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Wednesday 19 February 2014

Harrassment Report

Four groups of people send me nasty comments, which do not get published. Of course, we real Catholics cannot complain about being harassed. Or  "watched'.

I begin to be "checked out" by certain countries and addresses for posting something.

These groups are, and the first refers to the previous sentence, Islamists.

The second group reveals itself as rabid pro-gay lifestyle gents.

The third group is made up of radical feminists.

And, the fourth group seems to be low-Church of Bob types who hate the Church.

Well, here are some news items to stir up the pot today.

Muslims target tourists and all non-Muslims in the Sinai Peninsula.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/02/egypt-sinai-jihadists-say-all-tourists-must-leave-by-feb-20-or-be-killed


The Guardian comes out and states that passing laws against same-sex-marriage is called intolerance.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/18/indiana-same-sex-marriage-constitutional-ban

Feminists continue to be silent about sex-selection abortions.

http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2014/01/15/gendercide-the-silence-of-the-so-called-feminists/

And, for my commentators from the Church of Bob: a recollection of the Pope Emeritus' reference to Our Lady of Graces-a great feast, and the last big feast of summer, in Malta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_of_Our_Lady_of_Alt%C3%B6tting

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/sick/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20130102_world-day-of-the-sick-2013_en.html

Feast of Our Lady of Graces in Malta in September

Perfection Series II: xxxi

More from Garrigou-Lagrange in Providence.

A faithful soul will often recall to mind these words of our Lord: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me" (John 4: 34). The soul finds its constant nourishment in the divine will as expressed, abandoning itself to the divine will as yet not made known, much as a swimmer supports himself on the passing wave and surrenders himself to the oncoming wave, to that ocean that might engulf him but that actually sustains, him. So the soul must strike out toward the open sea, into the infinite ocean of being, says St. John Damascene, borne up by the divine will as made known there and then and abandoning itself to that divine will upon which all successive moments of the future depend. The future is with God, future events are in His hands. If the merchants to whom Joseph was sold by his brethren had passed by one hour sooner, he would not have gone into Egypt, and the whole course of his life would have been changed. Our lives also are dependent on events controlled by God. Daily fidelity and trusting self-abandonment thus give the spiritual life its balance, its stability and harmony. In this way we live our lives in almost continuous recollection, in an ever-increasing self-abnegation, and these are the conditions normally required for contemplation and union with God. This, then, is the reason why our life should be one of self-abandonment to the divine will as yet unknown to us and at the same time supported every moment by that will as already made known to us.
In this union of fidelity and self-abandonment we have some idea of the way in which asceticism, insisting on fidelity or conformity to the divine will, should be united with mysticism, which emphasizes self-abandonment.

Perfection Series II: xxx

"Do what you ought, come what may."

So did the great martyrs of England and Wales. But, to do what we are supposed to do, means that we conform our minds, hearts, souls, wills to that of Christ.

We cannot remain stubbornly attached to this world, to our own desires, or to our mistakes.

I know some people who are attached to their mistakes. Instead of admitting they have made great errors of judgement in the past, asked forgiveness and moved on, these sad people cling to the past out of fear and pride.

If we are painfully honest about ourselves, God will take care of us and lead us with great graces to heaven.

Remember, if we are not afraid to see ourselves in truth, we shall see God.

Our daily duties lead us to God and to a great unity of love.



