Geez, there are some who don’t like me very much…

Brethren, Peace and Good to in Jesus Our Lord. As I was saying, case in point published elsewhere last April:

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2011/04/g-a-y-exclusive-noms-war-team-targeting-more-than-just-our-ring-fingers.html

And this is what I left in their comm-box:

Oh no! I've been discovered! "Un-closeted" in a manner of speaking.

A great exposé, but if you had ask me if I had been actively involved with NOM's team in the past - No longer, I'm involved on another project - I would've told you. Yes, there was nothing to hide. And also yes, I support NOM, its President, and the organization's objectives.

Also, the Church's objections to the culpable practice of homosexuality have been there from they one, and I accept them and propagate them as fully conformable with the nature and end of all human beings, and opposed to the ideological constructs proposed by homosexualist theorists and their pursuit of redefining or doing away with human nature altogether. But that should not come as a surprise either. I am a Catholic Christian, and as for me and my house, we serve the Lord.

I know I am not gaining any brownie points by restating what you already know. But that's the point, there are no news in this "exposé". Every thing you read here is what you would expect to come from an observant orthodox Christian. Sure, in our society we're rapidly becoming a minority and also, a persecuted minority at that! But no matter, with God's grace, we will continue to give witness to Him even in places (or comboxes) where angels may fear to thread.

I appreciate the mention, the link, and the momentary increase in my page traffic this chat caused. I apologize for my delay in acknowledging this thread, but as I've said. I've been busy.

Our is a vigorous disagreement from polar opposite worldviews. As an actor in a free society, I welcome the disagreement despite my complete and total opposition to your viewpoint. As a son of God and brother of Christ, I ask also for your forgiveness, and I, a sinner too, also dare pray for all of you.

-Theo

What else could I do? Oh yes, pray a lot, and pray this particularly:

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

And go on, in Christ’s name.

P.S.

But some people do like Vivificat:

http://www.blessedsacramentdc.org/mediafiles/090201bulletin.pdf

May the Lord bless ‘em richly!

Orthodox Monks to Become Jedi Knights

Or will they become Sith Lords? Unknown at this time…

Waiting periods to buy a firearm, but not to kill a baby - the elites proclaim

Brethren, Grace, Peace and Good to all of you in Jesus Christ Our Lord.

I read this very good piece by Michael New at the National Review Online, on Tracking the Times’s Commentary on Sanctity of Life Issues which I think you ought to read. I want to highlight the following paragraphs:

The mainstream media typically offers little in the way of interesting commentary on sanctity of life issues. Sunday’s New York Times editorial by Dorothy Samuels, a member of The New York Times editorial board and former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, is certainly no exception. The whole commentary reads like a NARAL or Planned Parenthood press release. Throughout the editorial Samuels bemoans the incremental progress that pro-lifers have made at both state and federal level and encourages supporters of legal abortion to become more active.   

In her op-ed, Samuels deems five particular pieces of pro-life legislation the “most harmful.” These are 1) waiting periods, 2) informed consent laws, 3) parental involvement laws, 4) clinic safety regulations, and 5) prohibition of abortion coverage in insurance policies. One wonders why Samuels deemed these particular pieces of pro-life legislation the “most harmful.” She never explains her methodology. At any rate, the editorial comes complete with a color coded map showing how many of the five “most harmful” abortion restrictions each state has enacted. Not surprisingly, states in the South and Midwest have been more active in passing pro-life laws than their counterparts in the Northeast and on the West Coast. 

Read it all here.

Commentary. I want to bring your attention to Ms. Samuels' first "most harmful" piece of pro-life legislation now approved, or making its way through the legislatures of several states: "waiting-periods".

Take for example South Dakota's excellent 3-Day Waiting Period for an abortion. ADopted last March, the law is aimed at preventing mothers from feeling coerced or pressured into having an abortion, and requires that women have a one-on-one session with a crisis pregnancy center counselor during the 72-hour waiting period.

The mother would have to certify that she obtained counseling, and learned about the assistance and education available to help her “keep and care for her child,” prior to undergoing an abortion. Predictably, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood announced they would sue the state. In her opinion piece, Ms. Samuel considered these additional counseling sessions as "demeaning."

Now for my unrequested opinion: it amazes me that the same end of the ideological spectrum that push forward a law requiring a 5-day waiting period for the purchase of a firearm - that may never be used in the taking of a human life - demand no waiting periods for the actual taking of a human life.

Can this people be more morally daft than this? Is there an end to their darkness?

Another example of this benightness of the abortion industry's apologists is their inability to understand or accept the just stigma their chosen line of work deserves. They kill babies after all, and even the mothers who go to them ask the providers "how can you do this." The mothers know what an abortion entail, whereas the industry and their apologists play games with words to justify the killing of so many.

I welcome the waiting-period laws and anything that reduces the scope of the nefarious consequences of Roe v. Wade prior to its entire derogation. I also pray for a new dawn of a Culture of Life in our nation that would make abortion not only illegal, but completely unnecessary; where the innocent are not killed upon the altar of "choice" and women in crisis pregnancies receive real, holistic health care that truly respect their bodies and their motherhood.

Lefevbrerite Leader Downplays Doctrinal Preamble

Brethren:  Grace, Peace and Good in our Lord Jesus Christ to all of you. My better-known colleague at Rorate-Caeli reports the following:

SSPX Bishop Fellay

Yesterday, at Ruffec (Indre Department, Centre, France), Bishop Fellay [the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X - FSSPX / SSPX] received the first vows of a religious woman of the Society [the Sisters of Saint Pius X]. In the end of his sermon, he addressed the ongoing discussions with Rome.

...

If nothing, or close to nothing, has been said, it is because things are more complex than they may appear.

Rome has presented two proposals to the Fraternity of Saint Pius X: one doctrinal, the other canonical. Neither one, nor the other are clear. These two texts are modifiable, they can be rewritten, their essence being preserved. The problem is to find out what the essence is. There are lots of questions, but not many answers. 

Rome moves one step towards the Fraternity. The latter must examine it seriously. The texts will be the object of a very attentive study. The Fraternity will not sign a text that is not clear. It will not do anything that may diminish its Faith or the spirit of its Faith. And it will not make a move if it is not certain of the good intentions regarding it. And, according to each different curial prelate that is questioned, a different response may be obtained. 

It is a decisive phase, which, whatever its outcome, will not be without consequences. [Source: Fecit-Forum, author: Austremoine]

Commentary. I will be blunt. I do not trust the SSPX, and I do not think they are proceeding in good faith toward reconciliation. If it happens, Glory be to God. But this warning by Bishop Fellay, this “trial balloon” doesn’t portent good things.

You see, the SSPX presumes to dictate to the Successor of Peter the conditions for their full reconciliation with, and regularization within, the Church. I see in them an understated arrogance and a impenitent pride and this cost them their credibility.

The Holy Father has bent over backwards to reconcile this rebellious flock and this flock, instead of showing deference towards the Successor of Peter, and humility, still posture and pressure to get their way. They are positively ungrateful.

Fixing the ills of the Church is not going to be accomplished by inflicting more evil upon her. This, the SSPX has been historically incapable of comprehending. But, I still believe in miracles despite the shortcomings of the SSPX.

Let us pray for them, for their repentance, conversion, and ultimate reconciliation with the One, True Church built upon St. Peter and his successors in the Roman See.

