Lying Is The Status Quo

Two people lied to a friend of mine today before Mass, and this couple is in their older middle ages. They lied easily and willingly. We knew they were lying about a situation which happened last week. Sadly, they did not know we knew the whole story, so they lied. Why?

A young man lied to me about two months ago in the parish, seriously. His lie was exposed two months later; duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy.

A young man and a young woman in a shop lied to me two weeks ago about the service on my phone. When I called customer service in Delhi, I was told the truth about the phone usage. When I tried to return the phone as it was not sold to purpose, I was told there was a no return policy. I had the phone for two weeks when I attempted to return it.

Customer service in Bombay told me one thing, phone shop in Kent another. Then, I went in another day and another young man told me that the other sales persons were wrong, but he still could not take back the phone. I have a phone which is not suited to my needs.

An optometrist lied to me last week. He told me my eyes had changed to the point where I needed to change the prescription taken in the shop seven days before. He lied to cover up a mistake from his co-worker, who did not do a good job on the first eye test or the makers, who did not follow the prescription. I knew the glasses were wrong as soon as I put them on, but could not get back to the shop until morning and had picked them up at the end of the day, thinking my eyes had to adjust. The sight test or the writing down of the test was in error. Yet, the man lied.

I knew this to be a lie and in order to get the glasses changed, as they are wrong and I paid megabucks for them, with the help of a friend. I just went along with the pretense in order to get these fixed and was polite and just listened. I said nothing to agree or disagree. Arguing gets one nowhere in England. The customer is not considered as having any rights or even a brain.

How much nicer it would have been for him to say, "I am sorry, but we made a mistake on your prescription and we will take care of this immediately."

A real estate agent lied to me about his houses he was fixing up and selling.

Lying is the status quo here and perhaps in other places, like certain areas in the States. I have been lied to by young people and old, but Catholics and pagans, by lay people and clergymen.

Why and how did this happen? How is it that when I was in Ireland, many adults instructed me to lie about residency and work, saying they do this all the time-lying to get jobs or to stay in America for long stretches of time? This happened just over a year ago.

Deceit starts within a person. We cannot lie even teeny tiny white lies and expect Truth, Who is a Person to come and dwell within us.

I am amazed. I was amazed. Lies destroy marriages, communities, parishes, if people care.

One cannot trust liars, especially those who lie easily and consistently. A community or society cannot function when those who serve it lie consistently with intent to deceive. 

I know some Catholics who lie about their taxes. They tell me they do not have to claim money made in cash. I have pointed this out, but now realize this is a habit with these people.

The British Government and the American Government seem to be making a habit out of lying. Our prime minister told us no clergyman who in conscience disagrees with SSM will have to perform a marriage. There are no safeguards in the bill for such. There is vague language and I highlight the dubious phrases which open up judicial interpretation in The Hague.

Clause 2 provides for a number of protections for religious organisations:

• No person could be compelled to opt in to any involvement in same sex marriages, or from opting out of any involvement in same sex marriages (clause 2 also defines what are opt in and opt-out activities);
• No person could be compelled to conduct a same sex marriage; be present at, carry out, or otherwise participate in, a same sex marriage; or consent to a relevant marriage being conducted;
• The Equality Act 2010 would be amended to prevent discrimination claims under the Act from being brought against people who refuse to do any of the activities referred to above.

Clause 3 amends section 26 of the Marriage Act 1949 to authorise civil same sex marriages and without any opting in necessary. The revised section 26 will therefore authorise:

• religious marriages for opposite sex couples only in registered buildings;
• civil marriages for all couples in a register office;
• civil marriages for all couples in, for example, a hotel or other approved premises;
• religious marriages for opposite sex couples by the Quakers or the Jewish religion;
• marriages opposite sex couples, one of whom is house-bound or detained;
• civil marriages for all couples, one of whom is house-bound or detained;
• marriages for opposite sex couples in a church or chapel of the Church of England or the Church in Wales.

