http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/eric-scheiner/boy-killed-spider-had-wish-family-working-make-it-come-true
One day in 2010, I saw all three of my cats back away from a brown spider which had come in under the door.
Immediately, I knew this spider was different than all others in Missouri I had seen. Puddy, my killer-cat, would not touch this spider, nor would Vladimir or Miho. The stores were out of the spray to kill these. I found two more in the apartment that summer. One had died in my clothes closet. This one was in the hallway.
I took off my wooden clog and smashed it.
It was a Brown Recluse Spider.
I asked the maintenance man if there were Brown Recluse in Maryville. He said yes, all over, and these spiders lived under the wood chips around the apartment complex.
I had first seen one in Mississippi when I went down to help after Katrina. A man I knew pointed one out to me on his broken trees in his backyard. He owned a bayou which had been ruined by the hurricane.
Brown Recluse are also in Iowa, and a girl was severe ill in Bettendorf after being bitten a while ago.
I have seen these spiders in Iowa as well.
Like my cats, if you see one, back off. The bite causes huge damage and death.
There are sprays which kill these types.
I know a man who was bitten by one of these spiders. I saw the sore on his leg. It had spread from his inner thigh all over his leg. I do not know what happened to him.
He was a carpenter and was working on houses after Katrina.
The spider is easy to spot. These creatures are all brown.
The Brown Recluse has been in Malta since 1940.
One must pay attention....
Monday 1 December 2014
Hispanics No Longer Catholic...
Posted by
Supertradmum
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/nyc-78-abortions-were-black-and-hispanic-babies
76,251 babies killed, in 2011, in New York City!
76,251 babies killed, in 2011, in New York City!
Demons of The Air
Posted by
Supertradmum
This is absolutely consistent. Every time I write about the evil of Catholic politicians who present themselves for Communion, my computer acts up. I frequently lose the entire article or comment.
No kidding, and every time I write something on Humanae Vitae, the net goes down, or, again, I lose my work.
The demons of the air work overtime over Malta....
This is to be expected in a contracepting culture.
No kidding, and every time I write something on Humanae Vitae, the net goes down, or, again, I lose my work.
The demons of the air work overtime over Malta....
This is to be expected in a contracepting culture.
St. Catherine of Siena Besieged by Demons, ca 1500, Anonymous; Wikimedia Commons. |
Clarity with A Challenge
Posted by
Supertradmum
For the past four years, and especially when I have been here in Malta, it has been clear to me that God wants me to live a contemplative life. As some of you know, I tried Tyburn twice and the lifestyle was simply too hard for me physically. God is calling me to be a contemplative in the world. I have known this for quite a while.
Through many sources of inspiration and guidance, my way is clear-active contemplation moving into passive contemplation. However, I need stability to do this. I, again, plead with my readers to pray for me for this stability, as a permanent place, and the means to live even a simple life, have been a challenge.
I need a place, a little cell which is just my own. On top of that, like two people I know, I would like to be able to have the Host reserved in that little cell. In addition, I need the ability to get to daily Mass, for my own salvation and purification.
Please pray for this real need. If God wants me to live the life of charitable prayer which feeds so many of you who need to live the outward life of justice and righteousness, I must be somewhere. I must move away from the outward to the inward lifestyle. But, I am not a disembodied spirit!
Please do not stop praying for my staying here on this continent. The darkness is growing, so there is more need for one little candle, one small light, which is fed by contemplative prayer, not merely for my own salvation, but for you, the Church Militant. The Church desperately needs contemplatives now. The more small lights, the better.
I think God wants my readers to pray for this need, and I ask out of deep humility and trust that you will join me in prayer.
Returning to Raissa Tomorrow
Posted by
Supertradmum
I am still working my way through Raissa's Journal and will share more tomorrow. I have read this book so many times, but like all classic spiritual works, one learns so much on each subsequent reading.
VIP Please Read
Posted by
Supertradmum
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/541725/REVEALED-Al-Qaeda-plot-to-blow-up-5-European-passenger-jets-in-Christmas-spectacular
Does anyone believe in the religion of peace?
Does anyone believe in the religion of peace?
Prayer Requests
Posted by
Supertradmum
Please pray for I, a young man who is having severe stomach problems from an unknown cause; for E who is ill again; for two men with cancer; for several families experiencing fallen-away adult children; for a new job for E; for P who is very ill again; for M who is having trouble in his relationship with his parents; for all those who are alone and especially for women who need protection.
Please also pray for A, A, and V who are into false seers big time, and for all priests supporting ssm, priests whose minds and hearts need to be changed.
