Catholic Disconnection

When I was very young, The Red Balloon was one of my favourite movies. In this classic film, a child has no friends but a balloon. When the "thug" kids in the neighborhood become jealous and destroy the red balloon, the balloons of the city come and take the boy away.

The story is poignant at many levels.

One of the main characteristics of an adult is the ability to face reality and hardships without running away.

In common parlance, the "fight or flight" syndrome is a real issue of people under stress. Physical symptoms can be attached.

But, a recent study in the United States indicated that up to 60% of Americans have an addictive personality, which means that flight can be a running into drugs, television, computer games, compulsive lying, alcohol, excessive shopping, even promiscuity and pornography. All of these addictions can result in negativity, as one is never satisfied with the object of the addiction, be it television or drugs. This negativity becomes a habit, and destroys faith, hope and love.

What has escapism to do with the lack of holiness?

The person who is trying to pursue holiness must be grounded in reality.

The problem with so many Catholics is that they have lost the ability to live in the present moment, which is the only moment in which we meet God.

Escapism, or running after other things, which become idols, take people away from God and substitute the things for His love.

Sometimes fear or anxieties push people into addictive behavior. And, much of it is condoned by the public.

I know, for example, one young person who saw three movies with friends over the Thanksgiving break.

This may be considered normal by some but indicates an emotional reliance on passive entertainment.

I know a family which watches television six or seven hours a day. This reveals to me an addiction, an escape.

Perhaps these people are escaping loneliness, or truth in their lives.

According to studies, people who watch more than four hours of television a day have a television addiction which keeps them from socializing with others and being involved in meaningful activities.

All of these addictions take a person away from God. But, our entire culture in America does not see the spiritual dangers of such behavior. In this culture where noise and entertainment fill up hours of the day and night, the times for reflection and prayer are wasted away.

In addition, as noted on this blog not too long ago, the passive capacity for contemplative prayer is ruined, as the brain function created by God is filled with nonsense.

Holiness cannot be found in escapism. Holiness is rooted in who we are interacting with other people and being involved in activities which feed the soul.

Starting in the early 2000s, I used an book called Bowling Alone in some of my classes. The author, Robert Putnam, showed, in extensive research, that America had changed from community-minded, socially localized groupings of people to a harsh world of individualism, loneliness, and the breakdown of relationships. Some of the results of these breakdowns of normal human activity was the falling away of communal, physical entertainment and the falling off of volunteerism. But, the family was also infected with gross individualism.

The effects of the decay of the community, and the family, which is the unit of community, has many causes.

But, for the sake of this short article, how Catholics are affected is my concern.

The call to Catholicism is one of community. The call to Christ brings one into the community of the Church. A person becomes a brother, a sister, in Christ.

I see a hardening of hearts across both America and Europe which interferes with the family relationships which should be seen in the Church. 

For example, my diocese has had no Catholic Charities for years.

Several friends of mine who are very poor cannot find help for severe financing difficulties and no one in their parishes help them. I know of a family with a person with mental problems who has been ostracized by the family and by the Church community because of the difficulties.

Escapism allows people to ignore and turn away from suffering. Escapism creates false worlds of stupor and unreality.

Without God as the center of our lives, escapism becomes the route to solving the questions of suffering and pain.

The Denial of Peter is in the Gospels for a reason. God wanted us to see a person who tried to escape pain and suffering by lying, by deceit. That Peter repented and came to know the love and forgiveness of God is a direct result of his faith in Christ. He stopped running away twice. Quo Vadis, Petrus?

Can we help those who are escaping stop and see that Christ loves them?

Sadly, many of those who are running away do not want to hear the Gospel, the Good News.

Salvation is not merely for the afterlife, it is for now. God wants us whole and healed. The Church needs strong, healthy, holy people

As long as Catholics run away from pain, from quiet, from reflection, they will not be able to see God and become holy.