Clause 4 and Schedule 1 insert a new section 26A into the Marriage Act 1949 which would allow religious organisations to opt in to performing same sex marriages. The religious organisation would have to apply to the Registrar General for a building certified as a place of religious worship to be registered as authorised to solemnise same sex marriage. If the necessary conditions are met, the Registrar General would then have to register the building. The Church of England and the Church of Wales would not, however, be allowed to opt in under this provision, although the Church in Wales would be able to conduct same sex marriages under clause 8.

Clause 5 inserts a new section 26B to the Marriage Act 1949 which would allow for religious same sex marriages to take place without any opt in necessary in certain circumstances:

• Marriages in accordance with the religious practices of Quakers, as long as the recording clerk of the Society of Friends in London has consented to marriages of same sex couples;
• Marriages in Jewish religious ceremony, as long as the relevant governing authority has consented to marriages of same sex couples (the relevant governing authority would be the person or persons designated as such by the secretary of the synagogue); and
• Marriages for all religions, except the Church of England and Church in Wales, where one or both of the same sex couples is house-bound or detained, and the relevant governing authority has given consent to same sex marriages.

Clause 6 amends Part 5 of the Marriage Act 1949 to permit same sex marriages in naval, military and air force chapels. Under Part 5, a marriage may take place in such a chapel which has been licensed for the solemnisation of marriages according to the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales, or registered for the solemnisation of other marriages. Clause 6 also amends Part 5 allow for the registration of military chapels for the solemnisation of marriages of same sex couples, with an exception for the Church of England and the Church in Wales.

Clause 7 amends section 1 of the Marriage (Registrar General’s Licence) Act 1970 so that the Registrar General can only authorise a religious marriage of a same sex couple if the relevant governing authority has consented to marriages of same sex couples. Section 1 does not apply to the Church of England or the Church in Wales.

Clause 8 sets out the procedure by which the Church in Wales could opt in to performing same sex marriages. The Lord Chancellor would have to be satisfied that the Governing Body of the Church in Wales had resolved that the law should be changed to allow for the marriage of same sex couples according to the rites of the Church in Wales. He would then be able to make an order permitting the Church in Wales to perform same sex marriages.

Clause 9 would permit couples in a civil partnership to convert them into marriages.

There is not a word of protection from The Hague.

Lying creates mistrust. Lying indicates something is wrong with the soul. Lying may be connected to serious self-deceit.  Here is the CCC.


ARTICLE 8
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.²⁵³It was said to the men of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn."²⁵⁴

2464 The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant.
I. LIVING IN THE TRUTH
2465 The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His "faithfulness endures to all generations."²⁵⁵ Since God is "true," the members of his people are called to live in the truth.²⁵⁶
2466 In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest. "Full of grace and truth," he came as the "light of the world," he is the Truth.²⁵⁷ "Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."²⁵⁸ The disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know "the truth [that] will make you free" and that sanctifies.²⁵⁹ To follow Jesus is to live in "the Spirit of truth," whom the Father sends in his name and who leads "into all the truth."²⁶⁰ To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No.'"²⁶¹
2467 Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it: "It is in accordance with their dignity that all men, because they are persons . . . are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth."²⁶²
2468 Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy.
2469 "Men could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another."²⁶³ The virtue of truth gives another his just due. Truthfulness keeps to the just mean between what ought to be expressed and what ought to be kept secret: it entails honesty and discretion. In justice, "as a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth."²⁶⁴
2470 The disciple of Christ consents to "live in the truth," that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his truth. "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth."<sup>265

and there is more in the CCC. Take time to read the section.</sup>

2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving."²⁸¹ The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."²⁸²

Order vs. Disorder-a sneak preview of the Aquinas series coming up

On the subject of order, and the fact that so many people are complaining about the increase of the disorder in the Western nations of the world, I have one comment. Order must first be found within.

Too many Catholics are treating the Church like a political entity. It is an institution created by Christ Himself to save souls, to bring people to God.

Order in the Church is sadly lacking and we see this even among the highest members of the clergy today.

Disorder is from sin.

But let all things be done decently, and according to order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

The word order here is used in the definition of Webster--to put persons or things into their proper places in relation to each other.

Why order? Because order represents the relationship which is found in the Trinity.

Within the Trinity there is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, united in Love.