Also, pray for all those parents who delay baptism for months and months, which is wrong, just for the sake of a party. And, for those parents who have never baptized their children-for conversion.
Please also pray for A, A, and V who are into false seers big time, and for all priests supporting ssm, priests whose minds and hearts need to be changed.
Also, pray for all those parents who delay baptism for months and months, which is wrong, just for the sake of a party. And, for those parents who have never baptized their children-for conversion.
To the person who keeps writing
Posted by
Supertradmum
..about a photo I am using, this is not so, --- having that photo removed a long time ago.
There are no photos or pictures on that post.
There are no photos or pictures on that post.
A List of More Posts Referring to St. Edmund Campion
Posted by
Supertradmum
02 May 2014
But, we are the mustard seed in England, in this soil made fertile with the blood of Edmund Campion, Robert Southwell, Anne Line Oliver Plunkett and so many others. Scene Five: The room in Tyburn again. The Tyburn ...
26 Nov 2013
Etheldredasplace: Catholics and the Media II: Edmund Campion. 15 Feb 2012. Because I am thinking of the Catholic use of the media today, here is Campion's Brag. If you remember, he printed this up at Stonor House, and ...
02 May 2014
But, we are the mustard seed in England, in this soil made fertile with the blood of Edmund Campion, Robert Southwell, Anne Line Oliver Plunkett and so many others. Scene Five: The room in Tyburn again. The Tyburn ...
26 Nov 2013
Etheldredasplace: Catholics and the Media II: Edmund Campion. 15 Feb 2012. Because I am thinking of the Catholic use of the media today, here is Campion's Brag. If you remember, he printed this up at Stonor House, and ...
02 May 2014
But, we are the mustard seed in England, in this soil made fertile with the blood of Edmund Campion, Robert Southwell, Anne Line Oliver Plunkett and so many others. Scene Five: The room in Tyburn again. The Tyburn ...
26 Nov 2013
Etheldredasplace: Catholics and the Media II: Edmund Campion. 15 Feb 2012. Because I am thinking of the Catholic use of the media today, here is Campion's Brag. If you remember, he printed this up at Stonor House, and ...
26 Jul 2013
What came to my mind was that I could have been in a time-machine, taken back to the interrogations of Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, or Robert Southwell et al. The entire meeting of this Parliament panel on both days ...
06 May 2014
Edmund Campion and Thomas More were real men. Their westering was interior. When I read The Red Pony, I can feel the blood of my ancestors rising and saying to me, "Keep going. Never stop. Reach your goal."
11 Nov 2014
Therefore, we honor Edmund Campion, John Fisher, Thomas More, Oliver Plunkett and the myriad martyrs of England and Wales, the stars in the Church Triumphant, some tortured, some mutilated, all killed by those who ...
09 Oct 2014
Thomas More, Edmund Campion, Oliver Plunkett, and so on. Gradualism denies two basics of Revelation and Tradition: one that the Law is from God, and that natural law is reflected in the Ten Commandments, which were ...
01 Mar 2014
Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, or Robert Southwell et al. The entire meeting of this Parliament panel on both days was a sham. The smug hypocritical statements of the. members of Parliament shone out like words of old ...
03 Feb 2013
Edmund Campion - the rising generation of fervent young Catholics that I am encountering are in two camps -- the ones you say we need [who would seek out the TLM, traditional sacraments and ethos], and another camp that ...
07 Feb 2014
Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, or Robert Southwell et al. The entire meeting of this Parliament panel on both days was a sham. The smug hypocritical statements. of the members of Parliament shone out like words of old ...
21 Aug 2014
Edmund Campion or Thomas More. Stages occur naturally in the spiritual life. This beatitude applies to those who, converted to a better life, encounter only opposition in their surroundings. It applies also to the apostle whose ...
02 May 2014
But, we are the mustard seed in England, in this soil made fertile with the blood of Edmund Campion, Robert Southwell, Anne Line Oliver Plunkett and so many others. Scene Five: The room in Tyburn again. The Tyburn ...
26 Nov 2013
Etheldredasplace: Catholics and the Media II: Edmund Campion. 15 Feb 2012. Because I am thinking of the Catholic use of the media today, here is Campion's Brag. If you remember, he printed this up at Stonor House, and ...
For St. Edmund's Day Repost Seven
Posted by
Supertradmum
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Pay Attention, Get Ready, Pray
Posted by Supertradmum
“My God and all things.”
What have the Illuminative State and the Unitive State have to do with Catholics in this time of coming trials?
Some readers understand that only those who truly love God and His Church will be able to withstand the tribulations to come. And, this fact has always been so in times of trouble for the Church. The great martyrs, such as St. John Houghton and his companions, mentioned many times on this blog, were ready for the horrible torments they suffered at Tyburn.
