“I walk before God simply, in faith, with humility and with love”

Author: Brother Lawrence | Source: www.PracticeGodsPresence.com

I walk before God simply, in faith, with humility and with love; and I apply myself diligently to do nothing and think nothing which may displease Him ... and this without any other view than purely for the love of Him, and because He deserves infinitely more.

People seek methods of learning to know God. Is it not much shorter and more direct to simply do everything for the love of Him? There is no finesse about it. One only has to do it generously and simply.

It is the Creator who teaches truth, who in one moment instructs the heart of the humble and makes him understand more about the mysteries of faith and even about Himself than if he had studied them for a long term of years.

God alone is capable of making Himself known as He really is. We search in reasoning and in sciences, as in a poor copy. What we neglect to see is God's painting Himself in the depth of our soul.

Pay little attention to the beautiful words and subtle discourse of the wise of the earth. Woe to those who look to human knowledge to satisfy their curiosity. It is the Creator who teaches the truth and instructs the heart of the humble.

In continuing the practice of conversing with God throughout each day, and quickly seeking His forgiveness when I fell or strayed, His presence has become as easy and natural to me now as it once was difficult to attain.

We are made for God alone, who can only be pleased when we turn away from ourselves to devote ourselves to Him.

I know that for the right practice the heart must be empty of all other things; because God will possess the heart alone; and as He cannot possess it alone, without emptying it of all else besides, so neither can He act there and do in it what He pleases, unless it be left vacant to Him.

We ought to give ourselves up to God, both in temporal and spiritual things, and seek our satisfaction only in fulfilling His will. Whether He leads us by suffering or consolation, all is the same to one truly resigned.

We only deceive ourselves by seeking or loving God for any favors which He has or may grant us. Such favors, no matter how great, can never bring us as near to God as can one simple act of faith. Let us seek Him often by faith.

Whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. I shall have this good at least, that until death, I shall have done all that is in me to love Him.

Comfort yourself with the Sovereign Physician of both body and soul.

Those who have the gale of the Holy Spirit go forward even in sleep. If the vessel of our soul is still tossed with winds and storms, let us awake the Lord who reposes in it. He will quickly calm the sea.

Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God.

The end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity.

The most excellent method of going to God is that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing people but purely for the love of God.

We ought not to grow tired of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.

God has infinite treasure to bestow, and we take up with a little sensible devotion which passes in a moment. Blind as we are, we hinder God and stop the current of His grace. But when He finds a soul penetrated with a lively faith, He pours into it His grace and favors plentifully.

How can we pray to Him without being with Him? How can we be with Him without thinking of Him often? And how can we think of Him but by a holy habit we should form of it?

The more one knows God, the greater one desires to know Him. Knowledge is commonly the measure of love. The deeper and more extensive our knowledge, the greater is our love.

We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him. And when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.

I see Him in such a manner as might make me say sometimes, I believe no more, but I see.

God does not ask much of us. But remembering Him, praising Him, asking for His grace, offering Him your troubles, or thanking Him for what He has given you will console you all the time ... lift up your heart ... little remembrances please Him.

We should establish ourselves in a sense of God's presence by continually conversing with Him. It is a shameful thing to quit His conversation to think of trifles and fooleries.

Useless thoughts spoil all; mischief begins there. We ought to reject them as soon as we perceive their impertinence and return to our communion with God.

One way to re-collect the mind easily in the time of prayer and preserve it more in tranquillity, is not to let it wander too far at other times.

When the mind, for want of being sufficiently reduced by recollection at our engaging in devotion, has contracted certain bad habits of wandering and dissipation, they are difficult to overcome. They commonly draw us, even against our will, to the things of the earth. I believe one remedy for this is to confess our faults and to humble ourselves before God.

It is a great delusion to think our times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to cleave to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the season of prayer.

We should, once and for all, heartily put our whole trust in God and make a total surrender of ourselves, secure that He will not deceive us.

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.

Let us pray for Fr. Tom Euteneuer

Brethren, a scandal has broken out around the person of the noted exorcist and former president of Human Life International, Fr. Tom Euteneuer. You may read by yourselves the following reports:

Of Aquinas, Augustine, and Euteneuer: Reflections on Fr. Tom on the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, and,

The Truth about Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

The allegations are serious but, in my mind, unproven.

Let us pray for Fr. Tom Euteneuer who, by the nature of his ministry, has been a special target of the Enemy. Let us pray for his bishops and for all involved. That the truth may be revealed, and that all who need repentance, forgiveness, and healing, receive it.

*Update February 1, 2011 - Please read: Statement of Fr. Thomas Euteneuer: setting the record straight. Thank you.

Today we remember St. Thomas Aquinas

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The great outlines and all the important events of his life are known, but biographers differ as to some details and dates. Death prevented Henry Denifle from executing his project of writing a critical life of the saint. Denifle's friend and pupil, Dominic Prümmer, O.P., professor of theology in the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, took up the work and published the "Fontes Vitae S. Thomae Aquinatis, notis historicis et criticis illustrati"; and the first fascicle (Toulouse, 1911) has appeared, giving the life of St. Thomas by Peter Calo (1300) now published for the first time. From Tolomeo of Lucca . . . we learn that at the time of the saint's death there was a doubt about his exact age (Prümmer, op. cit., 45). The end of 1225 is usually assigned as the time of his birth. Father Prümmer, on the authority of Calo, thinks 1227 is the more probable date (op. cit., 28). All agree that he died in 1274.

Landulph, his father, was Count of Aquino; Theodora, his mother, Countess of Teano. His family was related to the Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II, and to the Kings of Aragon, Castile, and France. Calo relates that a holy hermit foretold his career, saying to Theodora before his birth: "He will enter the Order of Friars Preachers, and so great will be his learning and sanctity that in his day no one will be found to equal him" (Prümmer, op. cit., 18). At the age of five, according to the custom of the times, he was sent to receive his first training from the Benedictine monks of Monte Cassino. Diligent in study, he was thus early noted as being meditative and devoted to prayer, and his preceptor was surprised at hearing the child ask frequently: "What is God?"