Today's the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

From Today's Office of Readings
Reading A sermon of Pope St Gregory the Great

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.

Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.”

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.

So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

Source: Universalis.com

The Catholic View of Deification

Brothers and sisters, peace be with you. I read this short paragraph in Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange’s first volume of The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life that I thought would benefit you:

The angel and the human soul become capable of a supernatural knowledge of God and a supernatural love only if they have received this divine graft, habitual or sanctifying grace, which is a participation in the divine nature and in the inner life of God. Only this grace, received in the essence of our soul as a free gift, can render the soul radically capable of essentially divine operations, can make it capable of seeing God immediately as He sees Himself and of loving Him as He loves Himself. In other words, the deification of the intellect and that of the will presuppose the deification of the soul itself (in its essence), whence these faculties spring. When this grace is consummated and inamissible, it is called glory…

- Purchase The Three Ages of the Interior Life from Amazon.com

The Three Ages of the Interior Life (2 Volume Set) (9780895556547): Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P.: Books

Dish it out, God can take it

Brethren, Peace and Good to you in Jesus Christ. I want to share with you a quote from Karl A. Schultz's book How to Pray With the Bible.

Karl A. Schultz

Prayer and contemplation is conversation from the heart even more intimate with a loved one, as with God we need not holding back out of fear of hurting or angering Him. We need not factor in sensitivities or measure our words. He can handle whaterver we dish out. This is liberating, consoling, and therapeutic.

- Purchase How to Pray with the Bible: The Ancient Prayer Form of Lectio Divina Made Simple, by  Karl A. Schultz from Amazon.com.

Holy Water: A Means of Spiritual Wealth

Holy water is a sacramental that remits venial sin. Because of the blessing attached to it, Holy Church strongly urges its use upon her children, especially when dangers threaten, such as fire, storms, sickness and other calamities. Every Catholic home always should have in it a supply of holy water.

We do not take advantage of the benefits derived from holy water.

Le us cultivate its use

Untold spiritual wealth is concentrated in a tiny drop of blessed water.

And we give it so little thought!

Did we realize now, as we shall realize after death, the many benefits which may be derived from holy water, we would use it far more frequently, and with greater faith and reverence.

Holy water has its great power and efficacy from the prayers of the Church, which its Divine Founder always accepts with complacency.

The following are some of the Petitions that the Priest makes to God when he blesses water.

"O God,.....grant that this creature of Thine (water) may be endowed with divine grace to drive away devils and to cast out diseases, that whatever in the houses or possessions of the faithful may be sprinkled by this water, may be freed from every thing unclean, and delivered from what is hurtful....Let everything that threatens the safety or peace of the dwellers therein be banished by the sprinkling of this water; so that the health which they seek by calling upon Thy Holy Name may be guarded from all assault."

Prayers Effective

These prayers ascend to Heaven each time you take holy water and sprinkle a drop either for yourself or for another whether he be present or absent; and God's blessings descend for soul and body.

Dispel the Devil

The devil hates holy water because of its power over him. He can not long abide in a place or near a person that is often sprinkled with this blessed water.

Do your dear ones live at a distance?

Holy water, sprinkled with faith and piety, can move the Sacred Heart to bless your loved ones and protect them from all harm of soul and body. When worry and fear take possession of your heart, hasten to your holy water font, and give your dear ones the benefit of the Church's prayers.

The  Holy Souls Long for it

Only in Purgatory can one understand how ardently a poor soul longs for holy water. If we desire to make a host of intercessors for ourselves, let us try to realize now some of their yearnings, and never forget them at the holy water font. The holy souls nearest to Heaven may need the sprinkling of only one drop to relieve their pining souls.

Remits Venial Sins

Because holy water is one of the Church's sacramentals, it remits venial sin. Keep your soul beautifully pure in God's sight by making the Sign of the Cross carefully while saying,

"By this holy water and by Thy Precious Blood wash away all my sins, O Lord."

Imprimatur: Albert G. Meyer Archbishop of Milwaukee, Jan. 13, 1958

Mortifications to practice in our relations with our neighbor

Author: Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926)
1 - Bear with your neighbor's defects; defects of education, of mind, of character. Bear with everything about him which irritates you: his gait, his posture, tone of voice, accent, or whatever.
2 - Bear with everything in everybody and endure it to the end and in a Christian spirit. Never with that proud patience which makes one say: "What have I to do with so and so? How does what he says affect me? What need have I for the affection, the kindness or even the politeness of any creature at all and of that person in particular?" Nothing accords less with the will of God than this haughty unconcern, this scornful indifference; it is worse, indeed, than impatience.
3 - Are you tempted to be angry? For the love of Jesus, be meek.

To avenge yourself? Return good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa's heart was to do her a bad turn.
To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature.
To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly. To talk badly of him? Talk well of him.
To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.

4 - Love to give praise to your companions, especially those you are naturally most inclined to envy.
5 - Do not be witty at the expense of charity.
6 - If somebody in your presence should take the liberty of making remarks which are rather improper, or if someone should hold conversations likely to injure his neighbor's reputation, you may sometimes rebuke the speaker gently, but more often it will be better to divert the conversation skillfully or indicate by a gesture of sorrow or of deliberate inattention that what is said displeases you.
7 - It costs you an effort to render a small service: offer to do it. You will have twice the merit.
8 - Avoid with horror posing as a victim in your own eyes or those of others. Far be it from you to exaggerate your burdens; strive to find them light; they are so, in reality, much more often than it seems; they would be so always if you were more virtuous.
Conclusion
In general, know how to refuse to nature what she asks of you unnecessarily.
Know ho to make her give what she refuses you for no reason. Your progress in virtue, says the author of the Imitation of Christ, will be in proportion to the violence that you succeed in doing to yourself.
"It is necessary to die," said the saintly Bishop of Geneva, "It is necessary to die in order that God may live in us, for it is impossible to achieve the union of the soul with God by any means other than by mortification. These words 'it is necessary to die' are hard, but they will be followed by a great sweetness, because one dies to oneself for no other reason than to be united to God by that death."
Would to God we had the right to apply to ourselves these beautiful words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: "In all things we suffer tribulation ... Always bearing about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies." (II Cor. 4:8-10)

Mortifications to practice in our exterior actions

Author: Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926)
1 - You ought to show the greatest exactitude in observing all the points of your rule of life, obeying them without delay, remembering Saint John Berchmans, who said: "Penance for me is to lead the common life"; "To have the highest regard for the smallest things, such is my motto"; "Rather die than break a single rule."
2 - In the exercise of your duties of state, try to be well-pleased with whatever happens to be most unpleasant or boring for you, recalling again her the words of Saint Francis: "I am never better than when I am not well."
3 - Never give one moment over to sloth: from morning until night keep busy without respite.
4 - If your life is, at least partly, spent in study, apply to yourself this advice from Saint Thomas Aquinas to his pupils: "Do not be content to take in superficially what you read and hear, but endeavor to go into it deeply and to fathom the whole sense of it. Never remain in doubt about what you could know with certainty. Work with a holy eagerness to enrich your mind; arrange and classify in your memory all the knowledge you are able to acquire. On the other hand, do not seek to penetrate mysteries which are beyond your intelligence."
5 - Devote yourself solely to your present occupation, without looking back on what went before or anticipating in thought what will follow. Say with Saint Francis: "While I am doing this I am not obliged to do anything else"; "let us make haste very calmly; all in good time."
6 - Be modest in your bearing. Nothing was so perfect as Saint Francis's deportment; he always kept his head straight, avoiding alike the inconstancy which turns it in all directions, the negligence which lets it droop forward and the proud and haughty disposition which throws it back. His countenance was always peaceful, free from all annoyance, always cheerful, serene and open; without however any merriment or indiscreet humor, without loud, immoderate or too frequent laughter.
7 - He was as composed when alone as in a large gathering. He did not cross his legs, never supported his head on his elbow. When he prayed he was motionless as a statue. When nature suggested to him he should relax, he did not listen.
8 - Regard cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidiness as a vice; do not have dirty, stained or torn clothes. On the other hand, regard luxury and worldliness as a greater vice still. Make sure that, on seeing your way of dressing, nobody calls it "slovenly" or "elegant", but that everybody is bound to think it "decent."

