The Arrogance of Evil

We witness now the last battles for control of humankind. The arrogance of evil is the arrogance of a defeated demon named Lucifer.

We shall have to endure many battles, and, despite the arrogance of so many, the war has been won by the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

We know the end of the story.

But, we shall have to pray about the scandals. And where is Cardinal Dolan today?

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/ny-governor-cuomo-officiates-same-sex-wedding-472642627637

Any other dioceses with statements from bishops?

Please send me the links....and I shall post the statements.

From the leader of the Black pastors, the Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP)...

http://southernorderspage.blogspot.com/2015/06/wow-black-pastors-calling-for-civil.html

Iowa Bishops' Letter on Ruling

If your bishops have issued letters, send me the links and I shall publish them here.

Sadly, at the Sunday Mass I attended, the priest chose to be silent on this issue. In some other parishes, this letter was promulgated.

"The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage saddens us. To make something legal does not mean that it is true or good. Take, for example, the ruling that legalized abortion.

"Notwithstanding this ruling, we will continue to lead people to live under the Gospel, which requires us to be humble and loving to all others, regardless.

"The Gospel also compels us to defend and share with others Jesus’ teaching on marriage, which re-asserted the original plan of creation, and which no one can rend asunder:

"One man and one woman who freely give themselves to each other in a permanent and exclusive partnership, to be helpmates for each other, and to be open to conceiving and bringing up children.

"We believe that this understanding of marriage does no harm; on the contrary, it serves the common good of society, as well as the good of family life, and of children.

"We still expect that true religious liberty, enshrined in our Constitution, and won at such a dear price, will be honored, allowing us to be guided by a faith-formed conscience in our teaching and practice."

Most Rev. Michael Jackels, Archbishop of Dubuque

Most Rev. Martin Amos, Bishop of Davenport

Most Rev. Richard Pates, Bishop of Des Moines

Most Rev. R. Walker Nickless, Bishop of Sioux City

and an excellent reminder on Fr. Z of the Vatican take on this issue--nothing has changed.

I shall be celebrating July 4th by having a day of mortification; fasting and prayer for this country. Do you want to join me?

More from The Office of Readings

From a homily by Blessed Pope Paul VI We proclaim Christ to the whole world Not to preach the Gospel would be my undoing, for Christ himself sent me as his apostle and witness. The more remote, the more difficult the assignment, the more my love of God spurs me on. I am bound to proclaim that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of him we come to know the God we cannot see. He is the firstborn of all creation; in him all things find their being. Man’s teacher and redeemer, he was born for us, died for us, and for us he rose from the dead. All things, all history converges in Christ. A man of sorrow and hope, he knows us and loves us. As our friend he stays by us throughout our lives; at the end of time he will come to be our judge; but we also know that he will be the complete fulfilment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity. I can never cease to speak of Christ for he is our truth and our light; he is the way, the truth and the life. He is our bread, our source of living water who allays our hunger and satisfies our thirst. He is our shepherd, our leader, our ideal, our comforter and our brother. He is like us but more perfectly human, simple, poor, humble, and yet, while burdened with work, he is more patient. He spoke on our behalf; he worked miracles; and he founded a new kingdom: in it the poor are happy; peace is the foundation of a life in common; where the pure of heart and those who mourn are uplifted and comforted; the hungry find justice; sinners are forgiven; and all discover that they are brothers. The image I present to you is the image of Jesus Christ. As Christians you share his name; he has already made most of you his own. So once again I repeat his name to you Christians and I proclaim to all men: Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, Lord of the new universe, the great hidden key to human history and the part we play in it. He is the mediator – the bridge, if you will – between heaven and earth. Above all he is the Son of man, more perfect than any man, being also the Son of God, eternal and infinite. He is the son of Mary his mother on earth, more blessed than any woman. She is also our mother in the spiritual communion of the mystical body. Remember: it is Jesus Christ I preach day in and day out. His name I would see echo and re-echo for all time even to the ends of the earth. Let us pray. Lord God, since by the adoption of grace you have made us children of light, do not let false doctrine darken our minds, but grant that your light may shine within us and we may always live in the brightness of truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

From Today's Office--Great Heart of my own heart.....

