Keep
your eyes open!...
August 31, 2023
(Joh 15:18-21) If the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated me
before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own:
but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember my word that I said to
you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word,
they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for
my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me.
UCANEWS: Ancient Christian enclave faces 'genocide by starvation'
An Armenian
Catholic bishop is calling for prayer and action as some 120,000 ethnic
Armenians face what he and other experts call "genocide by starvation."
"It is a violation of every kind of
law," Bishop Mikael A. Mouradian of the California-based Armenian
Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg told OSV News. The eparchy is
part of the Armenian Catholic Church, one of the 24 self-governing
churches in communion with Pope Francis, head of the Latin Church, that
together constitute the worldwide Catholic Church.
For the past nine months,
Azerbaijani forces have blocked the only road leading from Armenia to
Nagorno-Karabakh (known in Armenian by its ancient name, Artsakh), an
historic Armenian enclave located in southwestern Azerbaijan and
internationally recognized as part of that nation.
The blockade of the three-mile
(five-kilometer) Lachin Corridor, which connects the roughly 1,970
square mile enclave to Armenia, has deprived residents of food, baby
formula, oil, medication, hygienic products and fuel -- even as a
convoy of trucks with an estimated 400 tons of aid is stalled at the
single Azerbaijani checkpoint.
According to BBC News, local
journalist Irina Hayrapetyan has reported that some residents have
fainted from hunger while waiting in line for subsistence rations.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, founding chief
prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said the blockade
amounts to a direct violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which
prohibits "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction."
"It is time for the United States and other world powers to act," he said in an online Aug. 11 statement.
With the area surrounded by
Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, the blockade amounts to an "ethnic
cleansing of Christians," since "the sole Christian people in the
Caucasus are now the Armenians," who are "not new in the region," said
Bishop Mouradian.
"Armenians have been living on that
land for more than 3,000 years," he said, "There are a lot of churches
there from the fourth, eighth, 10th centuries. It's not a new thing for
Armenians."
Armenia was the first nation to
officially adopt Christianity in 301, having been evangelized by the
Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew between A.D. 40 and 60.
THE PILLAR REPORT: 'Everything is lost for them' - A humanitarian crisis for Armenians
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION HEADLINES
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Israeli Hotline Reveals Frightening Discrimination Against Christians
ACN: Religious Freedom Report 2023
Main findings
- In the context of a tense global climate impacted by the
consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fallout of the war in
Ukraine, the military and economic concerns around the South China Sea,
and the rapid, worldwide increase in the cost of living, religious
freedom was violated in countries where more than 4.9 billion people
live. We count 61 countries where the citizens faced severe violations
of religious freedom.
- The Red category, which denotes the existence of persecution,
includes 28 countries which are home to 4.03 billion people who
altogether make up more than half (51.6 percent) of the world’s
population. The Orange category, which denotes the existence of
discrimination, includes 33 countries, home to almost 853 million
people.
Download Executive Summary of Report: https://media-strapi-prod.acninternational.org/Executive_Summary_2023_EN_web_version_97f51e2efb.pdf
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
9. Daniel said, 'When Arsenius was
dying, he gave us this instruction: Do not make any offering for me. If
I have made any offering for myself during my life, I shall find it.'
August 30, 2023
(2Ti 4:1-5)
I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living
and the dead, by his coming and his kingdom: Preach the word: be
instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all
patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time when they will not
endure sound doctrine but, according to their own desires, they will
heap to themselves teachers having itching ears: And will indeed turn
away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But
be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist,
fulfil thy ministry. Be sober.
We can then understand why the
Catholic Church, yesterday and today, attaches so much importance to
the rigorous conservation of authentic Revelation, and considers it as
an inviolable treasure, and have such a strict awareness of his
fundamental duty to defend and transmit the doctrine of the faith in
unequivocal terms; orthodoxy is his first concern; the pastoral
magisterium its primary and providential function; apostolic teaching
in fact fixes the canons of his preaching; and the handing over of the
Apostle Paul: Depositum custodians (1 Tim. 6, 20; 2 Tim. 1, 14 )
constitutes such a commitment for it, which would be treason to
violate. The Church teacher does not invent her doctrine; she is heads,
she is custodian, she is interpreter, she is through; and, as regards
the truths proper to the Christian message, it can be said
conservative, uncompromising; and to those who urge her to make her
faith easier, more relative to the tastes of the changing mentality of
the times, she replies with the Apostles: Not possumus, we cannot (Act.
