological studies, including reading the Church Fathers and by using his natural observational skills, he decided that Catholicism, rather than Lutheranism, provided more sustenance for his constant inquisitiveness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Steno
Google did a Google doodle for him two years ago.
Known as the father of stratigraphy and geology, Nicholas Steno worked to understand history by what he could find in the ground. Rather than simply write books about his findings, Steno opted to do his own hands-on research. As an innovative thinker, he disagreed with his contemporaries in thinking that shark-tooth-shaped objects found imbedded in rocks "fell from the sky." Instead, Steno argued that these formations were fossils. His dedication to analysis, critical thinking, and creative thinking make him a great subject for a Google doodle!
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