But, the ability to withstand physical pain and endure martyrdom to receive the palm of victory are not the only reasons for pursuing the way of perfection now, in these times of uncertainty.
As I have noted many times, the Church realizes a strength and perfection if Her members are perfected, and experiences weakness and loss, if Her members do not pursue the love of God in all things.
But, the Illuminative and Unitive States of the saint do much more than strengthen the Church. These states bring God into the midst of humankind.
Because in these states, the person is one with God as far as possible on this earth, there is a unity of God and person in the Trinity. In other words, God is present in the person experiencing this transcendent relationship, and that person is in God in all Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Such a transcendent relationship cannot help but change the world, as God is Present in, with, and through the person. The person communicates God to all.
This powerful experience of the Divine brings life, God’s life, to the world in an overflowing of love.
Of course, the problem is that most of the time, the world does not want this love and purposefully thwarts those who bring the Trinity into its midst.
Such is the irony of the human condition, that the very persons who could and do change the world are usually the ones persecuted by the world.
That God reveals His attributes to the person in these states means that the person experiences, understands and lives in beauty, truth, wisdom, peace, and so on.
Such is the witness of the saint.
That some people do not experience this oneness with God, this spiritual marriage, until right before death does not diminish the witness. However, as we see in the lives of the saints, those generous souls who have allowed God to perfect them give us a tremendous witness of love and grace.
Just think of the cloud of witnesses, like Theresa, the Little Flower, Gemma Galgani, Edmund Campion, Oliver Plunkett, Pius X, Fulton J. Sheen and so on--these men and women who give us a glimpse of life in the Trinity.
There is too much facile theology floating around about living in the life of the Trinity. That we are given this life in baptism and confirmation is true, but that those graces can only be released through purgation of sin and the tendency to sin is also true.
You will know if you are in the presence of one who is in the Illuminative or Unitive State . You will know if you are in the presence of a saint.
Sadly, this does not happen often enough in our day and age, as there are so many choices and so many distractions for most people.
I have met many people in the Dark Night and even the last stages of the Dark Night. I saw twice, and touched once, Blessed John Paul II, but before his long purgation and suffering. I believe we watched him become a saint.
Some readers may have met saints, even some who have been martyred. Those Catholics are role models for all of us.
As to the main thesis of this post, that these states most likely are necessary for Catholics to withstand the coming persecutions, I would say that those who went before us were a bit smarter at reading the signs of the times.
I cannot imagine that the earliest Catholics were caught off guard concerning trials. And, it is obvious that such saints as Edmund Campion were trained to face the certain death when leaving the Venerable English College in Rome and traveling to England . As some of you know, St. Philip Neri would stand outside the Venerabile and bless those young priests going to England , saying, “There go the Flowers of the Martyrs”.
Are you preparing yourself and your children for trials by pursuing holiness, which is another word for perfection?
Are you too caught up in trivia to make holiness a priority in your family? Are you all pursuing sports, entertainments, unnecessary shopping, vacations, and ignoring prayer, formation, penances, frequent confession and Holy Communion?
Are you acting as if your children will not need to be different, special, super-Catholics and saints in the days to come?
Do you think they will face a world like yours and mine growing up?
Are you forming saints? I see too many families wasting time on trivia.
Do not lie to yourselves and think holiness just “happens”. Even St. Thomas More admitted that he needed his long time in prison to get ready for death after watching the singing of the Charterhouse monks, going to their deaths, “like bridegrooms to the wedding.”
Such are the actions of the perfect, those who have gone through the Illuminative and Unitive States , and bear witness joyfully to the vision of the Trinity in the world.
I have met many people lately who are acting as if they have all the time in the world to pursue holiness. I have met too many people who are in denial regarding the signs of the times. And, these people are not young.
I have met too many people who think Catholics can live in America or Europe with the freedoms experienced by their forefathers.
I have met too many people who are wasting time and may be swept away, and compromise when the going gets tough.
For the past several weeks, the urgency of allowing God to make one holy has been a recurring theme on this blog.
God is pouring out His grace and mercy on us now. The time of grace will end. Look the history of the Church.
Do not think you can act as you have always acted.
“When the Son of Man comes, all will be as it was in the days of Noe; in those days before the flood, they went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the time when Noe entered the ark, and they were taken unawares, when the flood came and drowned them all; so it will be a the coming of the Son of Man.”
Matthew 24:37-39
Let these ideals be your guide. Be open to suffering anything in order to become one with God. Be generous is saying yes to graces God wants to give. Be willing to be different than all those around you and your families-even other Catholics who are not paying attention.