Of all the problems of the Western World which have caused the demise of the family and the apostasy of the laity and the clergy, escapism may be the biggest problem.

A disconnection with reality, with one's own soul, with the souls of others are states which are destroying our country. Those who are disconnected are now running the show. Narcissism is a form of disconnection.

Those who are disconnected have voted in the disconnected....

God is in the details of our daily lives. Do not run away.

To run away from life is to run away from God.

I am seriously considering giving up movies, which I really enjoy, as a penance for those who are addicted to tv and movies.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/12/quo-vadis-domine.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/slave-mentality-quo-vadis.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-great-evil-of-entertainment.html

to be continued....

Chicago Eucharistic Congress, 1926

Eucharistic Congress 1926 

This is from an article found here--more is found at that link.

http://lakecountyhistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/eucharistic-congress-1926.html

The first Eucharistic Congress of the Catholic Church took place in Lille, France in 1881. The 28th Congress was held in Chicago, June 20-24, 1926, the first time it had been hosted in the United States. It was considered the greatest religious gathering in modern times. 

A High Mass was given at Soldier Field with an estimated 400,000 in attendance. Shown here are the "Nuns and Women's Choir of 10,000 Voices" which sang at Soldier Field on June 22.

On June 24th, 750,000 people made a pilgrimage in a Eucharistic Procession from Chicago to St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. The participants traveled on foot, by auto, bus, and by rail. Shown below is a view of St. Mary of the Lake with the procession being led by Cardinal Bonzano. The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception is at left. 

The village's population swelled from 590 to 750,000, as the faithful and Church religious gathered from around the world at St. Mary of the Lake. Chicago's North Shore Line railroad made history when it transported 250,000 people to the event. Today, a trail on the south side of Route 176 is all that remains of the line that brought people to St. Mary's. 

In 1920, Cardinal Mundelein had announced plans to build St. Mary of the Lake. At right is a postcard view of the dedication day, celebrating the opening of the seminary. 

More is found at the link....

My dad said all he remembered were lots of adults' feet. He was three years old.

There is a link for over a thousand more photos on this site.

238 Posts for November

Well, if you get bored with shopping, you can read November.. Not a record, as there were 333 in February, and many in other months...

The Assault on Man; how to withstand turmoil

The Jesuit North American Martyrs

In the midst of frenzy, fear, even panic, or simply, group dynamics, some people cannot withstand the movement of the group.

I remember ago when Ringo Starr got married and three girls in my gym class went into hysterics. They had to be taken to the nurse's office.

I was astounded and perplexed by this strange manifestation of the adoration or cult of personality.

For some reason, even as a young person, I have been immune to this.

But, many are not and many have been swept away and will be swept away by the cult of the Messiah, whoever he or she may be.

When the final time of tribulation comes, some will not be able to withstand the psychology of the mob following of a personality.

Only God, the Trinitarian God, deserves such adulation, adoration, assent of the will.

Catholics must learn now how to withstand such large movements of group dynamics which carries some people into a frenzy of support for false messiahs.

These few habits will help one not be taken in by false apparitions, false messages, false messiahs.

One, know the teachings of the Catholic Church so that you can judge all teaching as against this measure of Truth.

Two, learn to control your emotions, so that if these feelings are assaulted by conformity, you will be able to stand firmly in charge of feelings, which lie and deceive us so easily.

Three,  learn to think clearly and to withstand false ideas. If one is in a position where the intellect fails to help one discern, pray, pray, pray.

Four, remember and be grateful for past graces. In times of trial and extreme tribulation, the memory of God's goodness, as in the heart and songs of the great Psalmist, St. David, steady us. If we forget, pray, pray, pray.

Five, and most importantly, give your will to God. Make Him the Master of your will. Then, you will be able to withstand all pain and hardships. Strengthen your will by learning meditation and letting God teach you contemplative prayer.

Six, parents, teach your children these habits of discernment and virtue.

