To the young and not so young--on debt

If you are in debt, get out of debt. If you are not in debt, do not go into debt. The American government will demand payments for college and university debts. And, those who are debt-ridden will find themselves in greater danger of any independence, politically, in the future.

Some people, even Catholics, have told me that it does not matter if one borrows more money on the edge of a national fiscal melt-down. It does. Just as for years priests have not told youth that getting drunk is a mortal sin, so getting bogged down unnecessarily in debt, in order to live a certain lifestyle, is wrong.

I am not writing about necessities, such as medical expenses, but other things not really needed.

I am concerned about the soul of Catholics burdened by debt. Pray and act responsibly. I am convinced that exorbitant university debts must be avoided. To be in slavery to a government or institution connected to the government is dangerous.

Stop using a credit card. Go to local, community colleges if at all possible. Wait and work first even if the work is menial, as that is honourable as well. I am afraid that people think there will be no consequences for their debts in a complete economic rout. We have to face a Just Judge. Good stewardship is not merely being green or tithing. It is the courage to live a lower lifestyle than one may want. It involves the courage to be poor and seem poor.

Many of decisions on money will be made this week as it is the busiest shopping weekend for Christmas in the States. Pray and talk to your family about expenses. Be honest. Make things. Do something together which is not over-the-top. For your soul and for the greater good, do not go into debt this Christmas.

Where is the media outrage?

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/11/savagery-in-antwerp-protesters-chant-hamas-hamas-jews-to-the-gas.html

On the Contemplative Life

One reason I went into the monastery for two months is that I do have a contemplative vocation. I have known this for years. God has allowed me to have graces for hours of prayer and meditation, which moves into contemplation. I have also, in the past, been blessed with excellent spiritual directors. Not recently.

Nuns in the Benedictine monastery where I was do not receive spiritual direction at all. Now, this may seem strange, and it was hard for me in discernment, but the Rule of Benedict provides the format for discernment: that is, if one can follow the Rule, one is on the right track as it were. The nuns only have Confession once every two weeks, which I think is sad. There is a priest shortage. I went to the Cathedral once a week and the priests were excellent.

However, being trained in Ignatian spirituality and having done Ignatian retreats three times in the past, including the thirty day, I decided to use the tried and true method of the eight day shortened retreat for discernment. The reason I did this was that I wanted to know for sure my path, not merely from the physical perspective, but from the spiritual. I got my answer.

One must trust in the Indwelling the the Holy Spirit, which we are all given at baptism. Lay people are not taught to get in touch with God Who dwells within and, horribly, the new age people have taken some of the language of the saints and twisted it for their own ends.

SS. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross understood and practiced contemplative prayer. It is a grace, and I am convinced, for all Catholics. One must start with meditation, which is using the events in the Life of Christ in the Bible and entering into these events, much like meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary.  Good luck finding an orthodox, trained and holy spiritual director. Since I have been in Europe, I have found only one, and he is too busy to take on another person.

God will bless all of your efforts, and that is one of the consoling ideas I came away with in the past few days-God can do in the lay person what He does in the religious. The religious is focussed on perfection and holiness. The entire set-up of monastic life is geared towards that goal. We have many distractions. But, it is possible in God, as He calls us all to be perfect. The difference is the call in which this holiness is to be perfected. The nuns and monks have a ready-made situation and the fantastic Rule of St. Benedict, which gives a short-cut to sanctity.

By the way, one of the things which concerns me is that the monasteries, for the most part, and the one I was in particularly, are not self-sufficient. This is dangerous. That the nuns need to shop, rely on outside amenities, such as bulk laundry, etc. is not good.  One hopes for more vocations to create self-sufficient communities again. If this does not happen, the orders are vulnerable to the hard times to come. And, I am afraid there will not be many who care to help....In small communities where the majority of sisters are old, these nuns are very vulnerable, indeed.