About the year 1236 he was sent to the University of Naples. Calo says that the change was made at the instance of the Abbot of Monte Cassino, who wrote to Thomas's father that a boy of such talents should not be left in obscurity (Prümmcr, op. cit., 20). At Naples his preceptors were Pietro Martini and Petrus Hibernus. The chronicler says that he soon surpassed Martini at grammar, and he was then given over to Peter of Ireland, who trained him in logic and the natural sciences. The customs of the times divided the liberal arts into two courses: the Trivium, embracing grammar, logic, and rhetoric; the Quadrivium, comprising music, mathematics, geometry, and astronomy . . . . Thomas could repeat the lessons with more depth and lucidity than his masters displayed. The youth's heart had remained pure amidst the corruption with which he was surrounded, and he resolved to embrace the religious life.

Some time between 1240 and August, 1243, he received the habit of the Order of St. Dominic, being attracted and directed by John of St. Julian, a noted preacher of the convent of Naples. The city wondered that such a noble young man should don the garb of poor friar. His mother, with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow, hastened to Naples to see her son. The Dominicans, fearing she would take him away, sent him to Rome, his ultimate destination being Paris or Cologne. At the instance of Theodora, Thomas's brothers, who were soldiers under the Emperor Frederick, captured the novice near the town of Aquapendente and confined him in the fortress of San Giovanni at Rocca Secca. Here he was detained nearly two years, his parents, brothers, and sisters endeavouring by various means to destroy his vocation. The brothers even laid snares for his virtue, but the pure-minded novice drove the temptress from his room with a brand which he snatched from the fire. Towards the end of his life, St. Thomas confided to his faithful friend and companion, Reginald of Piperno, the secret of a remarkable favour received at this time. When the temptress had been driven from his chamber, he knelt and most earnestly implored God to grant him integrity of mind and body. He fell into a gentle sleep, and, as he slept, two angels appeared to assure him that his prayer had been heard. They then girded him about with a white girdle, saying: "We gird thee with the girdle of perpetual virginity." And from that day forward he never experienced the slightest motions of concupiscence.

The time spent in captivity was not lost. His mother relented somewhat, after the first burst of anger and grief; the Dominicans were allowed to provide him with new habits, and through the kind offices of his sister he procured some books — the Holy Scriptures, Aristotle's Metaphysics, and the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard. After eighteen months or two years spent in prison, either because his mother saw that the hermit's prophecy would eventually be fulfilled or because his brothers feared the threats of Innocent IV and Frederick II, he was set at liberty, being lowered in a basket into the arms of the Dominicans, who were delighted to find that during his captivity "he had made as much progress as if he had been in a studium generale" (Calo, op. cit., 24).

Thomas immediately pronounced his vows, and his superiors sent him to Rome. Innocent IV examined closely into his motives in joining the Friars Preachers, dismissed him with a blessing, and forbade any further interference with his vocation. John the Teutonic, fourth master general of the order, took the young student to Paris and, according to the majority of the saint's biographers, to Cologne, where he arrived in 1244 or 1245, and was placed under Albertus Magnus, the most renowned professor of the order. In the schools Thomas's humility and taciturnity were misinterpreted as signs of dullness, but when Albert had heard his brilliant defence of a difficult thesis, he exclaimed: "We call this young man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world."

Please, continue reading here.

Access the St. Thomas Aquinas Bibliography in English.

A Heart on Fire

This is aimed at my friends who pray - seriously pray: Do you feel your heart on fire when you pray? Well, do you?

What Military Ethics is All About: The Christian Soldier

Author: Dr. James H. Toner | Source: Catholics in the Military

WHAT MILITARY ETHICS IS ALL ABOUT

• "An act performed pursuant to an unlawful order is excused unless the accused knew it to be unlawful or a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have known it to be unlawful" (Manual for Courts-Martial, Rule 916).
  
• "[Natural law] is written and engraved in the mind of every man . . . commanding us to do right and forbidding sin" (Pope Leo XIII, On the Nature of Human Liberty [8]).

Having spoken to numerous civic, religious, and college audiences about military ethics, I am continually saddened by the misunderstandings which numerous people have about the conscience of a soldier. One priest, for example, told me that soldiers are mere robots who must obey all orders. A nun told me that no faithful Catholic could serve in today's U.S. armed forces. The head of a theology department at a Catholic college refused to have a discussion with me because I teach ethics at a war college.

Although I currently am involved with character development education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I am on a two-year leave from the U.S. Air War College (Maxwell AFB, Alabama), where for twelve years I have taught leadership and ethics to (mostly) lieutenant colonels. Before that I taught at a military college, and before that I served for four years as a U.S. Army officer.

I believe in the Church's teaching that we must work toward avoiding war (CCC #2308), and I think that those Catholics whose consciences tell them that they cannot bear arms should be respected and protected. My conscience--also based squarely on Church teaching--tells me that I have a moral obligation to serve in my country's armed forces and that such service is commendable if I carry out my duty "honorably" (CCC #2310). As St. Augustine said, "For the true follower of God even wars are peaceful if they are waged not out of greed or cruelty but for the sake of peace, to restrain the evildoers and assist the good." "A people threatened with an unjust aggression, or already its victim," said Pope Pius XII on Christmas 1948, "may not remain passively indifferent, if it would think and act as befits Christians."

So Catholics may conscientiously choose to become soldiers. What is forbidden to us as Catholic citizen-soldiers is "blind obedience" (CCC #2313, 2242). What often surprises the skeptics in my audiences is that the U.S. military teaches the same principle. "I never expect a soldier to think," wrote George Bernard Shaw in 1897. But American law requires soldiers to think. In fact, no American soldier may follow an order if he knows it is illegal and immoral, or even if he reasonably can be expected to know that an order is illegal and immoral. The Church teaches us that the moral law does not cease when hostilities erupt (CCC#2312), which is, in fact, exactly what soldiers are taught: The defense that "I was just following orders!" is unacceptable. Soldiers have the moral-and legal-responsibility to refuse orders which are immoral

So the Catholic who serves our country in the Armed Forces has to be a conscientious soldier, one whomust obey God before superior officers (cf. Acts 5:29). Although there are military chaplains available to troops, the armed services themselves do not have the responsibility of conducting religious education. Before men and women join the service, they should be reasonably well educated in the teachings of the Church about just war, about authority, and about matters of conscience. When Our Lord said that we should render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, He was less specific than we might like. Similarly, critical decisions, whether political or military, may not always be as clear as we might like.

