A great article on Dem reactions to Ryan, plus two more

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2012/aug/11/paul-ryan-murders-puppies-and-kittens/

This is so funny as to be true....or so true, as to be funny.

How can they say such things about Paul Ryan?

And, here is an older article, but valid for understanding Ryan's influence. And, update: here is another great article.

Fun on a Sunday--which Jane Austen lady are you?

OK Ladies, this is for you on a sunny, Sunday morning in England.

Which Jane Austen character are you? This is for plain fun and this blogger gives a BIG disclaimer. Do not base much on it but enjoyment. You who read this might have fun guessing which one I came out to be.

Thanks to Gibson Girl for the link.

http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php

Guest Blogger JonathanCatholic

The Spouse of God

As I was mediating on the beginning of the Gospel according to St. Luke, and wondering about what to write about in my weekly post this time, my thoughts fell upon Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s wonderful work “The Glories of Mary,” particularly one small statement within this book that Protestants often misunderstand and take as a lie. There is a passage from the second chapter of St. Luke that inspired me to turn my thoughts to Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and contrary to the misunderstandings, if you understand what the blessed Saint is saying, it opens up a beautiful meditation on the relationship between the Blessed Virgin, the Church, and the Triune God.

Here is the passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke that prompted my mediations:

“And his (Christ’s) parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the Pasch, And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her Heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.”- St. Luke 2:41-52

This is truly a remarkable passage! Here is the passage from “The Glories of Mary” that it reminded me of:

“He (Our Lord Jesus Christ) has supreme dominion over all and also over Mary; nevertheless, it can always be said that for a time at least, when He was living in this world, He was pleased to humble himself and be subject (in obedience) to Mary. Says St. Ambrose, ‘Jesus Christ having deigned to make Mary His Mother, inasmuch as He was her Son, He was truly obliged to obey her.’ And for this reason, says Richard of St. Laurence, ‘Of other Saints we say that they are with God; but of Mary alone can it be said that she was so far favored as to be not only herself submissive to the will of God, but even that God was subject to her will.’

Therefore we say that, even though Mary can no longer command her Son, since they are not on earth any more, still her prayers are always the prayers of a Mother and are therefore most powerful in obtaining whatever she asks…

‘The prayers of our Lady, being the prayers of a Mother, have in them something of a command; so it is impossible for her not to be heard.’- Saint Antonine”

These two passages teach us truly the level of humility that God the Son assumed to Himself in becoming man. As St. Paul says in his epistle to the Philippians, ‘He humbled Himself, taking on the nature of a slave,” and likewise says in his epistle to the Galatians, ‘In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a Woman, born under the Law.’ The One who is Almighty and who never ceased to be the Almighty, deigned to assume human nature so fully and so completely that He indeed was obedient to His Mother, and not only his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Lest we forget the magnitude of the glory of the great Saint, Joseph, let us remember that is says here – wonder of wonders! – that God the Son incarnate truly was subject in obedience to him as well, in addition to Mary His Mother. This is an incredible point that is often overlooked, it seems, in the Church Militant. I will continue this theme of Our Lord being subject to Our Lady in my next post.

Newman and Perfection Continued

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman gives us a clear view of the mind of modern man. He not only knew his history, and the history of ideas, but also how thinking changes a person's view of virtue.

Here is a quotation from Oxford Sermon 8, one of those I have been examining in the past few days. As I was defining and examining the great sins, here is Newman perfectly describing sloth and cowardice, as well as acedia, that melancholy which causes inaction in the spiritual life and a cynicism.

And it must be confessed, so great is the force of passion and of habit, when once allowed to take possession of the heart, that these men seem to have in their actual state, nay in their past experience, long before the time of their present obduracy, an infallible witness in behalf of their doctrine. In subduing our evil nature, the first steps alone are in our own power; a few combats seem to decide the solemn question, to decide whether the sovereignty is with the spirit or the flesh; nisi paret, imperat, is become a proverb. When once the enemy of our souls "comes in like a flood," what hope is there that he ever will be expelled? And what servitude can be compared to the bondage which follows, when we wish to do right, yet are utterly powerless to do it? whether we be slaves to some imperious {146} passion, hushed indeed in its victim's ordinary mood, and allowing the recurrence of better thoughts and purposes, but rising suddenly and sternly, in his evil hour, to its easy and insulting triumph; or, on the other hand, to some cold sin which overhangs and deadens the mind, sloth, for instance, or cowardice, binding it down with ten thousand subtle fastenings to the earth, nor suffering it such motion as might suffice it for a renewal of the contest. Such, in its worst forms, is the condition of the obdurate sinner; who, feeling his weakness, but forgetting that he ever had strength, and the promise of aid from above, at length learns to acquiesce in his misery as if the lot of his nature, and resolves neither to regret nor to hope.

