Talking to my Arab expert friend--Define what it means to be French

Today, I had a chance to speak with a friend of mine who is an expert in Arabic culture, language, and Muslim culture and language. He has taught these subjects at the university level. I shall not share his name.

He said the French need to get together and pray and they need to find out what is really means to be French.

They have forgotten, said this man, that to be French, the identity of being French is not the same as nationalism.

Patriotism is not nationalism.

What does it mean to be French? What separates a French man or woman from other peoples?

Even Sartre and Camus, or Foucault, had a line of departure, which was Catholic, liberal arts education.

This is missing.

"Prayer and study is what they need," he stated.

"The French cannot believe the secular myth that all peoples are the same and that all religions are the same. They need to reassess what it means to be French. What would Charles Martel have done, or Louis XIV?"

A new priest from a traditional school

Father Stephen Morrison is the first priest from the boys of Chavagnes. There are two teachers who have become priests. But,  the new priest is the first alumnus of Chavagnes International College.

The school has been a resource for parents who want a traditional Catholic education based on the English style of boarding.

Chavagnes lies in the great historically Catholic are of The Vendee. Headmaster Ferdi McDermott said today that "Father Morrison was with us for three years and played a key role in building up our school. Our boys today are inspired by him and his example."


http://marklambert.blogspot.fr/2014/12/father-stephen-morrisons-first-ef.html

For more information about Chavagnes, look here. http://www.chavagnes.org/

Raissa on Separation-The Anathemata Perfection Series VIII Part XXXVl

Raissa notes again and again that she is separated from others, events, the world.

This separation happens and is not the same as withdrawal.

Withdrawal from the world is an act of the will. Many who go into monasteries willingly withdraw from the world.

However, to become separated indicates that God is taking the initiative in removing a person from those around her. One can be in the world and still separated and one could be withdrawn and still worldly.

The state of separation by definition shows us that there are two worlds. These two worlds can be understood by those who are in this state of separation. As Raissa points out, if a person does not understand what God is doing, one can become confused.

This was never my problem. One suffers in the "separated" state, as Raissa makes clear. One is not allowed to be attached to people, time, place, circumstances.

Why God demands this separation is unclear but I have a theory.

In the days of the Old Testament, a sheep or goat was chosen once a year and the high priest took this animal into the Temple, In a ritual, the priest would say all the sins of the community over this animal, the "scapegoat. Then, this animal was taken out into the desert and let go. Of course, it would die, eventually, either from thirst and the elements or from a natural predator.

The scapegoat was called "the anathemata", a word which means both one thing and the opposite. The anathemata was both considered highly sacred and highly sinful.

Christ is the ultimate anathemata, taking the sins of the world onto Himself, like the scapegoat, innocent, but carrying the burden of sins on His own Body.

Thus, Christ is both Sacred and Profane on the Cross. He is given back to God, like the scapegoat was given to God, and even like the Greeks, who invented this word, made something sacred and gave it back to the gods.

Of course, I think the most elegant and profound long poem ever written in the English language is David Jones' The Anathemata, which is about Christ and the Eucharist.

Raissa reveals her personal knowledge of being separated, being set apart by God to be sacred and to do reparation for the sins of others.

We do not choose this state, but God does. and only those who are separated know the great pain of this call.

Some Catholics are anathemata.

I have some original David Jones' in a box in Silvis. How I wish I could access my stuff.....

  

The Progress of Holiness

God is purifying Europe. He will purify the States.

It is just a matter of time.

The Sin of Cynicism

Matthew 18 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

One of the most common sins which is not being defined as sin by too many who should know better is the sin of cynicism.

Cynicism is more than just distrust or doubt. It is a firm conviction that most people are evil and that one is doomed to suffering.

Now, some seculars think that this approach is the same as that of a Christian. We think many situations reveal evil and we also see the redemptive aspect of suffering.

But, the Christian knows that suffering has been overcome because of Christ on the Cross.

And, the Christian knows that people choose evil but do not have to do so. No one is "doomed" to evil. All humans have been given sufficient grace for salvation.

We all have free will and we all can choose good.

A cynic lacks a sense of humanity, what humans are called to be naturally and supernaturally.