So the Catholic citizen-soldier accepts the teaching of the Church that we are to "honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God," knowing that they have a right to "expect obedience" from us. We pray that they will exercise their powers with "prudential judgment" (CCC #2234, 1897, 2309). As we have seen, this does not mean that we accept what is dishonorable or that we follow immoral orders. In a vital passage, St. Paul tells us that we are to give taxes and toll, honor and respect, to those to whom they are due (Romans 13:7)

So to the Catholic citizen-soldier (and, of course, others) whom I teach are told that their duty to follow God and their conscience is absolute and unlimited; their duty to follow orders is relative and limited. Catholic soldiers are never excused from trying to know and to do the right thing in the right way at the right time. In fact, they are always "to examine [their] conscience before the Lord's Cross" (CCC #1785). So are we civilians. For this is what Christian ethics is all about. And for the Catholic soldier this is also what military ethics is all about

The men and women, of all faiths and even of none, I have taught now for a quarter-century are not robots; they are not caricatures of human beings; they are not grotesque lovers of violence. They do their best to render to God what is due to God and to our country what is due to our country. They deserve our prayers, our gratitude, our respect. Theirs is often a difficult, demanding, and dangerous profession. But of their faith, those of us who work with airmen and soldiers might say, as Our Lord said to the crowd about another soldier long ago, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith" (Lk 7:9)

Dr. James H. Toner is the Coors Distinguished Visiting Chair of Character Development at the U.S. Air Force Academy

Audio: Prayer for Beginners

The practice of God's presence, by Peter Kreeft

A quote by St. Martin of Tours

Patron saint of soldiers

‎Lord, if your people need me, I will not refuse the work.
Your will be done.

Prayer for Courage

Dear God, give me courage, 
for perhaps I lack it more than anything else.

I need courage before men against their threats 
and against their seductions.

I need courage to bear unkindness, 
mockery, contradiction.

I need courage to fight against the devil,
against terrors and troubles, temptations, 
attractions, darkness and false lights, 
against tears, depression, and above all fear.

I need Your help, dear God.

Strengthen me with Your love and Your grace.

Console me with Your blessed Presence 
and grant me the courage to persevere 
until I am with You forever in heaven

Catholics And The Bible

New Covenant Journal

For a Christian face to face with a Bible passage the question “Is it true?” does not arise; God wrote it, and he cannot lie. The question in every instance is only, “What does it mean, what did the biblical author, inspired by, God, wish to convey and teach?” Now, to ascertain this the guidance of the Church is essential, and time and patience are often needed.

Catholic Evidence Guild Catholics are often accused of arguing in a “vicious circle,” proving the Bible by the Church, and the Church by the Bible. We must be careful to avoid this by explaining that we put the Church before the Bible because the Church existed first and wrote and compiled the Bible. The authority of the Bible depends on that of the Church. Then we use the Bible to prove the Church; we use it not as an inspired volume, but merely as a historical document. From the Gospels as historical documents we learn that Christ founded a Church, but the authority of the Gospels as inspired writings rests on the word of the Church.

We can define the Bible as “a collection of writings, which the Church of God has solemnly recognized as inspired” (Catholic Encyclopedia). What is the non-Catholic's definition? Paul says, indeed: “All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). But he gives no list of Scriptures nor any method for discerning which they are.

The Scriptures themselves assert that they are incomplete and send us to the Church. “Many other signs also did Jesus ... which are not written.” (John 20:30). “Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest?” . . . . “How can I, unless some man show me” (Acts 8:30, 31).

It is impossible to get unanimity of impression in different ages and countries. Books appeal to one date and country, not to another: The Epistle of Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and several gospels at first thought inspired were rejected by the Church. On the other hand, the Books of Kings, Chronicles, and Ecclesiastes are disputed by modem critics as not containing “ heavenly matter,” yet are accepted by the Church as part of the organic whole — for the Bible is an organic whole, and many parts lose their meaning if severed. Each age and nation and temperament, by their interpretation, would (and in Protestantism do) practically make a different Bible, when, leaving ancient authority, they test each part by their subjective feelings.

No internal evidence could prove inspiration, because inspiration is essentially a supernatural fact. It is objective, not subjective. It is simply that God said this thing in this way. It may not appeal to me personally — parts of it may not be meant especially for me — but God wished to say it for some person or time. Therefore the inspiration can only be known upon some authority sent from God. The only possible competent authority would be either Christ or his apostles or the successors of the apostles — that is to say, Christ's Church. All Christians appeal in fact to some authority behind the Bible (e.g., Luther claimed to alter the canon of Scripture, and Lutherans accepted this on his authority). Christ nowhere told men to go to a book to learn his doctrine. He himself wrote nothing down. But he did say to Peter: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:18); and to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Go ye teaching therefore all nations” (Matt. 28:19). “He that hears you, hears me, he that despises you, despises me, he that despises me despises him that sent me” (Luke 10: 16). The apostles went forth and taught according to Christ's command. They ordained others to succeed them. Much of his teaching they handed down in their tradition only that divinely protected living memory of the Church. Much they committed to writing and collected together by degrees.

Please, continue reading at New Covenant Journal.

• Read also Beginning to Read the Bible by someone I know well.

Blogfast in effect!

Brethren: I'm currently involved in lots of work-related detail. I can't post a lot right now. Please, feel free to explore the contents already on lone. Thanks!

What do they mean when they say "choice"?

Brethren, the gals at NARAL have announced a "Blog for Choice Day" for today to celebrate the despicable Roe v. Wade ruling of 38 years and 50 million babies ago.

I ask, what do they mean by choice? Do they mean the "choice" to do this?

Abortion is murder, the purposeful killing of a human being. Most women who recurr to abortion are not exercising a "choice" but rather are pushed into it often by men.

Those who perform abortion, assist them, and defend them are immoral and suffer from a profound defect of character that anchor them in a life of bloody depravity. The political and legal decisions that have clear the way for this Holocaust are obscene and represent a deep, enduring stain in our national character.