May I also add, and this is not a criticism as much as a lament, that I strongly feel that the lack of the TLM and the Gregorian Chant replaced by modern versions is a loss of spirituality for some Benedictine monasteries. There is a sublimity in the EF and the chant, as well as the older translations, which has been set aside for less exact and less aesthetically pleasing modes of singing. There is more to this than mere "taste". This comment is based on my personal experience of growing in the TLM, as well as others, including parents, who have shared with me that their faith and the faith of their children changed once they went regularly to the TLM. We could discuss the difference of spirituality as the focus from people back to God. It is a sad fact that so many English and other communities have their own translations and own melodies. I wish the Pope would ask the orders to embrace the Latin Mass again, and the Gregorian chant.

On Holy Indifference

Today's Gospel in the EF reminds us that those who sell all and follow Christ merit the Kingdom of God. However, it is not merely the choosing of the simple life, or the getting rid of distractions which allows for holiness to grow in the mind and heart and soul.

Getting rid of things, or "downsizing"is the first step. The second step is not to care or to give up preferences. For example, in the last two months,  I at what was given to me for breakfast, dinner and supper. Whether I liked the food or not was immaterial. When I dressed, I dressed simply, for cleaning or for Church. When I washed, it could be in cold water or water out of a kettle depending on the situation the superior decided for me. The room was not my room, but anyone's room and so on.

What this type of detachment brings is the awareness that I still wanted things or food or drink. Not having fresh veggies was not a problem for me, but not having fresh sheets after one week was. I was not detached.

Not having disinfectants or cleaning materials, as the nuns only use a cream cleaner and water, and only water on the floors, for example, caused my American hyper-cleanliness sensibilities to rebel, especially in the guest house. I bought disinfectants.

This is not detachment, nor is thinking of real coffee or even a glass of wine now and then. Desiring the things of the world is not indifference. Indifference for most of us must be pounded into the soul by days, weeks, months of habit. And, of course, with grace.

To be attached to anything distracts one from the love of God. I like to think of this in a physical way. If my heart is full of desires for people or things or places, then there is less room for God. And, as my heart is small to begin with, this creates a need for prayer.

For one year I have been praying for God to take my puny, little heart and give me His. This has been a process. Ask and you shall receive, but do not anticipate the means.

Comment rule

Sadly, I have to write that comments with obscenities will not be posted. No one in my family speaks in my parents' house with such and when I had a house, the same. When I was teaching college, students were not allowed disrepectful speech in the classroom. This should be an obvious rule but apparently not.

The Supernatural Builds on the Natural

Something came to my attention when in the monastery which I feel is applicable to us lay people.

Two ideas which are as simple as life--one; the supernatural life builds on the natural life; two, the supernatural must be naturalized.

These are not new ideas but I want to share what I mean in terms which we can apply to our lives.

In the first case, that the supernatural must build on the natural, those of us who have been married and have children may be able to understand this. We fall in love and that love changes over the years, if we are fortunate enough to have the time and committed partner to do so. The natural love with all of the joys therein changes, mutates into the sacrificial love of God. As I noted in the series on the Pope's encyclical on Love, which you can search and read on this blog, the types of love change and grow into the sublime connection with God Himself. If one is open to the movement of love, one will find God in the other and in the relationships at home.

This is true in monasteries, but the road is different. The challenge is to learn to love strangers. However, I am with St. Ailred that love in monasteries must build into friendships and then into the great families of communities. This may not be happening in some places.

Friendships and love in a family must include basic human respect, manners, a recognition of dignity and gifts.

Secondly, the supernatural must be naturalized. That is, the daily search and work of religion, the practice of religion being a virtue, must be part of the daily routines of life. Mass, adoration, reading the breviary, saying the rosary, are the supernaturals which lead to the life of virtue, which is then naturalized. One has seen "holy families" wherein these types of relationships of human and divine love exist. If you have not witnessed this, look to Nazareth.

Natural love must proceed the supernatural or we are missing a step. The supernatural must be naturalized or we are not living out our vocations.

