Two important articles including one which is a persecution watch

http://pjmedia.com/blog/5-ways-bill-maher-is-right-and-reza-aslan-wrong-about-islam/

AND persecution in the UK Look at this Telegraph article as well. VIP

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11173102/Christian-school-downgraded-for-failing-to-invite-an-imam-to-lead-assembly.html

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/10/uk-christian-school-downgraded-for-failing-to-invite-an-imam-to-lead-assembly

A successful Christian school has been warned it is to be downgraded by inspectors and could even face closure after failing to invite a leader from another religion, such as an imam, to lead assemblies, it is claimed.

The small independent school in the Home Counties was told it is in breach of new rules intended to promote “British values” such as individual liberty and tolerance in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, involving infiltration by hard-line Muslim groups in Birmingham.

Details of the case are disclosed in a letter to the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, from the Christian Institute, which is providing legal support to the school.

The group warned that the new rules intended to combat extremism are already having “disturbing consequences” for religious schools and forcing Ofsted inspectors to act in a way which undermines their ethos.

It follows complaints from orthodox Jewish schools about recent inspections in which girls from strict traditional backgrounds were allegedly asked whether they were being taught enough about lesbianism, whether they had boyfriends and if they knew where babies came from.

Role of religion in schools under pressure after Trojan Horse scandal
14 Aug 2014

In the latest case inspectors are understood to have warned the head that the school, which was previously rated as “good” that it would be downgraded to “adequate” for failing to meet standards requiring it to “actively promote” harmony between different faiths because it had failed to bring in representatives from other religions.

They warned that unless the school could demonstrate how it was going to meet the new requirements there would be a further full inspection which could ultimately lead to it being closed.

A Government consultation paper published in June, explaining the new rules, makes clear that even taking children on trips to different places of worship would not be enough to be judged compliant.

The Institute, which is already planning a legal challenge to the consultation, arguing that it was rushed through during the school holidays, fears that the new guidelines could be used to clamp down on the teaching of anything deemed politically incorrect on issues such as marriage.

“Worryingly, evidence is already emerging of how the new regulations are requiring Ofsted inspection teams to behave in ways which do not respect the religious ethos of faith schools,” Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute, told Mrs Morgan.

“The new requirements are infringing the rights of children, parents, teachers and schools to hold and practise their religious beliefs.”

Listing recent cases involving criticism of Anglican, Roman Catholic and Jewish schools by Ofsted, he added: “The Christian Institute is currently working with an independent Christian School which has been marked down by Ofsted for not promoting other faiths.

“Astonishingly it was told it should invite representatives of other faith groups to lead assemblies and lessons, such as an Imam.

“The wording of the regulations inevitably results in these kind of outcomes.

“While we obviously support attempts to address the problem of radicalisation, the current regulations fail to do this.”…

Sigh, need help from watchful readers

In the past year, I posted a video from an American expert on diseases who clearly knew that the Ebola crisis was, at least in part, engineered.

I remember discussing this with one of my friends married to a doctor.

Does anyone recall this post and date? I am missing the tag.

2012 Repost

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Do you want to know what subversion is? This is brilliant.

Posted by Supertradmum

If you have time, a prophetic video by ex-KGB Yuri Bezmenov. Gramscian....from a friend. American freedom is gone. Here is why. By the way, he states the going back to religion is the only way to change the fast route to tyranny.

Brezmenov states there are three stages to tyranny, which should look all too familiar to us today.

First stage is demoralization. It takes between 15-20 years to do this-one generation of students. There are tendencies in every country against the moral principles of the nation and the infiltrators take advantage of all of these. As to religion, he said ridicule it. Undermine it. The accepted religious dogma is eroded. Listen carefully to what he says. Friendship is replaced by social workers, etc. Fascinating. His take on the media being successful because mediocre is great. There is more, much more on this point. Why did no one pay attention? He states that the action of unions is only for the furtherance of ideology. Yes, I have thought this for a while as well. He said it in 1983. He description of  relativism is brilliant.

President Elect Obama stated this after his first election: "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."

