Thursday, 8 January 2015
What Are Your Loaves and Fishes?
Mark 6: 34-44 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
34 As he Went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he HAD compassion for Them, Because They Were like sheep without a shepherd; and he Began to Teach Them Many Things. 35 When it Grew late, His disciples to Him and cam Said, "This is a deserted place and the hour is now very late; 36 send 'em away so That They May Go Into the surrounding country and villages and buy something to eat for Themselves. " 37 Purpose Them Answered he, "You give 'em something to eat." They Said To Him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii [ a ] worth of bread, and give it to 'em to eat? " 38 And he Said to Them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see. "When They HAD found out, They Said," Five, and two fish. " 39 Then he ordered 'em to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So They sat down in groups of . Hundreds and fifties of 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he Looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and Gave Them to His disciples to set Before the people; . and the two fish he Divided Among them all 42 And all ate and Were filled; 43 And They Took up twelve baskets full of broken parts and of the fish. 44 Those Who HAD eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Today's First Reading-Christianiity IS Different
1 John 4: 7-10 1 John 4: 7-10 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
7 Beloved, let us love one Reviews another Because love is from God; . everyone who loves is born of God and knows God 8 Whoever does not love Does not Know God, for God is love. 9 God's Love Was Revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son Into the world so Abebooks web might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God That goal he loved us and sent His Son To Be The atoning sacrifice for our sins.
74% Considering Leaving France
74% of Jews polled here are onsidering leaving France after yesterday's horrific massacre. In 45 minutes, I shall join with the millions of French people for a moments of silence at 12, Noon, as this is a day of National Mourning.
Read this,
Some Islamists are celebrating leader and one cam out praising thesis babarous actions.
Catholics, wake up!
If my posts end up looking odd, it Is That it is illegal for public websites in France to work in English.
Read this,
Some Islamists are celebrating leader and one cam out praising thesis babarous actions.
Catholics, wake up!
If my posts end up looking odd, it Is That it is illegal for public websites in France to work in English.
Reliable People
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When I was in college a million years ago, there was a girl who was late for every class. All the students knew this and all the teachers. She was reprimanded by many of the instructors, but these corrections did not change her habit.
She got a job and was late constantly and fired. Whether she had a psychological problems, or merely bad habits, we who knew her never discovered.
I have met people since then, who are not reliable. If one makes a date to meet them, they are very late or do not show up for no serious reasons.
One states he will take one to the store and does not, always promising to help with shopping, but never does.
Another states she will have friends over for dinner, stating again and again, this will happen, and it never does. Another one tells his friends he will help out with a task and he never shows up. Sometimes, a person is so full of anxiety that that person cannot even manage his own life, much less be involved with others. Sometimes, people create a world of deceit about what one can and cannot do. Another may merely be so caught up in the self, that others simply do not orbit into the self-contained world.
I have been thinking of these human failings on a larger level. Christ gave us a parable concerning this type of person.
Matthew 21:28-32Douay-Rheims
28 But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said: Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29 And he answering, said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went.
30 And coming to the other, he said in like manner. And he answering, said: I go, Sir; and he went not.
31 Which of the two did the father's will? They say to him: The first. Jesus saith to them: Amen I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of justice, and you did not believe him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him: but you, seeing it, did not even afterwards repent, that you might believe him.
This Gospel has been quoted many times under the papacy of Pope Francis, but Christ's words have been misunderstood.
Christ refers to conversion here in these words. He is not stating that sinners enter heaven, but that they repent, late in the day, perhaps, but they do not say one thing and do another.
Notice verse 32, the "publicans and harlots believe him", which means they repented.
Those so-called faithful Jews did not repent, even though they had the Prophets and teachings of the Scriptures from which to know Who Christ Is.
The Father's Will is what? Helping in the vineyard....this is hard work and one must be reliable in order to work in a vineyard as a laborer. We are all called to do this work, which is that of evangelizing, planting, caring for, gathering in the harvest.
Reliable means that one can be trusted, has good and consistent behavior
One is true, solid, genuine, and dependable if one is reliable. God can trust that sort of person.
But, without grace, none of us are reliable. Humbly, one must ask God to be purified in order to be genuine. I have also discovered through teaching that the reliable ones have a good work ethic, good work habits, and discipline. But reliability also means being focused on a goal and our goal is eternal life with God.
The spiritual life demands the same care, which is the meaning of Christ's words for us
in Matthew's Gospel.God created us to be responsible, realiable people and the Church needs such types. Being a good Catholic is not easy, and in fact, a daily challenge.
The key to being trustworthy has to do with being an integrated, truthful person, willing to face one's own limitations and sins.
One cannot do this without God's grace and the community of the Church. We might find ourselves in a situation where being reliable means standing up for the Faith in the most trying of circumstances.
I have just spent a day with reliable people, those who take responsibility for their spiritual life and who love God first. What a treat. And, what a treat to know a couple like this. Rare gifts.
