https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_O%27Malley
O'Malley voiced his support for a bill considered by the General Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. O'Malley, a Catholic, was urged by the Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin O'Brien not to support the bill in a private letter sent two days before O'Malley voiced his support.[60] "I am well aware that the recent events in New York have intensified pressure on you to lend your active support to legislation to redefine marriage," O'Brien wrote. "As advocates for the truths we are compelled to uphold, we speak with equal intensity and urgency in opposition to your promoting a goal that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society."[60] O'Malley responded, "I do not presume, nor would I ever presume as Governor, to question or infringe upon your freedom to define, to preach about, and to administer the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. But on the public issue of granting equal civil marital rights to same-sex couples, you and I disagree."[60]
Friday, 14 August 2015
A Good Article and A Great Interview on The Synod
FRIDAY, 14 AUGUST 2015
We must oppose the Vatican's Instrumentum Laboris for the Family Synod to defend life and our families
As a parent and as a pro-life leader, I thank His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., for his merciful support for our families currently under merciless social pressure from the homosexual "rights" agenda and its supporters, including within Catholic Church structures.
Bishop Schneider, in an interview with Catholic Voicepublished yesterday, described some Irish clergy - including one bishop - as "false prophets who pervert the Word of God".
The Catholic Voice interview asked Bishop Schneider about some Irish clergy who "used the media to [also] encourage voters to redefine marriage" and one Irish Bishop who "stated that Catholics could in good conscience vote for this proposal and admonished them not to vote against it out of hate".
Bishop Schneider replied:
Those clerics who encouraged the faithful to vote for same sex marriage revealed themselves by this same fact as false prophets, as those who pervert the Word of God. They revealed themselves as public liars, to whom are fully applicable these words of Holy Scripture: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Is 5:20) ... To such priests and bishops the Apostle Paul without any doubt would say today these words: “Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Cor 11:13). In order to remedy this situation it is firstly necessary that faithful Bishops teach clearly and unambiguously the truth of Christ and correct explicitly the teaching of these false prophets.
Let me explain just one way in which families, including Catholic families, are under merciless pressure from the homosexual "rights" agenda and its supporters.
As I said when I addressed the Rome Life Forum in May:
... a major way in which the so-called “homosexual rights” lobby is actively undermining the family and the culture of life, is through targeting its message at little children in their schools including, in the UK, in Catholic primary schools. I have little doubt that the same pattern is repeated in other countries too.
I am sorry to have to share with you that homosexual militants are being invited into schools in our country, including into Catholic schools with the blessing of the local bishop, to train teachers how to educate little boys as young as four years old that they might grow up to marry a man rather than a woman – and the same with little girls.
Catholic schools in Britain, and around the world, have long been complicit in the culture of death, providing access to abortion and contraception for the under 16s without parental knowledge. This is happening with the co-operation of the Catholic authorities.
The betrayal of families by leading clerics continues apace not least in the form of the truly scandalous Instrumentum Laboris, the working document produced by Vatican authorities for the forthcoming Family Synod. For the extent of the betrayal of our families at the highest levels in the Church see the analysis by Matthew McCusker, my personal assistant, recommended by Professor Roberto de Mattei on Rorate Caeli as "the excellent analysis by Mathew McCusker, on the site Voice of the Family."
Matthew's analysis concludes:
We urge Catholics not to be complacent or give in to a false sense of obedience, in the face of attacks on the fundamental principles of the natural law. Catholics are morally obliged to oppose the course being taken with the Synod.
Excellency, in the ongoing debate over same sex “marriage” some Catholic groups have become open to the notion of recognizing that same sex pairs can have long term loving relationships thus they conclude that it is possible to recognize same sex civil partnerships. It is evident that even a few bishops support this idea but could this ever be an authentic Catholic position?
