If you are in Malta....and in the Middle Sea

A friend of mine treated me to lunch at Rampila's today.

http://www.rampila.com/Sub-menu---discover-rampila.html?sect=menu1

I can easily state that so far, this is my favorite restaurant in Malta. I am a retiring sort of person and to eat in silence without a band or canned music, in a cool place away from the hustle of Valletta, was a really calming experience. Also the sailboat race, which I missed the last two times I was in Malta, started today. I saw about half of the sailing ships go out of the Grand Harbor. 

For sailboat fiends, read this....http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/index.cfm  and a video of last year on the site here http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/index.cfm . Here is the last update I could find.

At 1500 local time on Day One, the Rolex Middle Sea Race tracker shows Morning Glory leading on the water, about a mile ahead of Alegre both yachts are averaging over 12 knots. The biggest ever edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race is now underway. The race is notorious for producing surprises, so expect the unexpected.

More Dark Nights in October, 2013

My Dark Night series is growing and growing. I am trying to unpack St. John as well as share some personal meditations concerning this stage.

One of the great marks of the entering into the purification of the spirit is the giving up of spiritual lust. One becomes content with two important happenings.

The first is that a person stops judging others, as one can see how unholy and imperfect one is and that one has no right to judge anyone. One can judge objective actions, but not persons. This is the beginning of true love of neighbor.

The second happening is the realization that one must be content with the spiritual gifts God has given one. Although all people should strive for union with God and endure all the stages until that Unitive Stage, one must be aware that one may be the violet in the posy and not the rose. We are not to ask for gifts we are not given. This asking could be a sign of spiritual lust.

A violet is perfect in and of itself. So is the rose. So is the daisy, or the cyclamen, or the marigold. For a marigold to want to be a rose would be ludicrous.

We are all called to perfection but in the mode to which God has called us. If I am a violet, and allowing God to perfect me as a violet, I must not compare myself to a rose, or desire to be a rose. To desire to be the rose could be a sin of spiritual lust.

In the Dark Night, such humility becomes the mode of being.

To be continued....

Dark Night Series Continued

For those friends of mine in the Dark Night, I want to share some ideas from the writings of St. John of the Cross. For those who have not been following this series, just click on the tags below.

I want to highlight a few points only.

The first is St. John's insight that God did not reveal Himself to Job in prosperity, but only after Job was in abject suffering. Why is this? Job, like all of us, had to endure the purification of the senses and the spirit in order to meet God as He is. The sacredness of God's Presence is us is continually blocked by our sins and imperfections.

Just as Job had to be stripped of all prior conceptions of God, so too, we must be loosened from old habits of thinking and feeling.

Second, self-knowledge is the goal of the Dark Night. Without the stripping of all false gods on which we depend, even the false god of working in and for the Church, we cannot see our true self, as God sees us.

Self-knowledge blossoms in humiliating circumstances.

St. John referred to the verse in Exodus 33:5, where Moses instructed, through God's Word, the People of God to put off their festive clothing and wear the clothing of penance. Why is this? John tells us that if we continually rely on the outward appearances of prosperity and worldliness, we do not see ourselves as we truly are-full of sin and those particular faults about which I have written here. This is one reason why the Benedictines wear black-as a reminder of mortification and death of the body, allowing for freedom to pursue the life of the spirit.

Third, and this is very important for all people, it is only after the senses are purified that the intellect is free to come to understanding. The intellect is impeded by the senses, which is one of the huge problems with those who seek continual consolations from God. The intellect must apprehend truth, goodness, beauty-those attributes of God Himself and this cannot be done when the intellect dwells upon the senses.

Purification of the senses comes first and then purification of the spirit.

John of the Cross quotes St. Augustine many times, and one of this phrases which is worthy of memorizing is this: "Let me know myself, Lord, and then I will know You."

Such particular faults as pride and vainglory must be struck down in the purification of the senses. When one simplifies one's life with regard to clothing and things, one is virtually left naked before God.

This nakedness provides the basis for God to begin to show Himself in a new way to the person pursuing perfection.

to be continued...

Repost from last year

Thursday, 6 December 2012

My dance card is full and young people will not believe this

Posted by Supertradmum

Talk about generation gaps. The construction of my society growing up is gone, gone, gone. From education to social manners, to identity as a Catholic sub-culture, we had a security in knowing who we were and where we were going.

