Advent thought

Christmas will soon be upon us. The year ends in a flurry of shopping, even during stressful economic times. Advent helps us see the need to pause and contemplate the deep and magnificent meaning of the Incarnation: that God, in a supreme act of Self-emptying love, became poor for us, entering fully into our flawed humanity in order that we could have the chance to enter more fully into God’s perfect divinity.

The primary motivation for God’s incarnation is God’s goodness, not human sinfulness. The Incarnation is a dynamic expression of God’s overflowing love and mercy, as well as a revelation of God’s poverty and humility. Through the Incarnation we find redemption and completion, making it the heart of all reality.

Christmas is a time for us to see more clearly our own poverty and weakness in order to better receive the gift of God’s transforming love. Christmas is a time for us to emulate, as best we can, God’s love and goodness by sharing the mercy and compassion we have experienced through our lived experience of Christ’s birth in the stable of our humble hearts. - Gerald Straub, SFO

Saint Ambrose - Veni Redemptor Gentium

Kudos and hat tip to Monsignor Charles Pope (click here for his commentary)for this gem of an Advent carol. Saint Ambrose's Veni Redemptor Gentium:

• Come, thou Redeemer of the earth,
• Come testify thy virgin birth:
• All lands admire, all times applaud:
• Such is the birth that fits our God.
• 
  
• Forth from his chamber goeth he,
• That royal home of purity,
• A giant in twofold substance one,
• Rejoicing now his course to run.
• 
  
• The Virgin’s womb that glory gained,
• Its virgin honor is still unstained.
• The banners there of virtue glow;
• God in his temple dwells below.
• 
  
• From God the Father he proceeds,
• To God the Father back he speeds;
• Runs out his course to death and hell,
• Returns on God’s high throne to dwell.
• 
  
• O Equal to thy Father, thou!
• Gird on thy fleshly mantle now;
• The weakness of our mortal state
• With deathless might invigorate.
• 
  
• Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
• And darkness breathe a newer light,
• Where endless faith shall shine serene,
• And twilight never intervene.
• 
  
• All laud, eternal Son, to thee
• Whose advent sets thy people free,
• Whom with the Father we adore,
• And Holy Ghost, for evermore.

Weigel - Natural Law

For the record: George Weigel's important article, The Natural law= bigotry? Please.

Ars Moriendi - Art of Dying

Daniel Mitsui has an impeccable gift for finding images of truth, goodness, and beauty. All this month he has lifted up primarily images centered on the 'Dance of Death' from art around Christendom in honor of November - the Month of the Holy Souls.

It is timely and apt that he share the following as the month now rapidly draws to a close. Namely, Ars Moriendi - The Art of Dying. From Emile Mâle:

The Ars moriendi is the work of a monk or priest who had seen many people die. In this little book we have the somber experience of a man who had collected together many last words, barely spoken... The text was often striking, but it was the astonishing woodcuts above all that spread its fame throughout Europe. Here it is indeed a question of Christian hopes and fears: death appears not as a farcical dance, but as a serious drama played around the bed of the dying man; angel and devil stand at his side, contending for the soul that will soon depart. Formidable moment! The Christian needed to know in advance the temptations and anguish of the terrible dark hours to come in order to learn how to triumph over them... The dying man is exposed to five principal temptations. God, however, does not abandon the Christian, and five times sends His angel to comfort him.

For all of Mitsui's post, see here. For a contemporary effort for modern denizens who are in need of a guide to dying a holy death, see here.

White - Sola Gratia, Solo Christo

For the record: over at fellow convert, Francis Beckwith's blog - Robert A. White's Sola Gratia, Solo Christo: The Roman Catholic Doctrine of Justification.

Thank goodness Thanksgiving Day is over & we can get back to our worship

Driving to mass early this morning I was met with throngs of cars jamming the byways all leading to the big-box stores. It gives you wonder... no, it is not wonder anymore for the reality of what really matters to the vast majority of us is plain as the fight at the head of the line to get in the store first. Viewing our (as a 'mob' or 'public') actions through the lens of mimetic theory one begins to realize the power of mimetic contagion.

The Muppet's sing this song in such a way as it seems a match for Black Friday... from Animal morning Mama and Dada as they have left him alone so they can shop big box store... to Miss Piggy summing up our passion, "nothing really matters, nothing really matters, but ... anyway the wind blows..."



Happy day AFTER turkey day (or another way of describing the day - thank goodness Thanksgiving day 1s over and we can get on with what we love).

Veggie Tale

Fellow convert, Francis Beckwith, tells of Doug Groothuis's gentle admonishment of that High Poobah of public discourse, NPR, here.