Here is a glimpse of Thomas Aquinas indicating order in the Trinity. The order of the Trinity is continual love in the relationship among the Persons of the Trinity.

Our lives must reflect that order.

Now distinction in God is only by relation of origin, as stated above (28, 2, 3), while relation in God is not as an accident in a subject, but is the divine essence itself; and so it is subsistent, for the divine essence subsists. Therefore, as the Godhead is God so the divine paternity is God the Father, Who is a divine person. Therefore a divine person signifies a relation as subsisting. And this is to signify relation by way of substance, and such a relation is a hypostasis subsisting in the divine nature, although in truth that which subsists in the divine nature is the divine nature itself. Thus it is true to say that the name "person" signifies relation directly, and the essence indirectly; not, however, the relation as such, but as expressed by way of a hypostasis. So likewise it signifies directly the essence, and indirectly the relation, inasmuch as the essence is the same as the hypostasis: while in God the hypostasis is expressed as distinct by the relation: and thus relation, as such, enters into the notion of the person indirectly. Thus we can say that this signification of the word "person" was not clearly perceived before it was attacked by heretics. Hence, this word "person" was used just as any other absolute term. But afterwards it was applied to express relation, as it lent itself to that signification, so that this word "person" means relation not only by use and custom, according to the first opinion, but also by force of its own proper signification.

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1.htm

"It is the will of Parliament."

What  about the will of God? Anglican bishops cave on same-sex marriage bill.

LifeSiteNews is great, as usual.

“Both Houses of Parliament have now expressed a clear view by large majorities on the principle that there should be legislation to enable same-sex marriages to take place in England and Wales,” said Rt. Rev. Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual. “It is now the duty and responsibility of the Bishops who sit in the House of Lords to recognize the implications of this decision and to join with other Members in the task of considering how this legislation can be put into better shape.”

Stevens added, “For the Bishops, the issue now is not primarily one of protections and exemptions for people of faith, important though it is to get that right, not least where teaching in schools and freedom of speech are concerned.”

There are a number of other “key” issues left to address, he said, including the approach of the bill towards “the question of fidelity in marriage and the rights of children.”

The bill maintains that adultery is legal grounds for divorce for heterosexual couples but not for same-sex partners.

Q and A Day extended to Monday

I have been told by some of my readers that they only have Internet on the weekdays. Therefore, I shall continue the Q and A day until the end of tomorrow. Then, I shall start the Thomas Aquinas series.

God bless you all this weekend.

Pray, please for a huge special intention

Thank you for your prayers. This is important.

Go to Confession regularly

I am concerned about the number of Catholics I have met who are not going to Confession regularly. The more one goes to Confession, the more one grows on the way of perfection.

The informing of the conscience continues during all the stages of holiness. One grows in discernment regarding one's own conscience.

Father Z. writes about this sacrament quite a bit, but it seems that those I have spoken with lately go to Confession very few times, or only once a year

Pray, think, act.

from Asian News

 06/07/2013 09:56
BANGLADESH
Dinajpur: dozens of extremists raid seminary, attacking rector and some students
A mob of about sixty people attacked the building, violently beating Fr. Uzzal and some seminarians. Previously they had attacked a tribal Catholic village, stealing cows, goats, utensils. And threatened to burn homes. On June 5, the parish of Tumilia under attack. 


Dhaka (AsiaNews) - A mob of dozens has raided a seminary of the diocese of Dinajpur, northern Bangladesh, injuring the rector and a group of students inside the building at the time of the attack. The raid took place at 3 pm yesterday: about 60 local fanatics broke down the doors of the Jisu Niloy seminary, pouring inside the compound. The group targeted the rector Fr. Uzzal, surprised in his room while he was resting; the assailants knocked down his door and violently beat him and some students present at the time of the attack.


During the assault, the fanatics blocked the young students of the seminary and beat them with violence and brutality. The Jisu Niloy seminary is located Bolakipur and refers to Marimpur parish in the Diocese of Dinajpur.

Previously, the same mob had raided the nearby tribal village - Catholic majority - of Tivipara and Bagja. The assault occurred at 1 .30 pm, they plundered the inhabitants of 40 cows, 50 goats, a van, fruit and many other objects and utensils. Before leaving, the assailants threatened to come back the next night and burn the residents homes.