Second stage is distablization. Here Yuri states that the same functions of society, such as law and order, the economy and the military are involved here. No compromise is possible at this point. This is where America is with abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and even states' rights. This is the radicalization of human relations--student and teachers, husband and wife, employers and employees, police and people, army and civilians and so on. Society becomes more antagonistic and the media takes the side against the society at large. He talks of the sleepers who all of the sudden become leaders--does this sound familiar--a president who came out of nowhere. Here he refers to human rights, civil rights groups involved in crisis. When the legitimate hierarchy cannot function any more, these artificial bodies or groups step in and rule the society-social workers, media, etc. He refers to Iran and the revolutionary committees which toppled the government. The population at large looks for a saviour, a messiah to get out of the crisis. Watch this! VIP.

There are two alternatives: civil war or invasion. He gives Lebanon as an example, if you know your history.

Third Stage is normalization. This is ironic. Yuri refers to the Czech take-over after the Czech Spring by the Soviets and all those who helped with the revolution were killed. No revolution is necessary. This sounds like Egypt today. This is also brilliant. This is KGB teaching. Yuri also refers to Afghanistan and the killing of a series of people who took the country to these stages and then killed and were killed-Marxists killing the leaders. No  democracy is possible any more, but tyranny at this point takes over. Remember Grenada, which became a Soviet base? Liberals get upset at these actions. This is coming all too soon, folks. We shall watch this or fight it.  For Catholics, there is only evangelizing and now, plus working on our own perfection.

This is one of the greatest finds on line. Thanks to my friend from Poland for these! You know who you are!

Signs of The Times

For years, I have been warning people about false seers. One thing I do not understand is the lack of discernment among some Catholics.

Some of us have a  "gut reaction" to false seers. Some of us figure out who is false simply by reading statements in light of Church doctrine and comparing falsity with truth.

But, I have one really clear message for those who are susceptible to false prophets, false seers.

Obey the Church.

If the Church has not approved something, do not follow that person or set of events.

Simple.

There are plenty of approved apparitions and private revelations. One does not have to go after what I call "the flavor of the month".

Remember the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 24:24Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 

24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

I am concerned about two things regarding false seers.

One, disobedience in one area of one's spiritual life leads to disobedience in other areas. Disobedience is a serious sin.

Two, when the last great deceiving anti-Christ comes, (there have been many), he will be believed by signs and wonders. If a person is inclined to see signs and wonders as always being from God, one will be deceived by the anti-Christ.

Notice that Christ referred to the false Christs in the plural. Too often, it is those who are pious and want to become holy who get caught up in false prophets.

But, I have a theory on this problem of being deceived. I believe those who are susceptible to false seers, false apparitions and false prophets have some hidden sin in their lives which they are not facing which interferes with their gift of discernment from God. 

Deceiving one's self about sin leads to more sin. This is one reason we must root out our predominant fault. As long as it is in our soul, mind, imagination, memory and understanding, we are vulnerable to sin.

Christ, Our Lord, warned us. This is the time in history when we see more false prophets and false seers than ever before. Be wise. Ask God to hone your gift of discernment. 

My rule of thumb is this: if the Church has not positively approved an apparition, prophet or seer, I do not follow such. 

Simple. I wait for the Church to tell me who is from God. In the Church, I am protected.

I have known Catholics who have left the Church following false seers, false messages.

That is the reason why satan raises up those who teach things contrary to the Church's Magisterium.

Do not fall prey to the Deceiver. Remember, he does not care how one goes to hell, just so that a person does go to hell. Remember, satan is the god of this world. And false seers are of this world-seeking power, money, influence, attention, status, praise.

Disobedience makes one an "unbeliever". One cannot believe in false seers and follow the Church's guidelines.

2 Corinthians 4:4Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God.

On Merit Again

When someone asks why Catholics ask the intercession of saints, as many of us are by our Protestant friends, one answer may be based on the idea of merit.

See other posts on the definition of merit.

The saints merited graces on earth by their holiness. They are in glory, and can continue to share that merit with the entire Church.

Most of us are not holy enough to gain or use merit, which we should be "working on" in the process of purification. Therefore, it is necessary for us to ask the saints for aid in prayer.

For example, as noted in the past few weeks, one of my personal patrons is Blessed Jacinta of Fatima. Even as a very young child she gained tremendous graces, or merit through suffering intensely. Therefore, when I ask her to join me in prayer for certain persons or situations, I can be assured that her merits help me and those for whom I am praying.