This can never be an authentic Catholic position because it contradicts directly the words of God, which says that homosexual acts and the homosexual lifestyle are a grievous offense of the will of God (cf. Gen 18:20; Lev 18:22; 20:13; Is 3:9; Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10; Jud 7). Committing evil in a long-term and even loving relationship cannot transform the same evil into good. Only true repentance that includes contrition and the firm intention to avoid the evil cancels with the grace of God the evil. It would be absurd to affirm that alcoholism will gain a positive recognition because of the long-term and loving relationship of two persons who established this relationship on the base of their propensity to alcohol. The same absurdity contains the above-mentioned affirmation about same sex unions.
Working on New Blog and Forum
...this weekend and waiting for my guest blogger to share his article on the natural law series....late but well worth the wait.
Another GOP Candidate Goes on The NO-NO List
http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/the-vortex-birth-control-defeat
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-list-grows-longer-of-unsuitable.html
Do people not realize that Catholics who depart from the Faith are in a worst spiritual state than those who have never been Catholic?
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-list-grows-longer-of-unsuitable.html
Do people not realize that Catholics who depart from the Faith are in a worst spiritual state than those who have never been Catholic?
For A Friend, Two
When Elizabeth of the Trinity had only three months of life to live, she was ordered to write on her retreat towards death. Part of this treatise created in the throes of pain and suffering, was a section for her sister, Guite, who was married and had two children at the time.
Elizabeth wrote that the life of the contemplative formed the call of all Catholics, as I have noted in the long perfection series, using the Doctors of the Church and Garrigou-Lagrange.
But, the key to being open to the graces of both active and passive contemplation, as explained by Elizabeth, in keeping with those great saints who went before her, is the key of death to the self.
Here are some bullet points from one of Elizabeth's treatises.
- All are called to be in union with Christ.
- But, this involves a stripping of all things, people, attachments, as well as a withdrawal from all things.
- Even though one is married with children, one must learn to live in a solitude during the day, to forget the self, even in the midst of the cares of the world.
- Becoming perfect must accompany this solitude, this yearning for God in love and the yearning for perfection.
- Finding heaven on earth can only happen through the acceptance of self-forgetfulness.
- This finding of heaven has nothing to do with consolations, either in prayer or in life.
- Quoting St. John of the Cross, Elizabeth writes that the Kingdom of God is within one, in a place beyond the temptings of the world and the devil.
- One's will must be in perfect harmony with the will of God, and as long as one has "fancies" contrary to God's will, one cannot grow in either love or holiness.
- Purification must be part of prayer and the choices of daily life.
- To attain union with God, the soul must be "entirely surrendered" and the will"must be calmly lost in God's will."
- Simplicity of intention means that one seeks God alone, and not anything or anyone else.
- One must desire the likeness of God. "Without the likeness which comes from grace, eternal damnation awaits us."
- As we are made in the image and likeness of God, the image of God must be the focus of the imagination, memory and reason, (notice--the emotions do not count, period).
All of these points, and there are more, refer back to the long perfection series as well as to the mini-series on Elizabeth of the Trinity.
Remember this simple chart to union with God:
First step: orthodoxy
Second step: oral prayer; surrendering the will
Third step: meditation, which is the beginning of mental prayer--based on Scripture and life of Christ
Fourth step: dark night of the senses-beginning of purgation
Fifth step: dark night of the soul-continuation of purgation, including demise of the predominant fault
Sixth step: active or acquired contemplation-during purgation and into the illuminative state
Seventh step: illuminative state
Eighth step: infused contemplation
Ninth step: union.
Follow the tags. Go back and read Garrigou-Lagrange again and again and again...definitions are important.
For A Friend Today
30 Jan 2014
Continuing the series on perfection, I have switched temporarily from Garrigou-Lagrange to the Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila. In this book, St. Teresa refers to the enlargement of the heart. Quoting Prime, Teresa writes, ...
22 Aug 2014
What falsity to wish to talk in a glowing style as if one were already in the seventh mansion of the interior castle, when one has not yet entered the fourth! How far superior is the simplicity of the Gospel! We say that a child's ...
07 May 2015
St. Teresa of Avila writes clearly on the Indwelling of the Trinity. Here is a selection from The Interior Castle or The Mansions. I have many more posts on this from the past, but this week, I am re-examining this truth.