Discernment Exercises
One of things I am learning is how to discern God's Will in an extremely difficult and immediate situation. Something happened today which I shall use as an example.
Three times in the past month, God warned me in prayer that something for which I was preparing and working towards was not going to happen. The first time I thought I heard God in prayer, I merely thought that this warning was my imagination, a warning growing out of my own self, based on anxiety.
The second time I hear this message, I thought that perhaps it could be God talking to me, but I doubted the message which I was hearing, and again thought that this message was from my own imagination.
The third time I heard this message, I began to listen and wondered, is God telling me this and if so why? Then, I asked for a sign in order to determine whether what I was hearing was true or false.
I did not get the affirmation I needed for the counter-decision not to do something I had planned for months. As I did not get the affirmation, I doubted the message.
Then, this morning, the thing for which I was planning blew up in my face. What I had heard came true and I was in the state of amazement that what I had heard had been, all these weeks, from God.
I am learning discernment at a different level. This level is one which demands listening, reflecting, but responding.
My spiritual director is out of the country, otherwise I would have discussed these stages with him.
Here is the situation.
I heard three times that I would not be flying out of Malta today. I heard that this would not happen and that I should listen. I did not trust myself or God well enough.
When I was at the check-in, I was told that my travel agent had made a mistake on my ticket, putting the wrong name on the ticket, using only my middle names and not my last name. I was not allowed on the plane and had to buy another ticket.
I do not know whether I shall get a refund from the travel agent or not, but I am not getting a refund on the fast train or the hotel, as I cancelled on the same day.
Thank God I had enough money for a new ticket-just.
So, what am I suppose to learn from this?
One, to know that God indeed "speaks" to me about things ahead of time to be able to change, to plan, to respond.
Two, to know that I am not trusting myself, but in God, and that I can trust Him, especially in Adoration.
Three, that God did not intend to change this situation of fault or even carelessness, or even mistakes, because people all have free will. But, what He wants to teach us is that He can train us to respond quickly to a situation even ahead of time.
If I had trusted in God and listened, I would have my two fees returned, the hotel and the train ticket refunded, and, also, I could have had my ticket taxes refunded.
But, more than that, God did not want me to fly out today, for some reason. I do not know the reason, except I did use the day to discuss Godly things and pray with a friend. Perhaps, God thought this was more important than my leaving today.
We need to learn to react quickly to situations which are awkward and even expensive, but according to God's Plan. God does not care about comfort or money or situations which we think are odd. He tests our obedience
His Divine Will shall be done. Can we discern early enough to respond properly?
Can we learn to trust in God and not our own self?
Three times in the past month, God warned me in prayer that something for which I was preparing and working towards was not going to happen. The first time I thought I heard God in prayer, I merely thought that this warning was my imagination, a warning growing out of my own self, based on anxiety.
The second time I hear this message, I thought that perhaps it could be God talking to me, but I doubted the message which I was hearing, and again thought that this message was from my own imagination.
The third time I heard this message, I began to listen and wondered, is God telling me this and if so why? Then, I asked for a sign in order to determine whether what I was hearing was true or false.
I did not get the affirmation I needed for the counter-decision not to do something I had planned for months. As I did not get the affirmation, I doubted the message.
Then, this morning, the thing for which I was planning blew up in my face. What I had heard came true and I was in the state of amazement that what I had heard had been, all these weeks, from God.
I am learning discernment at a different level. This level is one which demands listening, reflecting, but responding.
My spiritual director is out of the country, otherwise I would have discussed these stages with him.
Here is the situation.
I heard three times that I would not be flying out of Malta today. I heard that this would not happen and that I should listen. I did not trust myself or God well enough.
When I was at the check-in, I was told that my travel agent had made a mistake on my ticket, putting the wrong name on the ticket, using only my middle names and not my last name. I was not allowed on the plane and had to buy another ticket.
I do not know whether I shall get a refund from the travel agent or not, but I am not getting a refund on the fast train or the hotel, as I cancelled on the same day.
Thank God I had enough money for a new ticket-just.
So, what am I suppose to learn from this?
One, to know that God indeed "speaks" to me about things ahead of time to be able to change, to plan, to respond.
Two, to know that I am not trusting myself, but in God, and that I can trust Him, especially in Adoration.
Three, that God did not intend to change this situation of fault or even carelessness, or even mistakes, because people all have free will. But, what He wants to teach us is that He can train us to respond quickly to a situation even ahead of time.
If I had trusted in God and listened, I would have my two fees returned, the hotel and the train ticket refunded, and, also, I could have had my ticket taxes refunded.
But, more than that, God did not want me to fly out today, for some reason. I do not know the reason, except I did use the day to discuss Godly things and pray with a friend. Perhaps, God thought this was more important than my leaving today.
