Caravaggio's Entombment of Christ: Friday of Holy Week

One Thought During the Triduum

"It is not about you!"

Get out of yourselves and pray for others this weekend.

Pray for the thousands of Londoners I pass daily (not all at once!) who do not know God.

Pray, as the nuns said in Vespers last evening, for all those millions of people in the world who may go to hell, if they do not hear the Word of God, and if they do not repent.

Pray, the world depends on YOU!

RIP Mark Polaschek

http://qctimes.com/news/local/missing-davenport-boater-s-body-recovered/article_358f38d8-9713-11e2-bc5a-001a4bcf887a.html

Many Catholics in the Quad-Cities knew this man. Please pray for him and his family.

Another Peter Paul Rubens Crucifixion: Thursday in Holy Week

Thanks to Wikimedia

Brief Note from the Indian in the Cupboard

I am going in and out of enclosure this week, so I feel a bit like the cowboy and Indian in The Indian in the Cupboard. It is SO WEIRD being in for prayer and other things and coming out for Net access and meeting people.

I may skip the Net access over the Triduum.  So, if you do not hear from me, it just means I am really being quiet.

But, if you think a monastery is a quiet place, you need to stay for a while. So many visitors and the phone rings off the hook, as well as the door bell ringing almost as much.

Portresses are the example of patience.

A Peter Paul Rubens Crucifixion: Wednesday in Holy Week

Talk by Ex-Press Secretary to the Pope

Fr. Guillermo Marco, ex-press officer for eight years to the Pope, gave a talk at Tyburn Convent in London, and these are notes from that talk. This was on March 26^th, 2013. I have tried to keep the exact vocabulary of Father Marco, who gave the talk mostly in English. Any editorial notes by me are in parentheses. I am merely reporting on this talk as exactly as I can. The text was approved by an associate of his. Some of this information is not new to readers of the Internet or news, but as news is restricted in the enclosure, much of this was new to the nuns at Tyburn.

The vocabulary reflects that of Fr. Marco. Most is a paraphrase or close to exact notes taken during the talk.

The Pope was born in Buenos Aires and studied science. He went to seminary in Buenos Aires, where the Jesuits were in charge and decided to be a Jesuit.

John Paul II made him bishop when he was a professor.

At 37, he was made superior on his congregation. He was very young and these were difficult years for the Church, after Vatican II. Priests were making political choices rather than religious choices.

An order from the General (of the Jesuits) in Rome indicated that he wanted priests who were religious not politicians. (This was a reaction against Liberation Theology.) The Pope loves working with the poor, but he is not political. The Argentinian government was not in support of the Catholic Church, but looking out for leftist priests and nuns to imprison.Two priests were working hard in the poor areas, and were moving to another area, and owing obedience to the religious, they did not want to so left the Jesuits.

"If you go out of the Jesuit Company, I cannot protect you", the superior said. They did, however. Two months later, the two priests were taken to an illegal jail; the Pope was looking for the priests, and then the two priests were made free. The Pope was not a collaborator of the territorial government, but did get these priests free. There is confusion on this in the media, who wants to show the Pope as a collaborator. 

There are lies that he was a collaborator.The photo shopped photo which is on line is not true, stated Fr. Marco. (I am not familiar with this photo.)

The Pope was novice master of the Jesuit order, and he spent two months in Germany. When he came back to Argentina, his superior put him in the interior of the country only saying Mass and hearing confessions—He became Provincial Superior in 1973. The Pope told his friends that he thought he would end his life in the remote area. Apparently, according to Fr. Marco, Jesuits have to say no if Pope asks them to be bishop; however, the Cardinal told him to be bishop, he was not consulted but told 1992, to be bishop of Buenos Aires.

It is a very big city, four million, with four more million coming in for work (eight million), and no one knew him,. There are six bishops in the diocese of Buenos Aires; Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who consecrated Bergoglio Bishop, was very important in this story; the Cardinal asked the Pope to make Bergoglio to be his successor.