Those of us who grew up in nature, instead of in front of a computer all day, understand the natural. We must help those younger to understand and embrace the natural. Without being both body and soul we are not persons. Without nature, we are not fulfilled as humans. We are both, natural and supernatural and part of the argument with atheists is being lost because we have lost sight of who we are.

This is why I want lay people to get married, to be committed. Without natural love, the road to supernatural love is much harder, if not impossible. Christ, the Eternal Word, became Man to show us this. The Law was impossible to do and to save. Only through Love is salvation possible.

What to do after losing a war

Many of us are sitting back and wondering where the world will be moving politically now that America has lost the culture? war. We cannot be in cloud-cuckoo land,  pretending that this week is the same as a week last month. We cannot pretend that a great day of the Church, a new Christendom, will bless the earth with a homogenous vision of God, His rule, good and bad, brotherly and sisterly love.

Sorry, the moment has passed. Those of us who have been praying for a long time or involved in the work of the Church for a long time have seen this day coming. We knew in the 1970s, after Roe v. Wade, that the Christian community would have to fight, or be persecuted. We can fight, but the majority is against us.

Some people do not believe this. I met many guests and religious in the past two months who believe in the resurrection of the dead Western Civilization and a time of Christ's reign on earth which will bring world peace. I do not know which Bible these people read or why they are not hearing the Holy Spirit.

That I try, gently, and maybe not so gently, to speak the truth is that there is not much time.

There are NO safe havens. One may be able to withstand evil in an excellent Catholic community for awhile, but persecution will come. First, the established Church will be more openly attacked, then priests, nuns, sisters and the laity.

The Church Triumphant is in Heaven.

The emphasis on this blog, therefore, will be on the interior person and personal holiness. Why? If we are facing martyrdom, or sacrifices beyond our imagination, we must be prepared spiritually. One cannot exhibit virtue without living in the Presence of God, of Love Himself, in the days to come.

There is no time frame on this coming persecution. Catholics in England saw incremental, increasingly harsh times and some were martyred. It became illegal to leave the country in order to practice Catholicism elsewhere and avoid fines or imprisonment.

Where are the Catholic havens now? Not Ireland, where I am sitting, looking out over the downtown of Dublin, witnessing the fall of the one of the most faithful countries in the world, now racked with gross materialism, hatred for the Church and selfishness. The winter is already more severe than last year, as if the gods of nature, metaphorically, of course, were grieving at the loss of innocence on this once holy isle.

Malta? The socialist agenda, including abortion and civil marriage, is gaining ground. France? The eldest daughter of the Church has wedded herself with a son of Gramsci. Italy, Spain, Portugal are grasping for life, both spiritually and physically.

I merely stated facts. One must learn to accept suffering, love the enemy and serve God in all circumstances. One must beg God to reveal His Love to you in your hearts so that you can carry Him with you wherever you go and preach the Gospel through the life of the virtues. 1 Corinthians 13 is our road map, as well as the Passions narratives.

A God-Man has already experience what you have and will experience. It was His Will to suffer. And, now, for the sake of His Holiness, all will suffer. This is not because He is a vengeful god but because His is Just. The time of Mercy is coming to an end.

Some of you will be betrayed. This has happened to me more than once by those I trusted. Some of you will be isolated. Focus on Christ. Some of you will need to move. Be ready and willing to go wherever. Some of you will merely disappear. Only a few will remember you.

Be strong, be disciplined. Those of us who are physically weakened by circumstances or ill-health appeal to the strong to reach out and take us many, many in, as the weak will be the first to go in the utilitarian world where only those who are useful will be rewarded.

I shall continue to write about this journey to perfection. It is our way to be in and with God and lead others to Him.

These persecutions have all happened before. The scale will be larger and sadly, America, which used to be a Christian nation, is leading the way into darkness now.

Be holy, put on the mind of Christ. He is with us, as He was in Gethsemane. We are a privileged generation.

