St Monica

Saint Monica

Scapegoating the Roma (Gypsies)

ZENIT covers an important story of scapegoating in France here. One may recall that the protagonist of the book, The Dionysus Mandate, Aly, goes and hides among the Roma when being hunted down by the Consortium for World Peace ...

René Girard talk in 2002 - truth coming from the Cross.

The fear of the Christians to the mimetic theory was the greatest surprise to me. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect it. But curiously, as to the mimetic theory, the attitude of many Christians is exactly the same as the attitude of many atheists, because fundamentally they are humanists, which are rooted in the Greek philosophical tradition, so that Christianity is a minor addition to that. The thing that is fundamental is that humanistic line which fears the knowledge of violence.

One might say that our world, our academic world, everything that comes out of the Enlightenment, is in that line - it's dangerous to talk about the knowledge of violence, we should not talk about this - the only way to save humanity from its own violence is not to talk about it. The Judaic Christian line, however is the very reverse.

I find this statement to be so 'right-on' as to most Christians being humanists rooted in the Greek philosophical tradition, tacking on Christianity as a minor addition to their way of being.  Many have simply not been able to embrace the knowledge of the Cross and of our own violence and therefore they default to the humanists line - it is better we do not talk about this.

Epic - Redux

I hope our readers will forgive this re-posting. But Catholicscomehome.org handiwork says so much so well:

Catholic Radio comes to DC

Two part announcement and request;

1)Yes, Washington DC,and the surrounding areas, have just been blessed with a Catholic Radio Station - AM1160/The Guadalupe Network. Tune in, and tell yer friends . . .and tellyer friends to tell their friends.

2)Asking all fellow bloggers to please also post/or repost, about the station, as a Catholic Radio station in Washington DC, is a blessing we should all be shoutin' about! (IMHO)

thanks and God Bless,
D'art

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe

“Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes.”

- St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, when first arrested

Offer of Eden - Good Read

Perhaps other current events have kept you from a brouhaha over Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body. But if time allows you may want to take advantage of this: aspiring doctoral candidate, intrepid latter-day dragon-slayer, and great gal about town Dawn Eden has made available a free copy of her recent Masters degree thesis on the Theology of the Body and critique of a popular speaker's approach to the same.

For the short of attention or short of time, Eden may be said to take speaker Christopher West to task for misplacing less-than worthwhile priorities of our spirit of the age for more eternal and less evanescent goals of true transcendence. You go, Lady Dawn, from your admirers at the 4M's!

The Wonder of Wonder

I love what Peter John Cameron, O.P. writes in this month's (August 2010) Magnificat concerning the Transfiguration.

WHEN PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN beheld the shining vision of Jesus Christ in the Transfiguration (a feast we celebrate this month), they were struck with wonder. And that is really the point of the Transfiguration. For nothing gets us to look at life with new hope like the wonder of beauty. In 1752, an envoy was sent from the archbishop of Mexico to Pope Benedict XIV to petition the Pontiff for the commissioning of a special Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When the envoy unrolled a canvas bearing a painted likeness of the Virgin’s miraculous portrait, the Holy Father fell to his knees, weeping. The request was granted.

The wonder of wonder

Beauty undoes us. The theologian Father Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote, “In the experience of extraordinary beauty, we are able to grasp a phenomenon that otherwise remains veiled. What we encounter in such an experience is as overwhelming as a miracle, something we will never get over.” And what is the “phenomenon” that the Lord wants to unveil in our life through the beauty of the Transfiguration? The fact that we can change.

One of the greatest sources of sadness in our life is the presumption that we will always remain “just the way we are” – that we will never get over our character flaws or our depressing weakness, that we will never progress in holiness, that the sins we keep on habitually committing will keep a permanent hold on us. The problems we face in life seem more arduous than the disciples’ steep trek up Mount Tabor. What moves us beyond our fatalism is wonder. The disciples were overcome by the glorious brilliance of the transfigured Christ. They wanted what they witnessed never to end. That was the Lord’s intention in the event. Saint Thomas Aquinas says that, through his Transfiguration, Christ wished “to enkindle all the faithful with the desire for that glory.” In other words, the Transfiguration was meant to be a kind of mystic mirror. The sight of the resplendent Son moves us to cry, “I want to be like that too!” And the promise is that “Christ will configure those who belong to him” (Saint Thomas Aquinas).