In the modern world, we make psychological excuses for such sin, blaming our character or personalities or weaknesses. In a sense, we are actually blaming God directly when we do this and that is the sin of pride.

Next he amuses his reason with the melancholy employment of reducing his impressions into system; and proves, as he thinks, from the confessed influence of external events, and the analogy of the physical world, that all moral phenomena proceed according to a fixed law, and that we are not more to blame when we sin than when we die.

19. (2.) The Calvinistic doctrine, if not the result, is at least the forerunner of a similar neglect of the doctrine of human responsibility. Whatever be the fallacies of its argumentative basis, viewed as a character of mind, it miscalculates the power of the affections, as fatalism does that of the passions. Its practical error is that of supposing that certain motives and views, presented to the heart and conscience, produce certain effects as their necessary consequence, no room being left for the resistance of the will, or for self-discipline, as the medium by which faith and holiness are connected {147} together. 

In other words, holiness takes effort. Newman succinctly describes the sensual person, who falls away from discernment and the habits of virtue.

 Nor is there among the theories of the world any more congenial to the sated and remorseful sensualist, who, having lost the command of his will, feels that if he is to be converted, it must be by some sudden and violent excitement. On the other hand, it will always have its advocates among the young and earnest-minded, who, not having that insight into their hearts which experience gives, think that to know is to obey, and that their habitual love of the Truth may be measured by their momentary admiration of it. And {148} it is welcomed by the indolent, who care not for the Scripture warnings of the narrowness of the way of life, provided they can but assure themselves that it is easy to those who are in it; and who readily ascribe the fewness of those who find it, not to the difficulty of connecting faith and works, but to a Divine frugality in the dispensation of the gifts of grace.

As Catholics, we know the remedies for these sins: obedience to the teaching of the Church, prayer, the sacraments, and practicing the life of the virtues.

I use photos and pictures of Newman as an older man, but remember, he was in his early thirties when he gave these amazing sermons. One is in awe of his mind and his soul.

to be continued...

Newman on Natural Law--part of seeking perfection

That we are accountable for what we do and what we are,—that, in spite of all aids or hindrances from without, each soul is the cause of its own happiness or misery,—is a truth certified to us both by Nature and Revelation. Nature conveys it to us in the feeling of guilt and remorse, which implies self-condemnation. In the Scriptures, on the other hand, it is the great prevailing principle throughout, in every age of the world, and through every Dispensation. The change of times, the varieties of religious knowledge, the gifts of grace, interfere not with the integrity of this momentous truth. Praise to the obedient, punishment on the transgressor, is the revealed rule of God's government from the beginning to the consummation of all things. The fall of Adam did not abolish, nor do the provisions of Gospel-mercy supersede it.

The operation of the same deceit discovers itself in our mode of judging the conduct of others; whether, in the boldness with which we blame in them what, under other circumstances, we allow in ourselves; or, again, in the false charity which we exercise towards them. For instance, the vices of the young are often regarded by beholders with an irrational indulgence, on the ground (as it is said) that youth ever will be wanton and impetuous; which is only saying, if put into plain language, that there are temptations which are not intended as trials of our obedience. Or when, {143} as lately, the lower orders rise up against the powers that be, in direct opposition to the word of Scripture, they are excused on the ground of their rulers being bigoted and themselves enlightened; or because they feel themselves capable of exercising more power; or because they have the example of other nations to incite them to do so; or simply (the more common excuse) because they have the means of doing so: as if loyalty could be called a virtue when men cannot be disloyal, or obedience had any praise when it became a constraint. In like manner, there is a false charity, which, on principle, takes the cause of heresy under its protection; and, instead of condemning it, as such, busies itself in fancying the possible circumstances which may, in this or that particular instance, excuse it; as if outward fortunes could change the nature of truth or of moral excellence, or as if, admitting the existence of unavoidable misbelief to be conceivable, yet it were not the duty of the Christian to take things as they are given us in Scripture, as they are in themselves, and as they are on the whole, instead of fastening upon exceptions to the rule, or attempting to ascertain that combination and balance of circumstances, in favour of individuals, which is only known to the Omniscient Judge.

Brilliant Pick!

I have been a Paul Ryan fan since I lived in Wisconsin and heard him at a convention there. That he is highly intelligent, pro-life, fiscally on cue, and a great Catholic makes him a fantastic choice for vice-president. Romney is showing forward-thinking and leadership in his choice. Good one!

Saints of the Day

I have four liturgical calendars in my head. One, is the Tridentine, which celebrates the Wonder-Worker, St. Philomena today. In the Novus Ordo, it is St. Clare. In my Monastic Diurnal, it is St. Tiburtius, martyr and St. Clare is tomorrow. In the Byzantine Catholic Church, the fast leading up to the Dormition of Mary is in effect and possibly SS. Passarion, Susanna and Gaius plus companions, are celebrated. 

