See the Big Pulpit for several blog articles
You all know my opinion on this prince of the Church
http://bigpulpit.com/2013/05/30/the-cardinal-dolan-controversy-continues/
http://www.lifesitenews.com/home/all-latest-stories/?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6bd000ff1d-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Full_Text_05_30_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0caba610ac-6bd000ff1d-397449058#major-obama-backer-negotiated-archdiocese-of-nys-coverage-of-contracep
Thursday, 30 May 2013
From Gabriel Amorth
Amorth, who trains exorcists and is the head of the International Association of Exorcists, said the pope’s exorcism will help to balance the growth of atheism that includes disbelief in the devil.
“We live in an age in which God has been forgotten. And wherever God is not present, the Devil rules,” said Amorth. “Today, unfortunately, bishops don't appoint sufficient exorcists. We need many more. I hope that Rome will send out directives to bishops around the world calling on them to appoint more exorcists.”
Speaking to the Sunday Times in the UK, Fr. Amorth said, “I will ask the pope to give all priests the power to carry out exorcisms, and to ensure priests are properly trained for these starting with the seminary. There’s a huge demand for them.”
The Vatican states it was a blessing, not an exorcism, but the result was the same. There is a horrible shortage of exorcists in England, and too many false ones, aka the laity, are running around doing this out of order.
A note from the Pope
"Think of Mother Teresa: what does the spirit of the world say of Mother Teresa? 'Ah, Blessed Teresa is a beautiful woman, she did a lot of good things for others ...'. The spirit of the world never says that the Blessed Teresa spent, every day, many hours, in adoration ... Never! It reduces Christian activity to doing social good. As if Christian life was a gloss, a veneer of Christianity. The proclamation of Jesus is not a veneer: the proclamation of Jesus goes straight to the bones, heart, goes deep within and change us. And the spirit of the world does not tolerate it, will not tolerate it, and therefore, there is persecution. "
The Pope said this and many other good things today. I like his reference to Adoration.
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/28/pope_at_mass:_following_christ_is_not_a_career,_it_is_the_way_of_th/en1-696136
of the Vatican Radio website
The Pope said this and many other good things today. I like his reference to Adoration.
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/28/pope_at_mass:_following_christ_is_not_a_career,_it_is_the_way_of_th/en1-696136
of the Vatican Radio website
from a tweeter--love this
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." -Andre Gide #quote
There is nothing like those Midwest boys-a car run by social networking
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| Not the exact same car as in the article below |
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57586433-1/electric-1967-karmann-ghia-runs-on-social-media-fuel/
My brother in the 1970s made a working laser in the basement. Braininess still exists.....These cars were a symbol of coolness in my youth. Now, with a car run on the social networks, the car is more cool.
Miss those brains....
Where are the Church leaders in Great Britain?
Motherwell is now one of four Scottish dioceses to be without a bishop.
The dioceses of Paisley and Dunkeld are led by administrators within the dioceses.
St Andrews and Edinburgh archdiocese and Motherwell diocese have apostolic administrators, Archbishop Philip Tartgalia of Glasgow and Bishop Toal, respectively. from the article below
Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc
Joan teaches us several things as lay people:
1) To be courageous in following the way of perfection, when one exhibits the heroic virtues and all the virtues given to us in Confirmation;
2) To be able to separate in our minds the office of the bishops and clergy and the person--for example, I respect the Cardinal of New York as a priest in his sacramental office, but I do not respect him as involved in the false political machinations of that state; Joan did the same thing;
3) To be able to be an example to those around us in being disciplined;
4) To love God and His Church above all else, including our selves;
5) To pray and fast for discernment and never to lose this gift through self-love.
St. Joan of Arc, pray for us.
1) To be courageous in following the way of perfection, when one exhibits the heroic virtues and all the virtues given to us in Confirmation;
2) To be able to separate in our minds the office of the bishops and clergy and the person--for example, I respect the Cardinal of New York as a priest in his sacramental office, but I do not respect him as involved in the false political machinations of that state; Joan did the same thing;
3) To be able to be an example to those around us in being disciplined;
4) To love God and His Church above all else, including our selves;
5) To pray and fast for discernment and never to lose this gift through self-love.
St. Joan of Arc, pray for us.
On Spiritual Windows and a Bridge Too Far
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| Thanks to Wiki for the poster |
However, the work was fruitful and two priests came out of the Bible study I was running at the time. However, the community efforts failed. I also tried in Plymouth, as a married woman, and in Petersfield, but my efforts failed. When one fails in trying to create the plan of God on earth, one must take one's efforts to prayer.