I made a list of patrons years ago and tend to ask the same saints for help. Yesterday, on the day of Blessed Paul VI's canonization, I entreated him to help me with something. I got a little answer, an indication that he listens to prayers from me. His merits have been recognized by the Church and we can ask his intercession.

The saints may be seen like elder brothers and sisters who are wiser, holier, closer to God than we are and who want to help us. We are all part of the Church-we the in the Church Militant and they in the Church Triumphant.

Consider the merits of the saints.

Not sure about this

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11171567/Season-of-birth-affects-your-mood-later-in-life.html

In my family, four of us have birthdays in January. I am the less irritable and less emotional, but the other three-oh my goodness.

The one born in April is positive, but the one born in May is, well, phlegmatic.

And, the one born in September is one of the three moodiest of all.

There have got to be other factors...

Repost, as I am still here

Sometimes, it is difficult to smile at Him

Posted by Supertradmum

Years ago, the woman who stood up in my wedding as matron of honor told me to “transcend difficulties”. I had to do this, as circumstances forced me to do so.  This great lady was almost my mother’s age, but a good friend of mine. She had been raised in India, in the Raj. Her father died early. Then, she and her mother came back to London to live. She had to leave her mom and live on a farm, as she was young enough to be sent out of harm’s way during the Blitz of London. Later, she married a wonderful man, but only had two children.

She and her husband took care of her mother until that old woman died. Her mother never learned to cook, or sew, or clean, as when she grew up, she had seventeen servants and lived in the luxury of the English in India. My friend had to pay for all her mother’s many needs.  As a person with many hardships to bear, my friend knew how to “transcend” trials. She was “self-possessed”; that is, she had control over her emotions, mind, soul. She was a peaceful woman. Another friend of mine is the same way. She is in her nineties and had an extremely hard life, living with a husband who was ill all their married life. She, too, was and is, “self-possessed”, able to transcend all types of difficulties.

This type of transcendence and self-control only comes with humility and prayer. There is a reality about people who live transcendently. Garrigou-Lagrange writes that we must become closer to God daily in simplicity of heart, “…without which there can be no contemplation of God and no true love.”

What does he mean by this? The death of the ego is the beginning of this emptying of the heart. Egotism must go, must, as I have written many times on this blog.

If we are “too full of ourselves”, there is no room for God. We must not desire attention, or fame, or status, or riches. We must find contentment in what is given to us. We must transcend the trials put on our paths. We need to meditate, and then, to contemplate.

Contemplation is not meditation, again, as I have noted on this blog. Contemplation, whether active, or passive, demands focusing on God Himself, and not on ourselves.

Do we think of ourselves and our problem before Christ in Adoration, or do we immerse ourselves in Him? Do we come with the proverbial laundry list of prayers, or do we just, like Mary of Bethany, sit in His Presence?

Purity of heart, mind, and soul comes with a combination of prayer and sheer gift. Some great saints have these gifts early. Most of us must walk the road of travail and suffering to get to such purity.  We must choose mortification, however, as the given trials may not be enough.

We may not become great saints, few of us will be Padre Pios or Mother Teresas. However, all of us are called to be saints and that means we are all called to purification and perfection.

It is rather ironic that I always  think and sometimes write that “this is my last post on perfection” but I can now see that as I learn and grow, taking the long road through suffering and dying to self.  May God be patient with me. Let me return to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

My favorite photo of Mother Teresa is not one of her with her beloved dying, or with St. John Paul II, but one of her alone in prayer. Like all saints, like Christ, she needed to be alone with God. Sister Agnes, her helper, said once,“Every day we have Mass, half an hour of meditation, morning prayer, afternoon prayer, and in the evening we have a full hour of Adoration. It would not be possible to work otherwise. There must be a spiritual motive. You can work only for God. You can never work for any man.”

Mother Teresa said, “That is why we begin and end the day with prayer, because, when we pray, we are touching the body of Christ.  You people in the world might not have the time or leisure to pray. It is a beautiful gift of God for us to have that amount of time.”

We must make time. We must.

Mother Teresa also said, “I am not afraid to say I am in love with Jesus because He is everything to me.”

For all Catholics, our work should be for Jesus, and He can be All in All.