It is also, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the celebration of the Miracle at Corfu against the Turks in 1716 with the intercession of St. Spyridon saving the day. Here is the history of that miracle from Wiki, of all places: 

At that time the Turkish army and naval force led by the great Sultan Achmet III appeared in Butrinto opposite Corfu.

On July 8 the Turkish fleet carrying 33,000 men sailed to Corfu from Butrinto and established a beachhead in Ipsos. The same day the Venetian fleet encountered the Turkish fleet off the channel of Corfu and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle. On July 19 the Turkish army reached the hills of the town and laid siege to the city. After repeated failed attempts and heavy fighting, the Turks were forced to raise the siege which had lasted 22 days.

There were also rumours spreading among the Turks that some of their soldiers saw St. Spyridon as a monk threatening them with a lit torch and that helped increase their panic. This victory over the Turks, therefore, was attributed not only to the leadership of Count Schulenburg who commanded the stubborn defence of the island against the Turks but also to the miraculous intervention of St. Spyridon.

After the victorious outcome of the battle, Venice honoured Schulenburg and the Corfiotes for successfully defending the island. The great composer Vivaldi was commissioned to write an opera, Juditha triumphans, in celebration of the victory.

I left the links on for your enjoyment.

Pray to all of them today...why not?

 I do not know if this indicates a richness in the Church or too much diversity. Take your pick.

More Newman for reflection, against the modernist heresies

I could not resist. Here is more Newman from the Oxford Sermons against relativism and the fallacy that Catholicism has nothing to do with governments, which is the Masonic idea that religion has no place in the public sphere of politics.

And others, not being able to acquiesce in the unimportance of doctrinal truth, yet perplexed at the difficulties in the course of human affairs, which follow on the opposite view, accustom themselves gratuitously to distinguish between their public and private duties, and to judge of them by separate rules. These are often such as begin by assuming some extravagant or irrelevant test for ascertaining the existence of religious principle in others, and so are led to think it is nowhere to be found, not in the true Church more than in the sects which surround it; and thus, regarding all men (to speak generally) as equally far from the Truth, and strangers to that divine regeneration which Christ bestows on His elect few, and, on the other hand, seeing that men, as cast together in society, must cooperate on some or other principles, they drop the strict principles of Scripture in their civil relations, give no preference to those who honour the Church over those who profess opinions disrespectful towards it; perhaps take up the notion that the State, as such, has nothing to do with the subject of religion; praise and blame according to a different standard from that which Christianity reveals; and all this while cherish, perhaps, in their secret thoughts a definite creed, rigid in its decisions, stimulating in its influence, in spite of the mildness, and submissiveness, and liberality of sentiment, which their public mode of speaking and acting seems to evidence. {131}

And, he warns us against the rising neo-paganism and even New Age junk-religion.

The world really brings no new argument to its aid,—nothing beyond its own assertion. In the very outset Christians allow that its teaching is contrary to Revelation, and not to be taken as authority; nevertheless, afterwards, this mere unargumentative teaching, which, when viewed in theory, formed no objection to the truth of the Inspired Word, yet, when actually heard in the intercourse of life, converts them, more or less, to the service of the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience." It assails their imagination. The world sweeps by in long procession;—its principalities and powers, its Babel of languages, the astrologers of Chaldæa, the horse and its rider and the chariots of Egypt, Baal and Ashtoreth and their false worship; and those who witness, feel its fascination; they flock after it; with a strange fancy, they ape its gestures, and dote upon its mummeries; and then, should they perchance fall in with the simple solemn services of Christ's Church, and hear her witnesses going the round of Gospel truths as when they left them: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;" "Be sober, be vigilant;" "Strait is the gate, narrow the way;" "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself;" "He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief:"—how utterly unreal do these appear, and the preachers of them, how irrational, how puerile!—how extravagant in their opinions, how weak in their reasoning!—and if they profess to pity and {133} bear with them, how nearly does their compassion border on contempt!

Would that we would hear such sermons today! To be continued...

Newman for our times....

I have four posts today quoting Newman, a prophet for our time. One is in awe of the man's intellect, considering his young age when he gave the Oxford Sermons, from which these quotations come....The first post below is a warning on abandoning reason and obedience to the Church. The second reminds us of the need for the life and discipline of the virtues. This third quotation illuminates a problem of the world of 2012. The last one today examines more of the Modernists heresies he describes. Take a look: Newman is relating the idea that superficial, and we could add, materialistic views of life, will not sustain a person in hard times.

