We will rejoice and be glad in it...

Tobias and Sarah's Prayer on their Wedding Night
"Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.' Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age." -Tobit 8:5-7


I was walking in a lovely street coming back from a dinner where Catholic ideas, theology and philosophy were happily discussed and the young man who was escorting me home in the dark, told me about the girls his friends were dating. Now, this young man is going into a traditional Tridentine order to be a priest, but he was concerned about his friend's taste in young women. All are of marriageable age.

The young man, who I shall call Ben, decried the fact that the ladies in question were not strong Catholics, and that it was the duty of the woman in a relationship to bring the man to the Church and to be the strong Catholic in the couple. I could not believe a twenty year old was so lacking in machismo, but Ben and I disagreed. My point was and is that the man is the leader in the family and in the relationship of husband and wife. Unlike the old view that the woman brings the man to holiness, I suggested that the man was the "domestic priest" of the family, strong in holiness and leading his wife and children to holiness.

The idea that the man can be, like I saw when in Rome, standing in the back of the Church, or outside, having a cigar and talking business while his wife and children attend Sunday Mass, appalls me. That the man should cleave to his wife is Biblical, and both should lead each other to holiness, purity of love, and God Himself. But to excuse the man, which Ben was doing, shows an ethnic bias which I honestly thought was gone in the modern Church.

However, the more I thought about it, I realized that many men enter marriage with the idea that the wife will read the Bible, pray the rosary, and when the children come, take over their religious education. This is not the paradigm I was raised to expect.  The husband is the head of the wife and the family. He is the physical and spiritual head. The woman defers to him, if necessary, but they should agree or come to agreement, especially on things spiritual.

Ben had never in his young years heard the idea that the man is the spiritual head. Once we talked about the order of God's plan for marriage, he began to see the logic and need for such. To blame a woman for a man's laxity towards God and the Church in marriage is, bluntly, wrong. For young men to be dating women who they think will bear the burden of the holiness of the family and themselves, is also wrong. Men must take the responsibility for leadership in things spiritual. Family prayer, praying the rosary together, catechizing children, all belong to the man and woman together, with the male taking the lead. This is the supernatural order of marriage. Ladies, marry a strong and holy Catholic man and you will have a Catholic home.

Nigeria Massacre Surivors' Fund

Please look at this video of Michael Voris today. Do what you can. One must weep, especially at the end. Click on this link, as for some reason, I could not put the video in the blog.

http://www.realcatholictv.com/documents/nigeria.php

To stand up against the tyranny of the majority

This photo and the following translation are taken from this site. http://www.senrinomichi.com/

Go to the site for the fantastic photo.

This site started as an earthquake support site mostly. But, the photo and translation speak for themselves. I put these on as reminders that we all must face consequences for standing up to tyrannies.

The photo was taken in Hamburg in 1936, during the celebrations for the launch of a ship. In the crowed, one person refuses to raise his arm to give the Nazi salute. The man was August Landmesser. He had already been in trouble with the authorities, having been sentenced to two years hard labour for marrying a Jewish woman.
We know little else about August Landmesser, except that he had two children. By pure chance, one of his children recognized her father in this photo when it was published in a German newspaper in 1991. How proud she must have been in that moment. 

Poll alert-go and vote

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9068338/Texas-forces-mothers-seeking-abortions-to-view-image-of-unborn-child.html

Pro-lifers go to this link and vote. We are in the minority at the moment.

Prayers Needed-The First Spiritual Work of Mercy

Michael Voris and his team are travelling into the Muslim part of Nigeria this week to spread Catholic Teaching and make videos for us back "home". 40 Catholics were killed in that area on Christmas Day. Please pray for his and his team's safety. Remember, that area suffers under violence from the Boko Haram, whose work in seen in a Telegraph article of this week.

Are Priests Afraid of Hell? Do Some Bishops Not Believe in Excommunication?

The current events in America and the lack of Faith in Europe point to a common omission in the past forty years on the part of catechesis of children and adults in the Catholic Church. I have not heard but three sermons on Hell in forty years. I have a steel trap memory for such things. I have known hundreds of priests, working in Catholic institutions most of my life, going to daily Mass when my work permitted.