The Transfiguration in our daily life

Chances are that our experience of the Transfiguration in daily life will be far less dramatic. And yet, the miracle assures us that wonder will remain the means by which God draws us into the mystery of himself. For, as Saint Gregory of Nyssa observed, “Ideas lead to idols; only wonder leads to knowing.” And, “Devoid of wonder we remain deaf to the sublime” (Abraham Heschel).

Where, then, does wonder break through in our lives? It may well be through the wound that makes us so negative about our chances for happiness. A character in Paul Claudel’s play The Satin Slipper prays:

Lord, it is not so easy to escape you, and, if [one] goes not to you by what he has of light, may he go to you by what he has of darkness; and if not by what he has of straight, may he go to you by what he has of indirection; and if not by what he has of simple, let him go by what in him is manifold and laborious and entangled, and if he desire evil let it be such evil as is compatible only with good. And if he desire disorder, may it be that disorder which shall mean the rending and overthrow of those walls about him which bar him from salvation.

Even if we do not go to God “by what we have of light,” the dazzling light of the Transfiguration will shatter our darkness and make us take notice of the One who stands ready to give us exactly what our heart is yearning for.

Mounting above our limitations by way of Mount Tabor

The mystery of the Transfiguration testifies to the fact that “God radiates love, which kindles the light of love in the heart of the human being, and it is precisely this light that allows us to perceive this absolute Love” (von Balthasar). Once embraced by this Love, “we must progress and grow, we must mount above our own limitations. It can be done; human nature is fundamentally designed for this expansion” (Father Alfred Delp). As the heroic missionary to the lepers of Moloka’i, Saint Damien de Veuster, declared with an authority few can match, “We shall be transfigured, happy, and beautiful in proportion to our patience in bearing our trials here below.”

Rev. Peter John Cameron, O.P.
Copyright Magnificat

St Clare of Assisi - August 11

Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me. - Saint Clare of Assisi

A power packed prayer to be sure.  Every phrase and every line is full of wonder, reverence and obedience. 

For more info link HERE.

Why Evangelicals (Should) Convert

For the record: a concise and compelling look at the reasons Evangelicals are converting to the Catholic Church by Matthew Warner here.

Amazing Grace- Tim Eriksen

Knox - Catholicism vs. Provincialism

(I)t is a good thing to belong to a Catholic Church. It keeps you from getting too provincial in your outlook ... to be a member of a Church which is as wide as mankind, and therefore to be able to remind yourself that not everybody thinks as you do; other people have their own national way of looking at things, just as you have yours. It helps you, I mean, not to be provincial-minded, if you belong to a Catholic Church.

Just in the same way, of course -- though that is really rather outside our subject this afternoon -- it is a good thing to belong to a Church which can look back on nineteen centuries of existence; it helps you not to be too much impressed by the latest craze, the latest catchword. Just as many people around us are too English in their outlook, so many people around us are too twentieth-century in their outlook; it's only a different kind of provincialism really.

- Ronald A. Knox

Postscript to an Atheist Friend

Having spent a delightful week in the string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina known as the Outer Banks, I am pleased to offer up beginning tomorrow an experience known as "chemotherapy". Probably the best online resource on the latter can be found here.

I spent some time with an old acquaintance there, a self-designated atheist. Interestingly, he went to the bother of "becoming ordained" so that he could perform weddings (which he has), yet he has abandoned, seemingly, the institution in his personal life.

Like so many such atheists, he sees a major issue to be one of authority. Where does a mainline Christian pastor get his or her authority? Where does the Pope? He asked these questions, clearly brandishing his "ordination" as carrying as much authority as either of these (being a relativist as well as atheist). Of course, we Catholics can guide any such questioner to the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew when Our Lord proclaimed Simon to be kephas / Πέτρος ("Rocky") and "on this rock," said He, "I will build my Church" (18-19). Catholicism is historical; Benedict XVI stands as our 265th pontiff since St. Peter.