Talking with Generation Millennials, I have realized over the past few years that what I had for coursework in 7th and 8th grade they had in high school and what I had in high school they have in college or university. What I had in college or university, they get in graduate school.

Depressing. When I was in high school, schools were divided into "terminal degree" high schools and "college preparatory schools". In the second grouping, the high schools were run on three tracks, and students were placed in this tracking according to their interests and abilities. Terminal degree high schools actually taught a skill, such as welding, accounting or business skills, and things where a student could walk out the door and get a job immediately.

In those days, we knew that people were not created the same. I do not have my high school curriculum in front of me, but it would be similar to this. This would be the top layer, or third track of the college prep school. All girls, by the way----

First year-freshman year
Logic
Civics (general and American)
World History first semester; European History second semester
Geography
Algebra I and possibly II
Latin I
English Literature-first semester general; second Shakespeare
English Grammar
Religion-Old Testament first semester; New Testament Second
General Science
Extra-Curricular Studies, such as journalism, choir, art
Sport and Gym Class

Second year-sophomore
Ethics (wow)
Latin II
American History first adn second semester; America Government in more detail second as option
English Literature-Essays-including 18th century ones; second semester Poetry including Shakespeare's sonnets and Mystical Poets
Composition first semester; speech and debate second
Biology all year
Geometry I and II
Religion-Church History, both semesters, but staring with a sacraments section
Extra-Curricular studies, such as choir, drama, art or journalism or all
Sport and Gym Class

Third Year-juniors
Advanced Math I and II; either Trig or another option independent studies; Algebra II; some in Pre-Calculus
French I
Religion- great Catholic thinkers; world religions
Contemporary History (usually from WWI to present)
Chemistry
Extra-curricular choices again including Drama class, choir or above
Sport and Gym Class
English Literature of the Modern Age-novels and poetry
(Optional Typing)
(Optional Driver Training)


One also took college entrance tests in junior year for applying for scholarships. We had up to four hours of homework per night. Ask my dad.

Fourth Year-seniors
Independent studies in History
Advanced Math-Calculus
Religion-marriage prep; modern issues such as Vat. II
Physics, optional
French II
English Literature-drama and world drama; debate as advanced options
Extra-curricullar again like drama or choir or aboves
Free time to take college courses for credit
Research skills
Intro to Philosophy
Sport and Gym

We had some choices for sport.

I may be forgetting something. The mathematics classes varied after Geometry. I took Algebra II and my brothers went way ahead of me in Trig, Pre-Calc and Calc. etc. We had options. I was the feature editor of the newspaper and teen editor for the local city newspaper. I did almost everything-choir, drama, etc.  Yes, we had uniforms very similar to those below except we had to wear black or brown shoes--- and no, I was not a cheerleader.

We were allowed to seek excellence.

Ah, social skills. For our first dances, we had little booklets on which to write who was dancing which dance with us. They had little ribbons so that we could wear them around our wrist and there is a photo of a young girl with one. We called them dance cards. In my Grandmothers' days, these were silver and gold. 

This custom is where the phrases, "pencil me in" comes from....and "my dance card is full."

We had formal and informal dances. We had teas. We had picnics which were planned. We did not have much fast-food. Pizza Hut opened in my home town when I was 16. That was where I went on my first date, with the neighbour boy and his friend who tagged along. I remember exactly what I wore-a white top with large black polka dots and a black skirt;  and the date: January 1, 1965. I turned 16 two days later. My parents had known the parents of that boy since before I was born, and we played together even as toddlers. Still, permission had to be sought and granted. That was how the culture was disciplined and set. It was all very comforting. There was no stress as most people in those stratifications has so much in common to make such socializing relaxed. And, we had no idea about sex. We could just be ourselves, and learn to use our manners, and wait.

Manners helped us, as well as the truly Christian character of the culture at the time. 

The list, taken from the website below, is what we learned naturally in all of these events. We even learned sports etiquette. We went roller skating and ice skating. We played foursomes in tennis. We did not go shopping for fun. That was not done then. One shopped with one's mom. Two of my girls friends had to go shopping with their dad, as he had to approve their clothes. He was an Italian dad. My dad would not be caught dead in a ladies' shop. Good thing, too.