Cardinal Quarrancino planned this, stated Fr. Marco. Otherwise, he would have been in a smaller diocese, as most of the auxiliaries would have been on the appointment of a new Cardinal.

So, this was unusual. He had a meteoric rise in the Church. Fr. Marco said this was all in God's Plan.

When Cardinal Bergoglio came to Rome for the conclave, he came with a return ticket. He is 76, and he was ready to resign as bishop when he returned. He would have been retired on his return to Argentina. Someone who knew him said that his election as Pope has made him younger and more energetic, as if energized by the Holy Spirit.

This is important, said Fr. Marco. He went to Rome with a little bag. "And he will never go back to his little room. He will not see his family in their place…his entire life belongs to the Church."

"I first knew him when he became bishop. He always asked every person he met to pray for him."

Fr. Marco asked that we would pray for the Pope daily, here in the convent.

He needs prayer, said Fr Marco. However, the priest said that the Pope is a “prayer-man” in his interior life.

"He never goes out at night and goes to bed at nine and gets up at four or five to get up and pray. He has done this his entire life." Fr. Marco was very clear in his description of the Pope's dedication to prayer.

"He never decides anything unless he prays first. If he is going to decide something, he says that he needs to pray first. He refers all things to prayer. This is his heart."

Fr. Marco, who is not a Jesuit, added something interesting. "The other thing is that the Jesuits have very clever thinking, but they only say what appeals or refers to you. One never knows what they are really thinking." (Interesting.)

"My job with him, I always had a job with communications, and when he became Archbishop, he asked me, because he was nervous to meet with the media."

Fr. Marco described a Cardinal who worked with others in consultations. "His humility indicates that he states he does not know everything. He worked with a lot of persons in Buenos Aires because he is humble and wanted input."

As to the Pope's pastoral style, (which we have seen in the news), Fr. Marco noted that the Pope said as Cardinal, that  "we have to go and find the lost lamb and not stay inside the Church (building)."

Fr. Marco shared that he works in the public university, and he had to go to the world which does not believe in God.

"We have missionaries in the railway Stations, and in the city centers, in the plazas—" He added an interesting comment on the secular world. "The majority of the population does not ask the question of what is the essence of life. First, we have to motivate the questions of God. We have the answers, but the persons do not want to receive the answers, so we have to motivate them."

On the Pope's obviously different way of relating as Pope, Fr. Marco said this, "Pope Francis presents himself as the Bishop of Rome. He does not use the title Pope as he wants to relate to the people of Rome. 

He is very deliberate in his actions. He does not act on his feelings." (This is very interesting.)

"He thinks about what he does before acting." (Those of us watching him thought he looked quite spontaneous, but this is not true).

Fr. Marco indicated that the Pope wants our prayers, just as he did when he was Cardinal.

"He wants all the prayers of the Church, which is the job of the entire Church."

As to his name, the priest told the nuns what we have read in the news, "He said immediately when elected, 'Do not forget the poor.' He took the name Francis for this reason. He also took the name because of Francis being a man of peace; also because Francis is the patron saint of the environment." Fr. Marco was very clear on these points.

The ex-press secretary also noted that Francis was involved in the re-formation of the Church and that the Pope wanted Francis' name also for this reason. As to change in the Church, Fr. Marco noted this, "The Pope wants us to change first. He chooses simple things, such as a plain metal cross, because if one wears a gold cross in BA, it would be stolen immediately.He did not use his chauffeur and car", (as we know, he took the metro and bus). Fr. Marco stressed through-out his talk that the Pope has a preferential regard for the poor.

"He did not want to be separated from the people. He never made an apology to the rich for the poor. He is very near the poor."

"The poor," the Pope said, "are very near God."

The poor will teach us about God, added Fr. Marco.  The Pope has many short stories about the poor, which have influenced his life. Father shared a few of these.