4, 20 ).
-POPE PAUL VI, Wednesday, January 19, 1972
BISHOP ROBERT McMANUS: Diocesan policy for schools regarding sexuality and sexual identity
All entities of the Catholic Church are for the purpose of furthering
the saving mission of Jesus Christ and must operate in accord with the
truth revealed by God in both natural law and divine revelation. In
particular, our Catholic schools must remain in the fullness of the
truth in order to carry out their proper mission:
Since true education must strive
for complete formation of the human person that looks to his or her
final end as well as to the common good of societies, children and
youth are to be nurtured in such a way that they are able to develop
their physical, moral, and intellectual talents harmoniously, acquire a
more perfect sense of responsibility and right use of freedom, and are
formed to participate actively in social life. (Code of Canon Law, c.
795).
These truths extend into every facet of our lives, including human sexuality.
Regarding sexuality and sexual
identity, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “By creating the
human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the
one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should acknowledge and
accept his sexual identity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church (“CCC”),
2360-2363). By its very nature, sexuality is ordered to the conjugal
love of a man and woman within the bond of marriage (c. 1055). And
marriage, which is a partnership of the whole of life, is always
ordered by its very nature to both the good of the spouses and the
procreation and education of children (Ibid.). All persons are called
to chastity, to be lived out according to one’s state in life (CCC,
#2337-2359)
CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF TYLER: Pastoral Letter from Bishop Strickland, August 2023
In this time of great turmoil in
the Church and in the world, I must speak to you from a father’s heart
in order to warn you of the evils that threaten us, and to assure you
of the joy and hope that we have always in our Lord Jesus Christ. The
evil and false message that has invaded the Church, Christ’s Bride, is
that Jesus is only one among many, and that it is not necessary for His
message to be shared with all humanity. This idea must be shunned and
refuted at every turn. We must share the joyful good news that Jesus is
our only Lord, and that He desires that all humanity for all time may
embrace eternal life in Him.
Once we understand that Jesus Christ, God’s Divine Son, is the fullness
of revelation and the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of salvation for
all humanity for all time, and we embrace this with all our hearts,
then we can address the other errors that plague our Church and our
world which have been brought about by a departure from Truth.
In St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes: “I am amazed that you
are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by {the} grace {of
Christ} for a different gospel {not that there is another}. But there
are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of
Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach {to you} a
gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be
accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone
preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that
one be accursed!” (Gal 1:6-9)
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The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
8. "A brother asked Poemen, 'What am I
to do do, for I become weak just by sitting in my cell?' He said,
'Despise no one, condemn no one, revile no one: and God will give you
quietness, and you will sit at peace in your cell."
August 28, 2023
(Rev 12:9-12) And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who
is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world. And he was
cast unto the earth: and his angels were thrown down with him. And I
heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now is come salvation and
strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ:
because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them
before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of the testimony: and they loved not their lives
unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell therein.
Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
INSIDE THE VATICAN: The Final Battle: Marriage and Family
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Sainte Monique, mère de Saint Augustin
Carmelite Sister Lucia de Jesus
Rosa dos Santos, who, along with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta
Marto witnessed a series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
Fatima, has been declared Venerable by the Church.
The decree recognizing Sr Lucia’s heroic virtues was promulgated on Thursday with the approval of Pope Francis.
In 1916, Lucia and her two cousins
reported being visited by an Angel in the area of Fatima, Portugal. The
following year, beginning on 13 May, the children claimed to receive a
series of apparitions from the Blessed Virgin Mary, which culminated
six months later with the famous “Miracle of the Sun” that was
witnessed by tens of thousands of people.
After the untimely death of her
cousins, who died a few years later due to Spanish flu, Sister Lucia
remained the sole custodian of the message entrusted to her by Our
Lady, which she transcribed, at the instigation of the Bishop of
Leiria, José Alves Correia da Silvia, into four documents between 1935
and 1941.
A later document, dated 1944,
contained the so-called “third secret,” was sent to Rome and opened for
the first time in 1960. St John Paul II, who had a special devotion to
Our Lady of Fatima, allowed the secret to be published in 2000.