Now, my atheist friend has several presuppositions that keep him from acknowledging such biblical authority, most of which were laid to rest as unsubstantial in epistemology by the great British Catholic thinker - some say the greatest mind to come through Eton and Oxford - Monsignor Ronald Knox (and others). But he still gives credence to "higher criticism" of liberal schools of thought, like, for example, the so-called "Jesus Seminar." Let us just say that authority for them comes from whomever thinks and sees things their way; i.e., the scriptures they see as "authentic" prove that Jesus, as it turns out, was a Jesus Seminarian!

Let me say, in the hope that my old friend will possibly read this post: authority is posited from a much higher and substantive source than one's individual opinions and life experience. We are created, finite, and mortal. We will answer to the One from whom we have our lives on-loan, ontologically speaking. And the Catholic Church has and provides the greatest and most coherent explanation of our lives, our purpose here on earth, and, please God, our ultimate telos.

For further information, Philip, please pick up a copy of A Little Guide for Your Last Days, here or here. Or, if you have no desire to shell out twenty bucks, perhaps you will find something of edification in my favorite post, here (pardon the title, if you will). Best, old friend.

St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney

Our Lady, Queen of Angels

Our Lady, Queen of the Angels

Porziuncola at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi in San Francisco

"Lord God, is it to be thought that You should indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heavens themselves cannot contain You, and how much less this house which I have built! Let Your eyes, however, be open day and night upon this house. And when strangers come from distant lands to pray here, listen to them, O Lord, and send them away forgiven."

--The Liturgy for the Feast of the Portiuncola Indulgence, borrowing the words used by Solomon at the inauguration of the temple in Jerusalem
Link here to see more on this project.

St Francis of Assisi - Porziuncola

The Portiuncola (now located in the basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli)

"I desire to send you all to Paradise by announcing to you the indulgence which has been granted me by Pope Honorius! Know then that all those present, and those who shall come after in the future to this church to pray, will receive the remission of their sins. I should have liked to have had this indulgence granted for a week, but I have only succeeded in getting it for one day." --St. Francis announcing the Portiuncola Indulgence to the people, August
2, 1216

August 2nd is the Day of the "Portiuncula Indulgence"

August 2nd will be a day of great grace. 

THE PORTIUNCOLA INDULGENCE - The Portiuncola (PORZIONCULA, PORTIUNCULA, or PORZIUNCOLA)

(from The Confraternity of Penitents)
According to a legend, the existence of which can be traced back with certainty only to 1645, the little chapel of the Portiuncola was erected under Pope Liberius (352-66) by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat, who had brought thither relics from the grave of the Blessed Virgin. The same legend relates that the chapel passed into the possession of St. Benedict in 516. It was known as Our Lady of the Valley of Josaphat or of the Angels -- the latter title referring, according to some, to Our Lady's ascent into heaven accompanied by angels on the Solemnity of the Assumption. However, a better founded opinion attributes the name to the singing of angels which had been frequently heard there.


The Portiuncola today is a town and parish situated about three-quarters of a mile from Assisi. The town, numbering about 2000 inhabitants and officially known as Santa Maria degli Angeli, has grown up around the basilica of Our Lady of the Angels and the adjoining Franciscan monastery.

In the early 1200's, when St. Francis was repairing the small Portiuncola chapel, the basilica which now encloses the chapel was non-existent. The humble Portiuncola was surrounded by the dense woods which covered the plain of Assisi.

FRANCIS'S CONNECTION WITH THE CHAPEL

Francis, who had previously repaired the chapels of San Damiano and San Pietro della Spina, was enraptured by the Portiuncola, a nick name which means "the little portion." He loved its formal name--Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels), its poverty reflective in its nick name, its isolation and silence, and its proximity to the leper hospitals where he tended the pitiable residents.

n February 24, 1208, the Feast of St. Matthias, while hearing Mass at the Portiuncola, St. Francis of Assisi recognized his vocation in the day's Gospel. Preach the Gospel. Take nothing for the journey. Stay with those who are worthy in the towns you visit.