Asked what the people of Argentina thought of the Pope, Fr. Marco responded, "The people of Argentina are being moved by what Pope Francis is saying in Rome. Two Jewish men were interviewed by the press who said they liked this Pope." The Argentinians ignored the Cardinal when he was in his country. Fr. Marco said, referring to the Scripture passage, that a prophet is not accepted in his own town. But, now that he is Pope, the people have changed and are now paying attention to him according to Fr. Marco. The Argentinians are following his actions in Rome.

Father Marco said we are entering in to a good time for the Church, and we need to pray a lot. He replied to another question regarding ecumenism that it was easier to be ecumenical in Argentina than in Europe.

Fr. Marco and the Pope were involved in an ecumenical group in Argentina, where it is easier to have these groups. So, the visit of the Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople  was an extension of this. The meetings in Argentina are not theological dialogues, but just getting to know each other, noted the priest. When the Patriarch was in Rome, the Pope said that he was glad “Andrew” was here, the brother of Peter. The Pope also was responsible for contacting the head rabbi of Rome, with a personal letter to him. "He is very kind," said Fr. Marco, "to all who come near him."

Fr. Marco said the Pope is not the same person but has changed since he has been elected Pope. (This is very interesting.) He said he is full of the Holy Spirit.

Mother General of Tyburn,  Mother Mary Xavier McMonagle, brought up the quotation of Blessed John Paul II that the future of the Church was in Latin America. She was referring to the Pueblo Conference. Fr. Marco noted that the Latin American experience is different as a new country. (Here is a link to that Conference.)

Fr. Marco said that the Pope is like a common priest. He is still in the conclave room and not in the Papal Apartments. He will want to stay there and he is near the door, said Fr. Marco. (Laughter).

Mother General brought up the Mass in the prison on Holy Thursday. Mother General wanted to know if there were going to be consequences of this decision. Fr. Marco had an interesting insight into this : "In Buenos Aries there are six bishops, and so there were enough bishops to have Mass in the Cathedral and the Pope then decided to have Mass in a prison. He did not want journalists there when he did that in Argentina."

He had to be told by his press secretary, (Fr. Marco), not to put his light under a bushel, and therefore, give good example. 

At one Holy Thursday Mass, the Pope, as bishop, washed the feet of all the new baby boys of the poor. And, this photo was published in a discussion against abortion in Argentina. (I shall try and find the photo.)

The journalists in Argentina liked this. Fr. Marco said the Pope will do lots of things like this. Mother General pointed out that Blessed John Paul II also visited a prison, especially in the visit the man who shot him .  Mother also noted that Jesus spent the night in prison and was there during the night on Holy Thursday.

As Fr. Marco noted, we are in the age of the photo and the sound bite. So, the Pope uses little phrases of the Gospel in his talks as Pope. He is also aware of significant actions.

At the Mass at St. Peter, there was a representative of the people of the rubbish, the scavengers of Argentina, whom the Pope had visited when in Argentina.

As Cardinal, he was walking in his red robes and Fr. Marco wondered at this walking about in Rome before the conclave. Fr. Marco said Rome is the place where one can wear red without being noticed.

(Excuse any errors, as this was done on the spot.)

This week in the life of a blogger--wonderful things come to those who wait on the Lord

This week, until Easter Monday, I am partially in enclosure at Tyburn and will not be able to blog everyday. It is a wonderful experience singing the hours with the good nuns.

Pray for me.

However, I shall try and do two posts. One is about a talk I am attending is by Father Guillermo Marco, who worked with Pope Francis for years in Argentina. He is going to talk this morning about the Pope. I have permission to take copious notes. You shall "hear" the talk.

And, I want you all to pray for a miracle by going to this website. I have met Baroness Rosario of the Montbard family, who is connected with the House of Ephesus project. Her husband's family is related to St. Bernard of Clairvaux from his mother's side, the Blessed Aleth of Montbard.  Anyone in Europe or the UK who is interested in a presentation on this saint and the Blessed Virgin's House in Ephesus, please ask for a talk.

There are international prayer cards.