Sister Lucia spent her whole live
devoted to the message she had received in Fatima. At first she entered
the college of the Dorothean Sisters in Vilar; later she became a
Carmelite in Coimbra, where she died on 13 February 2005.
The distinction between her life
and the apparitions, the Decree says, “is also difficult because much
of her suffering was due to them: she was always kept hidden,
protected, guarded. One can see in her all the difficulty of keeping
together the exceptionality of the events of which she was a spectator
and the ordinariness of a monastic life like that of Carmel.”
The apparitions have been endorsed by various Popes, while the Church
observes May 13th as an optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. Pope
Francis visited Fatima in 2017 for the 100th anniversary of the
apparitions, during which he canonized Francisco and Jacinta. With
Thursday’s decree, Venerable Lucia’s cause for canonization continues
to advance.
Christopher Wells www.vaticannews.va
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
6. "A brother said to Poemen, 'If I
see my brother sin is it really right not to tell anyone about it?' He
said, 'When we cover our brother's sin, God covers our sin. When
we tell people about our brother's guilt, God does the same with ours."
August 25, 2023
(2Co 12:10) For the sake of Christ,
then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions,
and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
FLORIDA CATHOLIC: Persecuted Christians: ‘We are willing to die for the name of Jesus’
NEWS ANALYSIS: Christians are dying for their faith all around the world. Do U.S. Catholics care?
UCA NEWS: Christian persecution on the rise in Asia, world
Christians in
Asia as well as across the world are facing a rising tide of various
forms of persecution, which require global attention and action, says a
report.
The recent deadly violence against
Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab province and India’s Manipur state are
examples of an increase in violent attacks on Christians in Asia,
Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation of Korea reported on Aug. 22.
The report refers to a statement
from Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachuku, the permanent observer of the
Vatican to the United Nations (UN), who denounced at the General
Assembly of the UN Human Rights Council in March that “one in seven
Christians today is persecuted.”
ZENIT.ORG: Great witness of faith in Pakistan: parishioners gather for mass outside their burned church
There were tears of sadness and
fear in Pakistan yesterday (20th August) as a crowd of 700 attended
Mass outside their burnt-out church following one of the country’s
worst outbreaks of persecution in a generation.
Amid tight security, Bishop Indrias
Rehmat of Faisalabad presided at the Mass held in the streets of
Jaranwala where last Wednesday (16th) thousands of people narrowly fled
a mob of thousands who went on the rampage.
Up to 24 churches, hundreds of
Christian homes and a Chrisitan cemetery were targeted in the attack
which was sparked by reports of a blasphemy allegation against two
Christians accused of desecrating the Qur’an.
After the service outside St Paul’s
Catholic Church, a Christian community leader, who is not being named
for security reasons, told ACN: “Most of the people were crying in the
Mass.
“It was a very painful time but a
chance to share with one another their sense of loss and sadness.”
Although more than 30 police – including elite forces – were in an
attendance, there was fear among those attending the service.
The ACN contact said: “When we went
in, local Muslims stopped and stared wide-eyed. They had very angry
faces and began cursing us and using abusive language.” But other
Christian leaders reported widespread concern among many Muslims who
they said were “ashamed” about what had happened and were wanting to
help in any way they could.
They said that Muslim leaders were insisting that those responsible for the violence should be brought to justice.
The ACN contact added that many of
the Christians returning to Jaranwala were horrified by the extent of
the damage done to their homes and were sleeping on the floor without
electric light and unable to cook food.
The friend of ACN said: “People
returning to their homes found nothing but they have nowhere else to go
– they cannot go on sleeping outside in streets or out in the fields.”
ACN: Pakistan: 1,000 frightened and homeless Christians forced to sleep in the open
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
5. "Joseph asked Poemen, 'Tell me how
to become a monk.' He said, 'If you want to find rest in this life and
the next, say at every moment, "who am I" and judge no one.'
August 22, 2023
(Luk 1:46-48) And Mary said: My soul
doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
ALETEIA: The Queenship of Mary and her Immaculate Heart
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Mary's sovereign presence fills heaven and earth
"By her
immaculate purity, she is the Queen chosen by God himself, the Queen
loved by the Angels, who from the heights of Heaven reigns over the
whole universe of souls and worlds.
By her title of "Mother of God", she is the Queen of Doctors. By her
fortitude, she is the Queen of martyrs. By her justice and love, she is
the Queen of all saints and predestined ones.