I shall just point out three items in this section: one, the vast majority of modern people live at the superficial level, seeking temporary or superficial peace in their daily lives and only wanting "cheerfulness". Two, most people do not believe in serious, mortal, damning sin. All is forgiven, or worse, the frameworks for judging good and evil no longer exist. Three, there are many who no longer believe that doctrines effect their daily lives. These doctrines do cause us to live in the way we choose to live. He is, of course, referring to the heresies of modernism, among them indifferentism. eirenism, and relativism in all of these quotations.  Here is Newman:

But, fairly as this superficial view of human nature answers in peaceful times; speciously as it may argue, innocently as it may experimentalize, in the rare and short-lived intervals of a nation's tranquillity; yet, let persecution or tribulation arise, and forthwith its imbecility is discovered. It is but a theory; it cannot cope with difficulties; it imparts no strength or loftiness of mind; it gains no influence over others. It is at once shattered and crushed in the stern conflict of good and evil; disowned, or rather overlooked, by the combatants on either side, and vanishing, no one knows how or whither.

7. The opinions alluded to in the foregoing remarks, when assuming a definite doctrinal basis, will be found to centre in Socinianism or Theophilanthropism, the {104} name varying according as it admits or rejects the authority of Scripture. And the spirit of this system will be found to infect great numbers of men, who are unconscious of the origin and tendency of their opinions. The essential dogmas of Socinianism are such as these; that the rule of Divine government is one of benevolence, and nothing but benevolence; that evil is but remedial and temporary; that sin is of a venial nature; that repentance is a sufficient atonement for it; that the moral sense is substantially but an instinct of benevolence; and that doctrinal opinions do not influence our character or prospects, nor deserve our serious attention. On the other hand, sentiments of this character are evidently the animating principle of the false cheerfulness, and the ill-founded hope, and the blind charitableness, which I have already assigned to the man of the world.

8. In order to illustrate the untenableness of such propositions as have just been adduced, and hence to show, by way of instance, the shallowness and feebleness of the minds which maintain them, their real feebleness in all practical matters, plausibly or loudly as they may speak during the hour of tranquillity in which they display themselves, it may be useful to make some remarks on what appears to be the real judgment of God upon human sin, as far as it is discernible by the light of nature; not as if any thing new could be said on the subject, but in order to remind ourselves of truths which are peculiarly important in these times.

Newman warned against trusting in the world. His words demonstrate a great wisdom for youth as well as older ones today. Obviously, he understood the wiles of the evil one.

The palmary device of Satan is to address himself to the pride of our nature, and, by the promise of independence, to seduce us into sin. Those who have been brought up in ignorance of the polluting fashions of the world, too often feel a rising in their minds against the discipline and constraint kindly imposed upon them; and, not understanding that their ignorance is their glory, and that they cannot really enjoy both good and evil, they murmur that they are not allowed to essay what they do not wish to practise, or to choose for themselves in {126} matters where the very knowledge seems to them to give a superiority to the children of corruption. Thus the temptation of becoming as gods works as in the beginning, pride opening a door to lust; and then, intoxicated by their experience of evil, they think they possess real wisdom, and take a larger and more impartial view of the nature and destinies of man than religion teaches; and, while the customs of society restrain their avowals within the bounds of propriety, yet in their hearts they learn to believe that sin is a matter of course, not a serious evil, a failing in which all have share, indulgently to be spoken of, or rather, in the case of each individual, to be taken for granted, and passed over in silence; and believing this, they are not unwilling to discover or to fancy weaknesses in those who have the credit of being superior to the ordinary run of men, to insinuate the possibility of human passions influencing them, this or that of a more refined nature, when the grosser cannot be imputed, and, extenuating at the same time the guilt of the vicious, to reduce in this manner all men pretty much to a level. A more apposite instance of this state of soul cannot be required than is given us in the celebrated work of an historian of the last century, who, for his great abilities, and, on the other hand, his cold heart, impure mind, and scoffing spirit, may justly be accounted as, in this country at least, one of the masters of a new school of error, which seems not yet to have accomplished its destinies, and is framed more exactly after the received type of the author of evil, than the other chief anti-Christs who have, in these last times, occupied the scene of the world.

Here he is strongly against the modernists, especially false ecumenism, eirenism. 

And some there are who, keeping their faith in the main, give up the notion of its importance. Finding that men will not agree together on points of doctrine and discipline, and imagining that union must be effected on any terms, they consent to abandon articles of faith as the basis of Christian fellowship, and try to effect what they call a union of hearts, as a bond of fellowship among those who differ in their notions of the One God, One Lord, One Spirit, One baptism, and One body; forgetful of the express condemnation pronounced by our Saviour upon those who "believe not" the preaching of His servants [Mark xvi. 16.]; and that {130} he who denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father [1 John ii. 22.].

To be continued..