Sr. Marie De Mandat-Grancey Foundation
P.O.Box 275
Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 USA 

http://srmarie-lorraine.blogspot.co.uk/

Another David Jones Crucifixion: Tuesday in Holy Week

A reminder from The Record.com

On Christmas Day in 1969, a little known German theologian outlined his own assessment on the future of the Catholic Church during a radio broadcast.

Mankind was at a turning point in history, he said, and the Church was fighting against a force which intended to annihilate it definitively. The theologian’s name was Joseph Ratzinger.

He predicted that the Body of Christ on earth would be undermined by the temptation to reduce priests to social workers and the Church’s work to a mere political presence.

During his speech, which came shortly after the socially and morally revolutionary tumult of 1968, while the ramifications of Vatican II were emerging and secular influences were fervently desiring to “liberate” themselves from the “shackles” of religious and social institutions, Ratzinger said, “From today’s crisis will emerge a Church that will have lost a great deal”.

Structures that had been built in times of prosperity would be lost and numbers would decrease, he stated; he Church would “pretty much have to start all over again”.

Ratzinger, however, then suggested “when all the suffering is past, a great power will emerge from a more spiritual and simple Church”.

He believed there would be small groups and movements arising and a minority who would make faith central to experience.

“It will be poor and will become the Church of the destitute”, he said.

Not my America

http://global.christianpost.com/news/fla-professor-makes-class-trample-on-jesus-name-suspends-student-who-refused-92445/

For those parents of big Catholic families

Today, I want to write a tribute to all those neighbors, fellow parishioners  and friends who followed God's Plan for their families and did not contracept. I want to honor my parents and all those of their generation who had wonderful, large Catholic families.

Many of my friends have six, eight, ten, eleven or more children.

God bless those parents.

I have to honor them for choosing a lower standard of living than their Protestants neighbors who moved out of the old houses into the really nice ones with their 2.5 kids.

I want to praise these Catholic parents for not having vacations in order to home school or save money for expensive private Catholic education.

I want to tell the world how great is the responsibility to educate children in the Faith and praise those who did so.

And are doing so....

We have been persecuted for such. Some of my friends have been criticized publicly in grocery stores and even in Church for having large families.

Some of us were severely criticized for home schooling back in the late '80s, '90s and even into the 2000s.

I honor you, .pro-life Catholics. God bless you all, always and in every way

Superb comment from Steveaz on Sultan Knish

http://sultanknish.blogspot.ca/2013/03/night-falls-on-civilization.html

So good, I had to replicate it here.


Well, as usual, as we Yanks were distracted by China's potential pathologies, we failed to notice our own. [This is anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt, but...] A majority of my acquaintances who work in academe (all "liberals) were single children. 

They cannot hide it either. Many reveal in their political views and debating styles that they have never contended with any sibling for Legos, parental attention nor mundane chores. And they seem unaware that their liberal campaigns for illusory things such as "sustainability" and "world peace" are rote manifestations of their single-child experience.

As America digests its own poison-pill generation of spoilt, single children cum adults, it should rile no one to state the obvious: America's citizenry are the managed wards of our own arrogant, spoilt "Emperors." 

Simply sample the biographies of our current ruling class. Obama is this generation's icon: globe-trotting, wealthy, doted-on, and without competition in the family! 

Some properly derogate this generation by calling it the "Me-Generation." Others patronize this cadre and rebel at crude categorization of it, preferring to flatter it with labels like "Creative," "modern," and "Taste-Makers."

No matter the label we use to identify this trend, it is what it is. And it'd like to replicate itself of course to form another first-person pronoun hyphenated generation to govern the besotted masses for the century ahead. 

To the spoilt, urban prograssive, Kids from big "fly-over" families are drole and tacky. They aren't easily cowed by external scolds and peer pressures, and they're wake-up to the games adversaries like to play, like deliberate dishonesty, proxy moves and brown-nosing. In short, if you're the third son in a Kansas family with 4 other siblings, two of them sisters, then you are immunized against the Prog's campusing techniques.