10 May 2015
from the Stanbrook Edition of Interior Castle.... .... dealing with the purgation of the soul by mortification and the enlightenment of the mind by meditation. There, too, appears the first idea of the Mansions, [25] and Fuente ...
09 May 2015
A brief description of the unitive state from the Interior Castle. Here one sees the great revelation of the Indwelling. of the Holy Trinity which God desires us all to experience, to know...even while on earth. This is a repeat post, ...
13 Jun 2015
The Interior Castle, First Manson, Chapter ii. The Maritains, who were both Benedictine Oblates, wrote this as well: "The study of the Sacred Doctrine and of Holy Scripture is also a normally necessary means of the attainment ...
09 May 2015
Very brief description of the illuminative state. Posted by Supertradmum. A mini-description of the illuminative state...leading to the unitive state. From a footnote, 418, in the online copy of the Interior Castle. Follow the tags for ...
10 Jul 2013
Catherine's Dialog and Teresa's Interior Castle give me comfort, as well as the knowledge that truth prevails despite so much spiritual warfare. But, as I am wedded to Truth, my way is not as hard as those who remain in ...
04 Aug 2013
In The Interior Castle she writes: O my God, how many troubles both interior and exterior must one suffer before entering the seventh mansion! Sometimes, while pondering over this I fear that, were they known beforehand, ...
16 Oct 2013
St. Teresa speaks of the passive purification of the spirit in the first chapter of the sixth mansion of The Interior Castle. We read also in the life of St. Vincent de Paul that for four years he endured a trial of this type, which was ...
24 Sep 2014
God rarely speaks in an audible voice, but He does speak through the interior movements of the Holy Spirit. Again, the teachings of the Church and common sense dictate what is good and true. The problem is usually not that ...
29 May 2013
Tauler declares: "There is only one way to triumph over these obstacles: God would have to take complete possession of the interior of the soul and occupy it, which happens only to His true friends. He sent us His only Son in order that the holy life of the God-Man, His great and perfect ... This little citadel, wherein lies the self-will, must be stormed by God. If one keeps running back into the castle of the self, God cannot speak to the heart and mind and will. And, as John ...
Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk
Recently, it has occurred to me, that the gross narcissism of the cultures of the West, has infiltrated the way Catholics think. Of course, for years, I have had the tag "thinking like Catholics" in order to bring people to a reality that one thinks certain things before one acts.
Many parishes and dioceses have initiated excellent sounding programs on "adult formation" and "evangelization" involving programs and courses on how to go out and bring people into the Catholic Faith.
Except for a few exceptions. all these programs concentrate on ACTION instead of on prayer and the levels of prayer.
No one, as I have noted many times on this blog, can be effective in the spiritual life of others unless one is willing to go through the tedious, hard, and sufferings times of purgation. No one.
There is only one Blessed Virgin Mary and one St. John the Baptist, who came into this world without sin, one from conception and one from a particular grace in the womb.
The rest of us, including Dear St. Joseph, had and have to work out our righteousness by cooperating with grace.
Narcissism stops grace dead.
More and more Catholics think they can evangelize without dealing with their predominant fault(s) and even venial sins.
The saint has dealt the death-blow to sin and can merit graces which are then efficacious in the lives of others.
If I pray for someone, and nothing happens, I do not say, "Oh, it is God's Will that so and so is not healed" or freed, or converted.
I go back to Our Lord and BEG Him to show me the blockages of my own sins which stop the efficacy of prayer.
Lord, show me my sins, my failings, my predominant fault for the sake of the Church...and so on.
The entire perfection series was written now several years ago not merely for the selfish to think that only they should get to heaven, but for the Church.
We cannot pretend to be saints. One either is or isn't. One is either in sanctifying grace and allowing God to purged one of all sin and even concupiscence, or one remains ineffective.
Recently, God called me to more penance. Now, those who know me or have followed this blog know how I live, but I have been called to more penance for the sake of souls. Daily, people die who have had no one to pray for them.
The majority of people go to hell. Sorry this is not my idea, but those of the saints, including the great Augustine.
God has given me two diets through my excellent, Catholic and holy doctor--of a rare breed.