Give yourselves to God entirely now. Then, like St. Francis, as quoted by St. John of the Cross, you will be able to pray, “My God and all things.”
To be continued….
"to crie alarme spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance"
Posted by
Supertradmum
St. Edmund Campion in his writings referred to the "proud ignorance" of the new Protestants, who refused to learn the teachings of the Catholic Church or renounced these. One could use the term "arrogance" as well. All those who hold in their hearts some rebellion against the teachings of the Catholic Church must look at the reality of a stubborn refusal to look at the truth.
Proud ignorance could be another label for the anti-intellectualism I have been writing about in the past several days and in the months before now on this blog
A person who refuses to learn does so at the risk of losing his own soul.
Why?
Because we are all made in the image and likeness of God, with free will and the intellect, God calls us to use both daily. In this way we either become more like God, having, as St. Bernard of Clairvaux states, kept the image but lost the likeness in Original Sin, meaning humans lost grace, or we become less like God.
We grow in holiness or we slid back into sin and death. Pursuing God, we grow to be what He created us to be.
This growth, and the recapturing of the state of innocence lost by our first parents, leads to humility, which allows each one of us to learn, and finally, arrive at perfection.
Humility drives out proud ignorance. Obedience to the teachings of the Catholic Church drives out proud ignorance. Timely words from a great saint and martyr challenge us today.
More for St. Edmund's Day Repost Six
Posted by
Supertradmum
Friday, 25 October 2013
The Breaking of the Storm
Posted by Supertradmum
...is the name of this painting of the great first martyrs in England in 1535, the great Carthusians of London. I have written about them before. See links below.
Today is the Feast of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales, a feast which includes the above and SS. Edmund Campion, Cuthbert Mayne, Margaret Ward and others.
I think it is a good time to teach the lives of these saints to your children. Name your new babies after them. Seek their patronage for your families.
My own son is named after two of the greatest martyrs of England. I could senses the signs of the times over 25 years ago.
The Breaking of the Storm will happen in my lifetime and yours.......
Here are some other posts on this subject.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/02/are-you-willing-charterhouse-martyrs.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-charterhouse-martyrs-two.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/09/charterhouse-in-london.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/09/st-hughs-parkminster.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/01/perfection-and-martyrdom.html
correction from Catholic Online thanks to a reader
In England, these martyrs were formerly commemorated within the Catholic Church by a feast day on 25 October, which is also the feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, but they are now celebrated together with all the 284 canonized or beatified martyrs of the English Reformation on 4 May.
In Wales, the Catholic Church keeps 25 October as the feast of the 'Six Welsh Martyrs and their companions'. The Welsh Martyrs are the priests Philip Evans and John Lloyd, John Jones, David Lewis,John Roberts, and the teacher Richard Gwyn. The 'companions' are the 34 English Martyrs listed above. Wales continues to keep 4 May as a separate feast for the beatified martyrs of England and Wales.
Repost Five for St. Edmund's Day
Posted by
Supertradmum
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
The Bureaucratic Mind vs. Our Lady of Walsingham
Posted by Supertradmum
Christendom is dead, which is a huge shame. In the days when being a Christian meant something in Europe, the open borders of the Catholic countries allowed those who were suffering under tyrants to go abroad and keep the Faith.
Such were the foundations of Douay, Valladolid, the Venerabile, and St. Omer opened in order to create "Seminary Priests", who would go back to England and serve the Catholics under the horrible laws of Elizabeth I.
Among the great seminary priests was St. Edmund Campion.
Three hundred priests, according to some records, were back in England by the end of Elizabeth's reign.
Here is a map from an interesting website found here.
We have a new problem in Europe now, which is the drastic new laws driven by the bureaucrats, regarding the entry of those who want to be priests, or want to be missionaries in Great Britain. The EU will make it more difficult to re-evangelize Europe from the outside.
Such families which helped the Catholic Cause in the past have died out or are dying out.
The mind of the bureaucrat apprehends numbers and political correctness.
I weep for my adopted country. I love the great heritage of the martyred seminary priests.
Will Catholicism die out in this fair country, Mary's Dowry?
Remember that Pope Leo XIII stated that when England returns to Walsingham, Mary will return to England.
Pray to God that I can return and work in the vineyard of England for the glory of God. This is on my heart and mind daily. My dear son is there already, being trained to work for the Kingdom of God. God has put this great love of this little island on our hearts, and in our minds and souls.
A nice article may be found here, and my play is listed again below.
http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/pbristow/dowry.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/06/walsingham-drama-in-three-acts.html
Such were the foundations of Douay, Valladolid, the Venerabile, and St. Omer opened in order to create "Seminary Priests", who would go back to England and serve the Catholics under the horrible laws of Elizabeth I.
