Thinking the same thoughts quite spontaneously one year on....hmmm

I first used the term post-post modernism before a book was published by that name, so I do not "own" it, but I can sure use my definition of it. It has been floating around without a set definition for a couple of years.

I use it as the naming of the current philosophy behind an approach to thinking and living. The way I have used it last year, exactly one year ago, was to describe a lifestyle and approach to life.

Here is the same article re-posted.

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

On this Post-Post Modern Generation: Oscillation into Self-Organization and Out Again

Posted by Supertradmum

One of my young readers and friends stated that his generation (he is 23) are not Marxists or communists, or capitalists, or socialists, or Post-Modernists, but Post-Post-Modernists. Now, as he is in another generation, that of the emerging youth, I need to think about this. He blatantly stated that his friends do not care about Lenin, or Gramsci, or Obama, even though many of them voted the present president into office. My young friend claims that some of the same youth who voted in POTUS are now Ron Paul libertarians. If he is correct, then his assessment that his generation is made up of Post-Post-Moderns, (from now on called PPMs) is also correct. Why?

The PPMs are seen as a group with an "oscillating" or "moving polar philosophy" which goes between extremes of individualism (games) and group sectarianism (fanatic religions), anarchy (Occupy Rome) and totalitarianism (global markets and global economy buffs), relativism and orthodoxy (obvious), cynicism and sincerity or idealism ( The Daily Show and  EWTN ) and so on. His labeling seems to be spot-on when one examines these young people as individuals and as a group, which is hard, as the hegemony of the culture is gone and there are less and less real groups. Groupings tend to be based on small, very small, precious or keen interests, such as anime groups, animal rights groups, pro-life groups, anti-war groups, and so on. There is not necessarily any overlap of morals, ethics, world-view, religions, or philosophies in these groups. Individuals come together to form these groups for a time and five years is considered a long time. (Youth always thinks five years is a long time). They oscillate until they create self-organization, like the above nano-particles. And, like these particles, their organization may be based on reactionsonly, and not rational discourse, or even passionate emotions. I have seen this type of behavior in the college classroom, where reactive groups form quickly and dissipate as quickly. Young ones reacting against something rarely have a solid sense of who they are, either as individuals or as a group.

I think my friend is onto something. The PPMs are fluid for exactly the same reason my generation was not. How we were and how they were raised in the home created these mind-sets and ways of life. We were strongly conservative or liberal, country western or classical, Catholic or Lutheran, democrats or monarchists, Marxists or Catholics and so on. We chose to be (we were Pre-Post-Moderns) something, even if it was opposite our parents.

However, the differences between oscillation and surety lies in these facts. Number one, we did not believe in the Decline of the West-we loved the West. We were optimists as youths. Two, we were not relativists, nor subjectivists, but strove for objectivity and the rational. Three, we did not trust our emotions. Four, we belonged to stable groups, such as large families, parishes with continuity in the Mass, schools with Classical Education, and a pride in all of that. Five, we knew who we were. We had a core of being based on our training and discipline in the home. We did not have to totally invent ourselves. Our moms and dads loved us and we knew it, but we had to prove ourselves. We had to measure up and succeed.

The PPMs have to invent themselves. They have not had the core of being created for them and with them in the family or parish or school. They lack a framework for judging between good and evil, good taste and bad taste, the beautiful and the ugly, the true and the false, and so on. So, they vacillate, they oscillate in ideas and taste, like a little boat on the sea skimming the waves in order to find the berth which will give a comfort zone.

I once thought America, and maybe Europe, would see civil wars. Now, I doubt it in Europe and still think it could happen in the States. But,  PPMs could not support one side for long. But, then, I think not all this generation of  PPMs are PPMs. How do we know if they keep changing? To be continued....

YOU voted for abortion

2012 March

To these Catholics and Latinos, YOU voted for abortion to continue, through Obamacare and the new SCOTUS appointees and through the Dem platform. On these days of the March for Life, think about this................................

Reuters/Ipsos exit polling found that 51 percent of Catholics favored President Barack Obama, compared with 48 percent for Republican contender Mitt Romney. A report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life had a similar finding, with 50 percent of Catholics for Obama and 48 percent for Romney, the same as the popular vote in the general population.