Three sermons in forty years shows me that priests are afraid of Hell and damnation. Some excellent priests teach online and in the media. One of those priests teaches off and on at seminary. Now, before I go further, I want to stress that I daily pray for priests, and by name. I pray for seminarians. I am critical because I want priests to get to Heaven and I want their flocks to get to Heaven. Simple. But, today, I must be Daniel and walk into the courts to write a truth, which is always unpopular.

The concepts of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory are teachings of the Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations and the Orthodox Church, our siblings in the Faith, all.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to Heaven and Hell: in Part One, one can find the teachings on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, as well as on the particular and final judgments. Here is part of that part:


IV. HELL

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."⁶¹² Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.⁶¹³ To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.⁶¹⁴ Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"⁶¹⁵ and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"⁶¹⁶

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."⁶¹⁷ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."⁶¹⁸

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."⁶¹⁹

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;⁶²⁰ for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":⁶²¹

Father, accept this offering from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final damnation, and count us among those you have chosen.⁶²²

The message is clear, and if one wants backup, read the New Testament, the Fathers of the Church, Aquinas, and many others. The list is long.

So, why do priests not speak of Hell? I am convinced that the loss of Faith in America and Europe can be attributed to the denial of consequences for sin. No Hell, why not sin?

Adult Catholics have the duty to learn the teachings of the Church on their own, using all the massive amount of information, including the Net, which is available to them. One cannot use the excuse that "Father never told us there was a Hell."

But, there is a whirlwind of evil in seminary training. I know this. Some seminarians are being taught either that there is not a Hell, or a Purgatory, or that no one is in those "places". I do not want to get into the nature of the afterlife, but point out one very influential priest who is making a television series in Chicago on Catholicism. He is a priest who has been on EWTN and in the press and has a gift of teaching. However, he does not believe that anyone is in Hell, which denies the age-old teaching of the Church on punishment and consequences for sin. Christ is God and He referred to fire. Our bodies are part of who we are. We shall have our bodies in Eternity.

Why do some priests deny physical punishment, as bad as psychological punishment is, as these are not the same?

Denying that there are people is Hell is denying Hell. Why would Holy Mother Church give us teaching on an empty state or place? Here are two of the videos, and the priest is Father Barron. If he wants to remove this from the Net, he may do so. He uses the word "hope" in reference to no one in Hell, but he has watered down the real message. He has taught the same thing in his seminary classes. There are two videos. There and here. The first one is much better than the second. He uses references such as Augustine and Aquinas, which is good. But, he also quotes Barth and von Balthasar, the second who I gave up as a heretic after studying him for years as a doctoral student. And, here is one of the huge problems with today's seminary training. The students have skipped the basics and moved on to discussions of theology, some topics outside the doctrines and dogmas of the Church. These young men do not know the Catechism, or Trent, or the Encyclicals, or the Syllabus of Errors, yet they are studying Barth and von Balthasar. How short-sighted, and plainly, as a teacher at the college level for years, how stupid. There are no core classes in some seminaries, but only what the instructors want to teach from their own private studies. Many young men coming into Fr. Barron's classes would be confused and misled. These students are lacking in a solid background in the core ideas of the Faith. Some have never read Aquinas or Augustine, or if they have, only snippets. No dubious discussions of theological questions should be discussed without firm foundations of the Tradition and Revelation of the Faith, the Church.


However, a reminder, theologians do not determine what is given through the Teaching Magisterium of the Church-the Holy Spirit does. Now, some might say that the hope that there are no people in a state of desolation is allowed.  I do not think any approved teaching of the Catholic Church has ever defined that Hell is empty.

Most people who do not have a fear of damnation, and this does not help our present situation. And, if there is no Hell, there is no excommunication. If there is no excommunication, those politicians, priests and maybe bishops, who push the abortion agenda through the current administration in America, have no consequences.