Here is the voice of a simple heart. Mother Teresa states that chastity is “undivided love”, that poverty is “freedom”, that total surrender is “obedience”.

“If I belong to God, if I belong to Christ, then He must be able to use me. That is obedience. ….If you really belong to the work that has been entrusted to you, then you must do it with your whole heart.  And you can bring salvation only by being honest and by really working with God. It is not how much we are doing, but how much love, how much honesty, how much faith, is put into doing it. It makes no difference what we are doing. What you are doing, I cannot do, and what I am doing, you cannot do. But all of us are doing what God have given us to do. ….”

And, I love Mother Teresa for saying this-as I have experienced the disrespect which comes to the poor, even from priests, sadly.

“The poor are not respected. People do not think that the poor can be treated as people who are lovable, as people like you and I. You know, the young are beginning to understand. They want to serve with their hands. And to love with their hearts. To the full, not superficially.”

I believe this as I believe that in the remnant will be many young people who have sought and found love.

And, Mother Teresa’s comment about doing the work God has called us to do is also a call to humility. Sometimes people want desperately to do something big for God. But, sometimes, we are called to do something small for God.

I blog. I pray. I do dishes, clean, do laundry, make coffee, take walks. Nothing grand in all of this… but more than that, I love. I am learning daily to live in love, to choose love, to walk, clean, make coffee in love. I blog in love, as that is what God wants me to do right now.

There is nothing to do but to love.

Some of us learn this by loving and being loved by another. Some of us learn this directly from Jesus, the Bridegroom. Either way, love hurts.

“True love hurts. It always has to hurt. It must be painful to love someone, painful to leave them, you might have to die for them. ….A young American couple told me once, ‘You know a lot about love; you must be married.’ And I said, Yes, but sometimes I find it difficult to smile at Him.”

Perfection Series VI: XIII Reparation And Mary Again

The Pope Emeritus writes about Mary and the Presentation of Christ in his book  Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. Simeon told Mary she would suffer-her heart would be pierced. Such are the paintings of the Sorrowful Mother we see throughout the centuries.

The Pope Emeritus notes that Mary had true "com-passion" with her Son. And, that is "quite unsentimentally assuming the suffering of other's as one's own."

This is another way to describe Reparation. Now, Mary is then the "Co-Redemptorix" as some theologians have explained through this compassion.

If one is called to Reparation, one takes on a little bit of this compassion for others and suffers with that person in order for them to reach heaven.

Those who are in difficult relationships understand this concept.

To be continued...

On Anons, Again

People who read this blog know I do not post anonymous comments, unless, and this is true in a few cases, I know who the anons are.

There are some nasty people who continue to send me anonymous comments, which they know I shall not post, people who want just to be horrible and rude.

To those anons-stop it! 

Maliciousness is a serious sin. Cowardice is also a sin. The two seem to go together. Trolls do not like truth, they only want attention, like screaming two-year olds.

Trolls become like beasts, sub-humans, and they must consider their immortal souls.

One name for satan is The Antagonist. Hello!

Choose a different side, trolls. (I know who one is, sadly.)

There is nothing worse than a Catholic troll.

The promised re-post....see last post

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

An Anxiety Put Down

Posted by Supertradmum

Using Newman these past few days for meditation and devotional reading, I was delighted to read his own comment that he meditated  better with a pen in his hand.

I was greatly relieved after reading this, as I meditate better when typing. Many of my blog posts are meditations on the Scriptures or, recently, a combination of study and contemplation on the Attributes of God. Writing helps me pray and prayer helps me write.

Why this is so, I do not know. Perhaps it is the way some minds work; in other words, writing out something is part of the process of meditation or active contemplation.

I have been worried about this for a long time, but as this was true for a saint, I can relax, as one who is aspiring to be a saint, I have found a model in writing. I am so glad Newman wrote this for me and others to ponder.

Twice I started theses on Newman and have not, for good reasons, not sloth, not been able to finish these. I have been studying him off and on for over 30 years, but only really read this phrase today.

Amazing how when one is ready for certain knowledge, it can just leap off the page of a book one has read before.....

The second idea I want to share from Newman is the thought of his that all sin is actually blasphemy. This point stunned me today.