The Brothers and Sisters of the Crown of Trent

An idea came to my mind when I was at the monastery and I am throwing it out into the blogasphere for feedback. A group, which I do not think I can call an order, of men and women whose have pledged themselves to pray for priests and seminarians who specifically say the Tridentine Mass.

The group would have to make some commitments to belong.

The name of the group is the Brothers and Sisters of the Crown of Trent.

This is a feeler posting.

First, daily prayer for all sems and priests in Latin Mass orders and seculars who say the Latin Mass, such as Father Z.

Second, a promise to read at least two of the hours of the breviary a day, such as lauds and vespers, or sext and compline, etc.

Third,  a promise to do three hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament a week, either in the Exposed Host in a monstrance, or adoring Christ hidden in the tabernacle.

Four, abstinence from meat one day a week.

Five, if possible, if more than one person can join in this endeavor in an area, for those two or more to meet up once a month and pray and communicate, supporting the ministry.

What do you think, readers? Can there be such a grouping starting online?

On offering things up

I would like to challenge an old and useful phrase, "offer it up". For our times, I want to change the sentiment to "absorb it". What do I mean?

The crosses we endure provide us with THE opportunity to become one with God, the Trinity. By absorbing pain of any kind, we cooperate with a mysterious plan in the purgative stage. We cannot live the life of the virtues without absorbing these pains. The illuminative stage, which follows that of purgation, allows the soul to see and experience that all is in God, whether good or evil, loss or gain. Such purgation cleans the heart and mind so that one can love those who hate them, criticize them, spurn them, judge them. Illumination reveals that the love of God is in all things and all people. One can love the enemy.

My mother lost three children. Is this God's Will? I had cancer. Is this God's Will? Some people have horrible experiences, such as abuse as children. Is this God's Will?

He has seen from all time the evil which men and women do to each other. After the Fall, the choice of Adam and Eve to rebel against God's plan for them, the Trinity allowed all of us our free wills, to do good or evil.

We have all done both.

That God allows such freedom is a scandal to some, but Love can only happen in freedom. Love is an act of the free will and heart, not a coercion.

That God freely loves me and that I live and move and have my being in that Love is FREE GIFT.

Does it matter how I came to accept this free gift of love?

What matters is that the illumination of God's love puts all failure and pain into perspective. As I sit in a student flat wondering what will be my next step in God's plan, I move with and in God.  How I got here and where I am going next does not matter. That failures happen does not matter if one sees that God has allowed certain events to break down the self-will and rebellion left from the First Parents' defection from God.

May I add that we are not alone in this journey. We each, those of us who are baptized, have an angel guardian to help us on the way. Pray to your angel. There are other angels who God may send to help one, just as God sent Raphael to help Tobit.

On Perfection and Indifference

Following up this theme of the possibility of the lay person achieving the sanctity of one in the religious life must be presented along with the idea that the lay person has duties and graces from baptism. As the sacrament which makes one a child of God and heir to heaven, the sacrament changes one forever. The ebb and flow of the active and contemplative life can be adjusted in a lay life, but with great difficulty. What the nuns and monks have is a greenhouse situation tailor made for the pursuit of perfection, which therefore, happens more readily and quickly. That we are not in this special environment, or called to the obedience, and strict observance of rules does not let us off the hook in the pursuit of perfection. In addition, I look at the lives of SS. Teresa of Avila, Bernard, and many others, realizing that they were busy in the world as well.

The contemplative prayer and meditation allowed them to be effective in the world. St. Catherine of Siena was a great player in the world, despite or because of her intense interior life. How can we do this, while working or studying, or commuting? Of course, the singing of the seven hours and the silence is not possible, but the ebb and flow of being attuned to grace in a balance of activity and reflection must be possible. The Jesuits managed it for centuries. The key is discipline of a different sort We waste so much time and miss the pursuit of holiness in that waste. We also miss the vision of holiness by concentrating on nonessentials. So, how can a lay person follow the purgative, illuminative and unitive way? First of all, one must find a good spiritual director.