Hymn

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,

Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;

Be thou my best thought in the day and the night,

Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,

Be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;

Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;

Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

Be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;

Be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower:

O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise:

Be thou mine inheritance now and always;

Be thou and thou only the first in my heart;

O Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of Heaven, thou Heaven’s bright sun,

O grant me its joys after victory is won!

Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

and...

Psalm 1 Douay-Rheims

1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

4 Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

5 Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

and embrace discipline

Psalm 2 Douay-Rheims

2 Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?

2 The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against his Christ.

3 Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us.

4 He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.

5 Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.

6 But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.

7 The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

10 And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.

11 Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.

12 Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.

13 When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

but, our blessings may not ever be in this world....even King David suffered.


And so have many others..think of Fountains Abbey, think of the "cloud of witnesses".

Psalm 3 Douay-Rheims 

3 The psalm of David when he fled from the face of his son Absalom.

2 Why, O Lord, are they multiplied that afflict me? many are they who rise up against me.

3 Many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God.

4 But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

5 I have cried to the Lord with my voice: and he hath heard me from his holy hill.

6 I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me.

7 I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

8 For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause: thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.

9 Salvation is of the Lord: and thy blessing is upon thy people.

July 4th STM calls for day of penance

I am fasting and praying this Saturday, not celebrating.

I would encourage you to join me in praying for our nation, American Catholics, American Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals.

Prayer is needed. So is penance. Are you brave enough to be Catholic first, American second?

Deciding

When one realizes that freedom of religion and freedom of speech are coming to an end. one must decide on various options to living in a pagan culture.

My option is contemplative prayer. As I have noted in the past several years, without prayer, action is not only ineffective, but, as it is connected to the ego, possibly selfish and, therefore, sinful.

I concentrate my prayers on those who need these the most, but the focus is on priests, bishops, cardinals, the Pope, seminarians.

We have too many mediocre clergymen and not enough heroes.

If God allows this house of prayer to come about, and there is a good start in the campaign, the option to pray will become a reality.

I am beginning to ask women I know who are single to consider joining me. But, the great American dilemma is the love of individuality.

America and England have people who are not inclined to community.

The French are so much better at this. Look at the Foyers de Charité begun by the mystic, Venerable Marthe Robin. For years, some priests have wanted to help start lay communities in England based on her idea, communities like the ones in France. No success. There are 75 communities of the Foyers in 44 countries. None in England.

The Anglo-Saxon love of individuality and privacy, which is so obvious in the culture of America as well, causes people not to want to start or join communities.

I am more open than most because I lived in communities, two different types, already.

I pray for one more person to share the vision of adoration and intercessory prayer.

God is in charge.

Would Be Nice Here as Well

http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2015/06/marriage-dvd-sent-to-all-priests.html

Could Congress Stop This SCOTUS Decision?

http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/lawmaker-congress-can-halt-same-sex-marriage-in-tracks/

Family Divisions and Cheap Grace

In my twenties, I read these words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and took them to heart. The Cost of Discipleship was one of my favorite books in the early 1970s. For over ten years, I carried Letters and Papers from Prison with me when I moved as the book reminded me of my call as a Catholic in the world.

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession...Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

...costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

We are living in times of decision. We are not the first generations to do so. The lives of the saints bear witness to times of decision.

Already, I know many families who are being divided by this new ruling on ssm.

One can only stand firm and stay with the Church and Christ on this issue, despite pain.

Christ warned up of these times:

Religious belief has not been costly for some until now. In a secular society, one has to make choices. In a pagan society, it may actually be easier to stand up for the truth, as the truth shines more brightly.

We shall be forced to decide between cheap and costly grace.

Matthew 10:32-42Douay-Rheims 

32 Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.

33 But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

34 Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.

35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

36 And a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.

40 He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

Kudos to Father Z

Supertradmum says:

27 June 2015 at 5:01 PM

Father, one thing which has not been discussed is the gross silence of the clergy from the pulpit. Father, thank you so much for allowing us to discuss these issues online. Priests in parishes give no opportunity for discussing these serious issues, so the laity remained both ignorant and confused.

Thank you.