Here he is on this point: "O my God, can I sin when Thou art so intimately with me? Can I forget who is with me, who is in me?" The fact that we Catholics through baptism have the Indwelling of the Trinity means that when we sin, we sin against God within us.

Think on that....

This great man needs another miracle in order to be canonized. Please pray for one and pray for me to be included in his intercessions before the Throne of God.

Meditations on The Keyboard

This blog helps me as much as it does my readers. I wrote months ago how I meditate with a pen in my hand, as did Blessed Cardinal Newman. Some of us work out insights in writing. I shall repost that next.

But, since August, I have seriously considered dropping the blog for three reasons.

First, as God shows me more and more of my hidden sins, those predominant faults, the more I realize I have no right to write about anything.

Second, the times are such that people must now make decisions and stop reading how to be perfect, and become perfect. One can only share so much and then it is time for readers to act.

Third, being in the Dark Night is exhausting. I cannot imagine how Mother Teresa kept going in fifty years of the Dark Night. Will power keeps me going...sometimes passion.

But, I cannot yet leave off the blog...not yet. I keep waiting to hear that clear voice I heard to start, stop and re-start again.

My blogging is a work of love and passion, for God and for the Church, which is all of you out there in the blogosphere.

But, knowing how much I am the wounded healer becomes more and more of a burden.

Today, I read this, by the Pope Emeritus:

"Redemption is not 'wellness' it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price, the anguish of the Cross."

Being a writer demands some sense of self-absorption. One must be a wordsmith, working with ideas on paper, on the computer, moving pieces of type around mentally in order to communicate clearly.

But, for those of us called to write, the action is part of who we are as well as what we do.

To break through the self-absorption, one must reflect and pray much, and, listen. I must daily listen to God and listen to His People.

My liberation from sin comes at a price. Someday, God will clearly say, "Stop writing."

That day has not come, yet.

But, I wait on orders, knowing that more of me will die when I have to give up the blog.

Today, in the Carmelite Church where I went to Mass, I saw the large modern stained-glass window of Blessed Titus Brandsma. A bit of comfort, as there is a window of him in the Carmelite Church I attended regularly the summer of 2013. It was almost as if he was saying-"No, you cannot quit yet. Keep going."

The Cross is writing in the pain of knowing I have no right to write, that my readers need to out-grow me, and that so many I love the most do not read this blog. I write for the absent ones as well as you.

Here was a post on this subject.

Friday, 26 July 2013

Titus Brandsma and Thoughts on Time

In the Carmelite Church on Whitefriars in Dublin, the sacristan has moved the statue of Blessed Titus 

Brandsma from its place in a small shrine, to the front of the church, in honour of his feast day tomorrow. 

Already, dozens of candles have been lit for intercessions.

In the small shrine, at the back on the left-hand aisle, are now placed a few letters from Blessed Titus to 

various people, concerning his stay in Ireland in the 1930s. I read the translations, and was reminded 

of the letter in the Church of the Circumcision in Valletta, from St. Ignatius of Loyola. (no longer there in Oct. '14)

I find it moving to see the handwriting and read the words of saints. These men were doing what God asked 

them to do on earth. Now, their letters are second class relics.

And, I was reminded at how fast the world changed from the writing of these letters of Bl. Titus to the 

day he was murdered. Freedom of speech was taken for granted when he wrote his letters in the mid 1930s. 

How quickly things changed for him. He was actually killed today, July 26th, in 1942, less than eight years 

from the dates when he was writing freely in Ireland, just before his trip to the States in 1935.

How fast things can change, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Bl. Titus was arrested on January 19 and 

died on July 26th. Not much time to prepare for martyrdom...

We have more time to think of freedom of the press, freedom of speech for Catholics; perhaps a year 

and half will pass before we are fined for writing on certain subjects. I am extrapolating from recently passed laws.

Blessed Titus is a great saint for modern times. May he bless all of us who pray and write for the glory of 

God and His Kingdom.

Bl. Titus' Press Pass from http://carmelnet.org/brandsma/html/biog6.html

Sunday Reflections Three

When I first moved to England in 1985, and went to parties of academics, my world then, people would start a conversation not with the American phrase, "Oh, and what do you do?", but with "Ah, and who are your people?"

In those days, the English identified a person by their "people". At first, I thought this odd and even rude, as asking about one's job is more objective and less intrusive.