Francis made the Portiuncola the headquarters of his Order while refusing to accept ownership of it from the Benedictines. Francis settled on presenting the Benedictines a yearly rent of a basket of fish, thereby feeling comfortable about using the chapel and the huts the friars built around it.

On October 3, 1226, after blessing his friars and asking to be laid naked on the ground so as to come to the Father in utter destitution, Francis died at the Portiuncola after recommending the chapel to the faithful protection and care of his brethren.

THE PORTIUNCOLA INDULGENCE

The Portiuncola Indulgence is a special favor granted by the Pope to St. Francis at his request.

One night in 1216, Francis awoke and felt a strong impulse to enter the chapel of the Portiuncola and pray. While at prayer, Our Lord and Our Lady appeared to Francis and asked him what he desired. Thinking of others and recognizing his own sinfulness, Francis spoke. "0 God, although I m a great sinner, I beseech You to grant a full pardon of all sins to all who, having repented and confessed their sins, shall visit this church."

Our Lord answered, "Francis, you ask much, but you are worthy of greater things, and greater things you shall have."

The Lord granted the Indulgence and Pope Honorius III ratified it. Originally the Indulgence was attached only to the Porticuncola. However, subsequent Popes expanded the churches in which the Indulgence can be gained.

THE PORTIUNCOLA INDULGENCE TODAY

The Indulgence, if the person gaining it is free from every sin including venial sin, remits all the temporal punishment due to sin and may be applied to the person himself or herself or to a soul in Purgatory. If there is any adherence to sin in the person gaining the Indulgence, the Indulgence becomes partial.

The Indulgence may now be gained in any public or semi-public oratory in the world beginning from noon August 1 until midnight ending on August 2 (that is, any church or chapel open to the public). It cannot be gained in a private chapel. The person wishing to gain the Indulgence must fulfill the following requirements:

a. Intend to gain the Indulgence
b. Be detached from all sin
c. While in the church pray one Our Father, one Apostle's Creed, and one other prayer of the individual's choice
d. Pray for the intentions of the Pope (prayerfully saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary will suffice although other prayers may be said)
e. Receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist within one week either before or after August 2.

May we all take advantage of the graces afforded by this Indulgence.

St Martha Feast Day July 29

I can't help but to include this account on Saint Martha as I have a dear friend whose family is from Marseille France which is just down the road from the town where St. Martha is celebrated along with the legend of the dragon.

St. Martha -- the Lord's worker and servant, the sister of Saints Mary Magdalen and Lazarus (all three of whom "Jesus loved" as we see in John 11:5) -- is only mentioned in three chapters of the Bible, but her character comes through clearly.

Read more here.

Where Scripture leaves off, tradition steps in. We are told that Saints Martha, Mary Magdalen, and Lazarus went to southern France in A.D. 48, where St. Mary Magdalen retired to a life of penance, and St. Lazarus acted as Bishop of Marseilles. St. Martha's life in Europe was a very interesting one according to the Golden Legend:

After the ascension of our Lord, when the disciples were departed, she with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary, also S. Maximin which baptized them, and to whom they were committed of the Holy Ghost, and many others, were put into a ship without sail, oars, or rudder governail, of the paynims, which by the conduct of our Lord they came all to Marseilles, and after came to the territory of Aquense or Aix, and there converted the people to the faith. Martha was right facound of speech, and courteous and gracious to the sight of the people.

There was that time upon the river of Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast of stones nor with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears; which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed by and drowned ships. He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire.

To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people.

The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.

Again - read the entire article here.

A Different Way of Seeing Hope: Hope sitting patiently, stirring the embers of your heart

Faith is the basis of life, and charity is its crown; but hope is its greatest need. Most of the difficulties of life come because man is so prone to lose heart. His distractions in prayer suggest to him that he was not meant for such high acts. His weekly tale of sins at confession seems to imply by its almost identical repetition that it is useless for him to continue his efforts at “a firm purpose of amendment.” ...Failure counts for nothing; defeat, disappointment — these matter nothing at all, so long as only hope sits patiently, stirring the embers, watching and tending the fire, coaxing the flame, never despairing and never leaving the wind to work its will. That the clouds should come up over the sky, or that darkness should encircle the earth, brings no real terrors, for we are sure that the dawn will come out again and that the sun will break through with its golden glory.