Hispanic Catholics were far more likely to favor Obama - by 76 percent to 23 percent - than white Catholics, who favored Romney by 56 percent to 43 percent, according to the Reuters poll. Black Protestants favored Obama by 97 percent to 3 percent, while white Protestants favored Romney by 69 percent compared to 29 percent for Obama.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-usa-campaign-religion-idUSBRE8A71M420121108

On this day, a note on Nelly Gray

"Many priests cite the March for Life as the reason for their choice of vocation," he told The Anchor. "Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says the march was what inspired him to join the priesthood and make the life issue his calling."

http://www.americancatholic.org/news/report.aspx?id=2135

Singles, pray to Nelly Gray, one of the founders of the March for Life, concerning your vocation. Here was a real lady with a real vocation in the world of complete selflessness. Here is a photo from Fr. Frank Pavone's blog at http://www.priestsforlife.org/blog/index.php/frpavonenelliegraywasatirelesswarriorfortheunborn

Bad news about ordinations from an interesting source

I am doing a bit of research on the lack of vocations in the Western world.

Here is a bit of what I have found so far. Anne Hendershott, Ph.D.  

and Christopher White did the article.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9832

In Full Pews and Empty Altars, authors Richard Schoenherr and Lawrence Young suggest that dioceses with large percentages of Hispanic residents report significantly lower rates of ordinations. There is some support for that assertion in the recently released 2011 Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, this survey found that although Hispanics/Latinos constitute approximately 34 percent of adult Catholics in the United States, they only comprise 15 percent of ordinands in 2011. In contrast, Caucasian/European American/Whites make up 69 percent of those ordained in 2011, and 58 percent of adult Catholics nationally. Asians/Pacific Islanders constitute only 4 percent of United States Catholics overall, but make up 10 percent of those ordained in 2011, and African/African American/Blacks comprise 3 percent of all adult Catholics nationally, but make up 5 percent of ordinands in 2011.

The lower rates of ordination by Hispanics might help us understand the low rates of ordinations in a diocese like El Paso, Texas. But when looking at the rates of ordinations throughout the 178 dioceses in the United States, there are some dioceses with large numbers of Hispanics in the population and large numbers of ordinations as well. In the Corpus Christi, Texas diocese, for example, there were seven ordinations to the priesthood in 2010. Corpus Christi is a diocese where Catholics–the majority of them Hispanic Catholics–comprise more than half of the total population of 558,831 (70 percent).

And, here is more:

In 1996, Archbishop Elden Curtiss, then the leader of the Omaha, Nebraska diocese, published an article titled “Crisis in Vocations? What Crisis?” in which he asserted, “When dioceses and religious communities are unambiguous about the ordained priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines these calls; when there is strong support for vocations, and a minimum of dissent about the male celibate priesthood and religious life, loyal to the Magisterium; when the bishop, priests, religious, and lay people are united in vocation ministry–then there are documented increases in the numbers of candidates who respond to the call.”

In his article, Archbishop Curtiss cited “The Churching of America, 1776-1990,” a sociological study published by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, which points out that the more a religious organization compromises with society and the world, blurring its identity and modifying its teaching and ethics, the more it will decline. Archbishop Curtiss writes: “Religious organizations are stronger to the degree that they impose significant costs in terms of sacrifice and even stigma upon their members…I am convinced that shortages of vocations in any part of the country can be reversed by people who share enthusiastically in the agenda of the Church. We have to learn from the dioceses and communities which are experiencing an increase in vocations.… Young people do not want to commit themselves to dioceses or communities that permit or simply ignore dissent from Church doctrine.”

For Archbishop Curtiss, “the vocation crisis was precipitated and continued by people who want to change the Church’s agenda, by people who do not support orthodox candidates loyal to the magisterial teaching of the pope and bishops, and by people who actually discourage viable candidates from seeking priesthood and vowed religious life as the Church defines the ministries.”

Check Out March for Life from Papa Stronsay Site

http://papastronsay.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/40th-anniversary-of-state-sponsored.html

Reality Poster

Great Parody with Grumpy Cat

On the blue and the red rose....

I have written on the symbolism of the blue rose before.

I have told of my fascination with the unattainable, the mysterious love at first sight, and the striving for the spiritual love of God, which are all part of the meaning of the blue rose. Artists may be attracted to the blue rose.

But, today, I am moving into the symbolism of the red rose, most likely, the most popular flower in the world.

By the way, I saw a brown rose last year in Kent. It was wonderfully exotic. The color was that of milk chocolate. But, that is not my rose. The flower seller told me it was from another country and I found out it was France and she was importing flowers. The French developed this rose. Some of her flowers were sent from far away. Flower sellers have interesting information on types and countries of roses, btw.

The red rose means many things to both Eastern and Western humans. It means love, passion, martyrdom.