This is very hard, as I know from personal experience. Secondly, one must believe that every event in one's life has been ordained by God. That the pattern of one's life reveals the way to holiness. One may be following, by God's choice, the way of affirmation or the way of negation.

Suffering comes to us all, but the way of negation would include a life of suffering and denial, imposed by the Holy Spirit. Once one realizes the pattern and sees how God is working, through love in one's life, the vocation is seen more clearly. For example, I thought my life was a series of failures. God showed me that none of these events were failures but part of the larger pattern of the breaking down of my desires for worldly things, pleasures, success, a place in the sun. What the nuns learn by being obedient to Mother Prioress, God has taught me through suffering of a different kind. Both ways lead to self-denial and finally, to an indifference.

Indifference is key. One must not care what happens, not in a quietist way (see previous posts on this danger of quietism) but, in the acceptance of the Will of God, and the freedom of the thrall of slavery to things and relationships not ordained by God. Those saints who have been martyred did not come to their martyrdom easily, but through a process of steps, which freed them to experience pain and loss of status, prestige, life. St. Oliver Plunkett, for example, was a great bishop, but slandered and treated with contempt. How many of us could absorb that type of hatred without his humility and the grace of God?

But, laity, this is possible for us as well. Believe me, that the Church and God in His Trinity wants us to reach out and be saints NOW. We are being prepared for heaven daily.

Answer to Jack

A reader notes that being a Catholic seems masochistic. If original sin had not happened and if our natures were not bent on selfishness and narcissism, one could say that such mortification seems harsh. However, the self-love and sin we to experience must be challenged. To put this topic in a positive light, how can we love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul if there is no room in our heart for God? The purgative state cleanses our imagination, purifies our intentions, enlargens our heart in order to really love. Scroll down to my posts on the will, read the articles using material by Saints Bernard and Thomas Aquinas.I just read your second comment. The key is trying not to worry and trusting in Divine Providence, begging for healing and grace. Showing God you are serious about wanting to love Him above all things and people....accepting poverty and even chosing it as He has allowed it. The joy of seeing all suffering as opportunity to love God in reality and not sentimentality is the challenge. Jack, ask for the grace. Ask yourself if you want to love God first.

Suffering and the purgative way

For the lay person, just as with the religious, the first step is found in the purgative way: that is, the ego, the self-will must be destroyed...the losing of one's self. In the monastery, this could mean doing things which seem nonsensical...like not giving a guest a coffee spoon because only so many spoons are allowed in the kitchen; or having to use only water for cleaning and not soap. Obedience over-rules common sense. In the lay life, this could mean being overlooked for a well-earned promotion, or being unemployed and very poor. The suffering, if seen as a moment of grace and accepted, becomes part of the molding of the soul into humility. A great Failure, for example, can be a huge grace. I do not have my computer. I am blogging by phone..a moment of grace, rather than frustration. Criticisms by someone in the church who said I was odd and a burden, becomes a moment of joy, indifference and peace....to be continued.

R.I.P.

My godfather, Uncle Charlie, died this past week. Please pray for his soul. He was a Catholic, very funny, a marathon runner, and a lover of movies. He is responsible for my love of the cinema, especially Audrey Hepburn movies and musicals. He is the first in that maternal side of his generation to pass away. He never married and I last saw him in early 2011. He will be buried in a military cemetary. May the angels take his soul into Paradise.

On the way of perfection....again

One cannot explain spiritual growth for the lay person as easily as one can for the religious simply because the Rule of Benedict, or any rule is objective. Therefore, if one is obeying a simple command, or following carefully the duties of the day in a reflective and humble manner, a religious can somewhat judge by conscience the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. The layperson does not have a rule as such, except, perhaps the Beatitudes and the guidelines in the epistles on love. The point is rather complicated by the fact that the active life has to be lived in an life where things are out of our control-there is no rule.