Newman on habits and considering perfection: virtues against the rudeness of the world

Blessed Newman also helps us with our approach to perfection. Note this from Sermon Three at Oxford, 1831. One of his points is that is one forms habits of character early in one's life, based on Christian doctrine, one may withstand temptations of all kinds, including intellectual temptations.

We cannot keep from forming habits of one kind or another, each of our acts influences the rest, gives character to the mind, narrows its freewill {53} in the direction of good or evil, till it soon converges in all its powers and principles to some fixed point in the unbounded horizon before it. This at least is the general law of our moral nature; and such fearful expression does it give to every event which befalls us, and to every corresponding action of our will, and especially with such appalling interest does it invest the probation of our early years, that nothing but the knowledge of the Gospel announcements, and above all of the gracious words and deeds of our Redeemer, is equal to the burden of it. And these are intended to sustain the threatenings of the visible system of things, which would overwhelm us except for the promise, as the hearing of the promise on the other hand might puff us up with an unseeming presumption, had we no experience of the terrors of Natural Religion.

Thomas Aquinas writes much on the habits which are virtues. Here is Newman again:

The consistency of virtue is another gift, which gradually checks the rudeness of the world, and tames it into obedience to itself. The changes of human affairs, which first excited and interested, at length disgust the mind, which then begins to look out for something on which it can rely, for peace and rest; and what can then be found immutable and sure, but God's word and promises, illustrated and conveyed to the inquirer in the person of His faithful servants? Every day shows us how much depends on firmness for obtaining {94} influence in practical matters; and what are all kinds of firmness, as exhibited in the world, but likenesses and offshoots of that true stability of heart which is stayed in the grace and in the contemplation of Almighty God?

Contemplation of God and firmness of character help virtue to grow. Novelty interferes. Let us consider how timely Newman's ideas are for us today. The world would change if Catholics allowed themselves to grow in virtue. What a great thought.

Julian of Norwich had a cat

When I was in my twenties, Julian of Norwich was "all the rage". Her "shewings" were on sale in small paperbacks, some with drawings, and those of us inclined to spiritual reading carried her around with us in our pockets.

She brought the love of God into our existence ( and also, from T. S. Eliot's poem, of course) in a new way. God cared for all and all things and people would be well.

Coming out of the Cold War and the Vietnam War, the changes in the Church regarding Liturgy and the quick demise of real Catholic education in the late seventies, we wanted all to be well. But, it wasn't and it isn't as we see it today. But, Julian was allowed to see beyond pain and evil.

The great mystic in her years of showings from God taught us that God could break through the rough and tumble of everyday life and reveal His Love for us in a new and startling way.

Wit it well: Love was His meaning. Who sheweth it thee? Love. Wherefore sheweth He it thee? For love. Hold thee therein, thou shalt wit more in the same. But thou shalt never wit therein other without end."

Her gentleness and strength appealed to the emerging generation of women who wanted to know God in their hearts, minds and souls. Sadly, the feminists picked her up along the way, but we can ignore that.

We desired a personal relationship with Christ and Julian was one of those who had gone before with this realization of both the Love of Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit. For those who want to meditate on love  and the mystery of salvation, Julian is a treat. And, she had a cat. I think she should make a comeback.

From Newman's Sermons at Oxford: A Warning Not to Rely on Your Imagination

Newman helps us understand why we must be hesitant concerning what we read and what we believe. His appeal to a certain disposition of holiness can stop us from following our own imaginations regarding private revelations. Some will say that we are not all called to philosophy, but by buying into certain private revelations, we are assenting to those individuals philosophies, which may be contrary to the thinking of the Church.

And, if a visionary has been condemned or excommunicated, to follow that person makes the disciple a heretic, as the Church has determined the messages to be false. Do you want to lose your immortal soul because of allegiance to another person? I think the tendency to look for and follow private revelations is part of a protestant mind-set, a mind-set of anti-intellectualism and desiring private knowledge outside that of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Here is what Newman states on the protestant mind:

The usurpations of the Reason may be dated from the Reformation. Then, together with the tyranny, the legitimate authority of the ecclesiastical power was more or less overthrown; and in some places its ultimate basis also, the moral sense. One school of men resisted the Church; another went farther, and rejected the supreme authority of the law of Conscience. Accordingly, Revealed Religion was in a great measure stripped of its proof; for the existence of the Church had been its external evidence, and its internal had been supplied by the moral sense. Reason now undertook to repair the demolition it had made, and to render the proof of Christianity independent both of the Church and of the law of nature. From that time (if we take a general view of its operations) it has been engaged first in making difficulties by the mouth of unbelievers, and then claiming power in the Church as a reward for having, by the mouth of apologists, partially removed them.

As to character building, which includes a discipline of the mind, this process can help one withstand temptations to pride and the seeking of religious ideals outside the mainstream of the Church.