Most things fail, but ironically, some things flourish, because the efforts are the ideas of men and women and NOT God's plan. One must allow God to purify the imagination and heart in order to hear God's plan and not falsely work on one's own. Look at the lives of the saints-look how hard they had to work for God's plans.
One cannot judge by successes or failures. Sometimes, God lets someone or even a group go their own way in stubbornness and falsity as a consequence of their own egoism. He has removed Himself.
There are many ministries in the Catholic Church which are NOT from God, but from men and women, who are working out of their own vision and not DYING TO SELF and following God.
During the past 24 hours, as I am in considerable pain and have to try and rest my back, I continued my prayers for Walsingham and the lack of community, nay, the absolute disruption of the Catholic community there and in other places in England. That there are so many people in Walsingham and elsewhere, thinking they are following God but in reality following false seers and false teaching, such as false ecumenism, (a big fallacy), causes the Church is be divided and weakened.
The lack of people desiring to leave the comfort zones and sacrifice for God creates a spiritual vacuum.
Worse is the fact that God calls people to His plan and they do not listen, being too busy about their own plans for the Church.
Those who read about World War II know of the debacle called "A Bridge Too Far" and if you have not seen the movie or read the book, do so.
The problem was that the generals were not in agreement and getting arrogant towards the end of the war. British generals made huge mistakes and sent many men to their deaths because these generals were not listening to reconnaissance men and to other generals. The entire engagement was a mistake of tragic proportions. The Nazis won the battle.
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If the American and England generals were listening to reconnaissance, (the Holy Spirit, in my analogy), and getting along, sharing a vision instead of doing their own thing,(the lack of community and the persistence of self-love in my analogy), other men further down the line, and the men at Arnhem would not have died in such a horribly bad error of judgement. The Polish were also involved and tried to convince the others of the poor planning. Men died.
In the spiritual warfare of the Church Militant, to lose a battle means that souls are lost and people will go to hell.
A bridge too far may be a ministry which looks good, but is using means which are unorthodox, false, disobedient, and so on. I could name several here, but will not do so. Some I have mentioned recently on this blog. Any group which disobeys in any small thing is not doing God's Will.
On the front, no small mistake can be excused. In war, all the parts of the puzzles and men and women involved in strategies must get it right, or lives are WASTED.
I have been praying at to the main sin here in England as to why there is so much disobedience and the following of false teaching--more than in the Catholic Church in the States, proportionally.
The answer goes back to Oath of Supremacy of 1534. For 479 years, England has chosen property, status, money, comfort, and the denial of hell instead of the Will of God.
Universal salvation is still one of the biggest heresies here. Relativism and even apathy about religion are direct results of the protestant revolt in England.
People are not listening to God if they do not listen to Rome. To be united to God means in every way to be one with Rome.
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| Who made you Pope? Parliament and the People |
A litmus test for the real work of God is orthodoxy. Do not get involved with any groups which are not obedient to Rome in any way, small or large.
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| The way to God in England |
I cannot trust myself to plans, meetings, groups which are not straight-down-the wicket with God.
Do not do so, or your soul will be in danger. Operation Market Garden, an ironic name considering that Napoleon called the British a nation of shopkeepers in derogatory fashion, caused the unnecessary death of many, many men. These false works here within the Church cause the death of souls for those who choose to step outside the Church and ignore Her loving teaching.
Pray for me and pray for England. I believe the ONLY way forward is through the Latin Mass and the Latin Mass communities, which are orthodox. The holy house for Adoration in Walsingham would have the Gregorian Chant and the discipline of the Church, nothing unorthodox, nothing. This is God's work not mine, as I would never choose to live in Walsingham. It doesn't even have a post office, a bank, an ATM or my phone company's service. Norfolk is cold and I hate the cold. I would much rather live in Malta. It is very inconvenient to be in the place where Mary decided to appear, but there is a Tyburn-Walsingham connection-The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.
He suffered for His Church seeing the sins of the British people and all peoples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Can we not join ourselves to that suffering? Christ has created a window of opportunity with this house for sale, a perfect community house, in Walsingham, for His plans to bring England back to the pre-prostestant revolt state there. Will you respond to His vision? This is not a bridge too far, but a strategy for taking back England to the True Faith. Those who do not follow what Christ wants will end up in another place, as they separate themselves from Rome and the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, which rests in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. Anything less is a bridge too far and will end in eternal tragedy. We do not go to heaven by good intentions, but by death of self.