Filled from the very first instant with the radiant, life-giving light
of the Word, and fully alert in her ardent faith, her pure, loving
virgin soul enters with a gaze infinitely deeper and more divine than
that of the Cherubim and Seraphim into the unfathomable mystery of
Christ, whose virgin, spotless Mother she will be.
She is the Father's most loving and beloved soul after Jesus - and
therefore the one most magnificently showered with divine favors. With
her, all the angels and saints together are as if they were not, for
her sovereign presence fills heaven and earth."
-Marthe Robin (French Roman Catholic mystic and stigmatist and foundress of the Foyers de charité association, 1902 - 1981)
CATHOLIC DAILY REFLECTIONS: Our Blessed Mother: The Queen of All Saints!
The best way to conclude this
volume is to reflect upon the final and glorious role of our Blessed
Mother as the Queen and Mother of all the saints in this new age to
come. She already played an essential role in the salvation of the
world, but her work is not over. By her Immaculate Conception she
became the perfect instrument of the Savior and, as a result, the new
Mother of all the living. As this new mother, she undoes the
disobedience of Eve by her continual free choice of perfect cooperation
with and obedience to God’s divine plan. At the Cross, Jesus gave His
mother to John, which is a symbol of the fact that He gave her to all
of us as our new mother. Therefore, insofar as we are members of the
Body of Christ, members of the Body of her Son, we are also, by the
necessity of God’s plan, children of this one mother.
One of the Dogmas of our faith is
that upon the completion of her life on Earth, our Blessed Mother was
taken body and soul into Heaven to be with her Son for all eternity.
And now, from her place in Heaven, she is given the unique and singular
title of Queen of All the Living! She is the Queen of the Kingdom of
God now, and she will be Queen of this Kingdom for all eternity!
As Queen, she also enjoys the
unique and singular gift of being the mediatrix and distributor of
grace. It’s best understood like this:
–She was preserved from all sin at the moment of her Immaculate Conception;
–As a result, she was the only fitting human instrument by which God could take on flesh;
–God the Son did take on flesh through her by the power and working of the Holy Spirit;
–Through this one divine Son, now in the flesh, the salvation of the world came about;
–This gift of salvation is transmitted to us through grace. Grace comes primarily through prayer and the sacraments;
–THEREFORE, since Mary was the instrument through which God entered our
world, she is also the instrument through which ALL grace comes. She is
the instrument of all that resulted from the Incarnation. Therefore,
she is the Mediatrix of Grace!
In other words, Mary’s act of
mediation for the Incarnation was not just some historical act that
took place long ago. Rather, her motherhood is something that is
continuous and eternal. It is a perpetual motherhood of the Savior of
the world and is a perpetual instrumentality of all that comes to us
from this Savior.
God is the source, but Mary is the instrument. And she is the
instrument because God wanted it this way. She can do nothing by
herself, but she doesn’t have to do it by herself. She is not the
Savior. She is the instrument.
As a result of this, we must see
her role as glorious and essential in the eternal plan of salvation.
Devotion to her is a way of simply acknowledging what is true. It’s not
just some honor we bestow upon her by thanking her for cooperating with
God’s plan. Rather, it’s an acknowledgment of her continual role of
mediation of grace in our world and in our lives.
From Heaven, God does not take this from her. Rather, she is made our
Mother and our Queen. And a worthy Mother and Queen she is!
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley of tears! Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine
eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin
Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
4. Antony
also said, 'God does not let inner conflicts be stirred up in this
generation, because he knows that they are too weak to bear it.'
August 21, 2023
(Joh 17:20-21) And not for them only
do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in
me. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee;
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me.
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FROM THE MAILBAG: Homes of Hope India (HOHI)
Most of our news is depressing and negative nowadays. The same often applies to our beloved Catholic Church. So,
I wanted to give you a truly uplifting story. In the midst of
heartbreak and tragedy in the state of Manipur, Catholic nuns are
currently carrying out heroic deeds and actions!
Background:
Homes of Hope India (HOHI) is a
charity based here in the United States that builds orphanages/Homes
for children in India. We work with eight different Orders of nuns who
run these Homes and provide incredible love and care for these
vulnerable children.