Again: modesty, patience, and caution, are dispositions of mind quite as requisite in philosophical inquiries as seriousness and earnestness, though not so obviously requisite. Rashness of assertion, hastiness in drawing conclusions, unhesitating reliance on our own acuteness and powers of reasoning, are inconsistent with the {9} homage which nature exacts of those who would know her hidden wonders. She refuses to reveal her mysteries to those who come otherwise than in the humble and reverential spirit of learners and disciples. So, again, that love of paradox which would impose upon her a language different from that which she really speaks, is as unphilosophical as it is unchristian. Again, indulgence of the imagination, though a more specious fault, is equally hostile to the spirit of true philosophy, and has misled the noblest among the ancient theorists, who seemed to think they could not go wrong while following the natural impulses and suggestions of their own minds, and were conscious to themselves of no low and unworthy motive influencing them in their speculations.

I quote this today as a warning to all my dear Catholic friends who are chasing after private revelations. This is part of a flaw in the mind and not from the Spirit. 

Ah, this should have been on cute day...

  A very short video    http://i.imgur.com/jbva6.gif

Notice the one in front not paying any attention. How about some captions?

Sad, Sad Ireland

Guercino, St. Peter Weeping Before Mary

When I was living in Ireland for three months, I really became weary of people trying to convince me that Ireland was Catholic. Judging by political views, views on contraception, and views on homosexuality, as well as low Mass attendance, I could tell the country had slipped away long ago. Irish Catholics were deluded. Now, I have some hard statistics to back up my experiences. LifeSiteNews has an article on the facts behind Ireland's collapse as a Catholic country. I have some respect for those people who state they are atheists or no longer believers, and I have no respect for those who pretend to be what they are not. To be, Ireland was happier and holier when the people were pooer. Sexual ethics is now a serious problem. Ireland is a missionary country. Sadly, the Eucharistic Congress revealed some of the problems clearly, as with poor catechesis, outdated emphasis on what is crucially important and aberrations in the Liturgy. Here is a section of the long article.

Ireland is now among the top ten nations with the largest number of convinced atheists, following China, Japan, the Czech Republic, France, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Iceland and Australia.

At the time of the 2006 census, 87.4 per cent of Irish registered themselves as Catholic, which number had dropped to 84.2 per cent by 2011. A study undertaken by Georgetown University found that in 1980 Ireland’s Catholics had one of the highest rates of weekly Mass attendance in the world. This rate, however, has dropped precipitously from 81 percent in 1990 to 48 percent in 2006.

According to archdiocese of Dublin’s figures, weekly Mass attendance in the diocese, the area with the lowest States of adherence in the country, had fallen to 18 percent by 2011. In May last year, the Irish Times reported that among younger people, the number attending weekly Mass in Dublin was around 2 percent, according to the archdiocese’s own records. 

A 2012 survey, conducted by the Association of Catholic Priests, a dissident group seeking to change Catholic teaching on sexuality and women’s ordination, found that weekly mass attendance for the whole country stood at about 35 percent with previously common daily attendance being about 3 percent.

The same survey also indicated that acceptance or understanding of Catholic teaching on key cultural issues was low, with 87 percent feeling the Church should abolish mandatory priestly celibacy and 77 percent saying that women should be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood. About 60 percent “disagreed strongly” with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and only 20 percent agreed that sexual expression outside of marriage was immoral. Three quarters said that the Church’s teaching on sexuality is “not relevant” to them or their families.

On New Age Again....and Alternative Medicine

Galen

This is a traditional Catholic blog. I remind people of this, as some commentators cannot understand what that means. It means that anything which is against the teaching of the Catholic Church, or things which have been condemned by the Catholic Church are simply not endorsed.

Much alternative medicine cannot be accepted. It is based on Eastern ideas of the body and soul which are not Western or Catholic. Here is a quotation for my often quoted Jesus Christ Bearer of the Water of Life.

When one examines many New Age traditions, it soon becomes clear that there is, in fact, little in the New Age that is new. The name seems to have gained currency through Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, at the time of the French and American Revolutions, but the reality it denotes is a contemporary variant of Western esotericism. This dates back to Gnostic groups which grew up in the early days of Christianity, and gained momentum at the time of the Reformation in Europe. It has grown in parallel with scientific world-views, and acquired a rational justification through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has involved a progressive rejection of a personal God and a focus on other entities which would often figure as intermediaries between God and humanity in traditional Christianity, with more and more original adaptations of these or additional ones. A powerful trend in modern Western culture which has given space to New Age ideas is the general acceptance of Darwinist evolutionary theory; this, alongside a focus on hidden spiritual powers or forces in nature, has been the backbone of much of what is now recognised as New Agetheory. Basically, New Age has found a remarkable level of acceptance because the world-view on which it was based was already widely accepted. The ground was well prepared by the growth and spread of relativism, along with an antipathy or indifference towards the Christian faith

Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine

There is a lot of misunderstanding on the points of alternative medicine. When philosophies of the body and soul do not include or are at odds with the Catholic definition of the body and soul, one cannot take part in those ways of healing. Here is a list of the false and pagan ideas which influence New Age approaches to healing. One must not think a compromise is possible.