Is anyone willing to suffer for God and leave his and her comfort zones? I am and do....Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us and take us all back to your Son.
To be continued....
More, more on the dark night....
Garrigou-Lagrange continues on the Dark Night....
Another striking example of the spiritual night which we are speaking of is found in St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists. We read in his Letters:
Little corporal or spiritual tribulations are the first steps of this lofty and holy ladder which great and generous souls climb. They ascend step by step until they reach the last rung. There, at the summit, they find the purest suffering, without the slightest admixture of consolation coming from heaven or earth (the suffering which comes from offense offered to God). And if these souls are faithful in not seeking consolations, they will pass from this pure suffering to the pure love of God, without anything else being mingled with it. But rare are the souls which reach such a degree. . . .Rare are the souls, perhaps, but all are called to this state of perfection-all. Only those who are generous respond and on the path, one realizes how ungenerous one really is....
It seems to them that they are abandoned by God, that He no longer loves them, that He is irritated against them. . . . This is almost the pain of damnation, if I may express myself in this manner, a suffering, whose bitterness is comparable to no other. But if the soul is faithful, what treasures it amasses! The storms pass and go, the soul approaches true, very sweet, and very close union with Jesus crucified, who transforms it in Himself and reproduces His own features in it.(10)
It seems to them that they are abandoned by God, that He no longer loves them, that He is irritated against them. . . . This is almost the pain of damnation, if I may express myself in this manner, a suffering, whose bitterness is comparable to no other. But if the soul is faithful, what treasures it amasses! The storms pass and go, the soul approaches true, very sweet, and very close union with Jesus crucified, who transforms it in Himself and reproduces His own features in it.(10)
One can hardly endure this pain. One sees one's damnation. The justice of God is real and keen. For many people, this time is like a mini-particular judgement, and for some people, an entire particular judgement.
These excerpts show that St. John of the Cross is not the only one who spoke profoundly of the night of the spirit because he had experienced it. Before him, Hugh of St. Victor had compared the passive purification of the soul by grace and the love of God to the transformation which green wood undergoes when attacked by fire: "The dampness is consumed, the smoke diminishes, the victorious flame shows itself; . . . finally it communicates its own nature to the wood, which is set completely on fire. Likewise the love of God gradually grows in the soul, the passions of the heart at first resist, which causes many sufferings and troubles; this thick smoke must be dissipated. Then the love of God becomes more ardent, its flame more lively. . . and finally it penetrates the entire soul. The divine truth is found and assimilated by contemplation; the soul, detached from self, no longer seeks anything but God. He is for it all in all; it rests in His love and finds therein joy and peace. (11)
If one accepts this grace and is patient, one end up in peace.
To be continued...
More on suffering and the dark night....
More from Garrigou-Lagrange: more to help us all recognize this dark night.
We may profit by recalling the case of the holy Cure of Ars. His principal suffering sprang from the fact that he felt himself far from the ideal of the priesthood, whose grandeur appeared increasingly to him in the obscurity of faith, at the same time that he had an ever clearer understanding of the needs of the innumerable souls coming to him. The more he saw all the good that remained to be done, the less he saw what had already been accomplished; consequently he could not be complacent about it. His great suffering, which approached that of Jesus, Priest and Victim, and of Mary at the foot of the cross, was that which comes from the sight of sin and from the loss of souls. This suffering presupposes a penetrating view which is nothing else than the contemplation of the infinite goodness of God, who is disregarded and outraged, and of the value of eternal life. This contemplation grows more and more in the dark night of faith which we are discussing.
St. Catherine of Siena pointed out in her Dialogue that the contemplation of our indigence and wretchedness and that of the infinite majesty and goodness of God are like the lowest and highest points of a circle that could grow forever. In reality, in this contemplation there is a contrast, a clear-cut opposition between two things which in an admirable manner mutually illumine each other.
In the life of Blessed Angela of Foligno we find a striking example of this fact, which she recounts as follows: "I see myself deprived of every good, of every virtue, filled with a multitude of vices; . . . in my soul I see only defects. . . false humility, pride, hypocrisy. . . . I would wish to cry out my iniquities to others. . . . God is hidden for me. . . . How can I hope in Him? . . . Though all the wise men of the world and all the saints of paradise were to overwhelm me with their consolations, they would bring me no relief, if God does not change me in the depths of my soul. This interior torment is far worse than martyrdom. (7)
Modern people really do not identify with this low opinion of self. The great lies of modern New Age so-called ministries has been for 30 years about discovering self and one's gifts, with a complete centering on the self and NOT GOD. I have been totally against these diocesan courses on finding out about one's gifts, as these teach nothing about the stages of purification absolutely necessary before God can use someone.