Red meat once a week, no fatty meat, (I was invited out for pork ribs this evening and had to say no), no Ramen noodles, or mac and cheese or other poor food. I had already given up deserts over a year ago, so that is not an issue. Now, I have to somehow give up poor food.
Now, I can add some physical power to prayer.
Yet, some of my prayers are not answered. I ask God why....and here is the answer.
Mark 9:27-29 Douay-Rheims
27 And when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why could not we cast him out?
28 And he said to them: This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
29 And departing from thence, they passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it.
1 Thessalonians 2Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
2 For yourselves know, brethren, our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:
2 But having suffered many things before, and been shamefully treated (as you know) at Philippi, we had confidence in our God, to speak unto you the gospel of God in much carefulness.
3 For our exhortation was not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in deceit:
4 But as we were approved by God that the gospel should be committed to us: even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who proveth our hearts.
5 For neither have we used, at any time, the speech of flattery, as you know; nor taken an occasion of covetousness, God is witness:
6 Nor sought we glory of men, neither of you, nor of others.
7 Whereas we might have been burdensome to you, as the apostles of Christ: but we became little ones in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children:
8 So desirous of you, we would gladly impart unto you not only the gospel of God, but also our own souls: because you were become most dear unto us.
9 For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: working night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you, we preached among you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and without blame, we have been to you that have believed:
11 As you know in what manner, entreating and comforting you, (as a father doth his children,)
12 We testified to every one of you, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
13 Therefore, we also give thanks to God without ceasing: because, that when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed.
14 For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own coutrymen, even as they have from the Jews,
15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men;
16 Prohibiting us to speak to the Gentiles, that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath of God is come upon them to the end.
17 But we, brethren, being taken away from you for a short time, in sight, not in heart, have hastened the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
18 For we would have come unto you, I Paul indeed, once and again: but Satan hath hindered us.
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glory? Are not you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For you are our glory and joy.
Many parishes and dioceses have initiated excellent sounding programs on "adult formation" and "evangelization" involving programs and courses on how to go out and bring people into the Catholic Faith.
Except for a few exceptions. all these programs concentrate on ACTION instead of on prayer and the levels of prayer.
No one, as I have noted many times on this blog, can be effective in the spiritual life of others unless one is willing to go through the tedious, hard, and sufferings times of purgation. No one.
There is only one Blessed Virgin Mary and one St. John the Baptist, who came into this world without sin, one from conception and one from a particular grace in the womb.
The rest of us, including Dear St. Joseph, had and have to work out our righteousness by cooperating with grace.
Narcissism stops grace dead.
More and more Catholics think they can evangelize without dealing with their predominant fault(s) and even venial sins.
The saint has dealt the death-blow to sin and can merit graces which are then efficacious in the lives of others.
If I pray for someone, and nothing happens, I do not say, "Oh, it is God's Will that so and so is not healed" or freed, or converted.
I go back to Our Lord and BEG Him to show me the blockages of my own sins which stop the efficacy of prayer.
Lord, show me my sins, my failings, my predominant fault for the sake of the Church...and so on.
The entire perfection series was written now several years ago not merely for the selfish to think that only they should get to heaven, but for the Church.
We cannot pretend to be saints. One either is or isn't. One is either in sanctifying grace and allowing God to purged one of all sin and even concupiscence, or one remains ineffective.
Recently, God called me to more penance. Now, those who know me or have followed this blog know how I live, but I have been called to more penance for the sake of souls. Daily, people die who have had no one to pray for them.
The majority of people go to hell. Sorry this is not my idea, but those of the saints, including the great Augustine.
God has given me two diets through my excellent, Catholic and holy doctor--of a rare breed.
Red meat once a week, no fatty meat, (I was invited out for pork ribs this evening and had to say no), no Ramen noodles, or mac and cheese or other poor food. I had already given up deserts over a year ago, so that is not an issue. Now, I have to somehow give up poor food.
Now, I can add some physical power to prayer.
Yet, some of my prayers are not answered. I ask God why....and here is the answer.