Let's create and foster a Culture of Life: with praying, fasting, and judicious activism, let us resist the depraved evil of abortion. Let's make abortion unthinkable in our society again. Let us pray for the prompt dissolution of NARAL and other such diabolical organizations. Let us wipe out through active, peaceful resistance, the abortion industry from the face of our land, and from the earth.

SNAP: a willing accomplice in the quest to destroy the Church

Brethren, this post is a reply to Will Other Catholic Bishops Risk Eternal Damnation?, written by Kim Michele Richardson in The Huffington Post.

First, the mandatory caveat: sexual abuse of minors by clergy is despicable. The investigation and prosecution of the suspects and, once found guilty, their just punishment, are essential for justice to be made. The fair compensation of the victims is also necessary for their healing and closure to occur – if any.

However, I am highly skeptical of SNAP, their methods, and their aims. Originally founded to force reluctant or clueless bishops and other authorities to pay attention to the problem, to provide a forum for victims and an activist outlet in search of justice and fair compensation, SNAP has transmogrified itself into a blunt instrument aiming at reforming the Church by destroying her. They do so by facilitating false reporting of abuse, by agitating in state legislatures to extend the statute of limitations to absurd time-spans, and by advocating a limitless intervention of the state into the internal governance of the Church. SNAP wants to achieve these goals by supporting litigation seeking to redefine the Church as a corporation and her canon law as bylaws and by these means, set before the law the notion that bishops are employees of the Vatican, portray the Vatican as a multinational corporation with the Pope as its CEO and therefore criminally and financially liable for the actions of the abusers across the world.

Furthermore, SNAP lends the just rage of its member to greedy lawyers and opportunist politicians to serve their own agenda of weakening or destroying the Church through financial attrition and sideline her as a moral actor in our nation’s public arena, in order to achieve their own social goals without paying heed to matters of conscience. SNAP then, has become a willing – though perhaps unwitting – accomplice in the secularist and anti-Christian goal of destroying the Church and limiting her action to controlled subcultural “reservations” where member will be able to worship but not to influence any public debate.

Therefore, I am sorry I cannot support SNAP, their labor, and their goals, and note that the fury of the author of this piece has blinded her to the consequences of SNAP’s actions and of her own. I believe that ultimately they will not only cause untold damage to the Church – to all of us who are Catholic Christians – but to their own cause.

Achieving Self-knowledge: The Four Temperaments

Brethren, I want to continue where I left off in “Self-knowledge is an integral dimension of prayer” last Saturday, and talk briefly about how this self-knowledge may be achieved. First, I want to repeat one statement from the quote on that post:

The fallen self cannot acquire authentic self-knowledge by its own unaided powers.

I think that this is a principal, fundamental insight. The quest for knowledge of self in Catholic life is not a mundane quest into inner space done in order to achieve a natural virtue, which is to say, that achieving natural virtue is not the end of Christian contemplation. What we look for in this quest is for the Face of God and along the way, God shows us our own face, our own true self: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

One way of achieving self-knowledge is by determining our dominant temperament. Once a Catholic determines his or her dominant temperament he or she then identifies the weaknesses proper to that temperament and root them out, with the help of a Spiritual Director.

I’ve found that the short treatise on the subject written by Father Conrad Hock, entitled The Four Temperaments (which you may download from here) offers a good primer on the subject. The book has an Imprimatur and a Nihil Obstat so it doesn’t contain anything contradicting faith and morals.

Another good work is The Temperament God Gave You by Art and Larraine Bennett, an excerpt of which you may download from here.

I also must caution you that human beings are not “bottled” rigidly into any one these “four temperaments” (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic) and that you may expect variations and differences. Nor should you approach this quest for self-knowledge as an exercise in vanity or show-and-tell. If you do, you would’ve veered away from the quest for the Face of God into the contemplation of your own self and therefore, fallen into a narcissistic exercise.

I hope and pray that you, dear reader, achieve with God’s grace and help, and under the direction of a prudent Spiritual Father or Mother (or sister or brother) the necessary amount of self-knowledge that will enrich your prayer life and guide your steps unto the path of Christ Jesus Our Lord. And then you’ll be transformed and conformed to His divine nature.

Photo Meditation of Psalm 19A

Brethren, Psalm 19 A was the third psalm in today’s morning prayer, and I feel moved to illustrate it for you as a form of visual meditation.

Psalm 19A

The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message
	No speech, no word, no voice is heard yet their span extends through all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
There he has placed a tent for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent, rejoices like a champion to run its course.
	At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun; to the furthest end of the sky is its course. There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.

Family: Let Us Build the Kingdom of God

Fr. Nicolas Schwizer

It is a call to build family in the midst of this world, a reflection of the faithful Heavenly Kingdom. Our fundamental attitude must be that of Christ: “Here I am, O God, to do your will” (HE 10, 9). The permanent search for the Will of the Father makes a man dynamic, similar to a challenge to fight for a world worthy of the Father where fraternity, truth, justice and peace reign.

That is the example given to us by Jesus Christ. He does not take refuge in intimacy with the Father. That same intimacy motivates Him to commit himself to the interests of the Father. He surrenders completely to forging the Kingdom of God: He proclaims it and gives witness to it, He implants it and sows it in souls…..and He suffers and dies for it on the Cross.

A hero is one who consecrates his/her life to something great. Let us remember that the greatness or the misery of a person’s life is not measured by his/her capabilities nor by his/her limits, rather it is by the magnitude of the work to which he/she is consecrated.

Now then, concretely, what does it mean for us to consecrate my life to the Kingdom of the Father? It means giving everything for it, to put oneself aside…..the moods, the comfort.

It also means giving up one’s own standards – often so limited – and making God the Father’s standards one’s own, these are infinitely wise and filled with paternal love.

If we think of the family, concretely it means that the first and foremost area where we must build the Kingdom of God is in one’s own home: to transform the marriage into a “holy marriage,” educate the children in the great values of the Kingdom, etc.

Ultimately at play in the home is sanctity and the forging of a new world. There we learn and live childlikeness, paternity, and brotherliness.

There we begin to share responsibilities and to commit ourselves. From there we feel motivated to conquer the world.

Family, school of the apostolate. One of the tasks for parents is to inculcate in our children an awareness of their own apostolic vocation. According to the measure in which they mature, we must make them participate in our apostolic works.