Among the great seminary priests was St. Edmund Campion.
Three hundred priests, according to some records, were back in England by the end of Elizabeth's reign.
Here is a map from an interesting website found here.
We have a new problem in Europe now, which is the drastic new laws driven by the bureaucrats, regarding the entry of those who want to be priests, or want to be missionaries in Great Britain. The EU will make it more difficult to re-evangelize Europe from the outside.
Such families which helped the Catholic Cause in the past have died out or are dying out.
The mind of the bureaucrat apprehends numbers and political correctness.
I weep for my adopted country. I love the great heritage of the martyred seminary priests.
Will Catholicism die out in this fair country, Mary's Dowry?
Remember that Pope Leo XIII stated that when England returns to Walsingham, Mary will return to England.
Pray to God that I can return and work in the vineyard of England for the glory of God. This is on my heart and mind daily. My dear son is there already, being trained to work for the Kingdom of God. God has put this great love of this little island on our hearts, and in our minds and souls.
A nice article may be found here, and my play is listed again below.
http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/pbristow/dowry.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/06/walsingham-drama-in-three-acts.html
Repost Four for St. Edmund's Day
Posted by
Supertradmum
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Great Britain, Mission Country
Posted by Supertradmum
One in twelve people in Great Britain are Catholic, which means about five million people. Only one million attend Mass regularly. Great Britain is a missionary country greatly in need of both vocations to the priesthood and to the married life.
I know some families with lots of children-they are SSPX families. I do not know large Catholic families outside the TLM parishes. Why? We know the reason is the general rejection of Humanae Vitae and the refusal of so many priests to preach the truth about this encyclical.
Missionary countries need strong men and women to catechize and be good examples for the rest of the society. In a missionary country, one cannot sit back and pretend that the status quo is fine. Sadly, even some missionary priests from missionary orders are not as strong and upfront as they should be with the Faith.
That the Church was persecuted for hundreds of years here makes a difference to the pysche of some people. There is a fear culture about religion which does not exist in the States, yet. That fear culture here is based on the history of persecution and on too many "mixed marriages". Catholics are afraid to be Catholic. One can hope and pray that the next generation, who are chosing to live the life of Faith more outwardly than their parents can turn the tide. But, it will take something more than a generational change, it will take another persecution to make the Church grow and be strong here.
God has His ways to bring people to themselves and to salvation. We must pay attention, pray, decide, act.
Pray for missionaries. Pray they are allowed into England.
I know some families with lots of children-they are SSPX families. I do not know large Catholic families outside the TLM parishes. Why? We know the reason is the general rejection of Humanae Vitae and the refusal of so many priests to preach the truth about this encyclical.
St. Edmund Campion |
Missionary countries need strong men and women to catechize and be good examples for the rest of the society. In a missionary country, one cannot sit back and pretend that the status quo is fine. Sadly, even some missionary priests from missionary orders are not as strong and upfront as they should be with the Faith.
That the Church was persecuted for hundreds of years here makes a difference to the pysche of some people. There is a fear culture about religion which does not exist in the States, yet. That fear culture here is based on the history of persecution and on too many "mixed marriages". Catholics are afraid to be Catholic. One can hope and pray that the next generation, who are chosing to live the life of Faith more outwardly than their parents can turn the tide. But, it will take something more than a generational change, it will take another persecution to make the Church grow and be strong here.
God has His ways to bring people to themselves and to salvation. We must pay attention, pray, decide, act.
Pray for missionaries. Pray they are allowed into England.
A Repost on Listening Three for St. Edmund's Day
Posted by
Supertradmum
Thursday, 7 November 2013
The Real Survival Message-Learn to Hear The Voice of God
Posted by Supertradmum
I have been talking and writing since 2008 about the very hard times to come for Catholics and others.
The signs of the times are what people have seen before, and the Christians in Rome faced similar serious difficulties. Too many Catholics are living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Many Catholics are not facing the signs of the times.
Everything is not alright and things are not going to get better. If you are still living in denial, let me warn you that you must stop hiding from reality.
The only way to deal with very difficult times, such as war or displacement, is to become a saint. St. Benedicta of the Cross did not become a saint overnight. She prepared through prayer and sacrifice for her ultimate sacrifice-martyrdom for her people.
Most of us are not making holiness a priority. How will you react when things get rough? Those saints who have gone before us learned to become mentally and spiritually tough. Such men and women at St. Margaret Ward, St. Edmund Campion, St. Oliver Plunkett were unfairly judged, tortured and put to death.