Some of the traditions which flow into New Age are: ancient Egyptian occult practices, Cabbalism, early Christian gnosticism, Sufism, the lore of the Druids, Celtic Christianity, mediaeval alchemy, Renaissance hermeticism, Zen Buddhism, Yoga and so on.(15) The problem is the definition of power and from where power comes. Catholics cannot mistake personal power for spiritual powers taught in Eastern religions which do not and in fact contradict the traditional Catholic teaching of body and soul. Our soul in individual, unique. We are created in God's Image and Likeness and our soul is created by God at conception with our body. We do not have multiple sources of spiritual power to harness. This is false teaching.  There is also a false idea that suffering is always bad. One cannot compromise on these philosophies, as one opens one's self up to deceit and possibly demonic powers. Formal (allopathic) medicine today tends to limit itself to curing particular, isolated ailments, and fails to look at the broader picture of a person's health: this has given rise to a fair amount of understandable dissatisfaction. Alternative therapies have gained enormously in popularity because they claim to look at the whole person and are about healing rather thancuring. Holistic health, as it is known, concentrates on the important role that the mind plays in physical healing. The connection between the spiritual and the physical aspects of the person is said to be in the immune system or the Indian chakra system. In a New Age perspective, illness and suffering come from working against nature; when one is in tune with nature, one can expect a much healthier life, and even material prosperity; for someNew Age healers, there should actually be no need for us to die. Developing our human potential will put us in touch with our inner divinity, and with those parts of our selves which have been alienated and suppressed. This is revealed above all in Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs), which are induced either by drugs or by various mind-expanding techniques, particularly in the context of “transpersonal psychology”. The shaman is often seen as the specialist of altered states of consciousness, one who is able to mediate between the transpersonal realms of spirits and gods and the world of humans. There is a remarkable variety of approaches for promoting holistic health, some derived from ancient cultural traditions, whether religious or esoteric, others connected with the psychological theories developed in Esalen during the years 1960-1970. Advertising connected with New Age covers a wide range of practices as acupuncture, biofeedback, chiropractic, kinesiology, homeopathy, iridology, massage and various kinds of “bodywork” (such as orgonomy, Feldenkrais, reflexology, Rolfing, polarity massage, therapeutic touch etc.), meditation and visualisation, nutritional therapies, psychic healing, various kinds of herbal medicine, healing by crystals, metals, music or colours, reincarnation therapies and, finally, twelve-step programmes and self-help groups.(25) The source of healing is said to be within ourselves, something we reach when we are in touch with our inner energy or cosmic energy. St. Luke, Physician and Evangelist Inasmuch as health includes a prolongation of life, New Age offers an Eastern formula in Western terms. Originally, reincarnation was a part of Hindu cyclical thought, based on the atman or divine kernel of personality (later the concept of jiva), which moved from body to body in a cycle of suffering (samsara), determined by the law of karma, linked to behaviour in past lives. Hope lies in the possibility of being born into a better state, or ultimately in liberation from the need to be reborn. What is different in most Buddhist traditions is that what wanders from body to body is not a soul, but a continuum of consciousness. Present life is embedded in a potentially endless cosmic process which includes even the gods. In the West, since the time of Lessing, reincarnation has been understood far more optimistically as a process of learning and progressive individual fulfilment. Spiritualism, theosophy, anthroposophy and New Age all see reincarnation as participation in cosmic evolution. This post-Christian approach to eschatology is said to answer the unresolved questions of theodicy and dispenses with the notion of hell. When the soul is separated from the body individuals can look back on their whole life up to that point, and when the soul is united to its new body there is a preview of its coming phase of life. People have access to their former lives through dreams and meditation techniques.(26) Modern Science owes it techniques and approaches to the rational, Western heritage. In this manner, the Catholic Church supports real scientific research. One cannot accept theories of medicine based on another religious perspective. This is very dangerous.

Do not forget Pat Buchanan

The man is a political genius and should be read and listened to....http://buchanan.org/blog/the-natural-map-of-the-middle-east-5194?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatrickBuchanan+%28Pat+Buchanan+Update%29

A Cheeky Saint

Fra Angelico's St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence, Deacon, is one of those saints we all seem to know. His story was one of the first I remember as a child. He has many churches in England named after him. He has been painted over and over again through-out the ages. He is so loved, that my Monastic Diurnal has vigil prayers for him.