We have to educate our children so that they may be more aggressive in their convictions. They have to overcome human fear which robs their inner freedom and neglects the possibility of helping. The motto should be: or we conquer or we are conquered! In our education we should not ever separate thought and action, faith and works. To be Christian is not only “going to church” : this would be to sterilize Christianity, make it unpleasant for the youth, and convert it into a museum relic.

This is the danger for the “lite” family whose members have a weak faith without a core and without strength. It is the home- hostel where they gather only to eat and sleep; where there are no spiritual conversations; where one dies of boredom; where the only concern is that the children obtain their diploma or title and that they marry well. True Christianity is action, not rest; it is life, not death; it is fire, not ice.

Our families should be seeds of the future Church and of a new social order. And they will be, more so than through us, through our children who will be great builders of a better tomorrow.

Questions for reflection

1. What apostolic tasks am I developing?

2. What apostolate do I do with my family?

3. What actions can I develop?

“Self-knowledge is an integral dimension of prayer”

Brethren, I’ve been reading Lectio Divina and the Practice of Teresian Prayer by Fr. Sam Anthony Morello, OCD and this paragraph got my attention:

Thus self-knowledge is an integral dimension of prayer. We cannot know God without knowing the self and we cannot know the self without knowing God. The fallen self cannot acquire authentic self-knowledge by its own unaided powers. Seeing ourselves in the truth is an aspect of liberation from the fallen self. Again, we need to roam the mansions of self-knowledge all the days of our prayerful lives. Teresian prayer is self-knowing in the light of Christ.

I think this is great advice. If we don’t know ourselves, how can we love others as ourselves? For to know, is to love.

When you pray, ask the Lord to “introduce you” to yourself. See yourself as He sees you, so that you can learn to see others as He sees them. Mercy and compassion to self and to others then springs from the act of knowing.

The Practice of Lectio Divina

Source: The Official Site of the Carmelite Order

"Lectio Divina", a Latin term, means "divine reading" and describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us. In the 12th century, a Carthusian monk called Guigo, described the stages which he saw as essential to the practice of Lectio Divina. There are various ways of practicing Lectio Divina either individually or in groups but Guigo's description remains fundamental.

He said that the first stage is lectio (reading) where we read the Word of God, slowly and reflectively so that it sinks into us. Any passage of Scripture can be used for this way of prayer but the passage should not be too long.

The second stage is meditatio (reflection) where we think about the text we have chosen and ruminate upon it so that we take from it what God wants to give us.

The third stage is oratio (response) where we leave our thinking aside and simply let our hearts speak to God. This response is inspired by our reflection on the Word of God.

The final stage of Lectio Divina is contemplatio (rest) where we let go not only of our own ideas, plans and meditations but also of our holy words and thoughts. We simply rest in the Word of God. We listen at the deepest level of our being to God who speaks within us with a still small voice. As we listen, we are gradually transformed from within. Obviously this transformation will have a profound effect on the way we actually live and the way we live is the test of the authenticity of our prayer. We must take what we read in the Word of God into our daily lives.

These stages of Lectio Divina are not fixed rules of procedure but simply guidelines as to how the prayer normally develops. Its natural movement is towards greater simplicity, with less and less talking and more listening. Gradually the words of Scripture begin to dissolve and the Word is revealed before the eyes of our heart. How much time should be given to each stage depends very much on whether it is used individually or in a group. If Lectio Divina is used for group prayer, obviously more structure is needed than for individual use. In group prayer, much will depend on the type of group. Lectio Divina may involve discussing the implications of the Word of God for daily life but it cannot be reduced to this. The movement of the prayer is towards silence. If the group is comfortable with silence, more time could be spent resting in the Word.

The practice of Lectio Divina as a way of praying the Scriptures has been a fruitful source of growing in relationship with Christ for many centuries and in our own day is being rediscovered by many individuals and groups. The Word of God is alive and active and will transform each of us if we open ourselves to receive what God wants to give us.

Venerable John Paul the Great to be Beatified

Laudetur Iesus Christus!

Brethren, this, according to the Associated Press via YahooNews:

VATICAN CITY – The pope on Friday signed off on the miracle needed for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, and set May 1 as the date to honor one of the most beloved popes of all times as a model of saintliness for the church.Pope Benedict XVI said in a decree that a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease was miraculous, the last step needed for beatification. A second miracle is needed for the Polish-born John Paul to be made a saint.

The May 1 beatification, which Benedict himself will celebrate, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome — a major morale boost for a church reeling from a wave of violence against Christians and fallout from the clerical sex abuse scandal.

Once he is beatified, John Paul will be given the title "blessed" and can be publicly venerated. Many people, especially in Poland, already venerate him privately, but the ceremony will make it official.

"This is a huge and important cause of joy," Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz told reporters at his residence in the Polish capital.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul's longtime secretary and friend, expressed "huge thanks" to Benedict for the decree. "We are happy today," he said.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died in 2005, responding to the chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood immediately!" that erupted during his funeral.

Benedict waived the typical five-year waiting period before the process could begin, but he insisted that the investigation into John Paul's life be thorough so as to not leave any doubts about his virtues.

The last remaining hurdle concerned the approval by Vatican-appointed panels of doctors and theologians, cardinals and bishops that the cure of French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, was a miracle due to the intercession of John Paul.

The nun has said she felt reborn when she woke up two months after John Paul died, cured of the disease that had made walking, writing and driving a car nearly impossible. She and her fellow sisters of the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards had prayed to John Paul, who also suffered from Parkinson's.

Read it all here.

Commentary. I rejoice at this news! Praised be Jesus Christ! I've never had any doubt that Pope John Paul the Great rightly deserves the honors of the altar. He did so much to steer the Church away from the extremes interpretations and reactions to the Second Vatican Council, by placing dissenters on their proper place, destroying the claims of the "alternative magisterium" and being a primary actor in the fall of communism that, like Popes Gregory and Leo long before him, will earn John Paul the title of "Magnus" - The Great.

Beatification and a canonization are actions of the ordinary magisterium of the Church and therefore protected by the charism of infallibility. The Holy Father Benedict XVI has so decided. A beatification is not an "imprimatur" on every action that the Pope made or failed to do and I am very aware that many openly blame him for doing "nothing" during the height of the sexual abuse scandal by priests and religious.