These first three principles may therefore be summed up in this way: Nothing comes to pass but God has foreseen it, willed it or at least permitted it. He wills nothing, permits nothing, unless for the manifestation of His goodness and infinite perfections, for the glory of His Son, and the welfare of those that love Him. In view of these three principles, it is evident that our trust in Providence cannot be too childlike, too steadfast. Indeed, we may go further and say that this trust in Providence should be blind as is our faith, the object of which is those mysteries that are non-evident and unseen (fides est de non visis) for we are certain beforehand that Providence is directing all things infallibly to a good purpose, and we are more convinced of the rectitude of His designs than we are of the best of our own intentions. Therefore, in abandoning ourselves to God, all we have to fear is that our submission will not be wholehearted enough. [54]
In view of Quietism, however, this last sentence obliges us to lay down a fourth principle no less certain than the principles that have preceded. The principle is, that obviously self-abandonment does not dispense us from doing everything in our power to fulfil God's will as made known in the commandments and counsels, and in the events of life; but so long as we have the sincere desire to carry out His will thus made known from day to day, we can and indeed we must abandon ourselves for the rest to the divine will of good pleasure, no matter how mysterious it may be, and thus avoid a useless disquiet and mere agitation. [55]
This fourth principle is expressed in equivalent terms by the Council of Trent (Sess. VI, cap. 13), when it declares that we must all have firm hope in God's assistance and put our trust in Him, being careful at the same time to keep His commandments. As the well-known proverb has it: "Do what you ought, come what may."
All theologians explain what is meant by the divine will as expressed: expressed, that is, in the commandments, in the spirit underlying the counsels, and in the events of life. [56] They add that, while conforming ourselves to His expressed will, [57] we must abandon ourselves to His divine will of good pleasure, however mysterious it may be, for we are certain beforehand that in its holiness it wills nothing, permits nothing, unless for a good purpose.
We must take special note here of these words in the Gospel of St. Luke (16: 10) : "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater." If every day we do what we can to be faithful to God in the ordinary routine of life, we may be confident that He will give us grace to remain faithful in whatever extremity we may find ourselves through His permission; and if we have to suffer for Him, He will give us the grace to die a heroic death rather than be ashamed of Him and betray Him.

Perfection Series II: xxix


This is the time of mercy. All that you and I are experiencing has been willed by God from all eternity.

The end of all that is happening may be divided into two parts: the glory of God and our personal salvation.

Today, I think of St. Paul shipwrecked on Malta. He did not foresee this, but his presence there created a Catholic culture, a local church which many centuries later stopped the advance of Islam into Europe.

One man's shipwreck led to one of the most Catholic countries in the world until recently. How many people's souls were saved because God allowed the ship taking Paul to Rome to flounder in the sea near St. Paul's Bay?  We cannot understand the warp and woof of our lives.

I do not, as I sit here in the deep countryside of Iowa, surrounded by impassible hills of snow, thousands of miles away from some of my closest friends and my son.

St. Paul most likely did not understand all his trials, but he trusted in Providence and carried on.

So must we....more from Garrigou-Lagrange, in Providence.

Why we should abandon ourselves to divine providence
The answer of every Christian will be that the reason lies in the wisdom and goodness of Providence. This is very true; nevertheless, if we are to have a proper understanding of the subject, if we are to avoid the error of the Quietists in renouncing more or less the virtue of hope and the struggle necessary for salvation, if we are to avoid also the other extreme of disquiet, precipitation, and a feverish, fruitless agitation, it is expedient for us to lay down four principles already somewhat accessible to natural reason and clearly set forth in revelation as found in Scripture. These principles underlying the true doctrine of self-abandonment, also bring out the motive inspiring it.
The first of these principles is that everything which comes to pass has been foreseen by God from all eternity, and has been willed or at least permitted by Him.
Nothing comes to pass either in the material or in the spiritual world, but God has foreseen it from all eternity; because with Him there ii no passing from ignorance to knowledge as with us, and He has nothing to learn from events as they occur. Not only has God foreseen everything that is happening now or will happen in the future, but whatever reality and goodness there is in these things He has willed; and whatever evil or moral disorder is in them, He has merely permitted. Holy Scripture is explicit on this point, and, as the councils have declared, no room is left for doubt in the matter.
The second principle is that nothing can be willed or permitted by God that does not contribute to the end He purposed in creating, which is the manifestation of His goodness and infinite perfections, and the glory of the God-man Jesus Christ, His only Son. As St. Paul says (I Cor. 2: 23), "All are yours. And you are Christ's. And Christ is God's."

In addition to these two principles, there is a third, which St. Paul states thus (Rom. 8:28) : "We know that to them that love God all things work together unto good: to such as, according to His purpose, are called to be saints" and persevere in His love. God sees to it that everything contributes to their spiritual welfare, not only the grace He bestows on them, not only those natural qualities He endows them with, but sickness too, and contradictions and reverses; as St. Augustine tells us, even their very sins, which God only permits in order to lead them on to a truer humility and thereby to a purer love. It was thus He permitted the threefold denial of St. Peter, to make the great Apostle more humble, more mistrustful of self, and by this very means become stronger and trust more in the divine mercy.