We need to learn to react quickly to situations which are awkward and even expensive, but according to God's Plan. God does not care about comfort or money or situations which we think are odd. He tests our obedience
His Divine Will shall be done. Can we discern early enough to respond properly?
Can we learn to trust in God and not our own self?
Sliema Has Sides
Malta proves to be a small but complicated island. I just discovered, because I got lost walking twice in the past few days, that Sliema has "sides". When one is in the habit of walking the same ways daily, but then must travel out of one's habitual ways and find things, places, people, one discovers the sides of Sliema.
Look at the map here. If one is coming from the northern part of the bay at the top, one can either walk up straight into Sliema, or walk around the coastline, for example, on Tower Road. Because Sliema is built on a penisula, the city has "sides". When one is asking for directions, and the streets are so higgeldy-piggeldy, this sometimes is a necessary thing to do, the person may answer, "Well, you are on the right side," or "You are on the wrong side". I was on the wrong side this week and the right side this week.
Thankfully, I walk rather fast so that if I get lost, I am not late. Plus, being of Luxembourg stock, I am always early.....even if I find myself on the wrong side.
Look at the map here. If one is coming from the northern part of the bay at the top, one can either walk up straight into Sliema, or walk around the coastline, for example, on Tower Road. Because Sliema is built on a penisula, the city has "sides". When one is asking for directions, and the streets are so higgeldy-piggeldy, this sometimes is a necessary thing to do, the person may answer, "Well, you are on the right side," or "You are on the wrong side". I was on the wrong side this week and the right side this week.
Thankfully, I walk rather fast so that if I get lost, I am not late. Plus, being of Luxembourg stock, I am always early.....even if I find myself on the wrong side.
| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sliema._Malta.JPG |
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Birds And Gregorian Chant
Eight years ago, when I could still sing, I was in a choir which sang the William Byrd Mass in Five Voices. This event was one of the highlights of my life. To be in a very small choir of men and women who were trained in one long rehearsal to sing so well was such a treat, I shall remember that for the rest of my life.
The music of Byrd must be considered a gift to the entire world. When I play such music, birds sing...
Here is one of the most beautiful creations of men in the world.
The music of Byrd must be considered a gift to the entire world. When I play such music, birds sing...
Prayers, Please
I have a partial relapse of that virus I had last week. Typically, I did not get as much rest as I needed as I have had a full schedule.
This "bug" is going around Malta and several of my friends have it or have had it. Upper respiratory, mostly...
Thanks for the prayers. Part of the problem has been not being able to get out of the cold for hours and hours. Maltese houses are built to keep the cold in, because of the hot summers.
This "bug" is going around Malta and several of my friends have it or have had it. Upper respiratory, mostly...
Thanks for the prayers. Part of the problem has been not being able to get out of the cold for hours and hours. Maltese houses are built to keep the cold in, because of the hot summers.
Dark Night Series Again?
Having been moved by grace from the Dark Night of the Senses to the Dark Night of the Spirit, I may try and share some insights with you.
The irony is that one is in confusion, darkness, totally lacking in any sense of knowledge in this part of the Dark Night, so to share is almost an oxymoron.
One thinks one is going backwards or has even lost salvation. Because prayers are not answered, as God is trying to teach one complete dependency on Him aQnd not on any consolations, one doubts one's own self more and more.
One must learn to trust in the darkness by concentrating on God and the Passion of Christ. But, there is no grace of mediation, either.
The hardest thing for me is not to consistently have a spiritual director. Mine is away in another country for over a month, having left over a week ago. Such is life, but to get through the great pain and to not fall into discouragement, one does desire a spiritual director.
There are too few priests who have gone through this process themselves.
All one can do is try to focus on God and try to rest. The temptation to anxiety is huge, but one needs to make acts of faith.
I say the Jesus Prayer.
to be continued...
The irony is that one is in confusion, darkness, totally lacking in any sense of knowledge in this part of the Dark Night, so to share is almost an oxymoron.
One thinks one is going backwards or has even lost salvation. Because prayers are not answered, as God is trying to teach one complete dependency on Him aQnd not on any consolations, one doubts one's own self more and more.
One must learn to trust in the darkness by concentrating on God and the Passion of Christ. But, there is no grace of mediation, either.
The hardest thing for me is not to consistently have a spiritual director. Mine is away in another country for over a month, having left over a week ago. Such is life, but to get through the great pain and to not fall into discouragement, one does desire a spiritual director.
There are too few priests who have gone through this process themselves.
All one can do is try to focus on God and try to rest. The temptation to anxiety is huge, but one needs to make acts of faith.
I say the Jesus Prayer.
to be continued...
Fear?
The greatest problem with Catholics, besides not understanding the Faith and being too tolerant of sin, is fear.
Recently, I discovered that many Catholics are afraid of the following things or people. We cannot be afraid.
- Fear of losing the companionship of friends or family members because of speaking the truth, even gently
- Fear of being accused of being a hypocrite.