Most of the men fled the area for fear of new attacks, the women and children, however, have found refuge in the Catholic mission, where there are more security guarantees. The Catholics of the area belong to the tribal Santals, Urao, Mundas, Kharias and Malos.

Over the past few days there have been a wave of assaults and targeted violence against the Christian community in Bangladesh, a largely Muslim nation: June 5 it was the turn of the parish of Tumilia, which was attacked by extremists. The parish priest Fr. Abel was beaten and robbed, along with another priest.

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed)

Imperfections

Please overlook errors as I still do not have my glasses.

More Q an A-three questions

Is there a point in perfection at which the soul enters heaven directly after death, or does it differ between people? 

If one goes to heaven directly after death, it would be immediately after the particular judgement for everyone in that stage. We all experience the particular judgement, and from there go to heaven, hell or purgatory. 

A saint is one who goes directly into heaven at this point. But, there are indications, as given in the series, as to their having reached a level of perfection while on earth. However, there are some saints, such as Mother Teresa, who seemed to enter into the unitive state, the state of perfection, just before death.

What do you think the balance is between discerning and acting on God's will versus suffering through something? 

All suffering is a gift from God and should be seen as such. If one is called to be healed through the intercession of a saint, or blessed, as a man was recently healed by John Paul II of Parkinson's disease, the prayer will be answered.

As a rule, I do not think we should pray for healing unless it is clear that is what God wants. Or,you can ask God to heal you of something, or take away another kind of suffering, and it He does not, that is an answer. Financial hardships can bring humility and the destruction of self-will, for example.

I have been praying for three things for almost two years with no answer. But, I am discerning that God at this time wants me to learn patience and so, I keep trusting that He is going to answer those three prayers. However, it is good to get input on such things

Unanswered prayer may be seen as the discernment, and the answer needed, as well as circumstances.

Many year ago, I was miraculously healed of migraines even though I did not ask for this directly, but was praying about something else. However, many years of prayers for a relative has not taken hers away. Answer: God must want her to be in that pain for her own purification and spiritual growth. I am not God. He has His own reasons.

And finally, what do you recommend to help the active purification of beginners?

This is an easy answer. Prayer, such as active meditation as taught by St; Ignatius,  the Lectio Divina, or the daily reading of Scripture, fasting, mortification. and  alms-giving all are part of the active purification into which the beginner participates. Also, frequent Confession and the daily examination of conscience is part of this active state. Most of the saints refer to this, and The Imitation of Christ is brilliant for beginners.

Passive purification is out of one's hands, as it were. One is passive and in a spiritual darkness, which is NOT depression, but an experience of the purification of the senses and the purification of the spirit. This happens almost quietly, in prayer and out of prayer even as one is going about outward business. One lives two lives-the outward life and the inward one. Mother Adele writes about this. . But one cannot meditate at this point, only contemplate God. One basically, as Mother Teresa said, looks at God and He looks at the person. One is learning patience and the great destruction of the self-will in that Dark Night. It is the final purging if one cooperates. Most times, as in the last two years or so of the life of the Little Flower, it involves tremendous suffering and no consolations-none.

The Dark Night can last a very long time-for some, over forty years, with the final unitive state happening just before death. Or, as in the case of some saints, such as John of the Cross, and Bernard of Clairvaux, one can be in the unitive state for years on earth.

blogger restrictions in Singapore

http://www.france24.com/en/20130608-protesters-rally-singapore-against-new-online-rules?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Guess I won't visit a friend there.

Thanks to BartBuzz

Contraceptive Mandate

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/won-t-turn-out-well_733957.html

Some have tried to create the impression that a compromise was brokered to accommodate the objectors’ conscience concerns. But this is not so. from article

British; and two articles to read asap; spying here as well

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10107059/British-Intelligence-watchdog-flies-to-Washington-to-demand-answers-on-snooping-scandal.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/07/uk-gathering-secret-intelligence-nsa-prism?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20full-width-1%20bento-box:Bento%20box:Position3

UPDATE HERE ON GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, ETC.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/06/07/facebook-google-deny-giving-govt-broad-access-to-data/

UPDATE ON CYBERATTACKS MANDATED BY POTUS

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/obama-china-targets-cyber-overseas

READERS--YOU HAVE TO READ THIS

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/55749

I have been talking about such a thing happening for two years.