To face this and the death of dear family members, just as SS. Felicity and Perpetua had to watch those in their community and finally die together, one must allow God to do three things.
One, replace hatred, anger, sloth, and all the deadly sins with love and the other virtues. Without living a life of virtue, you and I shall not remain faithful to the end.
Second, teach your children and help older family members see the need for true holiness now and not wait. Help others prioritize their faith through prayers, adoration, Mass, frequent confession. Time is short for having the capacity to find and enjoy the sacraments locally.
Three, learn to hear the Voice of God and not other voices. God speaks through the truths of the Catholic Church, but you can also learn to hear His Still Small Voice and respond quickly.
If you knew there was going to be a hurricane, like Katrina, in your area, you would prepare.
So, why are you not preparing now?
Parents, why are you acting as though the future of your children will be the same as your lives have been. Why are you pretending that they can be raised like you were raised? Why are you not forming saints now? You are responsible for the souls of your children.
Since the summer of 2008, when it was becoming clear that we did not have much time, I have been trying to learn how to cooperate with grace more and more. I have tried to teach and to write the Truth of the Church and of Christ.
Even in 2008, I did not think we had this much time to prepare-five years.
A European perspective has shown me that things will not limp along into a semi-stage of loweriing standards of living.
No. We shall soon see chaos in the West. God has given us a time of mercy as told to us by Saint Faustiina.
Those who preach good times are false prophets. If you have not changed your easy lifestyle, do it now. Tomorrow, at the Feast of Duns Scotus, we shall see this mysterious reading from the Gospel about being prepared. Many of us do not understand what Christ is saying here.
Let me help unravel this. It seems as though Christ is referring to business and money deals.
He is not. He is speaking of our souls and our sinful states before God. The steward had charges brought against him. He did not feel sorry for himself, nor did he defend himself.
These charges may have been true or false. Those facts do not matter. But, if we see ourselves as the steward, we see that we are always guilty sin and, therefore, deserving punishment.
What do we do when faced with our sins? We go to the saints, we go to the Church, we go to the sacraments, and prepare for death, for judgement.
We do not waste time. Survival for us is eternal life in heaven with God.
All these survival videos and deals are temporary measures in a crisis. These are good and fathers can discern in families and in communities how to use these. But, the real survival video would be about the Gospel of Christ and the way of perfection.
Luke 16: 1 - 8
This is a passage on using your gifts and those of the Church, to be prepared for the near future.
1 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.2 And he called him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'3 And the steward said to himself, `What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.4 I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, `How much do you owe my master?'6 He said, `A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, `Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'7 Then he said to another, `And how much do you owe?' He said, `A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill, and write eighty.'8 The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
The shrewdness to which Christ is referring is spiritual shrewdness. This steward made his survival a priority, using his wits and connections to live. We must do the same in the spiritual life.
Our connections are grace, the Church, the saints, the orthodox Catholic community.
Stop wasting time with football on television, or soccer games, or re-decorating the house yet again, or anything else which is material.
Stop.
Do not pretend you have much time to become a saint, and to help your family members become saints.
Stop pretending.
Why is it that other people besides Noah and his family did not hear God?
Why is it that they perished in their sins?
Because these people were not listening. People laughed at Noah. They will laugh at you and your family.
Listen. I know many people who are listening. Are you one of them?
Matthew 24:36-51
ET asked me to do a short exegesis today. This is it for him and for you.
The signs of the times are what people have seen before, and the Christians in Rome faced similar serious difficulties. Too many Catholics are living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Many Catholics are not facing the signs of the times.
Everything is not alright and things are not going to get better. If you are still living in denial, let me warn you that you must stop hiding from reality.
The only way to deal with very difficult times, such as war or displacement, is to become a saint. St. Benedicta of the Cross did not become a saint overnight. She prepared through prayer and sacrifice for her ultimate sacrifice-martyrdom for her people.
Most of us are not making holiness a priority. How will you react when things get rough? Those saints who have gone before us learned to become mentally and spiritually tough. Such men and women at St. Margaret Ward, St. Edmund Campion, St. Oliver Plunkett were unfairly judged, tortured and put to death.
To face this and the death of dear family members, just as SS. Felicity and Perpetua had to watch those in their community and finally die together, one must allow God to do three things.
One, replace hatred, anger, sloth, and all the deadly sins with love and the other virtues. Without living a life of virtue, you and I shall not remain faithful to the end.
Second, teach your children and help older family members see the need for true holiness now and not wait. Help others prioritize their faith through prayers, adoration, Mass, frequent confession. Time is short for having the capacity to find and enjoy the sacraments locally.