But "Little Emperors," not so much. They're nubile, malleable little princes and princesses, hungry to strive any 'attagirl' or confirmation of their uncontested merits, greater beauty or smarts. And being untested entrants to the Progs' series' of artificial societies, they suffer from performance anxiety. The spoilt child is the perfect, nervous little tool for the march to the Progressive's vaunted future and beyond!

And, another good comment by someone called Supertradmum

The cause of all this depression about human beings is the lack of knowledge or belief that we are made differently than the rest of creation. The West use to believe that men and women were made in the likeness of God. No more.

Now, we are made in the likeness of whoever political powers that be, or educational, or moneyed, or Marxist, or just plain stupid powers.

In the past several thousand years, we have seen the replacement of God as the centre of creation to humans being in that centre, to finally something odd called the 'environment'. Even the Medievals were not this daft to create a false god out of climate changes....or false ideals of demographics.

Annunciation by John Donne

John Donne (1572-1631)

Annunciation

Salvation to all that will is nigh;

That All, which always is all everywhere,

Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,

Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,

Lo, faithful virgin, yields Himself to lie

In prison, in thy womb; and though He there

Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He will wear,

Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try.

Ere by the spheres time was created, thou

Wast in His mind, who is thy Son and Brother;

Whom thou conceivst, conceived; yea thou art now

Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother;

Thou hast light in dark, and shutst in little room,

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.

A David Jones Crucifixion: Monday in Holy Week

I am going to put a different Crucifixion scene on everyday this week for your meditations during Holy Week.

Here is the first one by David Jones. Many years ago, some of my David Jones prints were stolen. This one was my favorite that I had.

OOPSIE, that horrible global warming is at it again!

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/uk-suffers-coldest-march-in-50-years-global-warming-to-blame/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uk-suffers-coldest-march-in-50-years-global-warming-to-blame

Heartbreak

Today is a day of heartbreak. I have lost two friends. Not because of death, but because they did not want to hear the truth about something serious.

What they do not understand is how much I love them. They do not understand that truth is love.

They are on their way out of the Catholic Church, and all I can do is pray. I tried to speak with them about their "issues". I love both of them dearly, and this separation pains me greatly.

I have watched people in their adult years leave the Church for many reasons. Mostly, it is a problem of bad catechesis. These Catholics did not know their Faith in the first place, and so have made bad decisions.

Who is to blame? All adults are responsible for their own adult appropriation of the Faith.

I have written about this before, several times.

No one is to blame except ourselves if we lose the Faith. No priest, or teacher or parent is to blame.

Only ourselves, making choices which will lead us away from Rome....our souls and minds-- are where blame rests.

Heresies form one cause, especially Modernism.

Contraception is another cause.

Family pressures can be causes. Family issues can create causes.

Believing in false prophets or seers is another.

Active homosexuality is yet another cause of falling away.

Cynicism and hyper-criticism is still another cause. I call this being more Roman than Rome.

Satan does not care how or why you leave the Church.

He is thrilled that you choose to do so.

On the days of our deaths, we all stand alone before God. There are no excuses.

We face Truth, Who is a Person. We have seen Him many times before, but do not recognize Him. Another friend of mine told me that speaking the truth is why these people no longer like me.

I am not into popularity contests. I am into saving souls.

I weep and pray for my two friends. I hope they come back............

Update on the updates...

I am leaving it on line for similar reasons as Damian Thompson--here is his last note on this:

[Latest: The Diocese of Salford link to the interview is now dead. So I think we have our answer. The "interview" has almost certainly been concocted to appeal to a certain sort of conservative American. It's meticulously done, so it did take me a few minutes to be sure it was fake. I'm leaving it online because the hoax is interesting in itself. I mean, why bother?]

Another Update

Salford Diocese has taken down the article. The chancery needs to explain this. Until there is an explanation, I am leaving the information on the blog. It seems to be fake.

Free Republic has picked this up as well

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3000243/posts

but

To: Religion Moderator

Please lock this thread. The original link has disappeared.
Thanks.

20 posted on 3/24/2013 4:24:29 PM by markomalley (Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good -- Leo XIII)