- Fear of upsetting a conversation by bringing up Church teaching on a subject.
- Fear of not being able to answer the complex questions which may arise.
- Fear of failure.
- Fear of being right, not being wrong, and what that means
- Fear of pride or fear of humility
St. John Paul II more than once told us not to be afraid. I have told my readers not to be afraid.
Here is what Christ states:
Luke 12:12New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
12 ...for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.
Sometimes, I wonder whether some Catholics actually believe that Christ is God and that He means what He states.
One reason why Christ detaches us from all people and things is so that we shall not be afraid.
In the not so distant past, I had to pass on several bags of personal things which had been given to me or purchased out of need. I had no choice. Most things I was totally detached from...but one thing I was attached to. Well, it had to go as well.
Hurts? Yes...but God is teaching me to get ready for death, and to die to self now.
One is no longer afraid if one accepts death of self.
Are we headed for a one world religion?
Too bad Hutton is a Sede....but he is correct in this quotation. And, many of the trads will break away from the true Church as well, as some already have, like Hutton.
Break aways from both ends-trad and liberal-will leave a very small remnant.
Someone asked me yesterday what the schism which is brewing would look like...
I said that the new group would claim to be the real Catholic Church and make the true Church look false.
I also think that these split off groups will create a new world religion-one religion to bind together all nations under the false gods of Tolerance and Personalism. This group will look Catholic but be rotten to the core.
Shades of Lord of the World.
Those horrible symbols on bumper stickers which are extremely popular here in Malta point to a one world church.
Tolerance is a false god. There is only one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Pay attention...Last year, the Pope Emeritus said this, among other things.
"The question of truth, that which originally motivated Christians more than any other, is here put inside parentheses. It is assumed that the authentic truth about God is in the last analysis unreachable and that at best one can represent the ineffable with a variety of symbols. This renunciation of truth seems realistic and useful for peace among religions in the world. It is nevertheless lethal to faith. In fact, faith loses its binding character and its seriousness, everything is reduced to interchangeable symbols, capable of referring only distantly to the inaccessible mystery of the divine,"
Have you ever been through the Denver Airport?
Repost for our times...
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Two Signs of Purgation
Ending this section on the general call of all to perfection, one can take a last look at St. Catherine’s Dialogue for help. I think most people can understand the activity needed on our part in order to walk the path to perfection, but what may be puzzling are the passive purifications.
Two signs, according the saint, indicate that one is going through the passive purifications of the soul, which is the same as the Dark Night of the soul. The first sign is complete docility to the Holy Spirit. One no longer trusts in one’s self, but in the movements of the Spirit. One is no longer rebellious but cooperative in grace. The second sign is the receiving of Divine inspirations through the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, and here, I am reminded both of St. Angela and Cardinal Manning in their repetition of the flowering of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
These seven gifts become “mature” after the passive purifications, a point I made over the past several years in the perfection series. That Garrigou-Lagrange reminds us of this fact corresponds with his other works, and with the great saints of perfection-Teresa of Avila , John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis de Sales, and Alphonsus Ligouri.
The passive purgations, again, take away all the dross in our hearts, minds, including the imagination, intellect, and memory. The senses are, as noted before, purged first, and then the spirit.
Then, one enters into the Illuminative State and finally, the State of Union , again defined in the perfection series.
The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are, as a reminder: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord.
These gifts come to the fore only after we are purified, which is hard for many people to understand. Sin blocks both gifts and virtues, even repeated venial sins, or venial sins which are habitually done almost automatically, revealing a need for healing as well as purgation.
Garrigou-Lagrange notes, that “while conforming ourselves to His expressed will, we must abandon ourselves to His divine will of good pleasure, however mysterious it may be, for we are certain beforehand that in its holiness it wills nothing, permits nothing, unless for a good purpose.”
Another theme on this blog which is covered in this book as well is that he who is faithful in little things will be faithful in big things. I have written over the years that being obedient in the small things is like a daily boot camp experience, wherein we make our wills stronger. Garrigou-Lagrange notes that “If every day we do what we can to be faithful to God in the ordinary routine of life, we may be confident that He will give us grace to remain faithful in whatever extremity we may find ourselves through His permission; and if we have to suffer for Him, He will give us the grace to die a heroic death rather than be shamed and betray Him.”
This book was published in 1937, when persecutions around the world were ratcheting up. We must not forget that the daily practice of virtue and the faithfulness in small things helps us grow. The author states that, “Daily fidelity to the divine will as expressed gives us a sort of right to abandon ourselves completely to the divine will of good pleasure as yet not made known to us.”