So-called Gift Training Days are not of God. Sorry. One cannot even be used by God when one is full of self, self-love, self-aggrandizement and so on....
I had a long talk years ago with a laywoman who was conducting these types of courses; she could not see that this course actually takes the focus off Christ and on to one's self. This, of course, is a dead end and stops the route to perfection.
Then, recalling that God Himself was afflicted in Gethsemane, that during His passion He was scorned, buffeted, and tortured, she wished that her suffering might be increased still more, for it seemed to her a purifying suffering, which revealed to her the depths of the Passion. Some days later, on a road near Assisi, she heard these interior words: "O My daughter! I love thee more than any other person in this valley. . . . Thou hast prayed to My servant Francis, hoping to obtain with him and through him. Francis loved Me greatly, I did much in him; but if anyone loved Me more than Francis, I would do more for him. . . . I love with an immense love the soul that loves Me without falsehood. . . . Now, no one has any excuse, for all the world can love; God asks only love from the soul; for He Himself loves without falsehood, and is Himself the love of the soul." (8) Causing her to glimpse His passion, Jesus crucified added: "Look closely: dost thou find anything in Me which is not love?" (9)
To be continued....
More on the Dark Night of the Soul
Some of this is repetitive, but necessary to emphasize. Like a good teacher, I review and revisit the hard parts until the students understand the passages.
The passive purgation leaves on completely in the dark, literally, the soul cannot see anything.
The ordinary "lights", such as meditations or devotions, prayers, or even the Hours, leave one dry and empty.
God is calling the soul to Himself and takes her out into the desert in order for her to see Him as He is and to love Him for Himself and not for what He can do for her.
This is real free love, the love with is not attached to anything else but God Himself.
St. John of the Cross: "God now denudes the faculties, the affections, and feelings, spiritual and sensual, interior and exterior, leaving the understanding in darkness, the will dry, the memory empty, the affections of the soul in the deepest affliction, bitterness, and distress; withholding from it the former sweetness it had in spiritual things." (2)
So many Catholics flee from this state, seeking the cookies and cake of consolations, and thereby slide back into sin and self-love. Those who follow this blog have many examples of this sliding back.
In the midst of all of this dryness, one must love in the will. One must will love. Love here is not a feeling or a sensation, but a decision. I think of Ruth, following Naomi into a new land, where she had no relatives, no status, no life. She only loved and followed love.
The sadness then experienced is very different from that which has its origin in neurasthenia, disillusions, or the contradictions of life. The chief difference is that the sadness of the passive purification of the spirit is accompanied by an ardent desire for God and perfection, by a persistent seeking after Him who alone can nourish the soul and vivify it. No longer only a sensible aridity, it is a dryness of the spiritual order, which springs, not from the deprivation of sensible consolations, but from the loss of the lights to which the soul was accustomed.
One must persist and beg God, if He is not giving the graces without this humility of begging. Seeking perfection must lead us to focus on Christ.
The soul should then walk "in the dark, in pure .faith, which is the dark night of the natural faculties." (3) It can no longer easily apply itself to the consideration of our Savior's humanity; on the contrary, it is deprived of such consideration, as were the apostles immediately after Christ's ascension into heaven. During the months preceding the Ascension, their intimacy with Him had grown daily; it had become their life, and then one day He took final leave of them on this earth, thus depriving them of the sight of Him and of His encouraging words. They must have felt very much alone, as it were, isolated, especially while thinking of the difficulties of the mission our Savior had entrusted to them: the evangelization of an impious world, plunged in all the errors of paganism.
The apostles were too attached in a human way.
On the evening of Ascension Day, the apostles must have experienced the impression of profound solitude, similar to that of the desert and of death. We can get a slight idea of this solitude, when, after living in a higher plane during a fervent retreat under the direction of a priest who is closely united to God, we return to ordinary everyday life, which seems suddenly to deprive us of this plenitude. The same thing is true, and indeed much more so, after the death of a father, of a founder of an order, for those whom he leaves and who must continue his work. Thus after Christ's ascension, the apostles remained gazing toward heaven; their beloved Master had been taken from their gaze, and they felt alone in the face of all the sufferings to come.