By the way, we need to make daily decisions which make us strong against evils, both great and small. Sometimes, God gives some of us a lifetime of practicing standing up to evil. This is the story of my life in education and in the field of work. Compromise sets us backwards, even to death of the soul.

In His Will is our peace. I am learning these lessons, and a book like Lord of the World outlines these steps in the character of Father Franklin. Do not kid yourself, we need to be strong in the days coming.

to be continued....

A Nice Article on Advent Food And O Antiphons

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=473

and also, the O Antiphon prayers and symbols may be found on this blog as well.

The dates are last year's dates, but the prayers and symbols are the same.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/12/parents-get-ready-for-o-antiphons.html

HAPPY NAME DAY TO ALL EDMUNDS

Today is the name day of my son. He is named after two martyrs. One is the great Edmund Campion

St. Edmund Campion has been one of my heroes for a very long time. When I visited the Venerable English College in Rome so many years ago, I felt close to this great saint.

We have many connections to him, as he also worked in Bohemia, from where some of my ancestors came.

There is a very old book about Campion and Bohemia which is out of print. If anyone finds a copy, let me know.




http://www.catholicpamphlets.net/pamphlets/Saint%20Edmund%20Campion.pdf

This above link provides a good, short biography.

I have put Campion's Brag on this blog before, but one can never get too much of a good thing.

Here it is again.

To the Right Honourable, the Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council:

Whereas I have come out of Germany and Bohemia, being sent by my superiors, and adventured myself into this noble realm, my dear country, for the glory of God and benefit of souls, I thought it like enough that, in this busy, watchful, and suspicious world, I should either sooner or later be intercepted and stopped of my course.

Wherefore, providing for all events, and uncertain what may become of me, when God shall haply deliver my body into durance, I supposed it needful to put this in writing in a readiness, desiring your good lordships to give it your reading, for to know my cause. This doing, I trust I shall ease you of some labour. For that which otherwise you must have sought for by practice of wit, I do now lay into your hands by plain confession. And to the intent that the whole matter may be conceived in order, and so the better both understood and remembered, I make thereof these nine points or articles, directly, truly and resolutely opening my full enterprise and purpose.

i. I confess that I am (albeit unworthy) a priest of the Catholic Church, and through the great mercy of God vowed now these eight years into the religion [religious order] of the Society of Jesus. Hereby I have taken upon me a special kind of warfare under the banner of obedience, and also resigned all my interest or possibility of wealth, honour, pleasure, and other worldly felicity.

ii. At the voice of our General, which is to me a warrant from heaven and oracle of Christ, I took my voyage from Prague to Rome (where our General Father is always resident) and from Rome to England, as I might and would have done joyously into any part of Christendom or Heatheness, had I been thereto assigned.

iii. My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to minister the Sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reform sinners, to confute errors—in brief, to cry alarm spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.

iv. I never had mind, and am strictly forbidden by our Father that sent me, to deal in any respect with matter of state or policy of this realm, as things which appertain not to my vocation, and from which I gladly restrain and sequester my thoughts.

v. I do ask, to the glory of God, with all humility, and under your correction, three sorts of indifferent and quiet audiences: the first, before your Honours, wherein I will discourse of religion, so far as it toucheth the common weal and your nobilities: the second, whereof I make more account, before the Doctors and Masters and chosen men of both universities, wherein I undertake to avow the faith of our Catholic Church by proofs innumerable—Scriptures, councils, Fathers, history, natural and moral reasons: the third, before the lawyers, spiritual and temporal, wherein I will justify the said faith by the common wisdom of the laws standing yet in force and practice.

vi. I would be loath to speak anything that might sound of any insolent brag or challenge, especially being now as a dead man to this world and willing to put my head under every man's foot, and to kiss the ground they tread upon. Yet I have such courage in avouching the majesty of Jesus my King, and such affiance in his gracious favour, and such assurance in my quarrel, and my evidence so impregnable, and because I know perfectly that no one Protestant, nor all the Protestants living, nor any sect of our adversaries (howsoever they face men down in pulpits, and overrule us in their kingdom of grammarians and unlearned ears) can maintain their doctrine in disputation. I am to sue most humbly and instantly for combat with all and every of them, and the most principal that may be found: protesting that in this trial the better furnished they come, the better welcome they shall be.