By the way, C.S. Lewis, quoted twice by the above priest, was not a Catholic and had a distinctly Protestant approach to revealed Truth. He stayed outside the True Church. His works are good, but limited, and he cannot be compared to Augustine or Aquinas. We can pick and chose our private reading, but the Teachings of the Church stand like rocks. This is one reason why I am a Catholic. The Truth sets one free and does not confuse.

Rosary Beads in the Sand-Box of the Irish Government

The Independent report on the argument in the Irish government on the re-opening of the Vatican embassy show the ridiculous lies of those who supposedly shut it down for financial reasons. Here is a snippet, but read the whole thing.


Mr Gilmore's rejection of the demands from within Fine Gael puts him at odds with reported commitments from Taoiseach Enda Kenny to review the embassy closure. Junior FG ministerLucinda Creighton yesterday said the embassy could be re-opened within two years.
  

Discontent about the Vatican embassy closure led to a series of dramatic, and sometimes farcical, clashes at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting last week. During the meeting, over half the TDs called for the re-opening of the embassy.

One of the most surreal moments saw TD Peter Mathews brandish a set of rosary beads at the "secularist members of the party". The meeting became so heated that senior ministers Michael Noona and James Reilly had to intervene to calm the mood.

Mr Noonan stressed "Enda's credentials as a sound Catholic" and at one point claimed that "he is a better Catholic than myself".

European Journalists Finally Respond to Crisis in America

Drudge has links to The Telegraph article this morning on the attack on Catholics in Obamacare. It is about time the international community looks at the issue. If America becomes a tyranny, Europe has no chance at all of freedom. Only the European blogs have carried such news in the past week, not the major papers. Kudos to the bloggers.

If the largest free nation in the world loses freedom of conscience, the entire global community will suffer. Look at the links, Europeans.

Army tries to silence chaplains, an article is there, and one of 167 bishops' statements is here. An article, reiterating louder calls for civil disobedience is also there.

Nice that the European press finally caught up with some real issues. Why we need freedom online is obvious.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pray for Egypt, Pray for Iraq

Got this from the great Spencer website on a link here. Memorize this. And use it when voting. I pray for the women of the world and for children, who may never know freedom. I pray for my fellow Christians in Egypt and other places of persecution. And, did anyone notice this in the news on a
lack of cooperation" in Egypt over held Americans? Lord Jesus, have mercy on us all.

Lest we forget, Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, of the Chaldean Catholic Church, was kidnapped and killed in March of 2008. Here is the Wiki page on his life and death.

As a Christian, I may have different views on the names of the freedoms, but the ideas are clear.

This Week's Prayer for Priests-Second Week

Prayer for Priests 

  O Almighty, Eternal God, look upon the Face of your Son and for love of him, who is the Eternal  High Priest, have pity on your priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop's hands. Keep them close to you, lest the enemy prevails against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest  degree unworthy of their sublime vocation. 

Richard James Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, 1895-1970

Today's prayer is for all parish priests, pastors, associates, military chaplains of all nations who are priests, and for hermits who are priests. Also, I pray for all priests who are retired, ill, or in hiding in countries of persecution.

The first one is here

Nuns or Nones

6 Dominicans

18 Benedictines, Mary Queen of Apostles

42 Sisters of Life

Can you tell me why the more traditional orders are getting vocations and the other orders are not?

3 Franciscans

35 or so Mary, Mother of the Eucharist Dominicans

32 Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 

Maybe some Arian Bishops were just being "politically correct" and lost their souls in the bargain

St. Nicholas striking Arius at the Council

Look at the fantastic, but chilling article from another blog by a Mr. Badeaux, sent to me by an electronic friend, on whether some of the bishops should be excommunicated. I said before here that this time in America is like the time of Arianism, which split the Church, and when some bishops, as well as laity and rulers, professed that heresy. Here is the link, and we need to stop being nice!!! By the way, remember, as told us in A Man for All Seasons by Thomas More, silence is complicity. Silence is consent. If a bishop does not come out against either this present administration's attack on religious freedom or excommunicates pro-choice Catholic politicians in his diocese, he is responsible for those crimes by consent.

To make it all more real, do we want politically correct bishops, or this? This is a first trimester murdered baby. And, Google removes photos like this all the time, as does YouTube. Why?