EVERYDAY MANNERS
First impressions Introductions Greeting and shaking hands Paying and receiving compliments Correspondence Telephone manners Family dining Table manners Polite conversation When to rise Doors and coats Sports etiquette
FORMAL MANNERS
Formal dining Party courtesies Hosting a party Receiving lines Eating unusual foods Instructional dinners
CHARACTER EDUCATION
Honesty Integrity Promise keeping Fidelity Caring Respect Citizenship Excellence Accountability Handling peer pressure

All the dances had adults present: the nuns and our parents were chaperones. Sometimes the priests came for a short while. All the parents knew all the other parents in your track, mostly. Dating was strictly controlled by parents. Boys were very polite. My dad reminds me of the Friday night I had one young man at the front day, one at the back door, and one on the phone. I was not that popular. I had a pink Princess phone and a turquoise blue transistor radio with a matching leather case--trendy.  We had plays, concerts, football, basketball, track, wrestling, and all kinds of things. We had cotillions to go to and strict rules on dating regarding times and frequency. We did things in groups. We sang when we went out in groups. We dated in order to find a mate. Mom and Dad were part of the process of dating.

Guardian Article on New Rules Regarding Data

snippet from today's Guardian on EU response to Snowden information:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/17/eu-rules-data-us-edward-snowden?CMP=twt_gu

The draft would make it harder for the big US internet servers and social media providers to transfer European data to third countries, subject them to EU law rather than secret American court orders, and authorise swingeing fines possibly running into the billions for the first time for not complying with the new rules.

"As parliamentarians, as politicians, as governments we have lost control over our intelligence services. We have to get it back again," said Jan Philipp Albrecht, the German Greens MEP who is steering the data protection regulation through the parliament.

Data privacy in the EU is currently under the authority of national governments with standards varying enormously across the 28 countries, complicating efforts to arrive at satisfactory data transfer agreements with the US. The current rules are easily sidestepped by the big Silicon Valley companies, Brussels argues.

The new rules, if agreed, would ban the transfer of data unless based on EU law or under a new transatlantic pact with the Americans complying with EU law.

Dr. Ronald McArthur, RIP

http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/news/memoriam-dr-ronald-p-mcarthur

Thomas Aquinas College had lost one of its founders, Dr. Ronald McArthur. I knew him as a gracious man, generous with his time and talents. God bless him and his family.

Persecution Watch Again Times .......

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/17/bombs-planted-confessional-box-syrian-church/

St. Luke's Day

St. Luke is traditionally identified as a doctor and a friend of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is also supposedly the first painter to paint a portrait of Mary. If he was a doctor, a painter, and a writer, as we know he was, of the Gospel and Acts, this man was multi-talented. He had more than a few fish and loaves in his basket.

Pray to St. Luke is you are bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, from Capena, Italy, glassmakers, glass workers, gold workers, goldsmiths, from Hermersdorf, Germany, lace-makers, lace workers, notaries, sculptors, painters, and stained glass workers.

Amazing....

poor bloggers....sniff

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/17/obama-hits-bloggers-and-radio-talking-heads-calls-for-immigration-reform-after-shutdown-ends/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButtons

The Secret People by Chesterton

The Secret People

Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget,
For we are the people of England, that never has spoken yet.
There is many a fat farmer that drinks less cheerfully,
There is many a free French peasant who is richer and sadder than we.
There are no folk in the whole world so helpless or so wise.
There is hunger in our bellies, there is laughter in our eyes;
You laugh at us and love us, both mugs and eyes are wet:
Only you do not know us. For we have not spoken yet.

The fine French kings came over in a flutter of flags and dames.
We liked their smiles and battles, but we never could say their names.
The blood ran red to Bosworth and the high French lords went down;
There was naught but a naked people under a naked crown.
And the eyes of the King's Servants turned terribly every way,
And the gold of the King's Servants rose higher every day.
They burnt the homes of the shaven men, that had been quaint and kind,
Till there was no bed in a monk's house, nor food that man could find.
The inns of God where no man paid, that were the wall of the weak,
The King's Servants ate them all. And still we did not speak.