One thing I noticed was that unless there is contemplation and reflection behind action, the action is useless in and of itself. In other words, caritas, that is love, must inform everything we do. I am to do a series on some of the things I learned about the ability, the skill to pray and work, moving towards contemplation and meditation in the lay life.

If my readers remember the series on the Pope's encyclical on love, I tried to highlight the need to move naturally from one stage to the next. In the monastery, the focus allows one to move quickly in a shorthand manner to accomplish the stages of the purgative, illuminative, and finally, unitive stage. As lay people, you and I can move as well into these stages by allowing the sufferings in our lives to be real and effective. We do not avoid suffering, but accept it as a mortification in order to become humble and pliable to God's Will. In the next few weeks, I shall try and make some progress in showing the connections between the monastic spirituality I experienced and our way of life.

Why do I want to do this? Because we are all called to perfection in order to see God. Only the perfect are allowed into the presence of God.






In the next post, I shall try and explain how the purgative state, which is obvious in the monastic life, happens more organically in the lay life, but cannot be ignored if the benefits of sufferings are to lead us to the next levels.

The Death of Catholic Ireland

Irish citizens last week passed a law which takes away parental authority over children and gives it to the State. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1111/breaking1.html

Only 33 percent of those who are eligible for voting did vote. This socialistic law will determine the lives of generations of children. If I were a parent in Ireland, I would leave NOW with kids in tow, before that becomes illegal.

One cannot imagine the fall from grace which has led to this law being passed.  And, now there is a Marie Stopes abortion mill in Belfast as well. I am so affected by the godlessness and anti-Catholicism which is spewed out on the radio and television daily, that I can hardly believe it. This hatred is based on a hatred of religion and unforgiven events.  The Irish live in the past in their emotions, and this is killing the country's soul, causing an emotional blindness to rule over reason.

I beg St. Oliver Plunkett to intercede. I am sick of hearing that Ireland is the island of saints. We need saints here now, living, standing up for the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. Christ is being crucified by those who once died for His Church. Holiness is consider the job of the old. The country is committing spiritual suicide. For what? Money? Comfort? To be part of the EU?

Part of the problem is the attitude of entitlement. Part of the problem is the old flirtation of socialism and communism by the labour parties here. Most of the problem is ennui.

Sad, sad days....

The Souls in Purgatory

The theologians and mystics writing on purgatorial suffering state it is the same as that of hell, only temporal, and with a certain joy underlying the pain, as the soul, which is being made perfect, knows he or she is saved. Such a comfort would be great.

St. Gertrude has much to say on these souls and we can join her in praying for them. Years ago, I made the great offering of my merit to go to them, as I loved these souls even as a child. My merits would fill a small tea-cup, but the Crucified Saviour merited heaven for these just.

Today, on the Feast of St. Gertrude, pray for a specific soul and have Masses said for those who have died. I pray for specific people who have died, rather than a general prayer.

Perhaps you could choose someone who has no family to pray for them. Or, a person who seemed not to have died in the Faith. God is merciful.

Hello from the city

Supertradmum is not supertradnun. I could not join the Marines at my age. Up at 4:30, breakfast is tea and toast, period; prayer, work, prayer, work, one hour of solitude; one hour of Adoration; one meal a day-no fresh vegetables but fresh fruit; mostly veggie diet; toast and soup for supper, except for Friday, which is a fast day, on which one only has bread and cheese.

I was ok with the food, believe it or not, as they gave cereal to me and eggs as needed, but not with the hours. No coffee breaks but one, and at the time set only; but the hours were simply too exhausting. If I got up and sang Nocturnes, by four in the afternoon, I was a zombie.

To get one's body into habits at a young age is the only way to do this.

However, God is merciful and has indicated that the lay life can lead to the same states of grace if one cooperates.

Our baptismal graces give us the tremendous gift of the Indwelling of the Trinity. We do not recognize the call or the graces which are there for all of us, no matter what our state in life.