More Dead than Alive

OK, honesty time. I have always been a bit geeky. Most of my friends in philosophy and theology class were a bit geeky. All the cool kids were in drama and art. Sociologist and engineers were not on the radar, off at opposite ends of the spectrum. In 1968-1969, I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey at least twelve times and no, I did not do drugs. Part of it was that I was dating a lots of guys who said, "Hey, do you want to see Space Odyssey?" Of course, unless the guys were really geeky, I went again and again. (I saw Dr. Zhivago four times in a month because of this pattern. And, I hate that movie now, although the scenery is great!)

The movie does not exactly fit into Catholic ideas of God or humans. In fact, it is a clarion call of the Modernist heresy of "progressivism", condemned by the Church, which states that humans will evolve into some type of superior spiritual and physical creatures. Star Trek is full of this heresy.

In the past few days, the BBC magazine has had an interesting article on whether there are more people living than dead. The author, and here is the link, notes that Kubrick in his book, which I read only once, puts this statistic in his story. "Behind every man now alive stand 30 ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living."


Wesley Stephenson, the author of the article writes that now, in 2012, there are 19 dead people, or  "ghosts" for every living person. This is astounding. As one who daily prays for the souls in Purgatory, this was a shocker. I assumed the opposite. 

We do not have to believe in private revelations, but here are the three children, two on their way to canonization, who saw Hell. 


This statistic might not mean much to some who read this blog, but it does for me, I need to pray more for the dead. How many souls are in Purgatory? How many in Heaven? How many in Hell? And, yes, contrary to some theologians and priests in America, in seminaries, and elsewhere, there is a Hell and there are souls there, forever. Pray, fast, pray.

More on the Iowa Space Science Center, pets and babies

On my star posting below, a few days ago, I mentioned my brother's cool website. Here is another photo of him with a cat which looks just like a former cat of mine, Puddyman, who now lives in St. Louis, with a very nice girl named Grace. Sadly, when I started traveling, I had to get homes for Puddy, Vladimir and Miho-Chan. Thankfully, they are all with lovely people. This is Lully with Charles Miller. He is my "little brother". I have three-brothers, not cats. As I mentioned a dog and birds below, I thought I should mention cats, as cats are very sensitive. Also, if you want to adopt, there are links towards the bottom of this blog on the right-hand side for kitty, doggy, and baby adoptions. If you can, adopt. This photo was scanned from Saturday's newspaper in Iowa City, so it looks a bit wrinkly.

I Write for Christians, Women, and Those Who Want Freedom

As a follow-up to my two posts this last week on the Arab Winter, just in case any readers have any doubts as to my or the waking media's attention, here is a quotation from the Iranian leadership. Here is the link.


“In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning.

Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.”

The countries represented included Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia, all of which have been involved in the Arab Spring.

The people in that country are waiting for the Mahdi. Again, from this article, "Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon." 

In other words, if Iran can cause Armageddon, the Mahdi will appear. The British have seen this before

We know the Messiah has come and He is not a political or military ruler. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the symbol of peace.

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Luke 19

Christians, do your duties and here are the lists; not options.

• To feed the hungry;
• To give drink to the thirsty;
• To clothe the naked;
• To harbour the harbourless;
• To visit the sick;
• To ransom the captive;
• To bury the dead.

• To instruct the ignorant;
• To counsel the doubtful;
• To admonish sinners;
• To bear wrongs patiently;
• To forgive offences willingly;
• To comfort the afflicted;
• To pray for the living and the dead.

How many times have I heard that I should not speak to someone about a fault? I was saved from damnation as a very young person because a good nun was honest with me and told me my soul was dead-dead. Now, we cannot say anything, as we may offend someone. What about to admonish sinners, does the Church not understand? And, we are the Church. The lists are from the Catholic Encyclopedia online and the link is above.

There are ways of speaking to friends and family members, but speak we must and not tolerate evil. The toleration of evil is one of the reasons Christ in Revelation criticized the Church at Thyatira, a quotation I put on this blog a month ago or so. But I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols. Rev. 2:20

See below for Thomas Aquinas and the Age of Nice here and APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM and the dumbing down of lay expectations here.