Three, learn to hear the Voice of God and not other voices. God speaks through the truths of the Catholic Church, but you can also learn to hear His Still Small Voice and respond quickly.
If you knew there was going to be a hurricane, like Katrina, in your area, you would prepare.
So, why are you not preparing now?
Parents, why are you acting as though the future of your children will be the same as your lives have been. Why are you pretending that they can be raised like you were raised? Why are you not forming saints now? You are responsible for the souls of your children.
Since the summer of 2008, when it was becoming clear that we did not have much time, I have been trying to learn how to cooperate with grace more and more. I have tried to teach and to write the Truth of the Church and of Christ.
Even in 2008, I did not think we had this much time to prepare-five years.
A European perspective has shown me that things will not limp along into a semi-stage of loweriing standards of living.
No. We shall soon see chaos in the West. God has given us a time of mercy as told to us by Saint Faustiina.
Those who preach good times are false prophets. If you have not changed your easy lifestyle, do it now. Tomorrow, at the Feast of Duns Scotus, we shall see this mysterious reading from the Gospel about being prepared. Many of us do not understand what Christ is saying here.
Let me help unravel this. It seems as though Christ is referring to business and money deals.
He is not. He is speaking of our souls and our sinful states before God. The steward had charges brought against him. He did not feel sorry for himself, nor did he defend himself.
These charges may have been true or false. Those facts do not matter. But, if we see ourselves as the steward, we see that we are always guilty sin and, therefore, deserving punishment.
What do we do when faced with our sins? We go to the saints, we go to the Church, we go to the sacraments, and prepare for death, for judgement.
We do not waste time. Survival for us is eternal life in heaven with God.
All these survival videos and deals are temporary measures in a crisis. These are good and fathers can discern in families and in communities how to use these. But, the real survival video would be about the Gospel of Christ and the way of perfection.
Luke 16: 1 - 8
This is a passage on using your gifts and those of the Church, to be prepared for the near future.
1 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.2 And he called him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'3 And the steward said to himself, `What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.4 I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, `How much do you owe my master?'6 He said, `A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, `Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'7 Then he said to another, `And how much do you owe?' He said, `A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill, and write eighty.'8 The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
The shrewdness to which Christ is referring is spiritual shrewdness. This steward made his survival a priority, using his wits and connections to live. We must do the same in the spiritual life.
Our connections are grace, the Church, the saints, the orthodox Catholic community.
Stop wasting time with football on television, or soccer games, or re-decorating the house yet again, or anything else which is material.
Stop.
Do not pretend you have much time to become a saint, and to help your family members become saints.
Stop pretending.
Why is it that other people besides Noah and his family did not hear God?
Why is it that they perished in their sins?
Because these people were not listening. People laughed at Noah. They will laugh at you and your family.
Listen. I know many people who are listening. Are you one of them?
Matthew 24:36-51
36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
ET asked me to do a short exegesis today. This is it for him and for you.
Feast Day of St. Edmund Campion Repost Two
Posted by
Supertradmum
Time for another repeat post.....
Happy Name Day to all Edmunds.....
Happy Name Day to all Edmunds.....
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Campion's Brag
Posted by Supertradmum
Today is the Feast Day of St. Edmund Campion. The students at Stoneyhurst would have had a day off today. I wonder if they still do. Some of the saint's relics are there. Here is his famous "Brag" to celebrate the day.
Campion's Brag
To the Right Honourable, the Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council:
Whereas I have come out of Germany and Bohemia, being sent by my superiors, and adventured myself into this noble realm, my dear country, for the glory of God and benefit of souls, I thought it like enough that, in this busy, watchful, and suspicious world, I should either sooner or later be intercepted and stopped of my course.
Wherefore, providing for all events, and uncertain what may become of me, when God shall haply deliver my body into durance, I supposed it needful to put this in writing in a readiness, desiring your good lordships to give it your reading, for to know my cause. This doing, I trust I shall ease you of some labour. For that which otherwise you must have sought for by practice of wit, I do now lay into your hands by plain confession. And to the intent that the whole matter may be conceived in order, and so the better both understood and remembered, I make thereof these nine points or articles, directly, truly and resolutely opening my full enterprise and purpose.
i. I confess that I am (albeit unworthy) a priest of the Catholic Church, and through the great mercy of God vowed now these eight years into the religion [religious order] of the Society of Jesus. Hereby I have taken upon me a special kind of warfare under the banner of obedience, and also resigned all my interest or possibility of wealth, honour, pleasure, and other worldly felicity.