Mark 9:27-29 Douay-Rheims
27 And when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why could not we cast him out?
28 And he said to them: This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
29 And departing from thence, they passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it.
Souls are at stake. I love many people. I never stop loving someone whom I have loved. I love my ex, my old boyfriends, my family members who I do not see because of circumstances. I love new friends and old friends. I love students I have taught-special ones, and many priests who have brought me closer to God.
Love is the impetus for intercessory prayer, but fasting and purgation must accompany such prayer.
Have you been praying for someone for a long time?
Maybe God is asking you to do more, to be more severe with yourself in order to join in the merit of Christ on the Cross.
1 Thessalonians 2Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
2 For yourselves know, brethren, our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:
2 But having suffered many things before, and been shamefully treated (as you know) at Philippi, we had confidence in our God, to speak unto you the gospel of God in much carefulness.
3 For our exhortation was not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in deceit:
4 But as we were approved by God that the gospel should be committed to us: even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who proveth our hearts.
5 For neither have we used, at any time, the speech of flattery, as you know; nor taken an occasion of covetousness, God is witness:
6 Nor sought we glory of men, neither of you, nor of others.
7 Whereas we might have been burdensome to you, as the apostles of Christ: but we became little ones in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children:
8 So desirous of you, we would gladly impart unto you not only the gospel of God, but also our own souls: because you were become most dear unto us.
9 For you remember, brethren, our labour and toil: working night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you, we preached among you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and without blame, we have been to you that have believed:
11 As you know in what manner, entreating and comforting you, (as a father doth his children,)
12 We testified to every one of you, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
13 Therefore, we also give thanks to God without ceasing: because, that when you had received of us the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God, who worketh in you that have believed.
14 For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own coutrymen, even as they have from the Jews,
15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men;
16 Prohibiting us to speak to the Gentiles, that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath of God is come upon them to the end.
17 But we, brethren, being taken away from you for a short time, in sight, not in heart, have hastened the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
18 For we would have come unto you, I Paul indeed, once and again: but Satan hath hindered us.
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glory? Are not you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For you are our glory and joy.
Here is a good prayer...I hope you can read it.
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Sigh, Another Meteor Shower Missed
Since I have been back in the Midwest, coming to Illinois and then, Iowa, I have missed the great meteor showers for one reason-agricultural haze.
Believe it or not, on a night without clouds, London skies are clearer than those in the Bread Basket. The haze comes from the pollen of corn and soybeans, as well as from the dust from the herbicides and pesticides.
It is a lovely warm summer night with a few wispy clouds, but mostly clear, except for haze. At midnight, I went out to see the Perseids--sigh, no such luck.
Haze, haze, haze....and light pollution.
Some of the best sky watching I have done was when I was staying with my dear friend, C, in Kent (see 2011 and on, posts). The meteor showers were spectacular, as she lives two city blocks from the white cliffs between Dover and Folkestone.
Great skies....
Here, the cicadas are singing, the tree frogs croaking out those odd, tenor insect sounds, and the large ground hog, which lives under the back porch, rustles about sniffing for something good to eat out of the garden.
But, I cannot see one shooting star.
Sigh...double wish I was in Kent at C's, as STS is there right now, watching the thunderstorm over the Channel, which will ruin today's cricket match in Canterbury, most likely forcing a draw.
Book Begging
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-long-awaited-publishing-event-full.html?m=1
Would a reader like to get this for me?
Please?
Would a reader like to get this for me?
Please?
What Is Patience?
So many people in America, myself included, have grown up with instant satisfaction in some many physical ways. We turn on the air-conditioning, or heat or humidifier and our environment becomes as comfortable as we desire.
We buy food of any variety and quality, ready-cooked, or almost cooked, even delivered to our door.
We save coupons, get coupons in our e-mail, and have coupons on our smart phones to buy any amount of things whether necessary or not.
We drive where and when we want to do so, with or without whom we want to be with at any given time.
We communicate on the Net, on our phones, but less and less over coffee or drinks.
We are the fast living, fast moving people of progress and daily new items are invented to tease us into more and more comfort with less and less work.