vii. And because it hath pleased God to enrich the Queen my Sovereign Lady with notable gifts of nature, learning, and princely education, I do verily trust that if her Highness would vouchsafe her royal person and good attention to such a conference as, in the second part of my fifth article I have motioned, or to a few sermons, which in her or your hearing I am to utter such manifest and fair light by good method and plain dealing may be cast upon these controversies, that possibly her zeal of truth and love of her people shall incline her noble Grace to disfavour some proceedings hurtful to the realm, and procure towards us oppressed more equity.

viii. Moreover I doubt not but you, her Highness' Council, being of such wisdom and discreet in cases most important, when you shall have heard these questions of religion opened faithfully, which many times by our adversaries are huddled up and confounded, will see upon what substantial grounds our Catholic Faith is builded, how feeble that side is which by sway of the time prevaileth against us, and so at last for your own souls, and for many thousand souls that depend upon your government, will discountenance error when it is bewrayed [revealed], and hearken to those who would spend the best blood in their bodies for your salvation. Many innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you daily by those English students, whose posterity shall never die, which beyond seas, gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge for the purpose, are determined never to give you over, but either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes. And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league—all the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practice of England—cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God; it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: So it must be restored.

ix. If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no place, and I, having run thousands of miles to do you good, shall be rewarded with rigour. I have no more to say but to recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who send us his grace, and see us at accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven, when all injuries shall be forgotten.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/02/catholics-and-media-ii-edmund-campion.html

A Line from Benson

"In the ages of faith a very inadequate grasp of religion would pass muster; in these searching days none but the humble and the pure could stand the test for long." Lord of the World, pg. 26, 1907 Edition

One of the reasons for this blog....

May this Advent find us growing ever closer to God in repentance and purification...

A brief message on the Dark Night

Sometimes, loving seems dull and ineffective. Sometimes being silent and calm seems hopeless.

Sometimes, the solid view of the truth creates a stark landscape in the mind of long, cold, grey deserts.

Sometimes, we are not what we need to be for a certain situation to turn away from evil and turn to good.

Sometimes, all we can do is surrender to God again and again, even when He is silent.

Sometimes, our prayers fly up like tired birds.

Sometimes, the City of God seems like a far away vision, lost in fog, but one knows it is solid.

This is called the Dark Night of the Soul.

Please Remember To Pray for Me, Thanks

Prayer for Bishop Alvaro del Portillo's intercession

Prayer for private devotion.

O God, merciful Father, you granted your servant Álvaro, Bishop, the grace of being an exemplary pastor in the service of the Church, and a most faithful son and successor of Saint Josemaría, the founder of Opus Dei. Grant that I too may respond faithfully to the demands of the Christian vocation, turning all the circumstances and events of my life into opportunities to love you and serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Deign to glorify your servant Álvaro, and through his intercession grant me the favor I request ... (here make your petition). Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

In conformity with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that there is no intention of anticipating in any way the judgment of the Church, and that this prayer is not intended for public use.

http://www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=7547

Positive Thoughts on A Saturday Afternoon

The good are getting better and the bad are getting worse.

But, this is not a negative thought, but a positive one.

God has called all of us to be saints and we are being given grist for the saintliness mill.

Today, I had lunch with a young man who will be made a transitional deacon next year. He and so many seminarians have changed as they have pursued the priesthood. The formation guidelines of the Pope Emeritus are beginning to bear fruit. The seminarians of today are not like those of the past forty years. They are serious about becoming holy.

So, too, are more and more laity beginning to realize that one cannot merely be a mediocre Catholic today. God is calling us all to deeper holiness through trials and purification.