Then, I began to realize that we are identified by our "people".

An ancient text explains who we are as a people, as Catholics. I cannot find the source today, maybe a reader can help, but the paraphrase is this, "We are the Sabbath people, and without the Sabbath we do not exist as a people."

The Catholic Encyclopedia reminds us that Sunday quickly become the day of Catholic worship.

The practice of meeting together on the first day of the week for the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrificeis indicated in Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; in Apocalypse 1:10, it is called the Lord's day. In the Didache (14)the injunction is given: "On the Lord's Day come together and break bread. And give thanks (offer the Eucharist), after confessing your sins that your sacrifice may be pure". St. Ignatius (Ep. ad Magnes. ix) speaks of Christiansas "no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also Our Life rose again". In the Epistle of Barnabas (xv) we read: "Wherefore, also, we keep the eight day (i.e. the first of the week) with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead".
St. Justin is the first Christian writer to call the day Sunday (I Apol., lxvii) in the celebrated passage in which he describes the worship offered by the early Christians on that day to God. The fact that they met together andoffered public worship on Sunday necessitated a certain rest from work on that day. However, Tertullian (202) is the first writer who expressly mentions the Sunday rest: "We, however (just as tradition has taught us), on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude, deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil" ("De orat.", xxiii; cf. "Ad nation.", I, xiii; "Apolog.", xvi).


This day gives us an identity. We should be clear and careful not to lose our Sunday People identity.

From Breitbart

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/10/18/Expert-Warns-of-Mutant-Ebola-Evolving-to-Spread-Hotter-and-Faster

Maltese Couple Being Considered for Canonization

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141019/local/daughter-reacts-as-maltese-couple-is-touted-for-canonisation.540231

I cannot read the entire story. When I went to get a paper on the bishop's resignation, these were sold out. Am borrowing a paper for the news coverage.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141019/local/A-pastor-s-tribulations.540224

Sunday Reflections Two

Sunday observance also reminds us of something else. Over the years, I have seen the locus of relationships change from family to work.

More and more people find that their primary relationships are with people with whom they work, instead of with family or friends.

This cultural phenomenon has happened especially in America, where people who work work more than 40 hours per week. We spend more time with our work mates than even with our immediate families.

Here is the problem with this: our families and friends, for the most part, share in our values, share our religious viewpoints, our morals. Our primary relationships in marriage and real friendship have a basis in commonly shared world views, or should.

Those with whom we work rarely share those same values or ideals. In fact, and I can attest for this fact working in academia most of my life, rarely do we find someone with whom we share the closest things in our hearts, and the center of our lives, Who is God.

Sunday observance gives us a chance to reconnect with the deepest feelings and thoughts which we hold. We stop and reconsider the week, repent and start again with renewed minds and hearts, if we keep Sunday as God intended.

Without this respite, one may easily lose focus, lose faith, hope and charity, which are missing in the world.

Sunday observance helps us to find ourselves, to recreate in the real sense of the word.  We need Sunday to be fully human, body and soul renewed.

We need to spend time with those who refresh our souls and renew our minds on Sunday.

We need to spend extra time in prayer.

Keep Sunday, as God's ideas are always better than ours.

No Beauty without Sunday

One of the changes I have seen in Malta since I first came several years ago, is the number of people working on Sunday in construction projects, deliveries, and so on.

The days of old, Sunday was truly a day of rest, with communal meals, family meals, gatherings, walks with loved ones and so on. Also, extra services marked the day, and quiet time for reflection.

My mother remembers that St. Louis shut down on Sunday when she was a child. The streets remained quiet, as people did not travel far. Families spent time together in small pursuits.

I remember when the stores first opened in Iowa in the 1970s. None of us liked this, as the malls took over from the old downtown shops, mostly family owned, which closed on Sunday.

Families.in the old days, brought out violins, sang, ate a meal together, visited grandparents and for a moment, life was joyful beautiful. Sunday reminded us of that Beauty was in our lives, and Beauty Is God.

To see so many shops open and see so many people doing heavy labor saddens me here in Malta.

Part of it has to do with the multicultural society which Malta has become with less Catholics here and more people who do not believe that Sunday is God's holy day

Why is Sunday observance important?