 - Bede Jarrett, OP (from Meditations for Layfolk; quoted in Magnificat, July 2010, meditation for Monday the 26th, pp. 359-60)

Knox - Catholic Truth

TODAY, WHEN THE WORLD has become so fuddled with its own philosophies that men cannot be sure whether two and two really make four, whether black is not really white under another aspect, they all agree on one thing -- that the Catholic religion can't be true. They will tell you one moment that it is impossible to discover whether truth exists, and the next moment that the Catholic religion is certainly false -- such is their logic. The Catholic religion must obviously be a deception, because it claims to know what is true.

-- Ronald Knox

Our Sins Weigh Us Down - The more so as we try to rely on 'this world' for Success

Psalm 39

Set me free from all my sins,

do not make me the taunt of the fool.

I was silent, not opening my lips,

because this was all your doing.

Take away your scourge from me.

I am crushed by the blows of your hand.

You punish man's sins and correct him;

like the moth you devour all he treasures.

Mortal man is no more than a breath;

O Lord, hear my prayer.

O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.

Do not be deaf to my tears.

In your house I am a passing guest,

a pilgrim, like all my fathers.

Look away that I may breathe again

before I depart to be no more.

Glory to the Father...

My heart was pierced by these words in this morning's meditation.  Words, sometime phrases, ring loud and I am struck; found guilty. 

taunt:  variant of tempter

Do not make of me the tempter of the fools: reaping what I sow; abuse on God and those near...

And what I am finding of late...?  Unbelief, attempting to rest in the flesh, thinking it a stong-hold yet built in sand or rocky ground; putting 'faith' in worldly 'success' models as I would curse circumstances and let out a torrent flood of anger and bitter words thus energizing the enemy.  Psalm 39 is a Psalm of David and it is a prayer for relief from persecutors as much as anything.  Sometimes, the enemy is elusive and we are our own enemies. Of Psalm 39, Matthew Henry writes,

There is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature; but it is to be found in the Lord, and in communion with him; to him we should be driven by our disappointments. If the world be nothing but vanity, may God deliver us from having or seeking our portion in it. When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust in. We may see a good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us; and a good man, for that reason, says nothing against it. He desires the pardoning of his sin, and the preventing of his shame. We must both watch and pray against sin. When under the correcting hand of the Lord, we must look to God himself for relief, not to any other. Our ways and our doings bring us into trouble, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. What a poor thing is beauty! and what fools are those that are proud of it, when it will certainly, and may quickly, be consumed!

I must remind myself that it is NOT 'the road to success' but the way-of-the-cross that leads to Christ, The Kingdom of God and self-substantiation. (Link here to a previous post.)

In a reflection on the Gospel of John Gil Bailie says:

"Christ replaces the world as a source of self-substantiation. The world used to be your source of self-substantiation and Jesus says that he is robbing it of its power to substantiate either itself or you. Slowly but surely it will loose its power to substantiate itself and to substantiate those who participate in it. If you want self-substantiation you have to go to the source and the only source of self-substantiation is God..."

The more I try to justify myself within the framework of what this world maps as 'success' the more I heap burning hot coals upon my head - festering in resentment and anger.  Oh Lord I pray, set me free from all my sins, do not make me the taunt of the fool.

Knox - Beyond Charity Alone

ALL THROUGH THE CENTURIES the Church has had to act in great measure as a nursing mother to the faithful, not content to be merely their teacher in the faith; providing schools, hospitals, orphanages, tending the sick, relieving the poor, burying the dead; she has drawn a whole network of charitable institutions across the world, vying with one another in the service of men's bodies. And always, that is not the point. With the other Christianities there is a constant risk that their spiritual message will lose itself in philanthropic endeavour. The movement which began in an access of burning zeal for men's souls will have been replaced, a century or two later, by a vast organization, religious in name, but merely philanthropic in purpose. With the Catholic Church, so much older than these others, it has never been so. Her message is of the world beyond; on it her eyes are set; she tends, feeds, teaches her children distractedly, only that she may point them to heaven; she will not lose her soul in what the world calls charity.