Even the apostles had to give up the physical presence of Christ in order to live in the Spirit.
They must then have recalled Christ's words: "I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go. For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." (4) "It is expedient to you that I go," that I deprive you of My sensible presence. In his commentary on St. John (loc. cit.), St. Thomas says: "The apostles were attached to the humanity of Christ, they did not rise sufficiently to the spiritual love of His divinity, and were not yet prepared to receive the Holy Ghost. . . who was to be given to them to console them and strengthen them in the midst of their tribulations."
This deprivation of the sensible presence of Christ's humanity which preceded the transformation of the apostles, effected on Pentecost, throws light on the state of darkness and desolation that we are discussing. It seems to the soul in this state that it enters a spiritual night, for it is deprived of the lights which hitherto illumined it; darkness descends as when the sun goes down.
To be continued...
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Why is the Catholic Church Weak?
First, the apostasy and sins of the clergy weaken the Church from within. One cannot list all the problems, but this blog has highlighted some. The spirit of disobedience has corrupted so many priests, monks, deacons...
Second, and perhaps the most significant reason is the fact that the laity has refused to allow God to purify them.
If egosim remains in the soul, the entire Church is weakened.
Here is Garrigou-Lagrange on the need for purgation at the later stages of growth, wherein most people back off and fail to produce real fruit. My comments are in blue.
THE DEPTHS OF THE WILL TO BE PURIFIED
Before St. John of the Cross, Tauler greatly insisted on the depths of our will, which need to be purified from the often unconscious egoism that has for long subsisted in it, leading us to disturbing and fruitless conversation with ourselves and not to tranquilizing and vivifying conversation with God.
Most of the time, we are talking to ourselves. We are talking, talking, talking and not listening.
Tauler (19) often speaks of the unconscious egoism that still inclines us to seek ourselves in everything and at times to judge our neighbor with severity while treating ourselves with great indulgence. This same egoism which makes us seek ourselves in many things is especially evident when trial strikes us; we are then completely upset and seek help, consolation, and counsel from without, where God is not to be found. We have not built our house sufficiently on Christ the rock, with the result that it lacks solidity. We have built on self, on self-will, which is equivalent to building on sand; thus at times there is great weakness underlying harshness of judgment.
The seeking of consolations is a mark of the very immature Catholic. Once one gets into this state of passive purgation, suffering brings REAL JOY.
Tauler declares: "There is only one way to triumph over these obstacles: God would have to take complete possession of the interior of the soul and occupy it, which happens only to His true friends. He sent us His only Son in order that the holy life of the God-Man, His great and perfect virtue, examples, teachings, and multiple sufferings might lift us above ourselves, make us leave ourselves completely (draw us from this depth of egoism), and that we might let our own pallid light disappear in the true and essential light." (20)
This does not happen all at once. One must beg, in most circumstances, the Divinity to take complete control one's life. It is much easier if one has left all to follow Jesus, much easier.
Let Christ invite you to take up HIS Cross, not the ones you may choose. Give the entire life of your body, soul, mind, heart to God.
"This light [of the Word made flesh] shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). None but the poor in spirit and those who are completely stripped of self, of self-love, and of their individual wills, receive this light. There are many who have been materially poor for forty years and who have never received the slightest [interior] ray of it. Through their senses and reason, they know thoroughly what is said of this light, but, in its essence, they have never tasted it; it is foreign to them and remains far from them." (21)
Merely to be poor does not bring holiness and this stage of purgation. No. One must will the poverty and live it fully, not living in deceit. And, there are many types of poverty, such as loneliness or misunderstanding. These, too, can lead one to the altar of the soul where self-love is finally sacrificed.
Again Tauler says: "It is thus that, whereas simple common folk followed our Lord, the Pharisees, the princes of the priests and the scribes, every class that had the appearance of sanctity, harshly opposed Him and ended by putting Him to death." (22) God is the grandeur of humble souls, and His very lofty ways remain hidden to our pride.
How many times have I myself judged others, and have been judged unfairly.
When one is walking with God in the land of the letting go of self, one no longer cares about criticisms from those who judge unfairly.
We see, consequently, to what extremities we may be led by this depth of egoism and pride which blinds us and hinders us from recognizing our sins. Therefore it is important that the light of life of living faith and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost should penetrate the depths of our intellect and, as it were, the root of our will.
This is NOT an emotional process, but a rational one. The root of the will is in the intellect and not the emotions. It is in the soul, and not the passions.
The passions must have been purified at the earlier stage.