ii. At the voice of our General, which is to me a warrant from heaven and oracle of Christ, I took my voyage from Prague to Rome (where our General Father is always resident) and from Rome to England, as I might and would have done joyously into any part of Christendom or Heatheness, had I been thereto assigned.
iii. My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to minister the Sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reform sinners, to confute errors—in brief, to cry alarm spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.
iv. I never had mind, and am strictly forbidden by our Father that sent me, to deal in any respect with matter of state or policy of this realm, as things which appertain not to my vocation, and from which I gladly restrain and sequester my thoughts.
v. I do ask, to the glory of God, with all humility, and under your correction, three sorts of indifferent and quiet audiences: the first, before your Honours, wherein I will discourse of religion, so far as it toucheth the common weal and your nobilities: the second, whereof I make more account, before the Doctors and Masters and chosen men of both universities, wherein I undertake to avow the faith of our Catholic Church by proofs innumerable—Scriptures, councils, Fathers, history, natural and moral reasons: the third, before the lawyers, spiritual and temporal, wherein I will justify the said faith by the common wisdom of the laws standing yet in force and practice.
vi. I would be loath to speak anything that might sound of any insolent brag or challenge, especially being now as a dead man to this world and willing to put my head under every man's foot, and to kiss the ground they tread upon. Yet I have such courage in avouching the majesty of Jesus my King, and such affiance in his gracious favour, and such assurance in my quarrel, and my evidence so impregnable, and because I know perfectly that no one Protestant, nor all the Protestants living, nor any sect of our adversaries (howsoever they face men down in pulpits, and overrule us in their kingdom of grammarians and unlearned ears) can maintain their doctrine in disputation. I am to sue most humbly and instantly for combat with all and every of them, and the most principal that may be found: protesting that in this trial the better furnished they come, the better welcome they shall be.
vii. And because it hath pleased God to enrich the Queen my Sovereign Lady with notable gifts of nature, learning, and princely education, I do verily trust that if her Highness would vouchsafe her royal person and good attention to such a conference as, in the second part of my fifth article I have motioned, or to a few sermons, which in her or your hearing I am to utter such manifest and fair light by good method and plain dealing may be cast upon these controversies, that possibly her zeal of truth and love of her people shall incline her noble Grace to disfavour some proceedings hurtful to the realm, and procure towards us oppressed more equity.
viii. Moreover I doubt not but you, her Highness' Council, being of such wisdom and discreet in cases most important, when you shall have heard these questions of religion opened faithfully, which many times by our adversaries are huddled up and confounded, will see upon what substantial grounds our Catholic Faith is builded, how feeble that side is which by sway of the time prevaileth against us, and so at last for your own souls, and for many thousand souls that depend upon your government, will discountenance error when it is bewrayed [revealed], and hearken to those who would spend the best blood in their bodies for your salvation. Many innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you daily by those English students, whose posterity shall never die, which beyond seas, gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge for the purpose, are determined never to give you over, but either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes. And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league—all the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practice of England—cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God; it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: So it must be restored.
ix. If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no place, and I, having run thousands of miles to do you good, shall be rewarded with rigour. I have no more to say but to recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who send us his grace, and see us at accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven, when all injuries shall be forgotten.
He was 41 when he was hung, drawn and quartered for the Faith and the Church. St. Edmund, pray for us.
See also the first reading for the Mass of St, Edmund Campion below.
See also the first reading for the Mass of St, Edmund Campion below.
Isaiah 53:3-7
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
3 Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth
Another Repost for St. Edmund's Day and more on this later
Posted by
Supertradmum
Monday, 24 June 2013
To be baptized means this....and how to spot spiritual charlatans
Posted by Supertradmum
Some preach, some fight, some do both....but none preach but Christ Jesus and His Resurrection and His Church...
For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord; and ourselves your servants through Jesus. 2 Cor:4:5. DR
From Edmund Campion:
My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to minister the Sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reforme sinners, to confute errors– in brief, to crie alarme spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance wherewith many my dear Countrymen are abused.
How to spot spiritual charlatans:
1) If they charge for spiritual direction or spiritual counseling or spiritual healing;
2) If they work outside the Sacramental Life of the Church;
3) If they are not interested in instruction in the doctrines of the Church;
4) If they do not demand personal responsibility, reformation; and if they do not talk of sin as a reality, and instead dwell on victimization;
4) If they permit any vice, any;
5) If they do not address, as Campion notes, proud ignorance, which is another phrase for the stubborn refusal to learn the teaching of the Catholic Church. And, to benefit from that refusal, as did those who benefited in the Protestant Revolt in England with money and status.
And the great Archbishop Chaput has something to say concerning this theme.
http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=7918
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)