And the face of the King's Servants grew greater than the King:
He tricked them, and they trapped him, and stood round him in a ring.
The new grave lords closed round him, that had eaten the abbey's fruits,
And the men of the new religion, with their Bibles in their boots,
We saw their shoulders moving, to menace or discuss,
And some were pure and some were vile; but none took heed of us.
We saw the King as they killed him, and his face was proud and pale;
And a few men talked of freedom, while England talked of ale.

A war that we understood not came over the world and woke
Americans, Frenchmen, Irish; but we knew not the things they spoke.
They talked about rights and nature and peace and the people's reign:
And the squires, our masters, bade us fight; and never scorned us again.
Weak if we be for ever, could none condemn us then;
Men called us serfs and drudges; men knew that we were men.
In foam and flame at Trafalgar, on Albuera plains,
We did and died like lions, to keep ourselves in chains,
We lay in living ruins; firing and fearing not
The strange fierce face of the Frenchman who knew for what he fought,
And the man who seemed to be more than man we strained against and broke;
And we broke our own rights with him. And still we never spoke.

Our path of glory ended; we never heard guns again.
But the squire seemed struck in the saddle; he was foolish, as if in pain.
He leaned on a staggering lawyer, he clutched a cringing Jew,
He was stricken; it may be, after all, he was stricken at Waterloo.
Or perhaps the shades of the shaven men, whose spoil is in his house,
Come back in shining shapes at last to spoil his last carouse:
We only know the last sad squires ride slowly towards the sea,
And a new people takes the land: and still it is not we.

They have given us into the hands of the new unhappy lords,
Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.
They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;
They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.
And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,
Their doors are shut in the evenings; and they know no songs.

We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,
Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,
Our wrath come after Russia's wrath and our wrath be the worst.
It may be we are meant to mark with our riot and our rest
God's scorn for all men governing. It may be beer is best.
But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet.
Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget.

G.K. CHESTERTON

From two excellent sites--persecution watch again, again, again

EU requested to establish national surveillance units to monitor citizens suspected of “intolerance”

BY DEACON NICK DONNELLY, ON OCTOBER 17TH, 2013

The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR), comprising former heads of state and government leaders, has requested that the EU establishes national surveillance units to monitor citizens suspected of “intolerance”. The ECTR called its proposal the ‘Framework National Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance’.

European Dignity Watch, a civil rights watchdog group based in Brussels, has warned that this directive “aims to impose governmental control over the social and economic behavior of citizens in the widest possible sense.” The group says that the ECTR Framework’s basic principles are flawed and that it “interferes in an unprecedented manner with citizens’ freedom and rights” and “distorts the concepts of ‘justice’ and ‘equality’.” Through “a reversal of the burden of proof,” the proposal “encourages frivolous litigation” and will lead to “institutionalized public control” of private opinion and thought. Sophia Kuby, spokesman for European Dignity Watch said:

“Faith-based groups and schools, adherents of a particular religion or even just parents who want to teach their children certain moral values would all be put under general suspicion of being intolerant.” “Even worse,” she said, this language “could lead to the possibility that charges are brought on unclear or even without legal grounds.” She said it would “be a significant step backward,” and “would certainly be a dark day for European democracy.”

The surveillance proposals include the following chilling statements:

• There is no need to be tolerant to the intolerant especially as far as freedom of expression is concerned.
• “Members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups” it adds, “are entitled to a special protection” in addition to the normal legal protections afforded by the state. This “special protection…may imply a preferential treatment” for those identified as “vulnerable”.
• “It is important to stress that tolerance must be practised not only by Governmental bodies but equally by individuals, including members of one group vis-à-vis another.” It adds that the “guarantee of tolerance must be understood not only as a vertical relationship (Government-to-individuals) but also as a horizontal relationship (group-to-group and person-to-person).
   
  It is the obligation of the Government to ensure that intolerance is not practised either in vertical or in horizontal relationships.”

Protect the Pope comment: This sinister proposal to establish national surveillance units to monitor citizens suspected of “intolerance” has to be considered a serious threat to our freedom of religion and freedom of expression because it comes from former heads of state and government leaders and not some fringe extremist group of gay and secular lobbyists. If these proposals become law in the European Union then Catholics who uphold the teachings of the Church about the family and sexuality would be unjustly branded as ‘intolerant’ and subject to surveillance and punitive action by the state. Protect the Pope looks forward to reading the Conference of European Bishops response to this unprecedented threat to the Faith in Europe.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/former-heads-of-state-call-on-eu-to-set-up-state-surveillance-of-intolerant?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dc544bae0b-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Headlines_06_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0caba610ac-dc544bae0b-326240826

 

Posts on the signs of the times

Some re-posts of mine from another blog.