It means happiness in love and true love. The red rose also means desire.

Desire is fine if it is desire for God Alone. The red rose can also mean the power and fruitfulness.

So, for a bit, I am switching to the red rose for meditation on the Passion and Love of Christ.

My favourite roses are the old roses, developed with great success by David Austin. I love the fragrances as well as the multiple petals. Here is a photo below.

Very medieval...........

The blue rose and the red rose together.....


Idealism and realism, aspirations and passion, love at first sight and true love,   spiritual and physical love, human and divine...........

A late thank you

To the good nuns who taught me.

I lived in a fortunate time, in a good place.

The "pie-plate" nuns taught me well. God bless them.

A game for my readers. What order wore the "fluted pie plates"?

From Lauds today-guides to the Illuminative State

 Today, the words from Lauds particularly speak to the road to perfection. Do not be so active that you miss opportunities to pray and go before the Blessed Sacrament.

It is only in the Illuminative State that we can do the works of God. All out works before that belong to our humanity and not eternal merit or good. I know that sounds harsh but until we are purified all our works are not beginning in the life of the Holy Spirit. One can sense the difference.

Look at the selections I chose from Lauds today. The first selection reminds me of the famous story of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. He gave a retreat to bishops and opened his talk with this phrase: "I have more power than you!" Then, he proceeded to tell the bishops that Americans listened to him for one reason: he prayed one hour daily before the Blessed Sacrament. This is the meaning of the psalm pericope:

If my people had heard me,

  if only they had walked in my ways –

I would swiftly have crushed their enemies,

  stretched my hand over those who persecuted them.

If one truly allows God to purify the heart, mind, imagination and will, then one's enemies are swiftly conquered. No purification=no power.

In the second reading, Paul, who experienced the Illuminative State, reveals that righteousness, "Mutual improvement" means surrounding yourself with God's friends. 

Short reading	Romans 14:17-19 ©

The kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ in this way you will please God and be respected by men. So let us adopt any custom that leads to peace and our mutual improvement.

In the intercessory prayers, we have the sign of the Illuminative State. If one is constantly in the Presence of God, keeping God before us daily and allowing God to destroy our idols, all we do will be for his glory. If we put on the mind of Christ, giving up and letting Him do it all, we shall know and do His Will. 

We thank you, Father, for sending us your Son:

  let us keep him before our eyes throughout this day.

– Lord, hear us.

Direct our thoughts, our words, our actions today,

  so that we may know, and do, your will.

– Lord, hear us.

Thanks to Universalis

Feedback, please for those at the March for Life

The newspapers and radio as well as television in Europe will not have good or any coverage on the March for Life. If you are going or are there already, please post comments here on numbers and talks. Thanks. I shall follow the broadcasts of Voris and check out LifeSiteNews as well as Fr. Z.

This year is more important than ever.

On real silence and the raucous world...

When I was in the monastery, I actually was ashamed and apologized to the Mother Prioress for the actions of many of the laity who came to the monastery. Either for retreats or for meetings, many, not all, came to the place of silence and used it without gratitude or sensitivity. The regulars were great and cleaned and fell into the rhythm of the place.

Some were using the monastery just for their own r and r, and not to actually enter into the spirit of mortification.

Today, I was reading a commentary on the Rule, and a monk wrote something which put all of this into perspective. This monk noted that the world crashes in on monastery life, using the place for its own peace, when in reality, those in the world should create their own peace instead of using and even abusing that of the monastery.

I witnessed that and it grieved me. I could see the chaos being brought into the monastery without any change in the persons who were not open to God.


These people came in and left to go right back into their noise and chaos. I felt sick and sad.

Some left a residue of it behind, to be spiritually cleaned up by the nuns, as it were.

I am glad a monk had the guts to write this commentary on the way that the world does not think or want to create its own silence.

As the monk noted, silence comes from personal discipline, not from a place.............

We all must open our hearts to God and let Him create that secret, quiet place.

Then, we carry it with us wherever we go.

Our Lady of Damascus

A contact from Malta has informed me of Our Lady of Damascus Church in Valletta. Next time I go to Malta, I shall attend the Divine Liturgy there. Here is the website: http://latinmasses.ca/malta.htm

The icon is in the form of the genre "Our Lady of Tenderness", a form which depicts Jesus kissing His Mother and she looking at us inviting us into their Love.

It is amazing that I lived in Valletta for a while and never knew about this Church until after my second visit to Malta.

The churches there are among the most beautiful in the world.

Here is a photo of the inside. May this church flourish. A commentator on the Byzantine Catholic Forum has offered some information on this church.