That we may receive this light and these gifts, it is not sufficient to know the letter of the Gospel and adhere to it; we must assimilate its spirit profoundly. Otherwise, appearing as Christians and using the language of Christians, we would preserve in the depths of our being something which is not Christian and which resists the light of life.
That is a good description of the Pharisees.
There would be in the depths of our intellect and will as it were a citadel which would serve as a refuge for self-love, which is unwilling to surrender and to allow the reign of God to be profoundly and eternally established in us. Thereby certain souls, that think themselves quite advanced but that do not recognize their defects, are in greater peril than the common run of men who admit that they are sinners and who preserve the fear of God.
I cannot stress enough that to whom more is given, more is expected. Many lay people back off, into mediocrity, at this stage. They do not want to leave their comfort zones. One must. This backing off from this purification of the will is what has weakened the Church of the laity. The laity are not living the life of the virtues and the fruits of the Spirit because they have run away from process of purification. When they mentally settle for purgatory and not heaven, the Church's ministry is undermined.
Fear of God defeats both self-will and presumption. This little citadel, wherein lies the self-will, must be stormed by God. If one keeps running back into the castle of the self, God cannot speak to the heart and mind and will. And, as John Donne states, our soul must capitulate.
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you,
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue,
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
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| Thanks to wiki for photo |
At this stage, we may not even recognize who we are. We are so different, so new, so other than what we have been before, that we need direction.
Consequently we should meditate on Tauler's conclusion: "Therefore, well-beloved children, employ all your activity, both of soul and body, to obtain that this true light may shine in you in such a way that you may taste it. In this way you will be able to return to your origin, where the true light shines. Desire, ask, with nature and without nature,(23) that this grace may be granted to you. Employ all your energy to this end, pray to the friends of God that they may help you in this work; attach yourself to those who are attached to God in order that they may lead you to God with them.
and further down in this section, one of the most important ideas-the necessity of accepting suffering:
This passive purification will certainly not be without suffering, and, as St. John of the Cross teaches, it will even be a mystical death, the death to self, the disintegration of self-love, which until then has resisted grace, at times with great obstinacy. Here pride must receive the deathblow that it may give place to genuine humility, a virtue which has been compared to the deepest root of a tree, a root which buries itself so much the more deeply in the soil as the loftiest branch, the symbol of charity, rises higher toward the sky.
For some of us, this is illness, or infirmity, or failure in the world, or even serious sin repented of and confessed...for some this is the death of loved ones, poverty, displacement, loss...Pride must go!
This center of the soul, the refuge of personal judgment and self-love that is often very subtle, must be illumined by the divine light and filled by God, rendered completely healthy, and vivified. On the feast of the Purification, at Mass and in the procession each person carries a lighted candle, the symbol of the light of life that each should bear in the innermost depths of his soul. This light of life was given to man on the first day of creation; extinguished by sin, it was rekindled by the grace of conversion and by the hope of the promised Redeemer. This light grew in the souls of the patriarchs and the prophets until the coming of Christ, "a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of . . . Israel," as the aged Simeon said in his beautiful canticle, Nunc dimittis, on the occasion of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple.
There is NO LIGHT without purification first. All who think there is are looking at a false light, a light which seems good but is not. Only the light of Christ, in fact, Christ Himself, Who is the Light of the World, can lead us through purification to new life and the living out of the fruit of the Holy Ghost, especially charity.
This same light of life, which grew in humanity until the advent of the Messias, should also grow in each of our souls from baptism until our entrance into heaven. It should gradually illumine and vivify the very center of our intellect and our heart that this depth may be not an obscure depth of egoism, personal judgment, and resistance to grace, but a depth of light and goodness where the Holy Ghost, the source of living water springing up into eternal life, may reign increasingly.
From what we have just said it is evident that the passive purification of the spirit, made necessary by the defects of proficients, is the decisive struggle between two spirits: the spirit of pride, which may grow even to blasphemy, to hatred of God, and despair, and that of humility and charity, which is eternal life begun in us. These two conflicting spirits may be symbolized by two trees, one of which illustrates the teaching of St. Gregory the Great and St. Thomas on the roots and results of the seven capital sins, while the other explains their doctrine on humility and charity, and the connection of these virtues with the other virtues and the seven gifts.
To be continued.....tomorrow, more on the Dark Night of the Soul, which I visited the other day.