We are faced with suffering daily, and if we do not shirk from this suffering and if we do not complain or judge others, we are being faithful to this daily fidelity. Garrigou-Lagrange writes, “Daily fidelity and trusting self-abandonment thus give the spiritual life its balance, its stability and harmony. In this way we live our lives in almost continuous recollection, in an ever-increasing self-abnegation, and these are the conditions normally required for contemplation and union with God. This, then, is the reason why our life should be one of self-abandonment to the divine will as yet unknown to us and at the same time supported every moment by that will as already made known to us.”
Garrigou-Lagrange states something interesting: “In this union of fidelity and self-abandonment we have some idea of the way in which asceticism, insisting on fidelity or conformity to the divine will, should be united with mysticism, which emphasizes self-abandonment.”
Some things are just plain basics and on top of this we add our act of complete trust in God, in Divine Providence. We give God our present and our future. We also give God our past, which is very difficult for many of us who have had tumultuous pasts and need to rely on Divine Mercy, as the author points out, for the consequences.
There is no error, no misjudgment, no sin which God has not forgiven in our past. There is no trial so difficult in our present which God cannot overcome, and there is nothing in our future which we need to dread, as we are in the Hands of God.
Romans is most likely my favorite epistle of St. Paul , and Romans 8 may be the chapter masterpiece of this letter. Garrigou-Lagrange refers to Romans 8:31-39 as to the way of perfection through abandonment to God, whether we face the good will of men or malice, as he notes.
Childlike confidence is key. One cannot be too childlike, states the author, and I am glad he wrote that. He states,“Therefore, in abandoning ourselves to God, all we have to fear is that our submission will not be wholehearted enough.”
Amen to that…to be continued…
The New Problem in Malta
The Curse of Broadmindedness Bishop Fulton J. Sheen from “Moods and Truths” 1932
"The Catholic Church intolerant." That simple thought, like a yellow-fever sign, is supposed to be the one solid reason which should frighten away any one who might be contemplating knocking at the portals of the Church for entrance, or for a crumb of the Bread of Life. When proof for this statement is asked, it is retorted that the Church is intolerant because of its self-complacency and smug satisfaction as the unique interpreter of the thoughts of Christ. Its narrow-mindedness is supposed to be revealed in its unwillingness to cooperate effectively with other Christian bodies that are working for the union of churches. Within the last ten years, two great world conferences on religion have been held, in which every great religion except the Catholic participated. The Catholic Church was invited to attend and discuss the two important subjects of doctrine and ministry, but she refused the invitation.
That is not all. Even in our own country she has refused to lend a helping hand in the federating of those churches which decided it was better to throw dogmatic differences into the background, in order to serve better the religious needs of America. The other churches would give her a royal welcome, but she will not come. She will not cooperate! She will not conform! And she will not conform because she is too narrow-minded and intolerant! Christ would not have acted that way!
Such is, practically every one will admit, a fair statement of the attitude the modern world bears to the Church. The charge of intolerance is not new. It was once directed against Our Blessed Lord Himself.
Immediately after His betrayal, Our Blessed Lord was summoned before a religious body for the first Church Conference of Christian times, held not in the city of Lausanne or Stockholm, but in the city of Jerusalem. The meeting was presided over by one Annas, the primate and head of one of the most aggressive families of the patriarchate, a man wise with the deluding wisdom of three score and ten years, in a country in which age and wisdom were synonymous. Five of his sons in succession wore the sacred ephod of blue and purple and scarlet, the symbols of family power. As head of his own house, Annas had charge of family revenues, and from non-biblical sources we learn that part of the family fortune was invested in trades connected with the Temple. The stalls for the sale of bird and beast and material for sacrifice were known as the booths of the sons of Annas. One expects a high tone when a priest goes into business; but Annas was a Sadducee, and since he did not believe in a future life, he made the most of life while he had it. There was always one incident he remembered about his Temple business, and that was the day Our Lord flung his tables down its front steps as if they were lumber, and with cords banished the money-handlers from the Temple like rubbish before the wind.
That incident flashed before his mind now, when he saw standing before him the Woodworker of Nazareth. The eyes of Jesus and Annas met, and the first world conference on religion opened. Annas, ironically feigning surprise at the sight of the prisoner whom multitudes followed the week before, opened the meeting by asking Jesus to make plain two important religious matters, the two that were discussed later on in Lausanne and Geneva and Stockholm, namely, the question of His doctrine and the question of His ministry. Our Lord was asked by a religious man, a religious leader, and a religious authority, representative of the Common faith of a nation, to enter into discussion, to sit down to a conference on the all-important questions of religion-ministry and discipline-and He refused! And the world's first Church Conference was a failure.
He refused in words which left no doubt in the mind of Annas that the doctrine which He preached was the one which He would now uphold in religious conference, namely, His Divinity. With words, cut like the facets of a diamond, and sentences, as uncompromising as a two-edged sword, He answered Annas : "I have spoken openly to the world . . . and in secret spoke I nothing. Why asketh thou Me? Ask them that have heard Me, what I spoke unto them: behold, these know the things which I said."