I remember when remote controlled Venetian Blinds became popular. I knew something was terribly wrong then. Or, when the automatic lights which go on when one enters a room, perfectly tuned to one's mood or needs require no effort but settings, I suspected we had fallen from grace.
Working with one's hands has become less and less a desire or a need. But, using one's hands brings patience, and a relationship with things, with nature, which is a good.
Most of my friends hire gardeners to mow lawns, trim hedges and bushes and shovel the snow in the winter. Most people I know have every possible gadget one can imagine in their living rooms and kitchens.
When I told someone I never used a microwave until I moved into their house this past summer, she was shocked. And, I also had to share that I never used a crockpot.
I always made things the "long way".
Several friends have brought up the fact that they lack patience. I am not surprised. We are so use to having everything the way we want it NOW, that patience seems no longer necessary-except in one area of our lives-relationships.
However, more and more people cannot communicate, do not talk things out in their families, do not share either difficulties or joys. Talking about serious things must be avoided at all costs, even the cost of family unity and love.
Discussing and working out problems among people takes time and effort, plus patience.
So, the next question was, well, what is patience anyway?
The dictionaries give us these definitions:
1.
the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2.
an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay:
to have patience with a slow learner.
3.
quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:
to work with patience.
But, patience is really humility. If one is humble, one can be uncomfortable, provoked without an angry response, enduring pain, irritation and so on.
The proud want everything "just so" and as they like it--and do not tolerate any inconveniences.
I learned humility waiting for Maltese buses.
I learned humility in Montessori training.
I learned humility by watching a long-suffering wife, who is a close friend and very old, and a saint.
But, mostly, I remind myself, when I begin to feel impatient that I am not God, I am not in control of life or other people or events. God is .
Learning patience comes with self-knowledge.
I do not get angry when driving and see mistakes of others. I have learned that road rage is pride.
Pride makes one critical of others to the point where one expects something from the other person, something the other person may not be able to effect.
Many people get impatient with phone trees on calls. This development is part of our lives, Patience is learning that we cannot change somethings to what they were in the past-like desiring good customer service from humans and not machines.
Part of learning patience is flexibility and not rigidity towards life. Those who want to be in control of every aspect of life will not only fail at becoming patient, but fail to learn to love.
People are "messy" and different and strange. Some humans guard themselves against the mess by purposefully isolating themselves from people, or by surrounding themselves with clones.
One does not learn patience in a vacuum, or in a group which seems homogeneous.
Daily, I witness more and more anger among people-in shops, on the roads, in families. This anger reveals not only a lack of patience, but deep-seated pride. The meek are not valued anymore.
But, they will inherit the earth. And, what does that mean?
Why will the meek inherit the earth? What does it mean to inherit and what is meant by the earth?
Meekness or humility creates freedom in the soul. One become free to give up certain annoyances, and irritations. This freedom allows one to see things from different perspectives and not merely one's own.
For example, some people complain about the time they must wait in the doctor's office, an event which has sadly become more and more common.
I see waiting as an opportunity to either read an interesting book or even to pray silently.
To be able to use time which seems to be wasted is a gift from patience and from humility.
Why should my time be more valuable than someone else's time?
Meekness implies a gentleness and not an aggressivity towards others. Meekness implies that one knows how to suffer and in silence.
The meek will inherit, will be given something passed down to them, earned not by grace, but freely.
One does not earn an inheritance. One is given an inheritance as a gift. One does not deserve to inherit anything.
But, God promises us that the meek, the gentle, the humble, will be given.....what?
The earth...
Not heaven, the earth...the poor in spirit get heaven, while the meek are given the earth.
This means that those who are meek, are gentle, and humble are given the gift of loving what is around them now, at this present moment.
When Christ states this, He indicates that a peace and joy may be found now, on this earth, despite irritations, annoyances, misfortunes.
Lately, some difficult things have happened in my life. I am dealing with some difficult situations. I could get annoyed, or irritated. Or, I can learn to be gentle, humble, meek and accept these situations which are out of my control as part of God's plan for my life which I do not understand.