Our Lady of Damascus (Madonna taâ- Damaxxena) Greek-Catholic Church in Valletta (Malta)
The church was built between 1576 and 1587 by the Rhodian Noble Giovanni Kalamias on the site donated by Grand Master del Monte (1565-1572, cfr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Monte). During World War II it was destroyed on 24th March 1942, but was rebuilt and consecrated on 15th August 1951 by bishop Georgios Halavazis , 1881-1957, cfr.http://www.elcathex.com/eke/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1250&Itemid=), from 1920 till 1957 titular bishop of Theodoropolis and Apostolic Eparch of Istanbul and, from 1932, Greece (of the Faithful of Byzantine Rite). The treasures of this church are the Icon of Our Lady of Damascus, which was crowned in 1931, on the 15th Centenary of the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431). It was brought over by some Greeks who accompanied the Knights of St John when they were expelled from Rhodes in 1523. The other Icon is that of the Virgin Eleimonitria. During the Second World War more than 30 Icons of different sizes were lost under the ruins of the church. These were replaced by over than 30 new Icons, mostly the work of the Russian artist Gregorio Malzteff (1881 - 1952). But one can still admire the precious Icon of the Deposition from the Cross, a Crucified Christ made by the local painter Anton Inglott (1915-1945), and the Icon of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin made by the contemporary Ukranian artist Giovenale. 

And here is more about the icon from the website noted above: 

It was brought in Malta in 1530 with the treasure of the order. Grand Master Villers De L’Isle Adam placed it in the church of St. Catherine in Borgo del Castello. It remain there till 1587 when it was solemnly transported across the harbour, in the most glorious gallery of the Order, to the new city of Valletta where it was placed in the church Of Our Lady Of Damascus. Grand Master Jean De La Vallette was a fervent devotee of this Madonna. When the icon was taken to Valletta the Grand Master left his cap and sword on the steps of the alter as a votive offering.

Between 1963 and 1966 the icon was cleaned and restored in the General Institute of Art Restoration in Rome at the expense of the Italian government. The patient work of the restorers who removed layers of grime and successive over paintings accumulated over the centuries, brought the picture back to its original beauty.

The Knights of Malta saved the icon when the Muslims took over Damascus and found the icon which had been there in Rhodes, and brought it to Malta in the great warship, the carrack,  Santa Maria. (Not Columbus')

I would like to ask her intercession for the marchers in Washington, all the pregnant women considering abortions and all the pro-life priests and seminarians. May Our Lady of Damascus go with you.

Thoughts in the cold.........

The low tonight is going to 21, that is, Thursday. I am amazed at the cold temperatures this year in England.

I sleep with two duvets, socks or tights, and three sweaters. Really. It is not as bad as 2010, they say.

The ice age cometh.

I saw O'Neill's play years ago.

It is strange.

This weather is strange.

When I was growing up in Iowa, we had feather blankets, which were heavy, huge feather bed like things made by my great-grandma and grandma. If one turned over at night, one had to exert a tremendous amount of energy.

I wish I had one now. I do not know what happened to them.

I always felt like Heidi in the winter, under or between the feathers.

I always slept with my head covered and only my nose out of the heavy blankets.

Sigh, I hate the cold. One can do layers and end up like The Princess and The Pea.

My mother said I was like the princess in that story, as I had to have my bed just right for sleeping.

I am just glad to be warm.

When I was little, I used to call out to my mom after I was in bed, "Cover me" in a little sing-song voice. It was like a bed-time ritual.

I wonder if she remembers that. I was always glad to be warm.....

St. Peter and the Lutherans

The one great advantage of being an Catholic is having a hierarchy with a head who is the line of men appointed by Christ Himself while on earth.

The enemies of the Catholic Church constantly undermine this authority. We have a visible Church with a visible head. I am grateful for such clarity.

There is much talk in the blogosphere on the possibility of a new Lutheran Ordinariate. I would be thrilled. As a Catholic, I would wish all Christians the security of the Holy Spirit I experience in the one, true, holy and apostolic Church.

Welcome to those who are involved in this movement....come home, please!

Arrgghh...the stupidity in NYC

People in this world are killing babies in the womb, blowing each other up with bombs, doing drugs, and enslaving children while the mayor of New York is enforcing the law on soda sizes.

I mean, really............

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUGARY_DRINKS_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-23-06-18-52

Why obedience in marriage?

Here are some points for my traditionally minded lady-friends.

One, obedience is done not merely for social or family order or compliance, although it helps that, but for "the love of God".