In so many words Jesus said to Annas: "You imply by your questioning that I am not Divine; that I am just the same as the other rabbis going up and down the country-side; that I am another one of Israel's prophets, and at the most, only a man. I know that you would welcome Me to your heart if I would say that I am only human. But no! I have spoken openly to the world. I have declared My Divinity; I say unto you, I have exercised the right of Divinity, for I have forgiven sins; I have left my Body and Blood for posterity, and rather than deny its reality I have lost those who followed Me, who were scandalized at My words. It was only last night that I told Philip that the Father and I are One, and that I will ask My Father to send the Spirit of Truth to the Church I have founded on Peter, which will endure to the end of time. Ask those who have heard Me; they will tell you what things I have said. I have no other doctrine than that which I declared when I drove your dove-hucksters out of the Temple, and declared it to be My Father's House; that which I have preached; that which angels declared at My birth; that which I revealed on Thabor; that which I now declare before you, namely, My Divinity. And if your first principle is that I am not Divine, but am just human like yourself, then there is nothing in common between us. So, why asketh thou Me to discuss doctrine and ministry with you?"
And some brute standing near by, feeling himself the humiliation of the high priest at such an uncompromising response, struck Our Blessed Lord across the face with a mailed fist, drawing out of Him two things: blood, and a soft answer: "If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou Me?" And that soldier in the court-room of Annas has gone down in history as the representative of that great group that bears a hatred against Divinity, the group that never clothes that hatred in any intellectual lan¬guage, but rather in violence alone.
All that happened in the life of Christ happens in the life of the Church. And here in the court-room of Annas I find the reason for the Catholic Church's refusal to take part in movements for federation such as those inspired by present world conferences on religion. Happy the Church is that there should be a desire for the union of Christendom, but she cannot take part in any such conference. In so many words the Church says to those who invited her: "Why askest thou me about my doctrine and my ministry? Ask them that have heard me. I have spoken openly through the centuries, declaring myself the Spouse of Christ, founded on the Rock of Peter. Centuries before prophets of modern religions arose, I spoke my Divinity at Nicea and Constantinople; I spoke it in the cathedrals of the Middle Ages; I speak it today in every pulpit and church throughout the world. I know that you will welcome me to your conferences if I say I am not Divine; I know Ritualists throughout the world feel the need of my ceremonials, and would grasp my hand if I would but relinquish my claim to be Divine; I know a recent writer has argued that the great organization of the Church could be the framework for the union of all Christendom, if I would give up my claim to be the Truth; I know the church doors of the world would rejoice to see me pass in ; I know your welcome would be sincere; I know you desire the union of all Christendom-but I cannot. ‘Why do you ask me?’ if your first principle is that I am not Divine, but just a human organization like your own, that I am a human institution like all other human institutions founded by erring men and erring women. If your first principle is that I am human, but not divine, then there is no common ground for conference. I must refuse."
Call this intolerance, yes! That is just what it is-the intolerance of Divinity. It is the claim to uniqueness that brought the blow of the soldier against Christ, and it is the claim to uniqueness that brings the blow of the world's disapproval against the Church. It is well to remember that there was one thing in the life of Christ that brought His death, and that was the intolerance of His claim to be Divine. He was tolerant about where He slept. and what He ate; He was tolerant about shortcomings of His fish-smelling apostles; He was tolerant of those who nailed Him to the Cross, but He was absolutely intolerant about His claim to be Divine. There was not much tolerance about His statement that those who I receive not in Him shall be condemned. There was not much tolerance about His statement that any one who would prefer his own father or mother to Him was not worthy of being His disciple. There was not much tolerance of the world's opinion in giving His blessing to those whom the world would hate and revile. Tolerance to His Mind was not always good, nor was intolerance always evil.
There is no other subject on which the average mind is so much confused as the subject of tolerance and intolerance. Tolerance is always supposed to be desirable because it is taken to be synonymous with broadmindedness. Intolerance is always supposed to be undesirable, because it is taken to be synonymous with narrow-mindedness. This is not true, for tolerance and intolerance apply to two totally different things. Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons. We must be tolerant to persons because they are human; we must be intolerant about principles because they are divine. We must be tolerant to the erring, because ignorance may have led them astray; but we must be intolerant to the error, because Truth is not our making, but God's. And hence the Church in her history, due reparation made, has always welcomed the heretic back into the treasury of her souls, but never his heresy into the treasury of her wisdom.
The Church, like Our Blessed Lord, advocates charity to all persons who disagree with her by word or by violence. Even those who in the strictest sense of the term-are bigots, are to be treated with the utmost kindness. They really do not hate the Church, they hate only what they mistakenly believe to be the Church. If I believed all the lies that are told about the Church, if I gave credence to all the foul stories told about her priesthood and Papacy, if I had been brought up on falsehoods about her teachings and her sacraments, I would probably hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.