Those who are willing to be violent to themselves will inherit the kingdom. Those who avoid suffering and who only want to stay in their comfort zones will not find God.

But, the really positive thought is that more and more people are turning towards God in suffering and accepting this as part of the process of purification. This is wonderful.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away. Matthew 11:12 DR

More Decadence in the EU

You can already imagine the rest: The 13-15 year olds are exposed to homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality "and indeed made familiar with methods of contraception, abortion and the"  different expressions of sexuality " in that order. Teachers should respond to alleged questions like: "How can I become a good lover", "How do I get a girl to orgasm", "Which is the best position for sexual intercourse" (perhaps among men), "Swallowing?" The Swiss educators place the value of semen, indeed, on a high level of education for the children in their care. Of course, the crucial element such as chastity or values ​​such as self-giving love instead of sex, procreation, loving affection are completely absent.

http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2013/11/state-sponsored-child-pornography-in.html



“Often, when it is the king or some other monarch or potentate that he (the judge) has to deal with, he finds that there is no soundness in the soul whatever; he finds it scourged and scarred by the various acts of perjury and wrong-doing ...; it is twisted and warped by lies and vanity, and nothing is straight because truth has had no part in its development. Power, luxury, pride, and debauchery have left it so full of disproportion and ugliness that when he has inspected it (he) sends it straight to prison, where on its arrival it will undergo the appropriate punishment ... Sometimes, though, the eye of the judge lights on a different soul which has lived in purity and truth ... then he is struck with admiration and sends him to the isles of the blessed”  Spe Salvi footnote 525a-526c.

Remove all things from your children which would endanger their purity. Their immortal souls are at stake.

Repeat Post about Us

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/01/cradle-of-modernist-heresies.html

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

The Cradle of Modernist Heresies

Posted by Supertradmum

In 1983, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, who was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document under the name of the Declaration on Masonic Associations.  The link is on the name.

In that document, the long history of the condemnation of Freemasonry by the Church, since 1738, was reiterated and clearly defined. The original condemnation of Clement XII, In eminenti apostolatus specula  was upheld.

Since that time, I have had many Catholics, in the United States and in Europe claim that the Church had removed the automatic excommunication on a Catholic who joined the Masons. This is not and has never been so. One has to understand that the Church's condemnation of Masonry is based not merely on the fact that it is a secret organization, but that it upholds several Modernist heresies. Firstly, Cardinal Ratizinger wrote that:

Therefore the Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion. He went on to state that no bishop had any right to change this. It is interesting that the SSPX press, Angelus Press, has one of the best books on the evils and pitfalls of Masonry. One can find ithere. However, I want to concentrate on a few of the Modernist heresies found in Freemasonry. The first is indifferentism. This heresy proclaims that all religions are the same and that religion has no place in the public life of a nation or people.Mirari Vos  On Liberalism and Religious Indifferentism written in 1832 by Gregory XVI is a forgotten document of the Church. Indifferentism leads to a relativism about religion, stating that all are either the same, or so subjective as to mean only what a person sincerely believes. This pluralism leads to another aspect that because all religions are relative and the same, these beliefs have no role in the public life, cannot affect politics, or governmental decisions. Of course, as the Catholic Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, this heresy is condemned as contrary to both Revelation and Tradition. Indifferentism leads to a denial of the supernatural, as if all beliefs are equal or subjective, there is no hierarchy, no Revelation from God. Also denied in this heresy would be dogma, for the same reasons. It is interesting that in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907, itself peppered with some Modernist heresies, that this statement from Newman is quoted in the section on indifferentism:  No truth, however sacred, can stand against it (the Catholic Church) in the long run; and hence it is that in the Pagan world, when our Lord came, the last traces of the religious knowledge of former times were all but disappearing from those portions of the world in which the intellect had been active and had a career" (Apologia, chap. v).  The second heresy of many in Masonry is eirenism.This is what I call the forgotten heresy.  The condemnation of eirenism is found in Pope Pius XII's encyclical, Humani Generis. This great work condemns existentialism, historicism (Gramsci watch), immanentism and other isms. The point of eirenism is, in the words of the Pope: setting aside the questions which divide men, they aim not only at joining forces to repel the attacks of atheism, but also at reconciling things opposed to one another in the field of dogma. And as in former times some questioned whether the traditional apologetics That branch of the science of theology which explains the reasons for the Church's existence and doctrine of the Church did not constitute an obstacle rather than a help to the winning of souls for Christ, so today some are presumptuous enough to question seriously whether theology and theological methods, such as with the approval of ecclesiastical authority are found in our schools, should not only be perfected, but also completely reformed, in order to promote the more efficacious propagation throughout the world among men of every culture and religious opinion. This heresy clearly seeks after a type of syncretism, a religion of unity, wherein divisions vanish and people come together to worship some sort of agreed upon god. I would venture to say that eirenism leads directly to Worship of the State. This is the atmosphere of religion and philosophy in the United States at this very moment. The State declares that there is no religious right to conscience, thereby setting up its own standards for so-called moral or ethical behavior. To use an example, abortion is ok because a Supreme Court decision determined it was so, and because further legislation supports it. The State has substituted itself for the Church in matters of conscience.  Wake up, American Catholics. So, the heresies sleeping in Masonry have awakened and taken over the mind-set of the nation's leaders. Simple and neat. What is happening and has happened in Catholic education, wherein schools are rebelling against the Teaching Magisterium (look here in California today, this minute) is a direct result of the concepts of eirenism. Schools and other facilities play down differences for the sake of community unity to the detriment of Catholic Teaching.  It is too late to change this huge momentum, hidden in Masonry by choice, and held in some minds by lethargy and laziness. To take the easiest way out, to placate, to be politically correct is eirenism.  The greatest heresy in Masonry is immanentism, which destroys the Revelation of God as Trinity, replacing Him with a vague, abstract presence found in the world. Pope Pius X condemned this in  Pascendi Dominici Gregis. As Catholics, we do not have much time to read all of these documents, but what is happening today in America, with the attack on the Church from the present administration concerning freedom of religion and freedom on conscience is an attack prophesied by all the documents above. If Church leaders knew their own teaching, they would have seen this coming, or even better, stopped these idealistic heresies from fomenting in the people in the pews. And, as laymen, we only have ourselves to blame if we find ourselves marginalize, persecuted, imprisoned, martyred. See my post below on the stages of persecution and the ideologies which push these heresies. The one I have left for this posting is Freemasonry, which seems to hold many of the Modernist heresies and is able to produce these in the market place as goods. As one can tell, I taught a history of ideas, history of encyclicals, history of heresies. Nothing has changed in 2012 which was not there in 1732 or earlier. Sadly, the revisionist historians within the Catholic Church look like they have won the day. I honestly feel that we are in the times of Arianism, the greatest heresy which rocked and split the Church. However, the Church prevailed, and will, as Christ promised until the end of time. But, the Lord did not assure us it would be a large, powerful, or influential Church. Perhaps the words of one of the Desert Fathers are applicable. I think, but I am not sure, it was Abba Pambo. "When asked by a young monk if they were of the greatest generation because they saw and cast out devils, and prayed, fasted, and converted  and healed people, the Abba answered. 'No, we are not the greatest generation. We have obvious power. The next generation will see Christ establish His Kingdom among the Nations, and there will be unity for awhile. But, the greatest generation is the one, which under great persecution, will survive. They are the greatest and the last.'"

A short prayer to St. Andrew, today

St. Andrew, have mercy on those who died in Scotland, the injured, and their families.

Andrew, you responded quickly to Christ's call and brought others to Him. Please bring others to God, today and inspire them to bring others as well.