Keeping the Lord's Day reminds the individual as well as the culture Who is God.  God needs to be the First Love, First Person in each life of a nation. When commerce, money, entertainment, even sin push God to the side on Sunday, the people are clearly stating who their gods are now

To see the idolatry of money and work reminds me of the Tower of Babel incident.

God was upset with men for their pride and disregard for nature and His Plans for men. We all need a day of rest and reflection, a day when we set aside our own pursuits in order to listen to God speaking in the depths of our hearts. What does He want of us? What are His Plans for us?

Busyness and noise destroy humans, bit by bit by bit. Sunday observance is not about what one cannot do, but about what one must do-pay attention to the interior life with God. Sunday observance is also a foretaste of heaven, when all work has ended as we rejoice in the love of God together.

I pray that Malta and other countries realize that God demands this day to be holy. It is not a request.

Lest Catholics think only Protestants are supposed to obey God in keeping the Sabbath holy, I quote the entire section in the CCC here.

PART THREE
LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
"YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND"
ARTICLE 3
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.⁹⁰The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.⁹¹

 I. THE SABBATH DAY

2168 The third commandment of the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the sabbath: "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD."⁹²
2169 In speaking of the sabbath Scripture recalls creation: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."⁹³
2170 Scripture also reveals in the Lord's day a memorial of Israel's liberation from bondage in Egypt: "You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with mighty hand and outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day."⁹⁴
2171 God entrusted the sabbath to Israel to keep as a sign of the irrevocable covenant.⁹⁵ The sabbath is for the Lord, holy and set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving actions on behalf of Israel.
2172 God's action is the model for human action. If God "rested and was refreshed" on the seventh day, man too ought to "rest" and should let others, especially the poor, "be refreshed."⁹⁶ The sabbath brings everyday work to a halt and provides a respite. It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money.⁹⁷
2173 The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day.⁹⁸ He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath."⁹⁹ With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing.¹⁰⁰ The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God.¹⁰¹ "The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."¹⁰²

II. THE LORD'S DAY

This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.¹⁰³

The day of the Resurrection: the new creation
2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week."¹⁰⁴ Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath,¹⁰⁵ it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.¹⁰⁶

Sunday - fulfillment of the sabbath
2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:¹⁰⁷

Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death.¹⁰⁸

2176 The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship "as a sign of his universal beneficence to all."¹⁰⁹ Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people.

The Sunday Eucharist
2177 The Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life. "Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church."¹¹⁰
"Also to be observed are the day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension of Christ, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christi, the feast of Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, the feast of Saint Joseph, the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and the feast of All Saints."¹¹¹
2178 This practice of the Christian assembly dates from the beginnings of the apostolic age.¹¹² The Letter to the Hebrews reminds the faithful "not to neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another."¹¹³

Tradition preserves the memory of an ever-timely exhortation: Come to Church early, approach the Lord, and confess your sins, repent in prayer. . . . Be present at the sacred and divine liturgy, conclude its prayer and do not leave before the dismissal. . . . We have often said: "This day is given to you for prayer and rest. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."¹¹⁴

2179 "A parish is a definite community of the Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular church; the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop."¹¹⁵ It is the place where all the faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The parish initiates the Christian people into the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this celebration; it teaches Christ's saving doctrine; it practices the charity of the Lord in good works and brotherly love:

You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.¹¹⁶

The Sunday obligation
2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."¹¹⁷ "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."¹¹⁸
2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.¹¹⁹ Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.
2182 Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God's holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
2183 "If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the Liturgy of the Word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families."¹²⁰

A day of grace and rest from work
2184 Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,"¹²¹ human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord's Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.¹²²
2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.¹²³ Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.

The charity of truth seeks holy leisure- the necessity of charity accepts just work.¹²⁴

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.
2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.
2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. If a country's legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this "festal gathering," this "assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven."¹²⁵

IN BRIEF
2189 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Deut 5:12). "The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord" (Ex 31:15).
2190 The sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.
2191 The Church celebrates the day of Christ's Resurrection on the "eighth day," Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord's Day (cf. SC 106).
2192 "Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church" (CIC, can. 1246 § 1). "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass" (CIC, can. 1247).
2193 "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound . . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body" (CIC, can. 1247).
2194 The institution of Sunday helps all "to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their amilial, cultural, social, and religious lives" (GS 67 § 3).
2195 Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day.