Happy Thanksgiving, Darnit

ht: Creative Minority Report

Giving Thanks - George Washington

While the above photos from George Washington's Mount Vernon have nothing to do with our Thanksgiving holiday per se, in another significant way they do. I defy anyone to visit the General's estate on the banks of the Potomac River in northern Virginia and not feel a near inexpressible and profound sense of gratitude for the vision of the Founding Fathers.

Whereas both England and France fell into regicide and, the latter, into genocide in their march toward democracy, Washington and his notable contemporaries led the fledgling United States to something nearly unique in world history.

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Geo. Washington, President

Give thanks. Enjoy: A History of Celebrating Thanksgiving in America.

Anxious and Worried about Many Things

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

- Lk 10:38-42

Longenecker - Modernism

Father Dwight Longenecker, who once upon a time gave a very nice endorsement for A Little Guide for Your Last Days (see upper right sidebar), gives his reasons for leaving the Anglican Communion to become a Catholic. In doing so, he sums up the heresy of modernism.

Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia (1895) - John Waterhouse

Presentation of Blessed Virgin Mary

"Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel most fair, chosen treasure house, and mercy seat for the whole world, heaven showing forth the glory of God. Purest Virgin, worthy of all praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human condition, virgin soil, unplowed field, flourishing vine, fountain pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbor"

(adapted from a homily by St. Germanus on the Presentation of the Mother of God)

Soufflé of Doom or Élan of Hope

As even CNN begins to acknowledge that political correctness in the Army contributed to the 13(/14) deaths at Fort Hood, I recalled that friend and mentor, Gil Bailie, recently cited a New York Post story about terrorists in New York: They were filled with rage and wanted to take it out on what they considered the source of all problems in America - the Jews.

The naïveté of everyone educated in the sacred halls of multiculturalism "knows" that humans are not stained with Original Sin. I heard a PhD in Education bemoan not long ago the way that textbooks betray our ethnic and cultural bias in the way they refer, for example, to Native Americans as "savages". Of course, the sentiment not to victimize is admirable, but to ignore the fact that Native Americans were members of the fallen human race and, therefore, ipso facto, as savage as, say the Meso-American Aztecs and Mayans and Clockwork Orange urban youth of today's Paris and London, is as dangerous as a branch of the military ignoring the warning signs of a Army psychiatrist who emailed jihadists overseas to say he was looking forward to seeing them in Paradise and - by the way - when is it permissible to slaughter innocents?

The time is rapidly approaching when two things will become manifestly apparent: first, that those who become "filled with rage" are the problem. And, secondly, we cannot "pussy-foot" around them in feeble, limp-wristed attempts "not to offend" them, but rather call them accountable for their uncontrolled lack of impulse control and immature bent to violent and inappropriate tantrums.

True political correctness is recognizing where the true problem lies. René Girard's mimetic theory and the wisdom to "think with the Church" - sentire cum ecclesia - in discerning truth, goodness, and beauty, as well as disordered passions, fruits of the flesh, and egregious evil is the pathway to survival for humanity.

Anything less, including and inescapably a soufflé of multiculturalism and elitist naïveté, bode only doom.

Not Yet, Stupid!

Do you remember when YOUR Guardian Angel had to work this hard?

Year One

World is going to hell in a hand basket or rather ending as we know it so let us start all over without all this God stuff...

St Odo of Cluny

Lest we forget, today is the Feast Day of Saint Odo of Cluny. Recall if you will that the Holy Father lifted up Odo as a model worthy of our admiration and imitation here. So, if it is obvious that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, recall St. Odo of Cluny.

After all, it won't be too long before our bones will, if the Father wills it, end up in a place like the above ossuary. If, that is, we are so blessed.

Sister Strikes Back

Benedict XVI - Relativism

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is cautioning evangelizers to be on guard against relativism, saying it infiltrates society and manipulates consciences...

The relativistic culture "enters the sanctuary of the family, infiltrates the realm of education and other realms of society and contaminates them, manipulating consciences, especially those of the young," he said.

"At the same time, however, despite these snares, the Church knows that the Holy Spirit is always acting," the Pope affirmed. "New doors, in fact, are opened to the Gospel, and spreading in the world is the longing for authentic spiritual and apostolic renewal. As in other periods of change, the pastoral priority is to show the true face of Christ, lord of history and sole redeemer of man..MORE>>

In my experience, relativism took a nasty turn during my college years. It merely took a sneer, a curl of the lip, a veiled threat to reject if I stood up for the Christian faith to cast me into the netherworld of relativism.

From a Girardian viewpoint, I feared becoming a victim and so accepted the herd's position rather than chance becoming an outcast.

The Holy Father is right. And there are huge numbers of "trip-wires" set by relativism today.

Bulletin message today

He who angers you, controls you.