But, this is not all. What about the corporal works of mercy? This list is not for a yearly Christmas giving to the homeless, as good as that is. This list is the daily duties of the Christian. I shall only highlight one, which is visit the sick. There are families which do not go to hospitals, and parishioners which shun the sick and old. Anyone can visit a sick person. The Asian communities put us Christians to shame with the way they love and revere the old. A duty...not an option.

All the items on the list are duties, not options. And, the spiritual works of mercy are just as important as the corporal works. Here in Ireland, I have discovered a sad, cultural phenomenon. The Catholics on the whole do not as adults take the initiative in their Faith. For some reason, they are like babies waiting to be fed instead of finding out what they need to know to be faithful adults. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are demanded of us by God. Not options, duties....

We shall be asked about our involvement in these duties at our particular judgement. 

Another chance to attend a Tridentine Mass in Ireland

I am in Trad Heaven. I went this morning to a beautiful Latin Mass in a church built just after the Penal Times, in 1806. St. Michael's is near Kells, in the middle of green countryside and hedgerows. The Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Staholmog, Co. Meath is a small gem in the middle of nowhere, as we would say in the States. And here, Ireland is all it should be with green hills, a pub in the distance, black and white cows, handsome Celtic people and adorable Celtic altar boys. The Mass was sung by Father David Jones, a hermit of the Premonstratensian Order. The world is so small, as he actually knows a friend or two of mine. He has a website here.


People here ask me why I would leave sunny and friendly Malta for cold, wet, and, well, cold and wet Ireland. The lack of the Latin Mass is on my list of five major reasons. One other being no birds, except pigeons, (see post from the 2nd). The Church is "so cute" as we would say in the States, but being in a place, where a century or more ago, people were going to Catholic Mass under a shadow, I felt keenly the reality of St. Michael's today. 


What I love about the Latin Mass is not merely the reverence, but the true simplicity, in the sense of purity and grace. It is the simplicity of the Incarnation.  Here is the schedule for those who may not know it.


Sunday: 1pm, 
First Friday: 11am and 
Holy Days announced: 1pm or 11am where no conflict with parish celebrations.

On Augustine and Agatha

Crivelli's  Agatha and Augustine are a strange juxtaposition of saints. but I have been thinking of both of them today.

The painting fits into my theme today of youth, love and sacrifice. I cannot imagine a more painful suffering than Agatha's and she is one of my patrons, as I had cancer. Her peace and trust provide us with a great example of love and perseverance.  So, too, Augustine persevered through his own personal sufferings for the Love of God. Can we do any less? Here is one of his prayers for a small meditation.

I beg of You, my God,

let me know You and love You so that I may be happy in You.

And though I cannot do this fully in this life, yet let me improve from day to day till I may do so to the full.

Let me know You more and more in this life, that I may know You perfectly in heaven.

Let me know You more and more here, so that I may love you perfectly there,

so that my joy may be great in itself here, and complete in heaven with You.

O Truthful God, let me receive the happiness of heaven which You promise so that my joy may be full.

In the meantime,

let my mind think of it,

let my tongue talk of it,

let my heart long for it,

let my mouth speak of it,

let my soul hunger after it,

let my flesh thirst after it,

let my whole being desire it,

until such time as I may enter through death into the joy of my Lord,

there to continue forever, world without end.

Carpaccio's painting of Augustine in the Studio of St. Jerome is one of my favorites. I would have loved to have been that little dog sitting in Augustine's study while he wrote all his amazing works. However, as a dog, I would have had to understand Latin. Some of the objects are symbols of his themes.

If Christ were here today, would He be crucified again? For all the persecuted Christians, check out this painter...who is a prophet in our times

Can you spare a half-hour for this artist? A hint from Drudge opened an extraordinary meditation series on political art, which I usually do not like. However, I think the man is inspired and guess which one is my favorite?