Pay attention, Catholics. It is going to get a lot worse.

HEY! Q and A DAY

No more airplanes...

Need more questions...I am sure you have some.

I love airshows

Well, I just saw a few minutes of the Red Arrows amazing sky gymnastics as there is an air show nearby this weekend.

I love airshows, and my son and I saw the Blue Angels twice; once in Iowa and once in Alaska.

But, it is way too cold and windy to sit outside, or even stand. It is 58 degrees Fahrenheit and supposedly 22 miles per hour winds, but the winds are much more than that.

Here is what the Red Arrows look like...

And here are the Blue Angels...

The Red Arrows did this colored smoke thing, but the wind blew it over the English Channel. To clarify, I am not at the show, but in the neighborhood...with a cliff side view.

Q and A continued on Q and A Day

~Why does one have to be orthodox? Are not protestants and other people holy?~

I love this question. Here are a few points.

1) To be orthodox means that one is obedient to the Teaching Magisterium in the Church. Obedience and humility are marks of true holiness. If one is disobedient, one is not only sinning, but possibly having many hidden sins from which one needs to repent and leave behind.

2) The road to perfection illuminates the conscience and releases the gifts of baptism. This means that a person on the road to perfection is being purged of false ideas, such as heresies. For example, many protestants see nothing wrong with contraception because they have not understood or prayed about the beauty of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Again, this sin and the tendency to sin would be purified, which means, a person would most likely convert to Catholicism. Other problems, such as not believing that the Eucharist is the True Presence, is a serious impediment to being united with God.

If a protestant knows that the Church's teachings are true and still does not convert, that can indicate a sin against the Holy Spirit: knowing the Truth and not acting on it.

3) The road to perfection is the road to the heavenly union with God in the Beatific Vision. All people in heaven are Catholics! They have come to know the Truth in the fullness of Truth. Thankfully, we have purgatory not only for punishment, but for purgation.

4) Holiness requires a saying yes to the call of God. It requires sanctifying grace, found in the sacraments, especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Again, when one denies the efficacy of this means of the life of God, one is placing obstacles on the path to oneness with Christ.

5) Not only is sin purged on the way to perfection, but imperfections. It is almost impossible to see imperfections until mortal sin is gone and venial sin is actively being purged. Some people may be given extra graces by God, in His Will, outside of the Church, but they would obviously convert in the face of Truth.

6) True holiness demands a destruction of the self-will. This is not a common idea among protestants, who think they are saved once and for all and do not need to go through stages of grace. They do not, on the whole, understand grace as we do. I discussed this at length in other posts.

7) Last, but not least, orthodoxy indicates that one has put on the Mind of Christ, who created the Church as an institution and guides it through the Pope. If one is not willing to think like Christ, how can one love Him enough to want to be with Him forever, and thus undergo purification?

P.S. Of course, there are people who did not become Catholics while on earth, in heaven; but now that they are with God, as I mentioned above, they are all Catholics!

Fifth and Sixth Question in Q and A

If we share our state on the road to perfection with a priest, are we not bragging?

I shall let Bernard of Clairaux answer this question.

I may boast securely if my conscience tells me that I in no way detract from the glory of 
my Creator, because I shall be speaking in the Lord rather than against him. Not only 
are we not forbidden to boast in this fashion, we are even encouraged by the words: 
"You seek glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only 
God." This ability to glory in God alone can come solely from God. Nor is this glory a 
small thing; it is as real as the truth which is its object, and is a truth so rare, that only an 
exceptional few even of the perfect can glory in perfectly possessing it. Off with them 
then, those men who are but a breath, men who are but a delusion; let them deceive 
each other in their vanity. For the man who makes a wise boast will put his work to the 
test, he will carefully scrutinize it in the light of the truth, and then his reason for boasting 
will be in himself and not in the patronage of his neighbor. I am but a fool if I entrust my 
reputation to the casket of your lips, and then begin to beg it of you when I feel the need 
for it. Am I not simply putting myself in your power, to be praised or blamed as you 
please? But I am determined to be responsible for myself, I shall be loyal in my own 
regard. And yet not entirely to myself; rather have I put my trust in him who can take 
care of all that I have committed to him until that Day. It is safe in his hands, it will be 
given back in full. Then all those who set no store by the praise of men will receive the 
sure praise of God. For those whose glory is in earthly loves will find confusion at the 
end," even as David said: "Those who please men are confounded, because God has 
rejected them." 