I contend that we will never know what he actually did or failed to do on the basis that we will never have available to us the information that he had, nor his deepest reasons for all his decisions in this crisis. While I recognize the anger, scandal, and dejection many feel against Pope John Paul the Great in the context of this crisis, I counter that their strong feelings are not evidence against the Venerable John Paul's personal, heroic sanctity shown throughout his entire life. I also warn that those who question the late Pope's virtue and heroic sanctity are in danger of presumption and perilously close to judging the late Pope's soul.

The Venerable Pope John Paul the Great will be beatified and that's that. I rejoice at the news. I pray for his full canonization. He deserves it, as well as the title "The Great" which will be granted not by papal bestowal, but by the ever increasing proclamation of the Universal Church.

May the intercession and example of the soon-to-be blessed, Pope John Paul, The Great, always remains with us. Santo subito! May Jesus Christ be praised in his martyrs and his saints.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Meditation

II. MEDITATION

2705 Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the "today" of God is written.

2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower.⁵ But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.

2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.

What the Catechism of the Catholic Church Says About Contemplative Prayer

III. CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

2709 What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."⁶ Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves."⁷ It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.

2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith.

2711 Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed.

2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more.⁸ But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.

2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts.⁹ Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his likeness."

2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love."¹⁰

2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him.¹¹

2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the "Yes" of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God's lowly handmaid.

2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come"¹² or "silent love."¹³ Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.

2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.

2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb - the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."¹⁴

Westboro Baptists Ignore Holy Scripture

Apologetic Bible Study and News Commentary

Brethren, the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas-based crackpot outfit calling themselves “Christian” and known for their inflammatory pickets at the funeral of fallen military service members, has announced that his flock will picket the funeral of 9-year-old Christina Green, killed during the rampage that also killed a federal judge, a 76-year-old man who died saving his injured wife from more bullets and three others during the shooting that also gravely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, according to USA Today. Now, dig this, this is “why” they are doing it, according to CNN: a flier released by the church about the picket targets the Roman Catholic Church because Christina and her family were members.

"God hates Catholics!" the flier, posted on the church's "God Hates Fags" website, says. "God calls your religion 'vain,' as it's empty of His truth; you worship idols!"

Now, I tried to access their site to verify the quote but, mercifully, it appears to be under a Denial-of-Service attack and was unreachable at about noon EDT.

Let me borrow a line from Billy Graham. The Bible says:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23).

If we’re to apply this standard it will be evident for all to see that these Westboro Baptists folks are devoid of the Holy Spirit, empty completely of the Presence of God and of sanctifying grace in their lives, souls, and “church.” Consider the “fruits” or the “works of the flesh”

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-22).

Now, what is it that the Apostle equates to the sexual immorality so often condemned by these folks? Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions. In St. Paul’s view, there’s no difference between the promiscuous debauch and those who hate, seed discord and dissent, are filled with anger, ambition,  and promote factionalism against the Body of Christ, which is the Catholic Church.

Inasmuch as these are mortal sins due to their grave matter, and provided they are engaged freely and with full knowledge, granting that only God can see into the consciences of the Westboro Baptist folks, suffer from the following effects from their mortal sins:

The first effect of mortal sin in man is to avert him from his true last end, and deprive his soul of sanctifying grace. The sinful act passes, and the sinner is left in a state of habitual aversion from God. The sinful state is voluntary and imputable to the sinner, because it necessarily follows from the act of sin he freely placed, and it remains until satisfaction is made (see PENANCE). This state of sin is called by theologians habitual sin, not in the sense that habitual sin implies a vicious habit, but in the sense that it signifies a state of aversion from God depending on the preceding actual sin, consequently voluntary and imputable. This state of aversion carries with it necessarily in the present order of God's providence the privation of grace and charity by means of which man is ordered to his supernatural end. The privation of grace is the "macula peccati" (St. Thomas, I-II.86), the stain of sin spoken of in Scripture (Joshua 22:17; Isaiah 4:4; 1 Corinthians 6:11). It is not anything positive, a quality or disposition, an obligation to suffer, an extrinsic denomination coming from sin, but is solely the privation of sanctifying grace. There is not a real but only a conceptual distinction between habitual sin (reatus culpæ) and the stain of sin (macula peccati). One and the same privation considered as destroying the due order of man to God is habitual sin, considered as depriving the soul of the beauty of grace is the stain or "macula" of sin.

The second effect of sin is to entail the penalty of undergoing suffering (reatus pænæ). Sin (reatus culpæ) is the cause of this obligation (reatus pænæ ). The suffering may be inflicted in this life through the medium of medicinal punishments, calamities, sickness, temporal evils, which tend to withdraw from sin; or it may be inflicted in the life to come by the justice of God as vindictive punishment. The punishments of the future life are proportioned to the sin committed, and it is the obligation of undergoing this punishment for unrepented sin that is signified by the "reatus poenæ" of the theologians. The penalty to be undergone in the future life is divided into the pain of loss (pæna damni) and the pain of sense (pæna sensus). The pain of loss is the privation of the beatific vision of God in punishment of turning away from Him. The pain of sense is suffering in punishment of the conversion to some created thing in place of God. This two-fold pain in punishment of mortal sin is eternal (1 Corinthians 6:9; Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:45). One mortal sin suffices to incur punishment. (See HELL.) Other effects of sins are: remorse of conscience (Wisdom 5:2-13); an inclination towards evil, as habits are formed by a repetition of similar acts; a darkening of the intelligence, a hardening of the will (Matthew 13:14-15; Romans 11:8); a general vitiating of nature, which does not however totally destroy the substance and faculties of the soul but merely weakens the right exercise of its faculties.  (Source)

To conclude, the Westboro Baptist Church folk are not authentic representatives of Christianity; their ministry is one of false prophecy, their intelligence is darkened, their wills hardened, and their nature vitiated. Their stance should be rejected by every Christian of righteous heart and by every man and woman of good will, and their voices drowned by our prayers, our good works, and our love for them.

Let us then return good for evil, love for hatred, mercy for judgment. Let us pray for these poor lost souls whose eternal salvation is seriously endangered, and let us humbly pray for own faith, hope, love, and final perseverance.