- Ronald A. Knox

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi

At mass this morning we were told a bit about Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, a Capuchin friar, who was to become a Doctor of the Church.  Who knew?  We hear of St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Thomas Aquinas, but I had not heard of Saint Lawrence, and a Franciscan to boot.  Check you the following bio from the American Catholic website:

At first glance perhaps the most remarkable quality of Lawrence of Brindisi is his outstanding gift of languages. In addition to a thorough knowledge of his native Italian, he had complete reading and speaking ability in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish and French.

He was born on July 22, 1559, and died exactly 60 years later on his birthday in 1619. His parents William and Elizabeth Russo gave him the name of Julius Caesar, Caesare in Italian. After the early death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle at the College of St. Mark in Venice.

When he was just 16 he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Venice and received the name of Lawrence. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest at 23.

With his facility for languages he was able to study the Bible in its original texts. At the request of Pope Clement VIII, he spent much time preaching to the Jews in Italy. So excellent was his knowledge of Hebrew, the rabbis felt sure he was a Jew who had become a Christian.

In 1956 the Capuchins completed a 15-volume edition of his writings. Eleven of these 15 contain his sermons, each of which relies chiefly on scriptural quotations to illustrate his teaching.

Lawrence’s sensitivity to the needs of people—a character trait perhaps unexpected in such a talented scholar—began to surface. He was elected major superior of the Capuchin Franciscan province of Tuscany at the age of 31. He had the combination of brilliance, human compassion and administrative skill needed to carry out his duties. In rapid succession he was promoted by his fellow Capuchins and was elected minister general of the Capuchins in 1602. In this position he was responsible for great growth and geographical expansion of the Order.

Lawrence was appointed papal emissary and peacemaker, a job which took him to a number of foreign countries. An effort to achieve peace in his native kingdom of Naples took him on a journey to Lisbon to visit the king of Spain. Serious illness in Lisbon took his life in 1619.

Comment: His constant devotion to Scripture, coupled with great sensitivity to the needs of people, present a lifestyle which appeals to Christians today. Lawrence had a balance in his life that blended self-discipline with a keen appreciation for the needs of those whom he was called to serve.

Quote:

"God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned” (St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Universal Church, Capuchin Educational Conference, Washington, D.C.).

"Who is my Mother?"

She hears and understands what the Father tells the Son in heaven, and its echo lies in the heart of the Son. 
She does not simply understand; she incarnates; she elaborates an image; she is the mother of God. 

Through the action of the Holy Spirit, it is she who produces God, who makes him accessible, who transforms him and presents him whole to our flesh and our eyes. It is she who provides us with Christ as a complete man. It is she who embraces the Father in all the force of his generative power so that he begets Christ not just once, but endlessly, in the heart of each Christian…

It is Mary who, in the name of humanity, fully answers God’s call, that “Where are you?” which reverberated through the Garden of Eden after the fall of man. “where are you?” asks the grief-stricken Father. As for the blind creature who is victim of that pride to which he yielded with passionate reluctance—he poor creature, cannot check the desperate query that comes to his lips: “You, Father, where are you?”

If someone will only show us the father, it will be enough!

And lo, a great cry rings out; it is the voice of a woman, a Virgin: “I found him whom my soul loves...and would not let him go” (Sg 3:4). I have found him so utterly that never again will he succeed in ridding himself of me. I hold him; I withhold him; I contain him—how shall I say it?—it is he who contains me. I am the stem from whom, before the eyes of nations, he borrows root, stature, life, personality, and speech!

- I Believe in God: A Meditation on the Apostles' Creed by Paul Claudel (1955) was a French poet, a playwright, a diplomat, and a member of the French Academy.

—Magnificat Vol 12, No.5. July 2010

THE WORD OF GOD GIVES MEANING TO DAILY ACTIVITY

THE WORD OF GOD GIVES MEANING TO DAILY ACTIVITY
Before the Marian prayer, the Pope reflected on this Sunday's Gospel reading which recounts Jesus' visit to the house of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Martha busies herself with domestic chores and reproaches Mary for not lending a hand but sitting rapt at the Master's feet. 