Keeping the distinction well in mind between persons and principles, cast a hurried glance over the general religious conditions of our country. America, it is commonly said, is suffering from intolerance. While there is much want of charity to our fellow-citizens, I believe it is truer to say that America is not suffering so much from intolerance as it is suffering from a false kind of tolerance: tolerance of right and wrong; truth and error; virtue and vice; Christ and chaos. The man, in our country, who can make up his mind and hold to certain truths with all the fervor of his soul, is called narrow-minded, whereas the man who cannot make up his mind is called broadminded. And now this false broad¬mindedness or tolerance of truth and error has carried many minds so far that they say one religion is just as good as another, or that because one contradicts another, therefore, there is no such thing as religion. This is just like concluding that because, in the days of Columbus, some said the world was round and others said it was flat, therefore, there is no world at all.
Such indifference to the oneness of truth is at the root of all the assumptions so current in present-day thinking that religion is an open question, like the tariff, whereas science is a closed question, like the multiplication table. It is behind that queer kind of broadmindedness which teaches that any one may tell us about God, though it would never admit that any one but a scientist should tell us about an atom. It has inspired the idea that we should be broad enough to publish our sins to any psychoanalyst living in a glass house, but never so narrow as to tell them to a priest in a confessional box. It has created the general impression that any individual opinion about religion is right, and it has disposed modern minds to accept its religion dished up in the form of articles entitled: "My Idea of Religion," written by any nondescript from a Hollywood movie star to the chief cook of the Ritz-Carlton.
This kind of broadmindedness which sacrifices principles to whims, dissolves entities into environment, and reduces truth to opinion, is an unmistakable sign of the decay of the logical faculty.
Certainly it should be reasonably expected that religion should have its authoritative spokesmen, just as well as science. If you had wounded the palm of your hand, you would not call in a florist; if you broke the spring of your watch, you would not ask an artesian-well expert repair it; if your child had swallowed a nickel, you would not call in a collector of internal revenue; if you wished to determine idle authenticity of an alleged Rembrandt, you would not summon a house painter. If you insist that only a plumber should mend the leaks in your pipes, and not an organ tuner, if you demand a doctor shall take care of your body, and not a musician, then why, in heaven's name, should not we demand that a man who tells about God and religion at least say his prayers?
The remedy for this broadmindedness is intolerance, not intolerance of persons, for of them we must be tolerant regardless of views they may hold, but intolerance of principles. A bridge builder must be intolerant about the foundations of his bridge; the gardener must be intolerant about weeds in his gardens; the property owner must be intolerant about his claims to property; the soldier must be intolerant about his country, as against that of the enemy, and he who is broadminded on the battlefield is a coward and a traitor. The doctor must be intolerant about disease in his patients, and the professor must be intolerant about error in his pupils. So, too, the Church, founded on the Intolerance of Divinity, must be equally intolerant about the truths commissioned to her. There are to be no one-fisted battles, no half-drawn swords, no divided loves, no equalizing Christ and Buddha in a broad sweep of sophomoric tolerance or broad-mindedness, for as Our Blessed Lord has put it: "He that is not with Me is against Me."
There is only one answer to the problem of the constituents of water, namely, two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. There is only one answer to the question of what is the capital of the United States. There is only one true answer to the problem of two and two. Suppose that certain mathematicians in various parts of this country taught diverse kinds of multiplication tables. One taught that two times two equaled five, another two times two equaled six, another two times two equaled seven and one fourth, another two times two equaled nine and four fifths. Then suppose that some one decided it would be better to be broadminded and to work together and sacrifice their particular solutions for the sake of economy. The result would be a Federation of Mathematicians, compromising, possibly, of the pooled solution that two times two equaled five and seven eighths. Outside this federation is another group which holds that two times two equals four. They refuse to enter the federation unless the mathematicians agree to accept this as the true and unique solution. The broadminded group in conference taunts them, saying: "You are too intolerant and narrow-minded. You smack of the dead past. They believed that in the dark ages."
Now this is precisely the attitude of the Church on the subject of the world conferences on religion. She holds that just as the truth is one in geography, in chemistry, and mathematics, so too there is one truth in religion, and if we are intolerant about the truth that two times two equals four, then we should also be intolerant about those principles on which is hinged the only really important thing in the world, namely, the salvation of our immortal soul. If the assumption is that there is no Divinity, no oneness about truth, but only opinion, probability, and compromise, then the Church must refrain from participation. Any conference on religion, therefore, which starts with the assumption that there is no such thing as truth, and that contrary and contradictory sects may be united in a federation of broad¬mindedness, must never expect the Church to join or cooperate.
As we grew from childhood to adolescence, the one thing that probably did most to wreck our faith in Santa Claus-I know it did mine -was to find a Santa Claus in every department-store window. If there were only one Santa Claus, and he was at the North Pole, how could there be one in every shop window and at every street corner? That same mentality which led us to seek truth in unity should lead us in religious matters to identically the same conclusion.