Mortification of the mind and the will

Author: Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926)
1 - Mortify your mind by denying it all fruitless imaginings, all ineffectual or wandering thoughts which waste time, dissipate the soul, and render work and serious things distasteful.
2 - Every gloomy and anxious thought should be banished from your mind. Concern about all that could happen to you later on should not worry you at all. As for the bad thoughts which bother you in spite of yourself, you should, in dismissing them, make of them a subject for patience. Being involuntary, they will simply be for you an occasion of merit.
3 - Avoid obstinacy in your ideas, stubbornness in your sentiments. You should willingly let the judgments of others prevail, unless there is a question of matters on which you have a duty to give you opinion and speak out.
4 - Mortify the natural organ of your mind, which is to say the tongue. Practice silence gladly, whether your rule prescribes it for you or whether you impose it on yourself of your own accord.
5 - Prefer to listen to others rather than to speak yourself; and yet speak appropriately, avoiding as extremes both speaking too much, which prevents others from telling their thoughts, and speaking too little, which suggests a hurtful lack of interest in what they say.
6 - Never interrupt somebody who is speaking and do not forestall, by answering too swiftly, a question he would put to you.
7 - Always have a moderate tone of voice, never abrupt or sharp. Avoid very, extremely, horribly; all exaggeration.
8 - Love simplicity and straightforwardness. The pretenses, evasions, deliberate equivocations which certain pious people indulge in without scruple greatly discredit piety.
9 - Carefully refrain from using any coarse, vulgar or even idle word, because Our Lord warns us that He will ask an account of them from us on the day of judgment.
10 - Above all, mortify your will; that is the decisive point. Bend it constantly to what you know is God's good pleasure and the rule of Providence, without taking any account either of your likes or your dislikes. Be submissive, even to your inferiors, in matters which do not concern the glory of God and the duties of your position.
11 - Look on the smallest disobedience to the orders or even the desires of your superiors as if it were addressed to God.
12 - Remember that you will practice the greatest of all mortifications when you love to be humiliated and when you have the most perfect obedience towards those to whom God wishes you to be subject.
13 - Love to be forgotten and counted as nothing; it is the advice of Saint John of the Cross, it is the counsel of the Imitation of Christ: speak seldom either well or ill of yourself, but seek by silence to make yourself forgotten.
14 - Faced with a humiliation, a reproach, you are tempted to grumble, to feel sorry for yourself. Say with David: "So much the better! It is good that I should be humbled."
15 - Entertain no frivolous desires: "I desire few things," said Saint Francis de Sales, "and the little that I desire, I desire very little."
16 - Accept with the most perfect resignation the mortifications decreed by Providence, the crosses and the labors belonging to the state of life in which Providence has placed you. "There, where , there is less of our choice," said Saint Francis, "there is more of the good pleasure of God." We would like to choose our crosses, to have a cross other than our own, to carry a heavy cross which would at least have some fame, rather than a light cross which tires us by being unceasingly there: an illusion! It is our cross we must carry, not another, and its merit is not in what sort of cross it is, but in the perfection with which we carry it.
17 - Do not let yourself be troubled by temptations, scruples, spiritual dryness: "What we do in time of dryness has more merit in the sight of God than what we do in time of consolation," says the saintly Bishop of Geneva.
18 - Do not fret too much about your imperfections, but humble yourself because of
them. To humble oneself is a good thing, which few people understand; to be troubled and vexed at oneself is something that everybody knows, and which is bad, because in that kind of distress and vexation self-love always plays the greater part.
19 - Let us beware alike of the timidity and despondency which saps our courage, and of the presumption which is only pride in action. Let us work as if everything depended on our efforts, but let us remain humble as if our work were useless.

Mortification of the senses, of the imagination, and the passions

Author: Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926)
1 - Close your eyes always and above all to every dangerous sight, and even - have the courage to do it - to every frivolous and useless sight. See without looking; do not gaze at anybody to judge of their beauty or ugliness.
2 - Keep your ears closed to flattering remarks, to praise, to persuasion, to bad advice, to slander, to uncharitable mocking, to indiscretions, to ill-­disposed criticism, to suspicions voiced, to every word capable of causing the very smallest coolness between two souls.
3 - If the sense of smell has something to suffer due to your neighbor's infirmity or illness, far be it from you ever to complain of it; draw from it a holy joy.
4 - In what concerns the quality of food, have great respect for Our Lord's counsel: "Eat such things as are set before you." "Eat what is good without delighting in it, what is bad without expressing aversion to it, and show yourself equally indifferent to the one as to the other. There," says St. Francis de Sales, "is a real mortification."
5 - Offer your meals to God; at table impose on yourself a tiny penance: for example, refuse a sprinkling of salt a glass of wine, a sweet, etc.; your companions will not notice it, but God will keep account of it.
6 - If what you are given appeals to you very much, think of the gall and the vinegar given to Our Lord on the cross: that cannot keep you from tasting, but will serve as a counterbalance to the pleasure.
7 - You must avoid all sensual contact, every caress in which you set some passion, by which you look for passion, from which you take a joy which is principally of the senses.
8 - Refrain from going to warm yourself, unless this is necessary to save you from being unwell.
9 - Bear with everything which naturally grieves the flesh, especially the cold of winter, the heat of summer, a hard bed and every inconvenience of that kind. Whatever the weather, put on a good face; smile at all temperatures. Say with the prophet: "Cold, heat, rain, bless ye the Lord." It will be a happy day for us when we are able to say with a good heart these words which were familiar to St. Francis de Sales: "I am never better than when I am not well."
10 - Mortify your imagination when it beguiles you with the lure of a brilliant position, when it saddens you with the prospect of a dreary future, when it irritates you with the memory of a word or deed which offended you.
11 - If you feel within you the need to day dream, mortify it without mercy.
12 - Mortify yourself with the greatest care in the matter of impatience, of irritation or of anger.
13 - Examine your desires thoroughly; submit them to the control of reason and of faith: do you never desire a long life rather than a holy life, wish for pleasure and well-being without trouble or sadness, victory without battle, success without setbacks, praise without criticism, a comfortable, peaceful life without a cross of any sort, that is to say a life quite opposite to that of Our Divine Lord?
14 - Take care not to acquire certain habits which, without being positively bad, can become injurious, such as habits of frivolous reading, of playing at games of chance, etc...
15 - Seek to discover your predominant failing and, as soon as you have recognized it, pursue it all the way to its last retreat. To that purpose, submit with good will to whatever could be monotonous or boring in the practice of the examination of conscience.
16 - You are not forbidden to have a heart and to show it, but be on your guard against the danger.
of exceeding due measure. Resist attachments which are too natural, particular friendships and all softness of heart.