A prayer for healing and a moment of mourning

Brethren, I want to express my own feelings of mourning, shock, and outrage at the massacre that took place in Tucson, AZ this last weekend. Let us pray for the prompt recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, that the Lord may heal her and strengthen her family, as well as the family and friends of all the dead and wounded.

Let us pray too for the suspected perpetrator of these acts:

Father, you alone know your children's hearts. Touch with your grace this young man who stands accused of these heinous acts. Touch him and prepare him to stand before man's justice and, ultimately, before Your own infallible, loving judgment . In Jesus' Name we pray all this. Amen.

We observe today the Solemnity of Theophany or the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Come, let us worship Christ, the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased!

From today's Office of Readings: A sermon by St. Gregory Nazianzen

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptised; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.

John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptised by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again. I ought to be baptised by you: we should also add, “and for you”, for John is to be baptised in blood, washed clean like Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honour to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honour to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendour, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymns of the Feast from the Greek Festal Menaion

Apolytikion: (First Tone)

Lord, when You were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father gave witness to You, calling You Beloved; and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the certainty of His words. Glory to You, Christ our God, who appeared and enlightened the world.

Kontakion: (Fourth Tone)

Today You appeared to the world, and Your light, O Lord, has left its mark upon us as in fuller understanding we sing to You: “You came, You were made manifest, the unapproachable light.”

From the Liturgy of the Hours: Morning Prayer Antiphons

Antiphon 1: The Soldier baptizes his Kinf, the servant his Lord, John his Savior; the waters of Jordan tremble, a dove hovers as a sign of witness, and the voice of the Father is heard: This is my Son.

Antiphon 2: Springs of water were made holy as Christ revealed his glory to the world. Draw water from the fountain of the Savior, for Christ our God has hallowed all creation.

Antiphon 3: You burned away man's guilt by fore and the Holy Spirit. We give praise to you, Our God and Redeemer.

Gospel Canticle Antiphon: Christ is baptized, the world is made holy, he has taken away our sins. We shall be purified by water and the Holy Spirit.

Meditation on Death I

Consider that this life may soon terminate. The sentence is already passed: You must die. Death is certain, but the moment of it is uncertain: we know not when it will come. But to how many casualties and accidents is human life constantly exposed? The bleeding of an artery, a stroke of apoplexy, the bite of a venomous animal, an inundation, an earthquake, a thunderbolt, and numberless other causes that we can neither foresee nor prevent, may deprive you instantly of human life. Death may surprise you when you least expect it. How many have gone to bed at night in apparent good health, and in the morning have been found dead? And may not the same happen to you? Numberless others, who have been visited by sudden death, never expected to die in that manner; and, if they were then found in mortal sin, what is now their fate, and what will it be through all eternity? But, at all events, it is certain that either the night, or the day will come, when you will no more see the night. "I shall come," says Jesus Christ, "like a thief in the night, when I am the least expected." Matt. xxiv.44. Your good master warns you of this beforehand, because he wishes your salvation. O Sinner! Correspond, then, with this mercy, profit by this admonition, hold yourself always in readiness for death. When that moment comes there will be no time for preparation. Consider well that you must certainly die. The scene of this world must soon terminate for you, though you know not when. Who can tell whether it will be within a year, within a month, within a week, or even whether you will be alive tomorrow? Oh my Jesus! Give me light, and pardon me. ~ from Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 394

Continue on to Parts II-IV at Fountain of Elias Blog:

• Meditation on Death, Part II
• Meditation on Death, Part III
• Meditation on Death, Part IV

Personal news of some import

Brethren, as many of you know, I am a military reservist. I want to inform you that this year is my turn to serve our country on active military duty, for the second time since that day of infamy, September 11, 2001. My service will eventually take me to what we call “the Sandbox”.

Of course, this will affect the number, contents, and timing of my posts, but I don’t intend to abandon my blog. In fact, I look forward to incorporating here the new spiritual and practical insights and experiences the Lord will grant me during this period. Nevertheless, from now on you should expect the aforementioned effects until my return, over a year from now.

I ask for your prayers for my safe return in body, soul, and spirit, as well as for the safety of those I leave behind: my beloved wife, my sons, my daughter, and my grandsons. Pray for a definitive victory of good over evil, and for the dawning of a new day of peace in the world.

I go forth with decision, conformity, serenity, and peace, knowing that I do everything in Him who comforts me. Blessed be the name of the Lord, “who has prepared my hands for battle, my arms for war”. There is “a time for war and a time for peace”.

My time for war has come. I go forth hoping that my children, and my children’s children, will not have to face their own time of war.

Thank you for your patience and patronage. Remember that you will be able to follow me on Facebook and Twitter, where I may be able to post somewhat more frequently, albeit in brief snippets. You may also sign up for this blog’s RSS Feed or follow me in Google.

May the One God, Father, Son, and + Holy Spirit, bless us all and may the Peace of Christ which surpasses every understanding be with all of you.

A Hell of a Blog

Brethren (I will say "brethren" from now on instead of "folks"): I wouldn't normally do this, but in this instance, I feel I must. Satan has a blog, entitled, appropriately enough, Satan's Blog. I do so to follow the ancient dictum "know thy enemy, know thyself." Since I recently finished reading The Screwtape Letters, I thought my readers would love to read how the Enemy thinks - our Enemy, not Satan's Enemy, who is our Lord Jesus.

Anyway, have a good read. Enjoy Satan's Blog. (I almost choked when I wrote that).

P.S. 1/8/11: Be aware that the blogger isn't Catholic and may not harbor any special sympathies for the One, True Church. But then again, would you expect Satan to do so?

Investigation reveals "vast fraud" in sex-abuse allegations against Catholic priests

Folks, this according to TheMediaReport.com via InsightScoop:

In a stunning ten-page declaration recently submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, veteran attorney Donald H. Steier stated that his investigations into claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have uncovered vast fraud and that his probes have revealed that many accusations are completely false.

Counselor Steier has played a role in over one hundred investigations involving Catholic clergy in Los Angeles. In his missive Mr. Steier relayed, "One retired F.B.I. agent who worked with me to investigate many claims in the Clergy Cases told me, in his opinion, about ONE-HALF of the claims made in the Clergy Cases were either entirely false or so greatly exaggerated that the truth would not have supported a prosecutable claim for childhood sexual abuse" (capital letters are his).