Allowing God to Love You Perfection Series II: xxviii

...we must allow ourselves to be loved by this exceedingly holy, purifying, life-giving love, and submit to its purifications, however painful they may be at times. And it should be met with a generous response, according to these words of St. John: "Let us love God: because He hath first loved us" (I John 4: 10). We must love the Lord for His own sake, with a purity of intention rising above the promptings of vainglory and pride and that self-seeking which is induced by jealousy and the desire for the esteem of men.
The beginning in us of a pure love for God will then be some participation in that love which God has for Himself, a spark from that divine furnace of His own self-love. And as our love grows purer daily, it will increase in holiness, generosity, and strength. Indeed it will make us invincible, according to the phrase of St. Paul (Rom. 8: 1), "If God be with us, who is against us?" And finally, our love thus gradually purified will enable us to triumph over death itself and will open the gates of paradise to us. When we enter into glory, we shall be established forever in a supernatural love for God that can nevermore be lost or lessened. Garrigou-Lagrange,  Providence.



Now is the time to let God love you. Do not run away from God. Very soon, the time of mercy will end and we shall be totally dependent on how we have prepared ourselves, how we have cooperated with grace.

This is the time of spiritual preparation. Too many people are merely thinking of storing food, which may be a good and prudent thing.

But, the real trials to come will demand a level of maturity and preparation not seen before on the earth from us Catholics.

Take time now.

Now is the time.

Poem for February



The lady makes a bouquet or roses;
pollen clinging to the sleeve of her white dress.

She carries the ebony vase to a small
table, a blue rosary encircles her hand.

Gallica roses and damask, white for
purity and new love, red for passion,

Yellow for friendship, purple for enchantment,
spun out of the colors of her amethyst ring,

inherited episcopacy, long gone, long dead,
the relic of past dreams, past dramas.

Her gold-dot hennin hides changing
hair, gold and silver mingling into

unfinished memories of forgiveness.








Ashamed to be an American today

The President is ignoring the horrible evil in the Ukraine. Why? Putin is wanting to re-establish the old boundaries of the Soviet Union.

But, Big Brother EU is broke. And, the union of feeble states, most of which have lost their sovereignty to The Hague, cannot match the old power of Russia.

The Ukraine is full of natural resources, and it is made up of different ethnic groups than Russia. For years, Stalin killed millions of Ukrainians by his forced famine because of his need for power and his ethnic hatred.

The Ukraine lies between two bullies. The EU is not the answer to the Ukrainian problems, but neither is Russia.

If there was ever a time when America should be involved in strife, it is there and it is now.

Europe is being torn apart before our eyes.

http://therightscoop.com/krauthammer-on-protests-in-kiev-where-is-obama-the-stakes-could-not-be-higher/

God help Europe.

Schism in Ireland

I hope the Pope responds quickly. I wonder if this bishop is a Mason. Just wonderin'

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dublin-archbishop-responds-to-gay-marriage-debate-suggesting-gay-civil-regi

"There can be ways in which gay people can celebrate their togetherness, their love for one another, but it isn’t marriage,” he added. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that a civil partnership is somewhat of less value than marriage.”
In contrast, the Vatican teaching on the matter is clear and emphatic. The 2003 Vatican documentordered published by Pope John Paul II and signed by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, states: “When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it.” The document adds, “To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.”
Anthony Murphy, chairman of Catholics United for the Faith Ireland, told LifeSiteNews.com that the archbishop’s comments are “disturbing.”  How is it possible, he asked, “for the Church to ever sanction the celebration of mortal sin which is what homosexual acts are – grave and mortal sin -- so how is it possible to celebrate this act ever?”

This site suggests writing to the following-If you are in the EU, do so.

Contact:
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11, 00193 Roma, Italy
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09
cdf@cfaith.va
Cardinal Séan Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland
Ara Coeli, Cathedral Rd.
Armagh Northern Ireland
BT61 7QY
Tel: +44 (0)28 3752 2045
Fax: +44 (0)28 3752 6182
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin
Archbishop’s House
Drumcondra, Dublin 6
Tel: +353 (0)1 837 3732
Fax: +353 (0)1 836 9796