Two, obedience is the adult power for choosing interior and eternal life, not merely for being accepted.

Three, obedience leads to humility.

Four, obedience leads to a submission to God's Will-if one can give up one's will in small things, God will allow one to learn to give up in large areas for greater sanctification.

Five, obedience can lead to a totally Christ-centred life.

The key, of course, is to marry a holy man who respects you and lives according to his role as Protector and Guide in the family

As Candlemas come closer...Dads, go to Adoration at least weekly

The Power of the Blessed Sacrament needs to be found in silence.

And Candlemas is the light of God given to the Jews and the Gentiles......................

Father David Jones has many hard words to say to us, and especially the Irish. The priests have been warned about the tabernacle keys and they are to wear them on their persons. As he says at the end, face reality, not the false. There is a connection with lies and Candlemas in these days, sadly. But, for sure Candlemas is Catholic in origin.

Candlemas is the great feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and the day when candles were blessed. It was in older days the last day of the Christmas Season, and the end of feasting. It also marked the beginning of the Long Fast in the monasteries. This is all based on common sense, as we all need to eat more in the coldest parts of the winter for health reasons. God based His Religion on nature and natural law. Be grateful for such a consistent religion as the Catholic Faith.

Mary and Joseph were obeying the Law and the Holy Spirit inspired Anna and Simeon to see the Messiah and prophecy the suffering of both Christ and Mary. So, already, we are looking towards Lent and Passion Week.

It is a big day and should be marked with more ceremony, but no longer a holy day of obligation. Here is the Latin of the reading of that day.

Lucas 2:22-40

Biblia Sacra Vulgata (VULGATE)

²² et postquam impleti sunt dies purgationis eius secundum legem Mosi tulerunt illum in Hierusalem ut sisterent eum Domino

²³ sicut scriptum est in lege Domini quia omne masculinum adaperiens vulvam sanctum Domino vocabitur

²⁴ et ut darent hostiam secundum quod dictum est in lege Domini par turturum aut duos pullos columbarum

²⁵ et ecce homo erat in Hierusalem cui nomen Symeon et homo iste iustus et timoratus expectans consolationem Israhel et Spiritus Sanctus erat in eo

²⁶ et responsum acceperat ab Spiritu Sancto non visurum se mortem nisi prius videret Christum Domini

²⁷ et venit in Spiritu in templum et cum inducerent puerum Iesum parentes eius ut facerent secundum consuetudinem legis pro eo

²⁸ et ipse accepit eum in ulnas suas et benedixit Deum et dixit

²⁹ nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine secundum verbum tuum in pace

³⁰ quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum

³¹ quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum

³² lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam plebis tuae Israhel

³³ et erat pater eius et mater mirantes super his quae dicebantur de illo

³⁴ et benedixit illis Symeon et dixit ad Mariam matrem eius ecce positus est hic in ruinam et resurrectionem multorum in Israhel et in signum cui contradicetur

³⁵ et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius ut revelentur ex multis cordibus cogitationes

³⁶ et erat Anna prophetissa filia Phanuhel de tribu Aser haec processerat in diebus multis et vixerat cum viro suo annis septem a virginitate sua

³⁷ et haec vidua usque ad annos octoginta quattuor quae non discedebat de templo ieiuniis et obsecrationibus serviens nocte ac die

³⁸ et haec ipsa hora superveniens confitebatur Domino et loquebatur de illo omnibus qui expectabant redemptionem Hierusalem

³⁹ et ut perfecerunt omnia secundum legem Domini reversi sunt in Galilaeam in civitatem suam Nazareth

⁴⁰ puer autem crescebat et confortabatur plenus sapientia et gratia Dei erat in illo

The Presentation is the sign to the Jews that Christ is the Messiah. It is also the sign of the fulfillment of the prophecies and Mary's role in Salvation History. And, that Christ is the Light of the Gentiles, the entire world.

However, in these days of confusion and chaos, the wiccans have taken this day as one of their own. They are using revisionist history to convince youth to follow some ways which are supposedly older. We need to fast and pray for the souls of our children and we need to be authorities in our home against evil. These false wicca feasts are a great deceit perpetrated by the evil one to take youth away from the Catholic origins of this feast and others. 

I appeal to Dads. I appeal to seminarians. I appeal to priests.

Go to Adoration. Make the promise if you can, especially Dads, to go before the Blessed Sacrament daily for an hour. Pray for our children to be protected for falsehood.

Please consider this. Do not adore the television, Dads. Adore God.