Mr. Steier also added, "In several cases my investigation has provided objective information that could not be reconciled with the truthfulness of the subjective allegations. In other words, in many cases objective facts showed that accusations were false."

Mr. Steier's declaration is a stunner. He is as experienced as anyone in studying the claims of abuse against Catholic clergy in the Los Angeles area...

...Steier also took aim at the outspoken advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests):

They maintain an interactive Internet website with a user 'Forum' and 'Message Board,' among other features, where people can share detailed information between alleged victims pertaining to identity of specific alleged perpetrators, their alleged 'modus operandi,' and other details of alleged molestation. In effect, a person who wanted to make a false claim of sexual abuse by a priest could go to that website and find a 'blueprint' of factual allegations to make that would coincide with allegations made by other people. Law enforcement also uses the S.N.A.P. website to attempt to locate new victims and allegations against Catholic priests.

Read the whole thing here.

Commentary. First, the necessary disclaimer: while I acknowledge the reality and pain of the real victims of sexual abuse by priests and religious men - mostly homosexual in its nature - and support that offenders be brought to justice and the victims be fairly compensated, I have to say that I saw this coming. Anti-Catholic lawyers have made billions at the expense of the Church and the grounds are fertile (no pun intended) for widespread fraud, and abuse. All that a "victim" short on change has to do is identify a dead priest, perhaps one widely reported in the media as having been a "pedophile," copy the S.N.A.P.'s template, hire a greedy lawyer and, Presto! Free money comes his way.

I question the entire process in which allegations are brought forward against the Church across the country, as well as S.N.A.P.'s methods and not-so-hidden agenda of "church reform". I also want to highlight all efforts by anti-Catholic or "Catholic-in-name-only" politicians to manipulate state laws to expand the statute of limitations for criminal and civil prosecution of church abusers in order to facilitate the bleeding of the Church, weaken her, and punish her for her pro-Life activism. Their aim is to destroy the Church by depletion and discredit, and remove her as an actor in our nation's public life. I question their motives and condemn their actions.

You know who you are. We are on to you. We will not allow you to succeed.

Some Familiar Virtues

Father Nicolas Schwizer

As the year begins, perhaps it would be good to cultivate some attitudes, for example:

Politeness (or tact). It is the fine instinct, the correct tact to know what love is asking for at each moment. The person who possesses this virtue does not go through the world arrogantly, self-centered and without being concerned for the interests of others.

The polite person always tries to do everything well; therefore, his/her conduct appears very clear and loyal. He/she knows when to be quiet and when to speak or to do something.

St. Francis de Sales, a great friend of these small virtues, explains it correctly: “Discreet silence is always better than truth without love.”

That politeness presupposes a constant battle against superficiality, vanity and selfishness. On the contrary, the conduct of a person with little tact is usually like that of an elephant entering a porcelain shop.

A famous example of this fraternal politeness is the Virgin at the wedding feast at Cana (Jn 2,1). She foresees the needs of the bride and groom by sparing them the bother and humiliation of having to ask for help. This “thoughtfulness of foreseeing the needs of others” forms part of fraternal politeness.

Another form of politeness is being able to listen attentively to others – also to those who are annoying and boring – without showing irritation or impatience.

That attitude can, at other times, be demonstrated in knowing how to instruct or teach those who are ignorant without embarrassing them or humiliating them. Do we have that politeness, that tact in our dealing with others?

Respect. It is about “respect for the originality of the other” – basis for our living together. We have to surrender to the fact that we are a mystery to each other. And to respect the other person, I have to discover him/her and admire him/her in his/her profound originality.

Respect in dealing with others also means to leave the other freedom of thinking and acting as he/she seems fit to do so. The ideal of our communities is to become one heart and one soul, but without each brother/sister losing his/her originality.

This respect of freedom is important not only in relationship with others, but also in relationship with other groups: each group is autonomous, has rights to its own life, forms and styles.

Moderation. Moderation is the happy medium of things… self-control in any circumstance… not being swept away by excesses but doing the right thing with balance in the complicated hustle and bustle of life. We are persons of extremes: everything or nothing; enthusiasm or desperation; success or failure. We go through life tumbling from one side to the other, making serene and tranquil advancement difficult. There will always be fluctuations, but they should be moderate, controlled and integrated into the rhythm of life in order to arrive at a safe port.

Equilibrium (balance). The ups and downs of life hinder us from seeing clearly. They shake the horizon and disturb the vision. Most important in life is to see clearly at the crossroads in order to be able to follow the way correctly. And it is not easy to see clearly in the confusion which surrounds us on the outside with the attacks of the instincts and feelings which choke us on the inside. The equilibrium or balance fails as well as the certainty and the independent point of view. Easily the wrong decision is taken. The worst option is chosen. The way is erroneous. To see clearly and choose better, one must recover serenity and return to the happy medium.

Questions for reflection

1. How can I practice moderation?

2. Are we respectful with each brother and sister even though we may know each other too well?

3. Do we allow the other freedom to think and act?

Sunday of the Epiphany of Our Lord

From today’s Office of Readings
From a sermon by Pope St Leo the Great

The Lord has made his salvation known to the whole world

The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.

A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. The father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above.

Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham, the blessing renounced by the children of his flesh. In the persons of the Magi let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not in Judaea only, but in the whole world, so that his name may be great in all Israel.

Dear friends, now that we have received instruction in this revelation of God’s grace, let us celebrate with spiritual joy the day of our first harvesting, of the first calling of the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the merciful God, who has made us worthy, in the words of the Apostle, to share the position of the saints in light, who has rescued us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. As Isaiah prophesied: the people of the Gentiles, who sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and for those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned. He spoke of them to the Lord: The Gentiles, who do not know you, will invoke you, and the peoples, who knew you not, will take refuge in you.

This is the day that Abraham saw, and rejoiced to see, when he knew that the sons born of his faith would be blessed in his seed, that is, in Christ. Believing that he would be the father of the nations, he looked into the future, giving glory to God, in full awareness that God is able to do what he has promised.

This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognise and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of the light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: Universalis.com