For all the persecuted Christians in the world, including the States.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=DBNdSRz9t24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WL9x5vG8ib4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGZR7FaTq7I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VUo8OuFaiI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXAfrSy04R0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4KGlBHyVeYU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&src_vid=4KGlBHyVeYU&annotation_id=annotation_37902&v=oRxMQhn0WAg

http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2012/02/03/controversial-artist-depicts-obama-trampling-the-constitution/

Go buy something from this man on his website as seen on the videos.

And, a bishop speaks on this video: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/02/bp-slatterys-statement-about-pres-obamas-attack-on-religious-liberty/#comment-321279

Perfection Part Four-Conversation and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

For years, Confirmation classes have been taught by those who do not understand the Life of the Spirit. Part of the problem is a misunderstanding or ignorance on the nature of Baptism. The other is the ignorance of the real meaning of the Gifts of the Spirit.

Perhaps the problem is partly the same problem of the modern generations in thinking that any talents which they have are "theirs" and not given by God. Meritocracies create this false ambiance of a person having done it "my way" with "my effort" and "my talents". Garrigou-Lagrange highlights the teaching of the Council of Trent in his section on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, writing that:

To know the teaching of the Church on this subject we shall re­call what the Council of Trent says: "The efficient cause [of our justification] is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratuitously (I Cor. 6: II), signing and anointing with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance (Eph. I: 13 f.)." (11)

The Catechism of the Council of Trent fixes this point exactly by enumerating the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost according to Isaias (11: 2 f.), and by adding: "These gifts of the Holy Ghost are for us, as it were, a divine source whence we draw the living knowledge of the precepts of Christian life. Moreover, by them we can know whether the Holy Ghost dwells in us." (12) St. Paul says, in fact: "For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God." (13) He gives us this testimony by the filial love which He inspires in us, and by which He makes Himself, so to speak, felt by us.(14)

Now out of these rich paragraphs are two concepts I want to highlight. The first is the idea of "gratuitously" given gifts. And, the second is the fact that we can know if we have the Indwelling of the Spirit.

In Baptism and in Confirmation, God freely and gratuitously gives us the Holy Spirit, and this means that the Trinity dwells in us. The word gratuitous means given freely without us having to earn these gifts. These are not ours to earn, but ours to accept. By Faith, we know we are given the means to live a Christian life of perfection here, now, on earth. We are freely given by God all we need to be saints. As a reminder, these gifts are listed in Isaiah: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness, and He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." 

All Catholics, who are in sanctifying grace, can exhibit these gifts. All are called to do so. And, how do we observe these in ourselves?

Garrgiou-Lagrange and Thomas Aquinas point to two easy ways to determine whether we actually have the gifts, which we do in Faith, and these are first, our relationship with God and secondly, our relationship with others.  It is that simple.

If we are in a relationship with God, using the Gifts of the Spirit, we are in conversation with God, as St. Ignatius points out, as if He were a friend of ours in the same room. We can discuss anything with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can be in a habit and attitude of prayer constantly, even when doing work, even menial work. When Garrigou-Lagrange, in quoting St. Paul notes that we can know through the Holy Spirit that the Trinity dwells in us, we only need to look at ourselves in relationship with God first and all others second.

Are we seeking to be in the Presence of God? Do we use the Gifts as a source of Life daily? Do we practice the virtues using these Gifts? Do we express love for God daily, gratefully, in prayer and deeds? The Holy Spirit testifies to our own status.

Second, do we love? Do we sacrifice for others? Do we die to self? Do we want and pursue perfection?

If we can say "yes" to all of these questions, in conversation with God and ourselves, we begin to recognize the Gifts. And why is this important? We cannot use what we do not know we have. If we have love, we give love and if we know love, we can give and receive love. Now, sometimes the only love we receive is that from Christ directly, and not from some other human person, who is not the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Such unrequited love is the love of self-denial and self-sacrifice. The Gifts allow us to give and use that love in practical ways. Love is practical and not merely an idea. Love results in works of love. If we see this, we know we have the Gifts of the Spirit truly, and not just by Faith and Hope, but in Love. 

If we are not exhibiting the virtues, there is a blockage, a hidden sin, which takes an honest examination of conscience and Confession to change. The virtues flow from the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.