Mortification of the body

Author: Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926)
1 - In the matter of food, restrict yourself as far as possible to simple necessity. Consider these words which Saint Augustine addressed to God: "O my God, Thou hast taught me to take food only as a remedy. Ah! Lord, who is there among us who does not sometimes exceed the limit here? If there is such a one I say that man is great, and must give great glory to Thy name." (Confessions, book X, ch. 31)
2 - Pray to God often, pray to God daily to help you by His grace so that you do not overstep the limits of necessity and do not permit yourself to give way to pleasure.
3 - Take nothing between meals, unless out of necessity or for the sake of convenience.
4 - Practice fasting and abstinence, but practice them only under obedience and with discretion.
5 - It is not forbidden for you to enjoy some bodily satisfaction, but do so with a pure intention, giving thanks to God.
6 - Regulate your sleep, avoiding in this all faint­heartedness, all softness, especially in the morning. Set an hour, if you can, for going to bed and getting up, and keep strictly to it.
7 - In general, take your rest only in so far as it is necessary; give yourself generously to work, not sparing your labor. Take care not to exhaust your body, but guard against indulging it; as soon as you feel it even a little disposed to play the master, treat it as once as a slave.
8 - If you suffer some slight indisposition, avoid being a nuisance to others through your bad mood; leave to your companions the task of complaining for you; for yourself, be patient and silent as the Divine Lamb who has truly borne all our weaknesses.
9 - Guard against making the slightest illness a reason for dispensation or exemption from your daily schedule. "One must detest like the plague every exception when it comes to rules," wrote Saint John Berchmans.
10 - Accept with docility, endure humbly, patiently and with perseverance, the tiresome mortification called illness.

The Catholic Practice of Mortification

Brothers and sisters: peace be with you. I'm about to start a series about the Catholic practice of mortification. I think that mortifying the senses - today we might say, mastering them - is urgent nowadays if we wish to prevail under the constant bomdardment our senses are subjected to by the culture and media.

There's nothing "medieval" about mortifying the senses unless one falls into the temporal fallacy so common today that everything from the past - particularly if its seen as "medieval" - is considered evil, unhealthy, or morbose prior to any sober discussion about "the thing". You may be troubled by that thought, or others may suggest it to you. Pay it no heed. Make your refusal to fall into the temporal fallacy your first act of mortification.

I will start the series with the definition of "mortification" provided by the Catholic Encyclopedia:

One of the methods which Christian asceticism employs in training the soul to virtuous and holy living. The term originated with St. Paul, who traces an instructive analogy between Christ dying to a mortal and rising to an immortal life, and His followers who renounce their past life of sin and rise through grace to a new life of holiness. "If you live after the flesh", says the apostle, "you shall die, but if through the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live" (Romans 8:13; cf. also Colossians 3:5, and Galatians 5:24). From this original use of the term, we see that mortification, though under one aspect it is a law of death, under another and more fundamental aspect it is a law of life, and does not destroy but elevates nature. What it slays is the disease of the soul, and by slaying this it restores and invigorates the soul's true life.

Of the diseases it sets itself to slay, sin, the one mortal disease of the soul, holds the first place. Sin committed it destroys, by impelling to true penitence and to the use of those means of forgiveness and restoration which our Lord has confided to His Church. Temptations to sin it overcomes by inducing the will to accept hardships, however grace, rather than yield to the temptations. To this extent, mortification is obligatory on all, but those who wish to be more thorough in the service of Christ, carry it further, and strive with its aid to subdue, so far as is possible in this life, that "rebellion" of the flesh against the spirit which is the internal incentive to sin. What is needed to achieve this victory is that the passions and sensual concupiscences, which when freely indulged exercise so pernicious an influence on human conduct, should be trained by judicious repression to subordinate and conform their desires to the rule of reason and in faith, as discerned by the mind. But for this training to be effectual it is not sufficient to restrain these desires of the flesh only when their demands are unlawful. They represent a twist in the nature, and must be treated as one treats a twisted wire when endeavouring to straighten it, namely, by twisting it the opposite way. Thus in the various departments of ascetic observance, earnest Catholics are constantly found denying themselves even in matters which in themselves are confessedly lawful.

Mortification, viewed thus as a means of curing bad habits and implanting good ones, has its recognized place in the methods even of those who are engaged in pursuing purely natural ends. What is peculiar to Christian mortification is, that it relies for the attainment of its spiritual objects, not merely on this natural efficacy of its methods, but still more on the aids of divine grace, for which, by its earnestness in self-discipline and the Christian motive which inspires it, it can plead so powerfully with God. And here, as further contributing to increase it spiritual efficacy, another motive for which it is practiced comes in. It is practiced likewise as an expiation for past sins and shortcomings, for it is the belief of the Catholic Church, that, although only the Atonement of Christ can offer adequate expiation for the sins of men, men ought not to make that an excuse for doing nothing themselves, but should rather take it as an incentive to add their own expiations to the extent of their power, and should regard such personal expiations as very pleasing to God. This explains why many of the mortifications practiced by devout persons are not directly curative of evil propensities, but take the form of painful exercise and privations self-inflicted because they are painful, e.g., fastings, hard beds, abstention from lawful pleasures, etc. Not that these external mortifications are of themselves available, for spiritual writers never tire of insisting that the internal mortification or pride and self-love in their various forms are essential, but that external penances are good only so far as they spring from this internal spirit, and react by promoting it (see ASCETICISM).

In the following posts we will cover the practice of Christian mortification as delineated by Cardinal Desire Mercier (1851-1926).

Open rebellion in the ranks of the Catholic Church in Austria

Brethren, this according to the Deutsche Welle's English web edition:

The future of the Austrian Church?

Disgruntled Roman Catholics in Austria have not only been breaking bread at their weekly masses - they have also been breaking with tradition.

A total of 329 priests - one in ten of all priests in Austria - are openly supporting the call for reform that they say is needed to breathe life back into the church.

The movement calls for male priests to be allowed to marry, ending the church's celibacy rule. The would-be reformers also want women to be able to enter the priesthood and urge greater acceptance of divorce.

The group wants women, as well as men, to be ordainedRather than simply appealing for reforms, the group has declared it will break ecclesiastical rules by giving communion to Protestants and remarried divorced Catholics. It will also allow lay people - men and women - to preach and to lead head parishes without a priest.

The dissidents' main spokesman is Father Helmut Schüller, who claims that a shortage of priests makes reform essential. In the entire southern state of Carinthia, not one single priest will be ordained this year.

"We're presenting suggestions for how we can continue, when we have no replacements," said Schüller. "How we can find people from our own ranks - for example our own parish members who can simply continue on? We've been thinking about this for years."

It might be too early to call it a schism but unlike the congregations in Austrian churches, the number of "disobedients" is on the increase.

Please, continue reading here.

Commentary. This has been gestating for a while under the influence of dissident theologians such as Hans Küng, who openly fosters this agenda. The Austrian rebels perceived that the Church is encountering a moment of weakness and have opted for open rebellion.