A cynic may be someone who is disillusioned or jaded. A cynic has lost faith in God to move humans to become human. The cynic only sees the negative and not the entire picture, that men and women are created in God's image and likeness and that we have lost the likeness, which is grace.

Cynics believe that to see men and women as capable of goodness and virtue amounts to naivete. Hope can be natural, but it can also be supernatural, when it is based on the virtue of faith in God and His grace.


The cynic does not believe that we are called to become like little children...that we are called to trust in God.

The cynic does not believe that a person can become a saint, or become perfect.

Perhaps, the cynic does not really believe in Redemption, in Christ's sacrifice to free us from sin and death.

Sadly, the true cynic cannot see God working in the lives of individuals or society. Indeed, this is sad.

Some commentators have sent notes which reveal the sin of cynicism. I do not publish these, as sin has no part in rational discussions and sometimes cynicism reveals an underlying state of depression, which should not be publicized.

I pray that young people do not fall into cynicism. I pray that they see this as a sin against the First Commandment, a serious slight against God and Divine Providence.

The Generous Soul Perfection Series VIII Part XXXV

Raissa writes that generous souls die quickly to self; those who are not generous take longer in the Dark Night of the Soul. She claims she was not generous. I find this hard to believe. Some people seem to be in the Dark Night of the Soul longer than others. Why this is so one cannot judge from the outside. Perhaps God uses some people's sufferings for the benefit of others, Perhaps those who are in the Dark Night suffer not only for themselves but for others.

We cannot know the mind of God regarding the length of time it takes someone to become purified or holy. We cannot know the mind, heart, soul, imagination and will of another person.

But, for someone as gentle and holy as Raissa to have such a long period of purgation is a great mystery.

Perhaps, she was suffering for her husband Jacques, so that his work in neo-Thomism would be successful.

Perhaps she was suffering for the world, out of war and into war so quickly.

Perhaps, she was suffering for the Jewish people, her people.

When one suffers before purgation is complete, the suffering is not perfect, is not pure. Yet, there is always some merit in such suffering, but not as much as would have been gained after purification.

Raissa gives us a hint of her suffering. "By renouncing the good things of this world, which , in certain cases more numerous than one might think, sin would have procured us--by giving to God our human and temporal happiness, we give him proportionately as much as he give us, because we give him our all, the widow's mite of the Gospel."

Suffering involves mystery.

(please note that the numbering of this series is not in order of publication--explain later)

The Way of The Saints

We live in times some of us did not expect to witness. Some of us did.

Those of us who read the works of great minds of the past knew that these times would come upon us.

My mother lived through WWII and my dad fought in that war. They experienced much hardship and suffering which most people my age did not have to endure.

Three generations have passed since then and most of those in the Boomers, Gen X and Millennials did not have to suffer the great violence we are now witnessing in the world.

The Millennials will have to learn how to suffer and endure. The only way to do this is to become more than just "right with God", one has to become holy.

This blog has been dedicated to help all of us become holy.

This blog has used the best minds and souls in the Church to point the way to holiness.

What we have witnessed in France will not be isolated. Those who want to destroy what was once Christendom, the West, hate civilization and all it represents-liberal arts, fine arts. music, gracefulness, beauty.

When we create beauty, we are acting as we should as being created in the image and likeness of God.

God is Beauty, Truth, Peace, Glory and all of those creations which reflect His Being have been passed down in the West.

Western education began because of the great heritage of the Greeks, the Romans and the Catholics, who invented grammar schools, the Trivium and Quadrivium.

The Church encouraged painting, sculpture, music, architecture and drama. The great cathedrals and work of art in the West reflect the patronage of the Church.

Those who hate Christ and His Church hate beauty as they hate life.

Pray for yourselves and your closest ones to not only endure but overcome ugliness, violence, hatred.

Such is the way of the saints.

Dioceses have to pay a fee

..for orders to come into a country in the EU. Did you know that? If a diocese sponsors persons from any religious order or a lay person, to come and set up a religious organization, the diocese has to pay for this; for example, if the SOLT or Franciscan Friars of the Renewal want to come, a diocese has to sponsor and pay for this. Amazing....

Letting The Dead Bury The Dead

Raissa notes that the vocation of the apostle is to walk with eyes fixed on Christ. But, the contemplative also must keep his eyes on Christ, especially Christ crucified.