Most of these Homes house little
girls. The reason is that girls are far more at risk in India. If these
children are not taken off the streets, they can often be forced into
prostitution, sex slavery and perhaps worst of all, are taken by the
"beggar mafia" who sometimes maim the children to make them more
"effective beggars."
I often say that HOHI is "run on a
shoe-string." Unlike many charities, the overhead or administration
costs are very low so that the vast majority of the money goes to
saving children. HOHI currently has 29 Homes throughout India, with two
more (#30 and #31) in the pipeline.
To learn more, go to: homeofhopeindia.org
Ethnic Violence & Religious Persecution in Manipur:
At the beginning of May, terrible ethnic violence and religious persecution broke out in the north-east Indian state of Manipur.
The reasons for this violence are
very complex. But simply stated, there has been a quasi civil war
between the majority Meitei tribe (who are largely Hindu) and the
minority Kuki tribe (who are largely Christian).
Villages and towns have been
destroyed and devastated. At least 200 people have been murdered with
many more injured, sexually abused and raped. At least 6,000 homes have
been destroyed throughout Manipur. Hundreds of Catholic Churches have
been burnt to the ground. Around 60,000 people are now in totally
inadequate "Relief Camps."
The Indian government has been
severely criticized for its apathy. To make matters worse, the
government shut down the internet, so communication has been stifled,
with little coverage of this tragedy in worldwide media.
Response of the Sisters:
If you go to our website and click
on "what we do" you will see the location of our Homes. You will also
see that four of our Homes are in Manipur.
Not long after the violence
erupted, the Sisters had to call the Army to evacuate the Kuki children
in the Homes for the children's safety.
These children are now in remote
villages in the Highlands, or in the Relief Camps. But over the last
few weeks, the Sisters have been courageously carrying out "rescue
operations" to locate and transport these children across the Manipur
border to other Homes in neighboring states.
One such "rescue operation"
happened this past weekend. Sister Teresa, a Salesian Sister, who runs
our Home Of Love (#13) arranged for the transfer of nine children
across the border to our Home in Sairang/Lengpui in the state of
Mizoram (#24) which is run by Sister Sushila, a Holy Spirit Sister.
This journey took two full days through mountainous territory, along
primitive roads cut through jungle-like terrain. The Salesian Sisters
had never previously met (or even spoken to) the Holy Spirit Sisters.
Communication was made difficult because of no internet in Manipur. And
Sister Teresa told me she would have made plans earlier, but there were
reports of the Meitei tribe stopping vehicles, so she feared for the
safety of the children.
The good news is that the children
arrived at around 3.15 am this past Saturday morning after the arduous
journey. Sister Teresa was there in Sairang Mizoram to acclimate the
children to their new Home.
These "refugee" children now have a
safe, caring home where they will be nurtured in every possible way.
They are also very well educated, both academically and spiritually.
This is the second time these children have been "rescued." In the few
days they have been in their new Home, things seem to be going really
well. Please keep them (and the incredible Sisters) in your prayers!
Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, in Manipur State:“What
we need most are your prayers. The power of prayer can transform the
minds of the people who are led by hatred and intolerance. We need to
pray for our political leaders, our decision-makers, and men and women
of good will, so that they may offer amicable solutions. Let there be
peace, harmony, and common brotherhood, and may those who have been
deprived of their rights and dignity get their justice.”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
3. A brother said
to Antony, 'Pray for me.' He answered, 'Neither I nor God will
have mercy on you unless you do something about it yourself and ask
God's help.'
August 18, 2023
(2Th 2:1-4) And we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering
together unto him: That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be
terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from
us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by
any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition Who opposeth and is lifted up above all
that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God.
BISHOP
J. STRICKLAND: Let us redouble our efforts to pray the Saint Michael
the Archangel prayer because “all the evil spirits prowling about the
world seeking the ruin of souls” are redoubling theirs.
MARK MALLET BLOG: Church on a Precipice- Part II
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Values of life and family in catastrophic decline in Mexico
DIOCESE OF MADISON CATHOLIC HERALD: The Church’s ‘ultimate trial’ by Bishop Donald J. Hying
An intriguing paragraph in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I have often pondered, is #675:
“The Church’s ultimate trial. Before Christ’s second coming, the Church
must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many
believers. The persecution which accompanies her pilgrimage on earth
will unveil ‘the mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious
deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the
price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is
that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies
himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.”