---

90 Ex 20:8-10; cf. Deut 5:12-15.
91 Mk 2:27-28.
92 Ex 31:15.
93 Ex 20:11.
94 Deut 5:15.
95 Cf. Ex 31:16.
96 Ex 31:17; cf. 23:12.
97 Cf. Neh 13:15-22; 2 Chr 36:21.
98 Cf. Mk 1:21; Jn 9:16.
99 Mk 2:27.
100 Cf. Mk 3:4.
101 Cf. Mt 12:5; Jn 7:23.
102 Mk 2:28.
103 Ps 118:24.
104 Cf. Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1.
105 Cf. Mk 16:1; Mt 28:1.
106 St. Justin, I Apol. 67:PG 6,429 and 432.
107 Cf. 1 Cor 10:11.
108 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Magn. 9,1:SCh 10,88.
109 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,122,4.
110 CIC, can. 1246 § 1.
111 CIC, can. 1246 § 2: "The conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with prior approval of the Apostolic See."
112 Cf. Acts 2:42-46; 1 Cor 11:17.
113 Heb 10:25.
114 Sermo de die dominica 2 et 6:PG 86/1,416C and 421C.
115 CIC, can. 515 § 1.
116 St. John Chrysostom, De incomprehensibili 3,6:PG 48,725.
117 CIC, can. 1247.
118 CIC, can. 1248 § 1.
119 Cf. CIC, can. 1245.
120 CIC, can. 1248 § 2.
121 Gen 2:2.
122 Cf. GS 67 § 3.
123 Cf. CIC, can. 120.
124 St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 19,19:PL 41,647.
125 Heb 12:22-23.

Comment on Ebola

This disease has not been naturally spread. Look at the video earlier this year on this blog. Many of us for years have known two things: one, that those in charge of our nations are not in charge; and two, God will allow suffering to cleanse all of us.

Great sins stalk America like dark shadows and God will not ignore the cries of the children killed by abortion. Nor, will God ignore being mocked by those who live against natural law, revealed law and the Teaching Magisterium of the Church.

The time of mercy is over and the time of trial has begun. Only those who are asleep cannot see this.

And, what many Catholics do not understand, as in the Destruction of Jerusalem which Christ prophesied, the good suffer with the bad.

To pretend we should not be vigilant is naive and lacking in common sense.

Political correctness rules the day for immigrants, not common sense. But, America harbors a death wish, as this nation is consumed with death. When a nation begins to unravel family values, disdain law, hate life, and turn away from God to false religions and even religions of the dark side, that nation dies.

Sadly, there are two generations of Catholics who lack a background in history. This type of judgment of nations has all happened before under the permission of God, who allows evil for the purging of peoples and for the flowering of saints.

Just make sure you are on the side of God and not darkness. Those in darkness sleep.

Scroll Down And Read America's Lame Response

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EBOLA_FEARS_TRAVEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-17-18-23-09

A Good Day To Re-Read This Remarkable Document

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

A timely snippet...

Concern of the Church

18. It is to be anticipated that perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching. There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a "sign of contradiction." (22) She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical.
Since the Church did not make either of these laws, she cannot be their arbiter—only their guardian and interpreter. It could never be right for her to declare lawful what is in fact unlawful, since that, by its very nature, is always opposed to the true good of man.



In preserving intact the whole moral law of marriage, the Church is convinced that she is contributing to the creation of a truly human civilization. She urges man not to betray his personal responsibilities by putting all his faith in technical expedients. In this way she defends the dignity of husband and wife. This course of action shows that the Church, loyal to the example and teaching of the divine Savior, is sincere and unselfish in her regard for men whom she strives to help even now during this earthly pilgrimage "to share God's life as sons of the living God, the Father of all men." (23)

Good Article on Blessed Paul Vi

http://ncronline.org/news/people/pope-paul-vi-almost-saint-here-are-four-his-biggest-legacies

I would have beatified him just for Humanae Vitae, as he had to stand up against those who were pushing for modernization. Does that sound familiar?

Remember, despite some views of some Catholics, Humanae Vitae is an infallible document.

Blessed Paul VI, pray for our Church now, more than ever in need of your intercession.