Read and ponder, please.

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-time-machine-back-to-1581-death-of.html


This will happen in Great Britain, America, Canada and most of the Western World. Catholics now have to prepare themselves for persecution, and follow the stages of such, which I have highlighted on my blog here. Some of us have seen this coming for over thirty years. And, many seminarians in the States and some in Great Britain, are prepared for martyrdom. I have been writing about Catholics with their heads in the sand about the reality of the tyranny of relativism since 2007. Some are waking up and listening. Most think that they can dialogue with the world. We are here to convert the world, not to dialogue with evil.

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn said years ago that good cannot dialogue with evil. That is what has happened to bring us in the Church to this spreading and planned persecution of Truth.

As Christ said, "He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth."

We need to make choices now either to stand with Truth or not.

Also, read...

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-prediction-concerning-catholic.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-rational-discourse-and-blogging.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/07/stages-of-persecution.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/08/rethinking-new-evangelization.html

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-rational-catholicneeded.html

A Reminder from The Great Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

from http://www.alor.org/Library/LegacyofTerror.htm

Marxism has always opposed freedom. I will quote just a few words from the founding fathers of communism, Marx and Engels
(I quote from the first Soviet edition of 1929)
"Reforms are a sign of weakness" (vol. 23, p. 339); 
"Democracy is more to be feared than monarchy and aristocracy," (vol. 2, p. 369);
"Political liberty is a false liberty, worse than the most abject slavery" (vol. 2, p. 394). 

In their correspondence Marx and Engels frequently said that after achieving power, terror would be indispensable, that "it will be necessary to repeat the year 1793. After achieving power, we'll be considered monsters, but we couldn't care less" (vol. 25, p. 187). 

Communism has never concealed the fact that it rejects all absolute concepts of morality. It scoffs at any consideration of "good" and "evil" as indisputable categories. Communism considers morality to be relative, to be a class matter. Depending upon circumstances and the political situation, any act, including murder, even the killing of thousands, could be good or could be bad. It all depends upon class ideology. 

And who defines class ideology? The whole class cannot get together to pass judgment. A handful of people determine what is good and what is bad. But I must say that in this very respect communism has been most successful. It has infected the whole world with the belief in the relativity of good and evil. Many people besides the Communists are carried away by this idea today. 

Among enlightened people it is considered rather awkward to use seriously such words as "good" and '"evil." Communism has managed to instill in all of us that these concepts are old-fashioned concepts and laughable. But if we are to be deprived of the concepts of good and evil, what will be left? Nothing but the manipulation of one another. We will decline to the status of animals. Both the theory and practice of communism are completely inhuman for that reason. 

Persecution Watch

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/17/house-stenographer-sent-mental-exam-after-floor-ra/

NAPCIS and others......pay attention, parents

As a person with a Master's Teacher Certification from NAPCIS, I want to alert parents in America to the coming conference against the new Common Core Curriculum. Please pay attention to this.

Here are two links and when the conference gets a website up, I shall share this.

http://napcis.org/2013/09/09/common-core-conference-to-be-joined-by-bishop-murry/

http://napcis.org/2013/08/31/common-core-conference-announced/

The Merit of the Catholic Church

I have been talking with Protestants and other non-Catholics about the Merit of the Catholic Church and how all Christians and even some other good people, if they are saved, are saved through the Merits of the Catholic Church.

This discussion has revealed three sad aspects which I think I need to share with you.

First, the merits are diminishing, as good Catholics are diminishing. The grace which was increasingly strong under persecution of the martyrs and the great prayers of the Church is now not affecting the culture and our families.

Those orthodox Catholics who are still going to daily Mass, praying the rosary, fasting and doing other penances, add to the flow of grace. Are you adding to this grace which could convert the world, but is not?

Second,  Protestants, honestly, have become so worldly and compromising the Gospel, they are no longer Christians, but either practical pagans or practical atheists. If one is trying to evangelize Protestants or pagans, these worldly aspects, such as the acceptance of the idolatry of money, the institutionalization of greed, the acceptance of contraception and abortion, the total breaking away of the ideas of personal and final judgement, including the reality of hell and purgatory, and the relativism or acceptance of all religions as valid. These are times when one cannot fudge the Gospel message and the Apostolic Tradition of the Church.