My humble, unrequested opinion is this: if the Austrian bishops cannot "pastorally" bring these rebels to heel, they should grow a backbone and do whatever needs to be done to restore discipline in the Austrian church. If the dissidents want a latitudinarian Church, they should be let go so that they can form their own branch of Anglicanism in their country and leave alone the longsuffering, true Catholics of Austria who want to live a truly Catholic Christian life in a truly Catholic Church.

Christ Conquers the Evil of Death

Author: Blessed John Paul the Great | Source: EWTN

It is the same when we deal with death. It is often awaited even as a liberation from the suffering of this life. At the same time, it is not possible to ignore the fact that it constitutes as it were a definitive summing-up of the destructive work both in the bodily organism and in the psyche. But death primarily involves the dissolution of the entire psychophysical personality of man. The soul survives and subsists separated from the body, while the body is subjected to gradual decomposition according to the words of the Lord God, pronounced after the sin committed by man at the beginning of his earthly history: "You are dust and to dust you shall return." Therefore, even if death is not a form of suffering in the temporal sense of the word, even if in a certain way it is beyond all forms of suffering, at the same time the evil which the human being experiences in death has a definitive and total character. By His salvific work, the only-begotten Son liberates man from sin and death. First of all He blots out from human history the dominion of sin, which took root under the influence of the evil spirit beginning with original sin, and then He gives man the possibility of living in sanctifying grace. In the wake of His victory over sin, He also takes away the dominion of death, by His resurrection beginning the process of the future resurrection of the body. Both are essential conditions of "eternal life," that is, of man's definitive happiness in union with God; this means, for the saved, that in the eschatological perspective suffering is totally blotted out.

Prayers to Prepare for Death

Prayer for a Happy Death (Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman)

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour in the strong arms of Thy Sacraments and by the fresh fragrance of Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and my glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile upon me, that, in them all and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverence, and die as I desire to live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in Thy love. Amen.

An Act of Resignation (Pope St. Pius X)

My Lord God, even now I accept at Thy hand, cheerfully and willingly, with all its anxieties, pains and sufferings, whatever kind of death it shall please Thee to be mine. Amen.

- Read also The Last Things at EWTN.

Dynamic views now available on this blog

Brethren: Peace be with you. Thanks to Google Almighty this blog has now dynamic views. These views are useful to navigate the blog on mobile devices and pads. The picture below is of "mosaic view." You may access the newer views here or from the link on the left sidebar. Please, enjoy the new functionality. Thank you all for your patronage.


Vivificat - Mosaic View



Mr. James Carville should retire

Brethren, peace be with you. It’s been a while since I’ve touched upon national U.S. politics but I wish to do so today, albeit tangentially.

Today CNN published these “reflections” by former Clinton White House adviser James Carville (pictured right). He said many amazing things – as always – but I want to focus on his parting shots:

As I watch the Republican debates, I realize that we are on the brink of a crazy person running our nation. I sit in front of the television and shudder at the thought of one of these creationism-loving, global-warming-denying, immigration-bashing, Social-Security-cutting, clean-air-hating, mortality-fascinated, Wall-Street-protecting Republicans running my country.

I’m not going to defend the Republican Party and its candidates by itself, because my “politics” are the “Catholic politics” as explained in The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. I find that as a Catholic, as an American, and as  fair-minded person I must question the accuracy and the relevance of Mr. Carville’s shots. One by one:

I sit in front of the television and shudder at the thought of one of these creationism-loving…

What does that have to do with presidential fitness? Michael Romney, for example, believes in Three Gods. Why didn’t he attack that? For that matter, the Senate Minority Leader also hold the same belief in Three Gods – they are Mormons, after all. Isn’t that even kookier than believing in creationism? I would say so. Is it relevant to their fitness for higher office in America? No, it isn’t.

…global-warming-denying…

Not exactly. The planet is warming alright. The controversy lies in its origin. Is it antropogenic (human-caused) and if it is, to what degree, if any? That’s where the controversy lies and it lies there because of the dishonesty of those in the scientific community who by deceit, rumor-mongering, and information-operations have gone at various lengths to silence those who offer other hypotheses for testing. The keepers of the human-caused global warming orthodoxy do this by means of intimidation, shunning, name-calling, and denying funds to test the alternate hypotheses. The Democrat Party has its own industrial and business backers interested in vast government funding to their businesses, their own corporate welfare that is and we can understand that Mr. Carville plays their tune.

…immigration-bashing…

I’m definitely not “immigration-bashing” and I’ve held our nation to the Biblical standard to the treatment of the aliens in our midst on this blog. Yet, I also want a controlled, fair, orderly, and secure immigration mechanism something that Mr. Carville doesn’t go into, pandering as he is to his party’s base.

…Social-Security-cutting…

Another pandering issue. When is he going to understand that the system is broken, that it needs a complete redesign, and that might include raising the retirement age or cutting benefits? Because there is no other way around it. The Baby Boomers contracepted their way out through the Sexual Revolution and now there is no other population to take their place, aside from dismally-paid illegal immigrants. The Nation’s demographics are what they are thanks to Mr. Carville and his generation. Way to go!

…clean-air-hating…

Like any other reasonable person, I love clean air. To indicate otherwise is a lie. But how are going to do it? By creating fake exchange markets for energy use that would increase the cost of living and destroy energy production in this country, or by supporting a strong, innovative market capable of creating the knowledge, the tools, and the will to pursue clean energy and manufacture? Does Mr. Carville want to create jobs or send more jobs overseas where emerging countries lack the same strictures that we impose upon our own job-creators?

…mortality-fascinated…

“Mortality fascinated”? What the heck does that mean? This is the one that originally got me going.Does it mean that to Mr. Carville, that Americans who condemn the “medical” deaths of the unborn, the infirm, and the elderly, that is, those who hold a consistent life ethic are to be feared and held in scorn? This is why I think and firmly believe that people who think like Mr. Carville should not be given any power in our government, much less the ears of those who hold power. I don’t care which party you belong to, if you do not defend the dignity of human life at all stages of development, you do not deserve my trust. Period.

…Wall-Street-protecting …

As if the Democrats don’t have their own protected classes, in Wall Street, in organized labor, and among the glitterati.

Mr. Carville is a hypocrite. He counts on our ignorance, passivity, or indifference not to call his bluff. He should listen to his wife more, retire, go fishing or something. He doesn’t fool anyone any more. For these intentions, I do pray, hear us o’ Lord.

Essays by St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

Brethren: Peace be with you. I found these while surfing about and thought that you may benefit from them.

Feminine vocations - The woman who "suits" man as helpmate does not only participate in his work; she complements him, counteracting the dangers of his specifically masculine nature.

On the history and spirit of Carmel - To stand before the face of the living God, that is our vocation.

Love of the cross - Voluntary expiatory suffering is what truly and really unites one to the Lord intimately.

Woman’s formation - The primary and most essential Educator is not the human being but God Himself.

Woman’s soul - The world of the spirit is founded on sensuousness which is spiritual as much as physical: the intellect, knowing its activity to be rational, reveals a world; the will intervenes creatively and formatively in this world; the emotion receives this world inwardly and puts it to the test.

Source: Quotidiana.org

Today We Celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Depiction of St. Helena Holding the Holy Cross

Early in the fourth century St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. She razed the Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior's tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher over the tomb. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then "all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on."

To this day the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.

Comment:

The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewelry. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authority—including Christians who refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration.