The Holy Father quoted Jesus' words in Luke's Gospel: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her", and he explained: "The words of Christ are very clear: they show no disdain for an active life, or for generous hospitality, but contain an evident reference to the fact that what is truly necessary is something else: to listen to the Word of the Lord. And in that moment the Lord is there, present in the Person of Jesus. All the rest will pass and be taken away from us, but the Word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily activities". 

"This Gospel episode is highly appropriate for the holiday season because it recalls the fact that, although human beings must work and dedicate themselves to domestic and professional duties, above all they need God, Who is the inner light of Love and Truth. Without love, even the most important activities become valueless and bring no joy. Without profound meaning, all our actions are reduced to sterile and disordered activism. 

"And who gives Love and Truth if not Jesus Christ?" the Holy Father asked. "Let us learn then, brothers and sisters, to help one another, to collaborate, but first and foremost together to chose the 'better part', which is and will always be our greatest good".

This is something I really need to work on!

16th Sunday - Ordinary Time

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (1654-55)

J. Vermeer

The Bard in Summer

Gratefully ripped from Chris Morrissey, if for no other reason than it is a comely page to look upon: Summer Shakespeare.

Father Mark Delery - Requiescat in pace +

With the arrival of our diocesan newspaper, I was saddened yet not surprised to see that long-time friend and spiritual director, Father Mark Delery, had died.

Author, former abbot, medical doctor, fellow cancer survivor, Fr Mark was droll, insightful, wise, and, at times, hilarious. I was blessed on my last retreat to share with him my newest cancer battle news during spiritual direction, and he to hear my Confession and bless a few small articles I had brought with me. Too, he celebrated Holy Eucharist that Saturday morning at Holy Cross Abbey.

A soul guide, confidant, and friend. Pray for us, Fr Mark.

Saint Francis of Assisi Dancing On Water

Saint Francis of Assisi Dancing On Water
(Click above to find out more on the artist of the statue.)

The area around the statue out in front of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, NM is still a place of freedom and happiness. The following poem is by Rumi and goes well with Francis and so the artist has created a poster combining the image with the words (see the link on artist above).

DANCE, WHEN YOU'RE BROKEN OPEN.
DANCE, IF YOU'VE TORN THE BANDAGE OFF.
DANCE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHTING.
DANCE IN YOUR BLOOD.
DANCE, WHEN YOU'RE PERFECTLY FREE.
by Rumi

Knox - Guide for the Soul

RONALD ARBUTHNOTT KNOX (17 February 1888 - 24 August 1957) was not only one of the most brilliant minds at Oxford University in his day (admitted openly by C. S. Lewis), but one of the finest, most whimsical apologists, and explicators of orthodox Catholic teaching in the English speaking world.

During my recuperation from surgery, I read slowly and gratefully his book, The Hidden Stream, a series of conferences he gave at Oxford for Catholic students and other interested persons. I cannot speak highly enough about the book. If you wonder about who can be saved outside the Catholic Church, Christian marriage, the necessity of Revelation (to name only a few topics), get a copy. It will be worth it.

I am now delving into another book, The Creed in Slow Motion, talks he gave during World War II to girls who had been relocated during the bombing of London. Don't underestimate its value for ... hm ... you.

And, waiting in the wings is the rather large tome, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons.

Fighting cancer raises a host of questions in one's heart and soul. Monsignor Knox is a God-given guide for me. I can only offer his guidance, wisdom, concern, and love for you as well.

As a Church Should Be - Truly Reverent and Truly Beautiful

Life-size Bronze of John the Baptist and Christ

5 years in the making, or rather re-building of Epiphany Catholic Church of Normal, IL

How fitting that the first Mass of the remodeled Epiphany Catholic Church in Normal, IL will be celebrated this Saturday afternoon, July 10, 2010 during a wedding!  Congratulations to Monsignor Powell and all members of Epiphany Catholic Church - a reverent and beautiful setting for worship of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(click on the lines under statue and the drawing of the inside of the church to link for more info) 

Invasion

Tired of trying to sort it all out? On overload from trying to manage the information universe?