His popularity has to do with his sense of humor. But, I want to highlight something which makes him a real saint for today.

Last Winter, a friend of mine was in a discussion with rather important Catholics at a dinner. They were complaining about the riches of the Church and how Rome should sell its finery, jewels, artworks, Papal vestments and give the money to the poor.

There is a heresy hidden in this so-called charitable point of view.

When the evil Prefect of Rome demanded that the Church give over its riches to the State, St. Lawrence said he would show them the riches. He gathered up the poor and irritated the Prefect with the answer that the poor were the riches of the Church.

What a cheeky saint! But, he was making two points. One, that the real riches of the Church are hidden in the lives of those who suffer daily. Those to whom we must and are called to give to daily give us riches in return. God allows poverty for our sanctification.

Also, the Church has a right to worship God in a manifestly beautiful way. God is Beauty. He is Almighty, and He deserves the best.

If I really love someone, I dress and act my best in their company. I am raised above myself to a higher standard. I am made into a better person through love.

So, too, the Church is made holy by real love of the poor and love of God.

I wish I could have been at the dinner, but it was above my social standing! Ironic. It is always the rich who want to take away from the Church, instead of looking at themselves. My friend, who was the lone voice of Catholic reason, could discern the avarice in the people who were protesting too much. Funny thing is that most of them are socialists.

St. Lawrence would have a quip for them as well. Happy Feast of St. Lawrence.

More on modesty in swimming and immodesty in the Olympics

Thanks, Wiki

I have some good friends who have been feeding me information on modesty. God bless them. Here is a great quote (1959) from Enrique Cardinal Pla y Deniel, of Spain, and a Spanish Cardinal would know something about this subject.

 “A special danger to morals is represented by public bathing at beaches, in pool and river banks… Mixed bathing between men and women, which nearly always is a proximate occasion of sin and a scandal, must be avoided.”

I have always thought that swimming with one's own sex is a great idea, for many reasons. 



Plus: "Do they not see the harm resulting from excess in certain gymnastic exercises and sports not suitable for virtuous girls?" 

Pius XII, 1954 

"in gymnastic exercises and deportment special care must be had of Christian modesty in young women and girls which is so gravely impaired by any kind of exhibition in public."  

Pius XI, 1929

We have really moved far away from this.

Cardinal Dolan DID invite Obama; Sign Voris' Petition

A few days ago, I highlighted this on my blog and added the petition link from Michael Voris. This is unconscionable  How can Cardinal Dolan invite POTUS to this meeting? I am truly upset by this and the President must be uninvited, now. This is a major scandal.

 http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archdiocese-of-new-york-confirms-cardinal-dolan-invited-obama-to-speak-at-f?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6e2775d291-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Full_Text_08_08_2012&utm_medium=email

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ

Some of us who knew what was behind the uprisings over a year ago in Egypt are not surprised at this. That this article follows one of a martyr of the 20th century is also apropos.

from the GS

Copts to be Excluded from Egypt’s Constitutional Committee for Believing Jesus is Son of God?

A Muslim lawyer in Egypt is arguing that, because Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, they are clearly polytheistic infidels, and not the “Christians,” the “Nassara,” that the Koran speaks tolerably of, on occasion. Accordingly, Egypt's Copts, because they profess the Trinity, must be barred from having any say regarding the new constitution. “Lawyer Requests Exclusion of Copts from Constitutional Committee for being ‘Polytheists,’" from Coptic Solidarity, July 30:

Sherif Gadallah, a lawyer from Alexandria has submitted a report to the public prosecutor, against the president of the court of appeal, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, the interim Pope of Alexandria as well as President Mohamed Morsy requesting the exclusion of Copts from the committee in charge of forming Egypt's constitution, claiming that Orthodox Copts are not representative of Egypt's Christian population, because they are simply not "nassara"; a substitute term employed by Salafists to refer to people of Christian faith, this term has developed pejorative connotations, being used by those who loathe Christians the most; the use of which often justified by the fact that the term "Christian" was never mentioned in the Quran.

According to Mr. Gadallah Orthodox Copts are not "Nassara, or even Christian"; they can be counted among the "polytheists" which makes them non-representative of Egypt's Christians.

Mr. Gadallah bases his request on purely Islamic grounds. He states that the essence of all heavenly religions is that "Allah is one and there is no god but Him", and that the prophets of Allah, Moses, Eissa [Arabic for Jesus] and Mohamed, are but humans sent by Allah to pass along His message to His Creatures, so if a certain denomination of a certain religion claims that their prophet is the "son of God" or "is God", it is then considered infidel and a dissident of that religion. Gadallah goes on to ask the Grand Mufti to have Al-Azhar issue a clear statement about the verdict of Sharia regarding Copts who claim that Jesus is the son of God…