Quote:

"How splendid the cross of Christ! It brings life, not death; light, not darkness; Paradise, not its loss. It is the wood on which the Lord, like a great warrior, was wounded in hands and feet and side, but healed thereby our wounds. A tree has destroyed us, a tree now brought us life" (Theodore of Studios).

- Source: AmericanCatholic.Org

Pope Benedict accused of "crimes against humanity"

Brethren, peace and good to you in Jesus Christ. This, according to CNN:

Victims of abuse by Catholic priests asked the International Criminal Court to charge Pope Benedict XVI and other top Vatican officials with crimes against humanity, a victims' group announced Tuesday.

This story is developing. We'll bring you the latest information as soon as we get it.

Commentary. This is no longer about obtaining justice or just compensation for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. Nor is it an attempt to hold accountable "the real culprits" behind the abuse scandal. No, this is a calculated act of hatred against the Church and her pastors, an attempt to destroy the Church as it were, or to humiliate her pastors so thoroughly to make the Magisterium of the Church ineffective in the public and private arena. This is also another prongue of the malignant effort by these devil-induced lawyers to strip the Holy See of recognition as a sovereign state in order to plunder her.

I pity the victims and the families of the victims who lent their pain to these minions of the evil one. By turning their pain into hatred they have compounded the effects of the sins of the clergy so much that they have now become sharers of the same sin of abuse. This transmogrification from pain into hatred stains their soul in grave sin and if unrepented, will have eternal consequences.

Sure, money will allay their fears of eternal damnation, money does that. The applause of militant unbelievers will also mollify their conscience, they do that too. That's the only thing they are good at. Still, the plaintiffs and their lawyers are now prima facie examples of how sin and its effects, when unrestrained by conscience and unleashed by the world and the flesh, corrupts even the best of intentions.

Brethren, let us pray for the Successor of Peter, the Holy Father Benedict XVI. He has been hated ever since he saw the selfish worship of self that the 1960's promised disguised as "freedom" and "liberation." The enemies of the Church have never forgiven his election in 2004 - I remember their reactions to this day.

The unseen warfare waged against the Church is becoming increasingly visible. Let us resist the devil, and he will flee from us.

Four lessons I’ve learned since 9-11 and a prayer for our country

Brethren: Peace be with you, the Peace of Christ, the Peace that is unlike that which the world gives, the Peace surpassing all understanding.

Today is the tenth anniversary of the terrorists attack in New York and Washington, and of the first resistance to the forces of evil resulting in the death of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 on a field in Pennsylvania. This September 11^th is unlike any other I’ve observed because I am here, in Afghanistan, as a direct consequence of those attacks. I’ve been here for most of the year and will be until early the next one, contributing in my own small way to bring a bit of light to a land in darkness, and a bit of hope and help to a people who have lived in war and upheaval for too long. I am also here to help draw a line on the sand: evil was defeated here, is being defeated here, and will not pass from here.

There will be many orators, analysts, and intelligent people dissecting the memories and pondering what did we learn as a nation, if anything, from the mayhem we suffered and the fury we unleashed in return during the last 10 years. I can only speak of what I myself have learned and that’s my purpose on this post, to share with you a little bit of what I’ve learned myself. I can’t presume to talk for anyone else.

· I’ve learned that I am not a hero. Sure, many well-intentioned souls will be inclined to call me one, but really, I’m not. That title goes first to the first emergency responders of the 9/11 attacks, and to the crew and passengers of Flight 93 and with them, all those who lost life or limbs in Afghanistan and Iraq in defense of our freedom, regardless of the decisions that took them there, along with their families. They are the real heroes, not I. My risks and sufferings will never compare to theirs.

· My beloved wife of the last 26 years will heartily disagree, but no matter. I’ve learned she’s a true hero, carrying on at home, worried sick about me, and keeping an eye on our family and home so that I can find everything intact upon my return. She represents all those wives and husbands awaiting their loved ones from war, hoping, praying, and suffering the distance from us and the uncertainty of our healthy return in mind, body, and spirit. They are the true heroes on my book, more so than I.

· I’ve learned that that the individual and collective effects of capital sin cannot be fixed through political, diplomatic, or military means. The righteous use of military power can hold off the greatest, most blatant evil; but the demonic cauldron of untrammeled hatreds and spiraling violence can only be cooled through repentance, conversion, penance, and the love of God in and through one another. Nothing else can stop this evil nothing else can heal these wounds but God in Jesus – pace Jews, Muslims, and unbelievers. This much has been revealed to me, that the visible warfare is but the tip of the iceberg of a deeper, greater warfare unseen, where the souls of every individual and the collective soul of humanity are at play.

· I’ve learned that the best I can do in this life, with my limited gifts and talents, is to love, to love as God loves, to live the Gospel of His Son to the utmost in my state of life. Only then would I have made a real difference in the world for my children, and my children’s children – three of whom the Lord has granted me the privilege to meet and love already. Love, and do as I wish, as St. Augustine taught echoing the Master.

I must finish my grammar of post 9-11 lessons on a warning, somewhat depressing note. I don’t think that we as Americans have responded with the necessary degree of conversion and repentance to these great events. Many of us have, but our cultural, media, and political elites have not or have done so most imperfectly. I think our human and cultural environment has decayed in the last 10 years and I will leave it at that for now because you all know my pet peeves.
I once held to American exceptionalism because, despite our naïveté and our obvious mistakes in foreign and domestic policies, we meant well as a Nation, and we meant well as a Nation because we had, as a whole, a very strong Judaeo-Christian heart. (And I am not excluding people of good will of other religions of none at all from this “heart”. Sorry if that offends you by exclusion or inclusion, but there it is).

Now it appears that our multiple choices against life, human life I mean, have cascaded throughout our entire culture, polluting the way we govern ourselves, as well as our foreign policies. Though the events of 9-11 tested our resilience in many different ways and made us stronger, I believe the benefit didn’t go deep enough to reverse our moral decadence.

Without wishing to alarm or move anyone to anxiety, I fear that having chosen as a Nation the Culture of Death over that of Life, and of perfidy over faithfulness, we’re about to lose, or maybe even lost already, the grace of the Almighty and his protection – all in the name of “tolerance” and non-existent “rights”. You know of what I am talking about.

You can see the consequences throughout the whole spectrum of our national existence: in our society, in our culture, in our disdain for human life and the family, in our technological failures, pollution and in the increasing frequency of natural disasters and our decreasing ability to deal with them. You see the results in our faltering economy and in our reluctance to do the necessary sacrifices to fix it. We’re in danger of becoming a lumbering Goliath ready to be brought down by some little David’s stone and I assure you that the consequences of our fall will be nefarious to the entire world, for the American Experiment was the last hope of mankind.

Therefore, let us pray with our whole hearts for our country:

Almighty God, you have given us this good land for our heritage. We humbly ask you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable endeavor, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitude brought here out of many nations and tongues. Endow with the Spirit of wisdom those to whom in your name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace and home, and that through obedience to your law we may show forth your praise among the nations on earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble do not allow our trust in you to fail.

O Lord, I humbly pray that You direct the leaders of this great nation now in this time of crisis. Grant them wisdom and understanding, and help them to respond quickly and effectively to this situation. Direct them that they may do what is right in Your sight. May they follow Your Divine Will to lead our nation on the paths of peace and safety.