Just remember: the Invasion has already occurred. It happened in the backwater of the Roman Empire in an insignificant cave-stable two thousand years ago. From now on, everyone is your neighbor. All we have to do is accept who we truly are and live on grace in the meantime in faith, hope, and charity with our neighbors. All of our neighbors.

Everything that we do should be a response to this Invasion of Grace, particularly in imitating the One Who invaded this planet that was under the dominion of a rebellious power who, in turn, held our species in slavery to sin and death. (For the history of our gracious Invader, read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

Corpus Christianum

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Jan Vermeer

Text by Dr. Jem Sullivan from the July 2010 Magnificat

Martha's weakness is not that she attends to her guest with hurried activity. Rather the real and exacting demands of hospitality have become a distraction for her. Once action turns into distraction we are easily led away from Christ.  Martha learns from Mary's example that in the Lord's presence only one thing is needed: to fix one's gaze on Christ and his word that answers the deepest desire of the human heart.

Each day Christ, the Divine Guest, seeks to enter into the home of our hearts, most especially in the Eucharist. In the midst of life's busyness let us fix our gaze on him, as Mary did, savoring his words as grace and wisdom for our daily journey.

DUNS SCOTUS: CANTOR OF THE INCARNATE WORD

In his audience today July 7, 2010, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his catechesis to Blessed Duns Scotus, who was born around the year 1266 in the Scottish village of Duns, entered the Friars Minor and was ordained a priest in 1291.

The Pope recalled that Duns Scotus had also tackled "the subject of freedom and its relationship with the will and the intellect". In this context he noted how "an idea of innate and absolute freedom (as developed after Scotus' time) located in the will which precedes the intellect, both in God and in man, risks leading to the idea of a God Who is not even connected to truth and goodness".

"Freedom", the Pope explained, "is authentic and helps in the construction of a truly human civilisation only when reconciled with truth. If disconnected from truth, freedom tragically becomes the principle that destroys the inner harmony of human beings, a source of abuse for the strong and the violent, a cause of suffering and mourning. Freedom ... grows and is perfected, said Duns Scotus, when man opens himself to God. ... When we listen to the divine Revelation, to the Word of God, in order to accept it, then we receive a message which fills our lives with light and hope, and we are truly free".

Benedict concluded the catechesis - his last until 4 August - by highlighting how "Blessed Duns Scotus teaches us that the essential thing in our lives is to believe that God is close to us and loves us in Jesus Christ; to cultivate, then, a profound love for Him and His Church. We are the witnesses of that love on this earth".

Link HERE to read more.

Little Guide - Update & Review

A new review of A Little Guide for Your Last Days came out recently in the Saint Austin Review (StAR) here.

The reviewer, note well, read it during her grandmother's final struggles. I am glad it was helpful to her.

Newman - Pilgrim Queen (1849)

The Pilgrim Queen (A Song.)

THERE sat a Lady

all on the ground,

Rays of the morning

circled her round,

Save thee, and hail to thee,

Gracious and Fair,

In the chill twilight

what wouldst thou there?

"Here I sit desolate,"

sweetly said she,

"Though I'm a queen,

and my name is Marie:

Robbers have rifled

my garden and store,

Foes they have stolen

my heir from my bower.

"They said they could keep Him

far better than I,

In a palace all His,

planted deep and raised high.

'Twas a palace of ice,

hard and cold as were they,

And when summer came,

it all melted away.

"Next would they barter Him,

Him the Supreme,

For the spice of the desert,

and gold of the stream;

And me they bid wander

in weeds and alone,

In this green merry land

which once was my own."

I look'd on that Lady,

and out from her eyes

Came the deep glowing blue

of Italy's skies;

And she raised up her head

and she smiled, as a Queen

On the day of her crowning,

so bland and serene.

"A moment," she said,

"and the dead shall revive;

The giants are failing,

the Saints are alive;

I am coming to rescue

my home and my reign,

And Peter and Philip

are close in my train."

The Oratory.

1849.