I live with more discomfort than most Americans could tolerate. I am not in control of so many things because I am poor, The poor become humble, if they let go of anger and frustration, through patience.
One of my favorite characters in fiction is Joe Gargery in Great Expectations. He is the opposite of the proud, wasteful Pip, who has to learn humility the hard way. Joe had married a shrew, and yet, when she is beaten by an intruder and needs care, he cares for her tenderly. Joe teaches Pip patiently, and bears with Pip's rejection, when this young man no longer wants to associate with the "lowly" blacksmith. But, when Pip needs rescuing, it is Joe who comes to aid and take care of him.
Why Joe is "saintly" is that he is humble. He has unique self-knowledge and is comfortable with who he is. He is long-suffering and finally rewarded with a good wife and Pip's deep respect, as it is fiction, as Oscar Wilde notes in The Importance of Being Earnest, "The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."
Joe images patience because he is true to his good self. He sacrifices for others and does not place himself first.
To learn patience, one must be willing to take second, or third, or the last place.
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
The Seven Mortal Sins of Contraception
When a person contracepts, he or she commits not one mortal sin, but seven. The use of contraception is forbidden in the Catholic Church for many reasons.
I shall list the Ten Commandments and note which ones are deliberately broken by those who contracept. My comments are in blue.
Exodus 20 Douay-Rheims
20 And the Lord spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. (1) Idolatry is the first sin of contraception for several reasons. One is playing God and not letting God be God in creating life. One is also making sex and pleasure into gods, thus denying God His sovereignty. One becomes or tries to become God.
4 Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. (2)
8 Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. (3)
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.
10 But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. (4) Contraception denies grandparents grandchildren, and breaking the family bond of generations. Thus, one no longer honors the family or one's parents when one contracepts.
13 Thou shalt not kill. Obviously, as all but a few contracepts kill the fertilized egg, now a human being with a soul, contraception is murder. (5)
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Fornication, having sex outside of marriage, is covered under the term adultery. Adultery is having sexual relations with a married person, but from the earliest days, fornication, having sex outside of marriage, and thus endangering the entire concept of marriage, is part of this sin. Sins here include sodomy. This sin is repeated in the traditional ninth commandment, so contraception breaks that one as well. (6)
15 Thou shalt not steal. (7) When one contracepts, one steals not only from the glory of God in creating a new person, but one steals life. One also steals from one's self the dignity of being a human being in co-creating with God in the image and likeness of God, in which we were made.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (8) Contraception is lying, as one is being deceitful about the real purpose of intercourse, which is procreation. Also, one is lying to one's self about the reality of marriage, and the fact that the marriage act only belongs in a sanctified marriage.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. Coveting or desiring what is illicit like a person when one is not married, or even desiring someone above God is the sin when contraception is used for the enjoyment of sex without procreation. (9 and 10). Also, contraception is done because of the desire for things, for choosing things over life--such as houses, status, money, vacations, comfort...etc.). Therefore contraception breaks both th 9 and 10th commandments.
18 And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking: and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off...
Thankfully, we have the wonderful sacrament of Confession to release us, to absolve us from such sins, and to give us the grace to start over again in Christ.
The List Grows Longer of Unsuitable Candidates
I cannot ever vote for a BAD Catholic.
Bad Catholic List:
Jeb Bush
Ted Cruz
John Kasich
Chris Christie
Or a BAD Protestant
Bilderberg Rep. but Protestant
Rick Perry
Well, the list gets longer of unsuitables for office, sadly.
Bad Catholic List:
Jeb Bush
Ted Cruz
John Kasich
Chris Christie
Or a BAD Protestant
Bilderberg Rep. but Protestant
Rick Perry
Well, the list gets longer of unsuitables for office, sadly.
Happy Feast of St. Jane Francis de Chantal
I do not understand why her feast is an optional memorial.
Mothers can pray to her and so can singles, and nuns.
A great saint...
Lord, you chose Saint Jane Frances to serve you both in marriage and in religious life. By her prayers help us to be faithful in our vocation and always to be the light of the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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