Unite all response agencies in an organized and harmonious fashion to bring quick and effective resolve to the demands of this crisis. Empower us as United States citizens to do our own part, financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually to support all who have been affected by the 9/11 tragedy. O Lord, I pray that You encourage and strengthen our nation. Surround us with Your Love and Mercy! Bring peace and comfort to all those who are suffering as a result of this crisis.

God, Our Father, Giver of Life, we entrust our Nation to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded.

You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people.

Send your spirit to touch the hearts of our nations’ leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will.

Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our Land, Grant Us the Courage to reject the “Culture of Death”. Lead us into a new millennium of life.

We ask all this, Father, in the sweet Name of your Son Jesus, Our Lord, in the Communion of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection of Christ?

Brethren, peace and good to you in Jesus’ holy name. Exploring about the ‘Net I found the site dedicated to the James Gregory Public Lectures on Science and Religion, a series of 12 public lectures by eminent British and international speakers held at the University of St Andrews over a 4-year period between Dec 2007 and June 2011 on a wide range of contemporary issues in Science and Religion.  According to the website, the basic aim was “to encourage constructive and open dialogue and an exchange of ideas on many intriguing points of contact between Science and Religion. With a rise of unhealthy fundamentalism, it was felt there was a need to increase understanding, so that we may be better informed about the nature of the scientific enterprise and of religious thought. Both Science and Religion have key insights about our human nature, our creativity and our possible future” quote.

Anglican Bishop N.T. “Tom” Wright was one of the lecturers. He’s an outstanding theologian, New Testament scholar, and historian with a great talent for oral and written communications. His lecture, Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection? is available at the site in the following formats:

• Lecture transcript (99KB PDF)
• Lecture transcript (73KB DOC)
• Lecture audio (14MB MP3)
• Lecture movie - complete lecture (147MB MOV)
• Lecture movie - questions following lecture (48MB MOV)
• Post-lecture dinner discussion audio (20MB MP3)
• Post-lecture dinner discussion transcript (138KB PDF)

These lectures are also available at the site:

• Prof. Katherine Blundell - "Are we alone in the Universe?"
• Prof. David Myers -  "Psychology and Religion"
• Prof. Colin Humphreys - "Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?"
• Prof. Pauline Rudd - "Is there more to life than genes?"
• Dr Bill Newsome - "The Mind - Brain or Spirit?"
• Revd. Dr David Wilkinson - "God and the Big Bang"
• Prof. Keith Ward - "God, Science and the New Atheism"
• Prof. Ken Miller - "Life - Creation or Evolution?"
• Sir John Houghton - "Global Warming - is it real and what should we do?"
• Revd Dr John Polkinghorne - "Does God Interact with his Suffering World?"
• Dr Bruno Guiderdoni - "Islam and Science
• Dr Denis Alexander - "Has science made Religion Redundant?"
• Bishop Tom Wright - "Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection?"

Great lectures by lots of smart people. Enjoy!

“The Smell of the Barrel”: The influence of the subconscious mind on personality

P. Nicolás Schwizer

The influence of the subconscious on personality. The impressions kept in the subconscious do not always stay there. At certain times they crop up on the surface of our conscience and they influence our personality. This happens for two reasons:

By association. I have in my subconscious, for example, undigested offenses which have accumulated for many years. If I am suddenly offended anew or even by the same person, my subconscious associates it with the prior offenses and everything crops up on my conscience and falls on me like a mountain.

By overload. When the demands imposed on my conscience are very heavy, the subconscious makes itself less noticeable. But as soon as the pressure exercised on my conscience lessens, the images of the subconscious can reappear more strongly. That is how it is with the barrel. Although water may be added in drops, as soon as it is full, it overflows. This happens, for example, in situations of tiredness or exhaustion.

The subconscious decisively influences man’s development and acting. We can distinguish two possibilities for intervention by the subconscious.

1. The positive, integrating function. The key is in the profound affective attachments to the father and the mother. They mark the child for life. They create in the child’s subconscious positive predisposition and instinctive security. The mother is already forming the unconscious life of the child in her womb. Thus we become aware of how important are the first impressions we receive as children. Father Kentenich, the founder of the Apostolic Schoenstatt Movement explains: “It happens like in a barrel. It keeps the odor of that with which it was first filled. Likewise, the first impressions cannot be erased from the soul of the person, and neither can the later ones. But the first ones are so decisive for life because all of the subsequent images and impressions are associated, related with the first images.”

The first impressions determine the direction of our affective life and the subconscious life of the soul. And we also become aware of how important it is to preserve our children from harmful and unhealthy impressions in their affective and fantasy domains.

To these primary attachments of the child to the mother and the father, added are the attachments to siblings and other persons, and also the attachment to places and ideas. Thus a totally healthy organism of attachments is formed where the human being feels sheltered, protected and accepted.

2. The negative impressions. These can lead to the disintegration of the human personality: they are those impressions not worked through or digested. They are the cause of our inhibitions, complexes, traumas and other neurotic illnesses. They can even end up in physical illnesses. There are a multitude of bodily illnesses due to – ultimately – sicknesses of the soul.

We have to dedicate time and energy to that profound transformation of our subconscious life. It is important to work through those things even when we are still young. Later on, while losing our creative energy, that which we did not recuperate will now become a boomerang which we can no longer control.

Now, what type of undigested experiences could we find in our soul? They could be things which haunt our childhood: lack of love or understanding, rejections, traumatic sexual experiences. Perhaps we have received interior wounds which make us bleed. Or, perhaps we have been disappointed or betrayed by other persons. Perhaps our great hopes were frustrated and we remain bitter. Many times we have been treated unjustly and, therefore, we became vengeful. Or, perhaps my honor or the honor of one of my loved ones was damaged and I remain resentful and rancorous. All of these things hurt in one’s soul and they should hurt us. We are not and we do not want to be supermen who grit their teeth and swallow everything violently. All of those impressions generate, additionally, reactions. And those reactions are, quite often, exaggerated and uncontrolled.

Questions for reflection

1. Am I aware that my son/daughter is “taping” all family experiences in his/her soul?

2. How can we increase affective experiences in the family?

3. What do we “fill the barrel” with?

Turkey punishes Israel

Brethren, this according to CNN:

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkey's fiery prime minister ratcheted up rapidly-escalating tensions with Israel on Tuesday, comparing Ankara's once-close middle eastern ally to a "spoiled boy" and announcing additional sanctions would soon be imposed.

"We are completely suspending all of these, trade relations, military relations, related with the defense industry," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to the semi-official Anatolian Agency. "All of these are completely suspended and other measures will follow this process."

Asked to clarify whether this meant Turkey will halt more than $3 billion in bilateral trade, an official in the Turkish prime ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity under government protocol, insisted Erdogan was not referring to trade relations.

"He was referring to the defense industry," the official said. "Nothing more than the measures that have been announced so far."

Last week, Turkey declared it was downgrading relations with Israel, suspending all military agreements between the two countries and giving senior Israeli diplomats less than a week to leave Turkish territory.

"If the current steps are regarded as 'plan B,' there will be a 'plan C,'" Erdogan said on Tuesday in his first public comments on the matter since Ankara imposed sanctions on Israel.

Erdogan's government is incensed that Israel refuses to apologize or pay compensation for eight slain Turks and one Turkish-American. The humanitarian workers and activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos in a botched 2010 raid on an aid convoy that was trying to bust Israel's sea blockade of Gaza.