7. Dear brothers, if you can grasp these truths none of you will hanker after praise in 
this life, because if you win any favor here below and fail to thank God for it, you are 
defrauding him. How is it possible for you to glory, you who are but stinking dust? Will 
you dare glory in holiness of life? But it is the Spirit who makes holy; that Spirit who is 
God's, not yours. Even if you are resplendent with prodigies and miracles it is still God's 
power working through your hands. Or have you made an elegant speech that wins the 
plaudits of the crowd? But it is Christ who has given you the eloquence and wisdom. For 
what is your tongue but the pen of a writer? And it is yours only on loan, a talent
committed to you, to be demanded again with interest. If you work willingly and 
persevere in producing results, you will receive the reward of your labor. If you do 
otherwise your talent will be taken from you, but the interest will still be demanded, and 
you will suffer the fate of a dishonest and lazy workman. All praise, therefore, for the 
manifold gifts of grace with which you are endowed, must be given to him who is the 
author and giver of all that is praiseworthy. Make sure your thanks are not the pious 
cant of the hypocrite, nor the empty gesture of the worldling, nor yet the constraint 
imposed on beasts of burden; but, as one has a right to expect of dedicated men, let it 
be full of confident sincerity, of meaningful devotion and of becoming, well-regulated 
cheerfulness. Therefore, while offering up the sacrifice of praise and fulfilling our vows 
from day to day, let us make every endeavor to put meaning into our observance, to fill 
the meaning with love, our love with joy and our joy with realism; let that realism be 
tempered with humility and our humility be buoyant with liberty. Then we shall advance 
toward our goal with the untrammeled passions of a purified mind. We may even find 
ourselves at times living beyond our normal powers through the great intensity of our 
affections and our spiritual joy, in jubilant encounters, in the light of God, in sweetness, 
in the Holy Spirit, all showing that we are among those envisioned by the Prophet when 
he said: "Lord, they will walk in the light of your favor; they will rejoice in your name all 
day and exult in your righteousness.


What if we do not have a spiritual director?

Pray and find a good confessor. Pray and surround yourself with orthodox, good people. Pray and fast.

Fourth Q and A on the Perfection Series

Someone wants to know why we all have to suffer in order to be made perfect.

Let me answer this question with one word and one video.

The word is LOVE and the video is thanks to Catholic Bandita, who put this on her blog.

Sychronicity for the second time today--nice how the Spirit works through those who LOVE.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Memorial Today

Ask Our Dear Mother to lead you to the level of perfection and purification God has willed for you.

Here is the NO Collect:

Grant, Lord God, that we, your servants, may rejoice in unfailing health of mind and body, and, through the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, may we be set free from present sorrow and come to enjoy eternal happiness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

By the way, is it a Feast or Memorial?

Here is Pope Francis' comment on Mary this morning---or, rather, just a bit of it.

Pope Francis said “keeping the Word of God means constantly meditating on what this Word says to us and what happens in our life." And this “is what Mary did”, she “pondered and questioned” it. This, said Pope Francis, "is a truly great spiritual work":
“John Paul II said that, because of this work, Mary had a particular heaviness in her heart, she had a fatigued heart. But this is not the same as tired, it is fatigue, this comes from effort. This is the effort of keeping the Word of God : the work of trying to find what this means at this moment, what the Lord wants to say to me at this time, this situation of questioning the [meaning of ]the Word of God is how we understand. This is reading our life with the Word of God and this it means to keep".

http://www.news.va/en