A Quiet Masterpiece

I have written about this book by Benson before as well-None Other Gods. As I wrote about it a long time ago, and have many new readers, I thought I would tie this book in with the perfection series.

Benson understood, and in my humble opinion, experienced the Illumination State, if not the Unitive. No one could have written with the insights he had without some experience.

This book is the clearest novel I have ever read about the three last stages of holiness-the Dark Night, the Illuminative, and the Unitive States.

The last time I wrote about this book, the Evil One who Hates was beginning his onslaught in Ireland. I had read this book for the first time in Ireland in the convent in the Winter of 2011, and was amazed at the similarities between St. Benedict Labre and the main character, Frank. Now, many people who have read this book have not  understood the way of perfection, and the last three stages of growth in holiness, therefore, missing the point.

The choices Frank makes are those contrary to the world, the flesh, and the devil. His choices reveal his desire for unity with God.

Please buy it, read it, pass it on. I think it is a quiet masterpiece. Also, if you want to understand supertradmum, you will after reading this book.

Coming to A Head

For years, and those who have read this blog know this, I have been recommending Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World. The recent Belgian bill on child euthanasia and some things happening in America make me believe that this prophetic book is coming to reality.

The book in on line here http://archive.org/stream/lordofworld00bens#page/n5/mode/2up

I have given away copies of this in the past. I hope my friends read it.

It is one of the Pope's favorite books as the Holy Father mentioned recently.

Short of writing about the End Times, I do write that the Church is entering one of the darkest periods of persecution She has ever seen.

I see it in America. I saw it in Europe. Please read my notes on how to prepare for tribulation. Please read the perfection series.

You and I do not have much time.

Signs?

No daily Mass in the closest parish to me. I cannot get to daily Mass.

No Adoration in most churches in this diocese.

The impoverishment of the Church, resulting in closings and the dilapidation of buildings.

The taking over of Catholic hospitals by the pro-death governments-see Ireland.

The hatred of children and mothers, something many of my friends experience almost daily.

The horrible scenes from Argentina, the Macy's parade shambles I linked here, the porn on EU tv.

The mindlessness of Americans, who simply do not see what is happening to undermine the Constitution, the freedoms of individuals and the Church.

The absolute blindness of Obama Catholics.

The evils of lax and even seriously sinning clergy. Why is my pp in Las Vegas on vacation, one of the most evil cities in America?

Priests who refuse to do more than the bare minimum.

The political movements in the EU based on Marxism gaining ground.

The rise of "organized anarchy".

The communism behind the US government policies.

The use of military tactics by the police and the ignoring of the Constitutional rights of search-Boston after the bomb, for example.

The breaking down of the religious aspects of the military, separating duty from duty towards God first.

I appeal to the laity to become holy and accept all suffering as God honoring your prayers for holiness.

Those who are suffering now are being prepared for the worst.  BTW, Msgr. Benson pegged the German Church correctly in 1907.

This is my goal

Philippians 4:12-13 ‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’

For many people, this week has been extremely difficult. There are many Catholics who are suffering for various reasons, including financial crises, difficulties with children, marriage troubles, serious illness.

Some Catholics feel isolated and cut off from community and friends.

Stop and say a prayer for these good people.

Thank you.

Christ's Passion, The Passion of The Church, Our Passion

Again, if we follow Garrigou-Lagrange in his thoughts on the Passion, we see that Christ endured a suffering which encompassed the suffering of those who are betrayed, humiliated, hated, tortured, killed.

He lowered Himself, as God, to the most abject sufferings. In this manner, we may have to come to such a place of accepting a tiny bit of the Lord's Passion.

That the Church will and has suffered with Christ, there is no doubt.

If we come to this type of suffering, not exactly, of course, as we are so far below God, but perhaps sharing in a bit of His suffering, can we do this with love?  These brief meditations are merely the beginning of a larger series on such a topic.