This is the call of the laity-to be perfect, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect. And, only through humility and mortifications, chosen and sent by Him. Each one of us has an individual way. He chooses these, we do not. Having cancer has been one way for me. Being called to be a contemplative in the world is another cross. Being a failure in the eyes of those closest to me is another. No matter. None of this matters.

The other amazingly simple point, which I should have known, is that I am used to being alone and not with people all day. I actually felt claustrophobic, not because of the enclosure, but because of being with people most of the day.

However, I have seven books of notes for plenty of posts on perfection. But, I am simply, exhausted physically. I shall get back to you all soon.

In the meantime, get and read two books--Robert Hugh Benson's None Other Gods, and Lord of the World.

And a special note to Therese and Anita; everyday time we sang the blessings for our absence sisters, I prayed for you especially. God has a plan....

cosmetics

Like my dad, I generally prefer women without makeup. While I appreciate the effort, I don't see the point of covering up things you don't want people to see and embellishing things you want people to see, especially once you have a certain level of intimacy. If you're simply the person you want him to be, how is he ever going to get to know you?

On the other hand, if I were a woman, I would probably be absolutely addicted to the stuff.

So yeah, mum's been encouraging me to do some blogger henshin, and while I'm a bit tsundere about this, I love her too much not to comply.

A few years ago, I took a course on basic design from Fr. Pachomius Meade of Conception Abbey - a charismatic monk and an inspiring artist. I learned, among other things, what the Atari logo meant, how to plot a stained glass window, and why superficially simple tasks take so LONG. Graphic Designers, you work admirably hard for no apparent reason. Please consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life!

But as mentioned in the previous post, I know nothing about blogging, so if I screw up, please let me know asap.

This evening, I simply removed the background (which I couldn't really see) and went to a slightly lower contrast theme (which is easier on my eyes).

(I'd rather not use themes, I'd rather just edit the css... but apparently google doesn't like you doing that unless you give them money, which is weird, because, y'know, there are all these webdesign geeks out there with large pocketbooks... not).

I'm seriously considering hosting this blog myself, however it does get a lot of traffic and I'd probably need a paid host and not one of my basement servers abroad. (Mum stores water in concrete bunkers in case of global thermonuclear war. I do the same for Japanese anime and silly cat pictures. If I'm dying of radiation, I'm going to want some light humour).

But in the meantime, here's a little shopping list of what I'd like to acheive in my mother's absence:

• A flexible-width template for easier viewing on tablet computers.
• Improved archive navigation.
• A new background.
• Automatic post-preview (since most of mum's posts are very very long).
• General database optimization etc.

If anyone has any suggestions / ideas on this tack, I'd love to hear them!

For those who do not know the reference....

I did not put "So long" as not to infringe....cp. And, happy patronal feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, England............

A Jar of Ointment, the Marines, and Seeds............

Someone asked me on Friday for what the reason the Benedictine Rule existed and what was the purpose of contemplative nuns?

As the person is a Catholic, I was a bit taken aback. But, I have three answers.

I said that the contemplatives were the Marines, hitting the beach first with their prayers while the active orders and laity followed behind in the mop-up.

I believe this is true, as the spiritual life of prayer attacks the unseen enemies and prayer makes the Church strong in battle.

Those soldiers who are the specially trained groups go in and deal with the first lines of the enemy.

Prayer first, action second.

I hope St. Benedict and St. Scholastica would agree with me.

But, that is not the first reason for the Rule or the existence of contemplative nuns. That would be the second reason.

First, the nuns exist to worship God.

Their presence is the presence of the woman with the alabaster jar of ointment who anointed the feet of Jesus. Judas asked  "Why this waste?" He did not understand Love. Judas did not love Christ or he would have never said that.

Christ is God, and in His worship there is no waste. Love does not know the limits of excess. There are no limits in God. Did not St. Francis say, "My God never says 'Enough'".

We should have no limits in our love for God.

The third reason is this:

But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:23-25)