While the apostles act, speak, preach, the contemplative does not do so, called to pray for the entire Church.

Here is Raissa again, "It is because the role of contemplatives among us is to be mirrors of the Image of God, reservoirs of his grace and his love--the unfailing memory of the Eternal amongst us....A memory without which darkness would obscure the earth. A memory in which we possess the archives of sanctity, for the mystics receive the command to speak...."

Until God takes me totally in silence, in a place, in a real cell, not merely the cell of my mind, I shall share the crumbs of memory which God gives me.

Today, in France, we have seen the darkness which is covering the earth because of evil, because of those who do not know Christ and His Love.

"Be still and know that I am God" is the command of deep prayer. Love grows in the silence. But, one cannot yet see God, as one may be in the darkness of faith.

The entire Church needs the heart of the contemplative to be totally centered on God, to keep a heart just for Him as a reservoir for those who are on the front lines, in the spiritual warfare. Raissa notes that the number of contemplatives "do not necessarily raise the moral level of society of their day...The grace of sanctity is the fruit of fidelity. To be sanctified and pacified, society too must begin by being faithful. Grace is not hereditary, it is not the patrimony of any one people."

On this day of more death, we should pay attention to these words.

Testing Two Perfection Series VIII Part XXXII

Reading in Raissa's Journal again, I found a comment from Jacques which really impressed me today.

"We are more and more terribly alone." This was written in March of 1935 when the world was becoming more and more secularized, as well as the Catholics becoming more liberal. Even then, two people who were living close to God were feeling and, indeed, isolated.

Another entry from Raissa is about the Dark Night. She writes this, "The time of childish things is over, the time of playing games, of make-believe, of eloquence, of 'let's pretend'---One has at last reached the point of realizing one's ignorance, on the brink of the abyss which separates the creature from the Uncreated."

This was written in 1937.

This is my experience of not being able to imagine or plan or do anything outside of God's Providence and Divine Will. The object of the Dark Night is to cleanse one of self-will and self-love.

Raissa continues. "Then, one no longer lives on anything but the alms of unknown, inapprehensible grace.

One does feel abandon by God, but one makes acts of faith, believing that God is there, despite one's feelings.

I would like my readers to pray for this contemplative vocation to which I have been called. In order to be still, one must be in a place to be still. This has not happened, yet.

And, God calls one to be still. to wait for God seeing Him in the eternal present, not looking at the past at all. Once a person understands that God does not want one going back into the past looking at old sins, trusting in His forgiveness, it is clear that one lives in the now, only.

To be continued...

Testing

Another person who is an English speaker told me he had the same problem with his computer here in France. The trouble is the default of Google.uk or Google.us keep flipping back to Google.fr

If anyone can help.....please contact me asap!

News

http://www.france24.com/en/join-the-community/

Interesting Discovery

One of the things I have qui Discovered in my travels Could Be Labelled "

Qui-have-been homeschool families MOST vulnerable if the working parents is a teacher. I have found out That Many great teachers since the 1990s, Reduced-have-been to Poverty, Because They refuse to compromise Their Catholic beliefs.

There Must Be Some justice in the next world for thesis Difficulties and Sufferings.

My own experience, When I was teaching, led me to NAPCIS schools, qui qui Were the only ones wanted true Catholics. Other schools allowed teachers to compromise the Faith, leading to real problems in the classroom.

Imagine teaching Marriage and Family Life for Two classes three times a week only to find out que la --other two teachers in the Catholic school did not believe in Humanae Vitae and were teaching that contraception is permissible and abortion sometimes necessary.

I assumed all these years that my situation was unusual, in coming against anti-Catholicism in Catholic institutions.

Not so. I guess I am a bit comforted in knowing that I was not the "only one", but to know how many brothers and sisters in Christ who are teachers have suffered for the Faith since the mid-1990s, like myself, only shows the long rot in Catholic education.

This kind of persecution will only get worse.

Because I am blogging in France and this is all being translated automatically from the French, as my own English gets translated into French and then back again into English, the grammar and spelling made me odd.

Yes...and?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/paris-attack-reflects-a-dangerous-moment-for-europe.html?_r=0

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.  

Reliable People

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?

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.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sliema._Malta.JPG