A few hints from someone I know who is very poor
When you give to the poor:
1) do not give them the oldest clothes you have; give them something very nice--if you would not wear it, why should they?; remember they need good shoes, warm clothes;
2) if you give them food, do not give them left overs or tons of cheap Ramen noodles--give them what you would eat for supper;
3) if you give, do not keep reminding them how fortunate they are to have you as a benefactor--humility goes both ways, and the poor have already been humbled by circumstances; you have not been so humiliated;
4) if you give, do not assume you will get anything back from them or others--your reward is in heaven;
5) when you have known them for awhile, invite them to your house for dinner--the poor are marginalized and cast out of polite society;
6) when you have known them for awhile, drive them to Church and Adoration--they would love to go but have no bus money and most likely do not live in the parishes you do; do not push, but invite;
7) never judge--some very poor people have illustrious parentage and heritage, but have fallen on bad times or have been very ill and suffered poverty from illness-this could happen to anyone; many people in England are extremely judgmental of the poor; this is a great evil; do not criticize them if they smell bad; they may not have the means to wash themselves daily or wash their clothes;
8) offer to help them with prescription bills or doctor's bills--socialism does not cover everything, of course;
9) offer to help find them work; most of the poor want to work but cannot find positions and as the poor, they have no contacts, no networking;
10) if they have children, you have a double duty to care for the children in many ways;
11) remember, many passed by Mary, Joseph and Jesus on the way to Egypt and legend has it that only the future good thief helped them;
12) if you think you have never met a poor person, look again; you are not seeing properly;
13) do not merely given to organizations, get involved with people; that is real love;
If you see a poor man or woman or child, you are looking at the Crucified One. Would you help Him?
Ah, the Vatican media; playing catch-up
Well, I hope the Vatican does not have to explain everything the Pope says. Here is a partial list of the true teaching of the Catholic Church. I hate bullets, but these evaded my delete button.
- Saint Irenaeus (died A.D. 202): “[The Church] is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. On this account we are bound to avoid them… We hear it declared of the unbelieving and the blinded of this world that they shall not inherit the world of life which is to come… Resist them in defense of the only true and life giving faith, which the Church has received from the Apostles and imparted to her sons.” (Against Heresies , Book III)Origen (died A.D. 254): “Let no man deceive himself. Outside this house, that is, outside the Church no one is saved.” (In Iesu Nave homiliae )Saint Cyprian (died A.D. 258): “He who has turned his back on the Church of Christ shall not come to the rewards of Christ; he is an alien, a worldling, an enemy. You cannot have God for your Father if you have not the Church for your mother. Our Lord warns us when He says: `he that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.’ Whosoever breaks the peace and harmony of Christ acts against Christ; whoever gathers elsewhere than in the Church scatters the Church of Christ.” (Unity of the Catholic Church )“He who does not hold this unity, does not hold the law of God, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.” (Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Latina , Father Migne)“Nay, though they should suffer death for the confession of the Name, the guilt of such men is not removed even by their blood…No martyr can he be who is not in the Church.” (Ancient Christian Writers )Bishop Firmilean (died A.D. 269): “What is the greatness of his error, and what the depth of his blindness, who says that remission of sins can be granted in the synagogues of heretics, and does not abide on the foundation of the one Church.” (Anti-Nicene Fathers )Lactantius (died A.D. 310): “It is the Catholic Church alone which retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth, this is the abode of the Faith, this is the temple of God; into which if anyone shall not enter, or from which if anyone shall go out, he is a stranger to the hope of life and eternal salvation.” (The Divine Institutes )Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (died A.D. 386): “Abhor all heretics…heed not their fair speaking or their mock humility; for they are serpents, a `brood of vipers.’ Remember that, when Judas said `Hail Rabbi,’ the salutation was an act of betrayal. Do not be deceived by the kiss but beware of the venom. Abhor such men, therefore, and shun the blasphemers of the Holy Spirit, for whom there is no pardon. For what fellowship have you with men without hope. Let us confidently say to God regarding all heretics, `Did I not hate, O Lord, those who hated Thee, and did I not pine away because of Your enemies?’ For there is an enmity that is laudable, as it is written, `I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.’ Friendship with the serpent produces enmity with God, and death. Let us shun those from whom God turns away.” (The Fathers of the Church )Saint Ambrose (died A.D. 397): “Where Peter is therefore, there is the Church. Where the Church is there is not death but life eternal. …Although many call themselves Christians, they usurp the name and do not have the reward.” (The Fathers of the Church )Bishop Niceta of Remesiana (died A.D. 415): “He is the Way along which we journey to our salvation; the Truth, because He rejects what is false; the Life, because He destroys death. …All who from the beginning of the world were, or are, or will be justified – whether Patriarchs, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or Prophets, whether Apostles or martyrs, or any others – make up one Church, because they are made holy by one faith and way of life, stamped with one Spirit, made into one Body whose Head, as we are told, is Christ. I go further. The angels and virtues and powers in heaven are co-members in this one Church, for, as the Apostle teaches us, in Christ `all things whether on the earth or in the heavens have been reconciled.’ You must believe, therefore, that in this one Church you are gathered into the Communion of Saints. You must know that this is the one Catholic Church established throughout the world, and with it you must remain in unshaken communion. There are, indeed, other so called `churches’ with which you can have no communion. …These `churches’ cease to be holy, because they were deceived by the doctrines of the devil to believe and behave differently from what Christ commanded and from the tradition of the Apostles.” (The Fathers of the Church )Saint Jerome (died A.D. 420): “As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is, with the Chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the Church is built. …This is the ark of Noah, and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails. …And as for heretics, I have never spared them; on the contrary, I have seen to it in every possible way that the Church’s enemies are also my enemies.” (Manual of Patrology and History of Theology )Saint Augustine (died A.D. 430): “No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have the sacraments, one can sing alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church.” (Sermo ad Caesariensis Ecclesia plebem )Saint Fulgentius (died A.D. 533): “Most firmly hold and never doubt that not only pagans, but also all Jews, all heretics, and all schismatics who finish this life outside of the Catholic Church, will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Enchiridion Patristicum )St. Bede the Venerable (died A.D. 735): “Just as all within the ark were saved and all outside of it were carried away when the flood came, so when all who are pre-ordained to eternal life have entered the Church, the end of the world will come and all will perish who are found outside.” (Hexaemeron )Saint Thomas Aquinas (died A.D. 1274): “There is no entering into salvation outside the Church, just as in the time of the deluge there was none outside the ark, which denotes the Church.” (Summa Theologiae )Saint Peter Canisius (died A.D. 1597): “Outside of this communion – as outside of the ark of Noah – there is absolutely no salvation for mortals: not for Jews or pagans who never received the faith of the Church, nor for heretics who, having received it, corrupted it; neither for the excommunicated or those who for any other serious cause deserve to be put away and separated from the body of the Church like pernicious members…for the rule of Cyprian and Augustine is certain: he will not have God for his Father who would not have the Church for his mother.” (Catechismi Latini et Germanici )Saint Robert Bellarmine (died A.D. 1621): “Outside the Church there is no salvation…therefore in the symbol [Apostles Creed] we join together the Church with the remission of sins: `I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins’…For this reason the Church is compared with the ark of Noah, because just as during the deluge, everyone perished who was not in the ark, so now those perish who are not in the Church.” (De Sacramento Baptismi )“There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)
- "We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)
- “The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)
And more good stuff from Catholic.org here. Thanks to that site for the above quotations.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catholic-church-confirms-atheists-still-go-to-hell-after-pope-francis-suggests-they-might-go-to-heaven-8634479.html
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html
Just read the Dominus Iesus linked above.
Maybe the Pope should not be SO spontaneous, or at least, sack the liberals in the media office
A saint for home schoolers, perhaps.
St. Madeline Sophie Barat, whose feast it is today, had a great love of Classical Education, as I do. I suggest home schooling mums and dads pray to her for all their needs and the needs of their children. She loved the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Read more here.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02283a.htm
Christian Persecution Watch Updates from the Main Media
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/28/new-christian-pastor-detained-church-closed-in-iran/
http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2013/05/28/Syria-Christians-greatest-victims-bloodshed-Chacour_8779323.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-25/pakistan/39520841_1_pakistan-sikh-minorities-ramesh-singh (new categories for dhimmis will affect Christians)
Thanks to the great Christian Spencer for these links. Also, I am being watched by several Islamic addresses. Pray, as this happens every time I post things like this-a clear pattern. And, people insist there is no difference in religions.
http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2013/05/28/Syria-Christians-greatest-victims-bloodshed-Chacour_8779323.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-25/pakistan/39520841_1_pakistan-sikh-minorities-ramesh-singh (new categories for dhimmis will affect Christians)
Thanks to the great Christian Spencer for these links. Also, I am being watched by several Islamic addresses. Pray, as this happens every time I post things like this-a clear pattern. And, people insist there is no difference in religions.
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