The Extreme Sufferings Of The Passion

Fifth Article: Whether Christ Endured All Sufferings

Reply. Christ did not endure all sufferings specifically, because many of them are mutually exclusive, such as burning and drowning. It did not become Him to suffer interior bodily sicknesses, for, as St. John Chrysostom says: "It did not befit Him who healed the infirmities of others to have His own body afflicted with the same."[1780]

But Christ endured every human suffering, because: (1) He suffered something from Jews and Gentiles, from the chief priests and their servants, from the mob, even from friends and acquaintances; (2) He suffered from His friends who abandoned Him, in His reputation, His honor, in His soul from sadness and weariness, in His body from wounds and scourgings; (3) He suffered in all His bodily members, from head to foot, and in all His senses.

Reply to second objection. "As Christ was uplifted above others in gifts of graces, so He was lowered beneath others by the ignominy of His sufferings."

Reply to third objection. "The very least one of Christ's sufferings was sufficient of itself to redeem the human race from all sins." However, because of His great love for us, He willed to offer Himself as a most perfect holocaust for us, and generically endure all sufferings.

To be continued....

I love learning new things

I had missed the publication of Paul Kengor's new book The Communist, on the life of Frank Marshall Davis, Obama's supposed mentor in Hawaii.

Kengor is a writer for Townhall Magazine. I get some of the stuff through email, but I do not have a subscription. The theory is interesting. If anyone would like to get this for me, even having a second-hand copy I could use, let me know. Thanks.

Have any readers read this book? Comments welcome.

Here is Kengor's website. http://townhall.com/columnists/paulkengor/

More on St. Thomas Aquinas, Suffering And Us

Fourth Article: Whether Christ Ought To Have Suffered On The Cross

Reply. The answer is that it was the most fitting for Christ to have suffered on the cross; (1) because Christ gave us an example of virtue, so that no kind of death ought to be feared by an upright man; (2) "so that whence death came [from the tree], thence life might arise, and that He who overcame by the tree, might also by the tree be overcome";[1773] (3) and (4) that dying on a high rood, He might purify the air and prepare our ascent into heaven; (5) the fact that Christ died with outstretched hands signifies the universality of redemption; (6) because, as St. Augustine says, "The tree on which were fixed the members of Him dying was even the chair of the Master teaching";[1774] (7) because there were very many figures in the Old Testament of this death on the cross.

First objection. In this kind of death the fire pertaining to holocausts is wanting. St. Thomas replies by saying that, "instead of material fire, there was the spiritual fire of charity in Christ's holocaust."[1775]

Second objection. Death on the cross is most ignominious. St. Thomas replies to this by quoting St. Paul: "He endured the cross, despising the shame,"[1776] so that by His humility, He made reparation for our sins of pride.

Third objection. Death on the cross is a death of malediction. St. Thomas again quotes the following text from St. Paul: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,"[1777] that is, He took upon Himself the penalty of sin.

All these remarks clearly manifest the fittingness of the Passion, and they better illustrate both God the Father's love and Christ's love for us. As the Evangelist says: "For God so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son."[1778] As St. Paul says: "He that spared not even His own Son but delivered Him up for us all."[1779] Therefore our redemption is predominantly a mystery of love.

Again, to clarify the purpose of this mini-series of posts, I can point out that what Christ experienced in the Passion is what we are all called to do under times of severe trial.

Look at these points from Garrigou-Lagrange and recall that in the long perfection series, which was based on one of his books, the need for perfection dictates that we cannot truly suffer as we ought to do without undergoing purification first. 

The type of extreme suffering endure by Christ demanded an Innocence, a Purity unknown to men before His Coming.

The curses of death and the law were lifted from all the souls of all men who follow His way.

The mystery of love for us is this-that if we love Christ and His Church, we shall be willing to undergo purification and severe suffering.

To be continued....and more here.

I hope your kids did not watch the Macy's Parade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/29/kinky-boots-macys_n_4360035.html

Not for kids, again.....

So, Catholics are still asleep?