Read it all here.

Commentary. Let me get this straight: Turkey is demanding an apology and compensation from Israel after Turkish citizens tried to provide humanitarian aid to a criminal terrorist regime that governs Gaza illegally; as Israeli soldiers had to defend themselves when these “humanitarians” attacked them with knives and bars. Uh huh.

• I wonder how the Turks would react if Israeli humanitarians were to enter into Turkish Kurdistan without Turkish permission, ostensibly in a humanitarian mission.
• I wonder how much longer we will have to wait for Turkey to apologize for the genocide of over 1 million Armenians last century.
• I wonder how much longer we will have to wait for Turkey to apologize for their atrocities in Cyprus against Greek nationals.
• I wonder how much longer the world has to put up with Turkey’s hypocritical rants.

Is Turkey ready for Europe? It appears they still have a long way to go.

A Brief Reflection on the Catholic Definition of Tolerance

Brethren: peace and good to all of you in the name of Jesus.

A few posts ago I formulated a Catholic definition of tolerance derived from biblical and theological first principles. The definition was as follows:

Tolerance is that good habit – that is, the virtue – through which the Catholic Christian actively and consciously loves his neighbor, especially when the neighbor lives in grave sin, by avoiding judgment and showing him the same mercy the Lord shows us for our sins, as we choose the right means to eliminate or ameliorate the evil incurred in this world by the neighbor’s (and our own) actions, through the right exercise of the theological and cardinal virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that both our neighbor and us might attain salvation and everlasting life in the world to come.

I wish to reflect briefly on this definition with the aim of triggering some conversation here or elsewhere on the net, and also to move as many fellow Catholics as possible to enact this virtue in their lives. These are the reflection points:

• Tolerance is a good habit, that is, a virtue, which needs to be practiced repeatedly until it becomes second nature as it were. This is where I active cooperation with grace comes. We embrace the grace each and every time we practice the virtue in our lives.

• We must remember that tolerance, as understood by a Catholic, is not merely a natural virtue or good habit. Tolerance must be based upon the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, in order for the virtue to achieve its supernatural end on us and on others. Otherwise it would be ineffective and supernaturally dead, a “dead work” so-to-speak.

• The subject of the virtue is the acting Catholic; the object of the virtue, the object of our “tolerance” is always the human being who is acting against God’s law as transmitted in revelation or reflected in natural law. The “act” itself is not the object of toleration, but of moral evaluation. The act is good, evil, or neutral. Accordingly, once morally evaluated, our reaction to the act is of approval and furtherance; of disapproval and resistance; or indifference.

• Some well-intentioned souls may be inclined to describe the previous approach as “hate the sin, love the sinners.” I’ve always thought that cliché as dangerous, because “hate” is a dangerous emotion to lay claim to. It is very easy to transfer the hatred from the sinner to the sin. Many of us do it habitually. It is also dangerous to “hate a sin” the way Scripture tells us God does. We can’t “hate” like God does, we are incapable of going beyond the Scriptural anthropomorphism.

• Instead, we should focus on loving as God does, as being compassionate which is, to listen to the neighbor and to procure his or her healing with their salvation (and ours) as the ultimate end.

• The Catholic virtue of tolerance does not exempt us from stopping, correcting, or reversing the evil caused by our neighbors moral falls, particularly when these evils cascade through culture and society. We resist these evils by first, evangelizing our culture and society. We must continue to proclaim the message of conviction, repentance, and conversion contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lay people in particular are called to resist evil by being involved in the political process and working for the enactment and preservation of laws enacted in accordance to natural law, and the derogation of legislation violating natural law. All Catholics in public service must support legislation in favor of natural law and the Catholic electorate must work with particular force to remove from power those Catholic leaders who refuse to write laws supportive of human life, natural marriage, and the like.

• An objection to the above definition of tolerance may take this form: “Would you tolerate a serial/murderer rapist?” Our answer should be “yes”: we tolerate them in jail. Should we tolerate abortionists? Of course, we should. We should tolerate them as unemployed. To be tolerant toward a person in grave sin does not mean giving them a “free pass” from the moral or legal consequences of their actions. Tolerance is no substitute for prosecution, judgment, verdict, and punishment, or for the future obsolescence of the abortion-provided market which will leave all providers in search of new employment.

• The virtue of tolerance points toward the realization of that, when observing our neighbor sin grievously, “there but for the grace of God go I.” Due to the wound of original sin, and absent our willingness to cooperate with God’s grace, we can sin in the same ways or worse. This should keep us humble and realistic toward our own capacity to resist mortal sin.

• Finally, we must remember that the core of Catholic tolerance lies in our duty to refrain from judging our neighbor as to his or her ultimate eternal destiny. We don’t know the myriad of ways God’s grace will triumph, nor at what moment in a person’s life. Our duty is to scatter the seeds and let God do the rest.

Thank you all for your attention. May the love of the Father, the grace of Christ, and the koinonía of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Haiku to the Fall

I miss my home, my

hearth - the coming fall fuses

my heart with sweet pain

Blogfast for Memorial Day Weekend

Brethren, peace be with you. I’m taking a break from blogging this Labor Day weekend. Please enjoy the contents already available and please pray for our dedicated troops and civilians in harm’s way. Enjoy your weekend!

A dream of Crystal City, Virginia

Brethren, I greet you in the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ve been experiencing such vivid dreams of late. I find it cathartic remembering and writing them down, and even sharing them with a wider audience. Here’s one I had last night.

Crystal City, Virginia

I was in Crystal City, Virginia, in a place I’ve been often, colloquially referred to as “The Underground.” It’s a shopping mall built around a very long hallway extending several city blocks at street level, but mostly “under” the skyline of this corporate enclave near the Pentagon.

Crystal City Undeground - but bereft of people

In my dream, the hallway was packed with people going in both directions, so packed that it was difficult to walk and navigate. Most people I faced stared vacantly ahead. I was trying to make headway when a young man with black hair that fell to his neck passed me without seeming difficulty. I didn’t see his face. He was loudly praying the rosary and held one lifted on his right hand. I reached for the one I always carry with me, remembered that it was Thursday and had some trouble recalling the mysteries assigned for today – I always have troubled recalling the mysteries assigned to each day, except for Sunday’s. I started saying the Apostles’ Creed.

My rosary, the one I always carry.

I followed the young man and the stream of people thinking that they would go where I wanted to go. I went through a door and found myself outside. Route US 1 (Jefferson-Davis Highway) was at my right where it should’ve been. But I was perplexed and frustrated, because I didn’t want to exit the Underground. I turned to look back (US 1 is now to my left) and there wasn’t anybody else. The door I had come out from had blended with others along the wall of the high-rise before me and I was unable to find it in order to reenter the Underground. At the top of one of the buildings was a long sign advertising the building as a Doubletree Hotel. (In the real Crystal City there isn’t one, at least not along Route 1 that I can consciously recall).

End of dream.

I think I understand part of it – and it’s not that I must stay at a Doubletree! Yes, I follow the mass of people who lives "underground" and then follow a mysterious man - an angel? a projection of myself - in praying the rosary and then "into the light", where I actually pine to return into the underground existence, but can't. Then I see a sign for needed "rest" - the hotel, which is not really there, and where I've never spent one night. Ancient and modern symbols mixed together. Intriguing.