The world may charge the Church with intolerance, and the world is right. The Church is intolerant-intolerant about Truth, intolerant about principles, intolerant about Divinity, just as Our Blessed Lord was intolerant about His Divinity. The other religions may change their principles, and they do change them, because their principles are man-made. The Church cannot change, because her principles are God-made. Religion is not a sure of beliefs that we would like, but the sum of beliefs God has given. The world may disagree with the Church, but the world knows very definitely with what it is disagreeing. In the future as in the past, the Church will be intolerant about the sanctity of marriage, for what God has joined together no man shall put asunder; she will be intolerant about her creed, and be ready to die for it, for she fears not those who kill the body, but rather those who have the power to cast body and soul into hell. She will be intolerant about her infallibility, for "Lo," says Christ, "I am with you all the days even unto the end of the world." And while she is intolerant even to blood, in adhering to the truths given her by her Divine Founder, she will be tolerant to those who say she is intolerant, for the same Divine Founder has taught her to say: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
There are only two positions to take concerning truth, and both of them had their hearing centuries ago in the court-room of Solomon where two women claimed a babe. A babe is like truth; it is one; it is whole; it is organic and it cannot be divided. The real mother of 'the babe would accept no compromise. She was intolerant about her claim. She must have the whole babe, or nothing-the intolerance of Motherhood. But the false mother was tolerant. She was willing to compromise. She was willing to divide the babe-and the babe would have met its death through broadmindedness.
Can someone get me these, please
The Practice of Christian & Religious Perfection by Fr Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J
I think it is in two volumes...
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
An Unpopular Subject
St. Paul wrote: As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned (Titus 3:10-11).
And, again from St. Paul: When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Rom 2:14-16)
Pope Pius IX, December 9th, 1854 said:
in Quanto conficiamur moerore 10 August, 1863:
The problem is, of course, that without the sacraments, and especially Baptism, Eucharist and Confession, it is almost impossible not to fall into mortal sin with one's free will. It is hard to imagine anyone in today's world maintaining innocence, without mortal sin, being saved outside the Church, which gives us opporunities for grace over and over and over.
Sadly, God will actually stop giving grace if persons decide consistently to choose mortal sin over His Truth, either as given to all in natural law, as codified in the Ten Commandments, (which is the natural law "written in stone" ), and the holiness called for in the Beatitudes. Remember, only the perfect see God, so in addition, one must submit to purgation.
I am not sure there is such a thing as invincible ignorance for adults in this day and age of information glut.
Yes, God gives sufficient grace to all men and women, but to those who turn towards Him, He gives more and more grace.
And, contrary to some clergy and lay people, a misinformed or underdeveloped conscience in a Catholic is not invincible ignorance.
Christ is clear on what one needs for salvation as seen in these passages: Mark 16:16, Luke 13:3 John 6:54.
And from the CCC: Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. (CCC 846)
And, again from St. Paul: When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Rom 2:14-16)
Pope Pius IX, December 9th, 1854 said:
And...We must hold as of the faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge; we must also, on the other hand, recognize with certainty that those who are invincible in ignorance of the true religion are not guilty for this in the eyes of the Lord. And who would presume to mark out the limits of this ignorance according to the character and diversity of peoples, countries, minds and the rest?
in Quanto conficiamur moerore 10 August, 1863:
It is known to us and to you that those who are in invincible ignorance of our most holy religion, but who observe carefully the natural law, and the precepts graven by God upon the hearts of all men, and who being disposed to obey God lead an honest and upright life, may, aided by the light of divine grace, attain to eternal life; for God who sees clearly, searches and knows the heart, the disposition, the thoughts and intentions of each, in His supreme mercy and goodness by no means permits that anyone suffer eternal punishment, who has not of his own free will fallen into sin.
The problem is, of course, that without the sacraments, and especially Baptism, Eucharist and Confession, it is almost impossible not to fall into mortal sin with one's free will. It is hard to imagine anyone in today's world maintaining innocence, without mortal sin, being saved outside the Church, which gives us opporunities for grace over and over and over.
Sadly, God will actually stop giving grace if persons decide consistently to choose mortal sin over His Truth, either as given to all in natural law, as codified in the Ten Commandments, (which is the natural law "written in stone" ), and the holiness called for in the Beatitudes. Remember, only the perfect see God, so in addition, one must submit to purgation.
I am not sure there is such a thing as invincible ignorance for adults in this day and age of information glut.
Yes, God gives sufficient grace to all men and women, but to those who turn towards Him, He gives more and more grace.
And, contrary to some clergy and lay people, a misinformed or underdeveloped conscience in a Catholic is not invincible ignorance.
Christ is clear on what one needs for salvation as seen in these passages: Mark 16:16, Luke 13:3 John 6:54.
And from the CCC: Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. (CCC 846)
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