Third, know that you will lose friends and family support, as I have, by holding on to orthodox positions regarding the Merit of the Catholic Church.  The idea that there is only one, true Church and that this Church has grace to bring to the world is no longer believed by the vast majority of Catholics. Relativism has placed a dam on the flow of graces going into the world. With the weaknesses of families, parents, with the teaching of bad priests, and the compromises of weak bishops, we are seeing the Merit of the Church basically weakened to the point of not being able to reach out to the world in order to convert it. And, because too many families want to dialogue with the world, especially as many siblings and even grandparents have left the Church, the idea that salvation comes through the Catholic Church is no longer believed by those closest to you.

The sadness of losing family support is a great suffering which I can share with many.

Think about the dwindling merit found in the Church. This is not like banking, by the way, but like a Light, which has been dimmed by the lack of the pursuit of holiness among the members of the Church.

A Letter to Parents

Dear Catholic Parents,

The time has come when you must take over the entire religious education of your children. This education includes faith and virtue formation. One cannot allow the schools, colleges, and universities now mostly run by Modernist Heretics to form your children. You have no choice but to find orthodox, Catholic schools, or to home school.

The souls of your children are your responsibility until they are adults and on their own. Your children owe you obedience while they are under your roof, including attending Church and living the Catholic lifestyles. If you allow them to live outside the Church while they are under your roof, you have abdicated your role as a father or mother.

Catholic Parents, if you do not take the responsibility of passing on the Faith to your children, the Church may die in your area. Catholic leadership has never been more necessary. And, most importantly, your children must, like you, become perfect, even as Our Heavenly Father is perfect.

The personal salvation of each one of us is in our own hands. Think like a Catholic, pray like a Catholic, and live daily life in the counter-culture which is true Catholicism.

God gave us His Son, Who established the Church on earth to help us in our salvation. Do not waste this great grace.

God bless you, fellow parents. Be clear and be strong. If you allow your children to conform to the world, God will judge you accordingly at the end of your life. To be a parent is a huge responsibility, not only in providing physical needs, but spiritual needs.

As I heard from God so clearly when my son was only 9 hours old, "When you die, I shall ask you one question. Did you pass your Faith on to your son?"


Supertradmum

Gossip and News

Thanks to wiki  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece

First... a rant on selling gossip

Do we really need to know nasty things about famous people? Biographies about the living or the dead have increasingly become merely sensational books slandering people with talking over coffee tidbits.

I do not think this is useful for history or for our souls. I have stopped reading anything but highly scholarly biographies, and then, even some of them, fall into the titillation mode.

Why do we need all the sexual details of John Maynard Keynes, Oscar Wilde, or Steve Jobs?

I find that those who indulge in such things merely add to a general negativity about life, the universe and everything. Cynicism is a sin, and for those reading one after another of the biographies of politicians or the rich and famous can so easily fall into cynicism.

Second...a rant on news.

For the first time in four years, I have seen CNN on the television here in Malta and I am shocked at the lack of news and lack of objectivity. CNN is into brainwashing, period. I did not see one objective news program in two sessions of sitting down with a friend. This group cannot calls itself a professional set of journalists.

The entire three shows I watched were not only of a low standard of reporting, using emotive, "yellow journalism" language, but also, repetitious interviews which "signified nothing".

Rants over....

What do you think of this?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/17/uk-gchq-nsa-surveillance-inquiry-snowden?CMP=twt_gu

...a spokesperson for the Guardian said: "The prime minister is wrong to say the Guardian destroyed computer files because we agreed our reporting was damaging.

"We destroyed the computers because the government said it would use the full force of the law to prevent a newspaper from publishing anything about the NSA or GCHQ.

A Vision To Share

A friend of mine shared a little vision of those who are trying to pursue perfection. He saw people in separate little cells in a desert country praying and becoming perfect through suffering and self-denial.

Can you see yourself in this little vision? I have written in the past about St. Catherine of Siena's making a cell in one's mind....Can you do this, not only for your own protection, but for the building of the Church?

 "Build a cell inside your mind, from which you can never flee."  St. Catherine of Siena