Very few people sin because they want to make themselves miserable and endanger the salvation of their soul.
Evil usually comes to us, disguised
as an angel of light, promising us happiness and fulfillment if we
simply surrender to our temptations towards the seven deadly sins,
whether it be pride, avarice, anger, lust, sloth, envy, or gluttony.
Once we have fallen for the
treachery of sin, it rips off its deceptive mask and reveals both its
moral ugliness and its radical inability to ever fulfill its false
promises of joy.
Because of humanity’s fundamental
enslavement to sin and its tragic consequence of death, Jesus Christ
came to rescue us and restore our original identity as children of the
Father, freed and forgiven, through the power of His death and
resurrection.
Forgiveness and redemption As the
essential “sacrament” of Christ’s presence and mission in the world
until the end of time, the Catholic Church both teaches the divine
revelation given to us through the Scriptures and the Tradition and
offers the merciful reconciliation won for us in Christ, so that we can
be freed from the grasp of sin and death.
In other words, the Church both
convicts us of our sin, getting us in touch with our profound need of
Christ and His salvation, and then offers the only solution to our lost
and broken state: Forgiveness and redemption in the Lord through faith
and the grace of the Sacraments.
A bad fruit of the enduring
rebellion against God and His truth, brewing in the West for a very
long time but now reaching fever pitch in the wake of the sexual
revolution, is the fundamental denial of moral absolutes and natural
law.
Many influential voices in our
society question the given reality of human nature, the sacredness of
life in the womb, the meaning and purpose of sexuality, the definition
of marriage, and even the identity of man and woman.
We have arrived at a point of such
intellectual and moral confusion that myriads of intelligent and
educated people deny the basic facts of our biology and humanity, but,
as G.K. Chesterton reminds us, asserting that the sky is green does not
make it so.
Reaffirming the truth This desire
to redefine moral reality has now found a voice within the Church
Herself, as some individuals, certainly theologians, but even some
bishops and priests, advocate for fundamental shifts in Catholic
teaching regarding the acceptance of contraception, homosexual
activity, transgenderism, even including puberty blockers and surgery
for minors, and euthanasia.
While I am not suggesting that we
are in the “final trial” or that the end of the world is near (although
that always remains a possibility), could this current dynamic of
seeking to redefine Church teaching be part of what the Catechism
refers to in paragraph #675: The deceiving temptation to solve man’s
problems by denying the Truth which the Church has always taught, and
to redefine sin, in order to simply affirm people in their moral
choices?
In this confusing time when
everything seems up for critique, redefinition, and question, it is
vitally important to reaffirm the eternal and unchanging realities of
Truth.
God, the Scriptures, the beautiful
teachings of our Faith, the inestimable gift of human nature, and the
identity and mission of the Church do not change.
We can change, hopefully for the
good, as we grow in our understanding of these timeless gifts revealed
to us by God, but we do not have the power to redefine or adapt what
the Lord has given us just to conform to the cultural fashions of the
moment.
There is no faster or easier way to render the Church impotent and irrelevant than to follow the cultural zeitgeist.
Rather, we must stand courageously
and lovingly in the radiant light of the Lord, teaching the Truth given
to us as the lasting guarantor of human freedom and dignity and
compassionately accompanying those who struggle and even fail to accept
and live aspects of that Truth.
We are all sinners. Despite assertions to the contrary, one can and should be faithful and pastoral at the same time.
We can profoundly harm a brother or
sister by not offering them the fullness of Church teaching, just as we
can harm them by not loving and walking with them in their hurt, pain,
and struggle.
This fusion of truth and charity is the hallmark of Jesus’ identity and mission, and so it must be for us.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion
1. Antony said,
'Some wear out their bodies by fasting; but because they have no
discretion this only puts them further away from God.'
August 15, 2023
(Rev 11:19) And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of
his testament was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings and
voices and an earthquake and great hail. (Rev
12:1) And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve
stars.
ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II: Mary is Church's Pattern; Mary is First to Receive Glory
THE CATHOLIC THING: The Biblical roots of Mary’s Assumption
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The fascinating history of the Feast of Mary’s Assumption
UNIVERSALIS: The Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Your body is holy and glorious
In their sermons and speeches on
the feast day of the Assumption of the Mother of God, the holy fathers
and the great doctors of the church were speaking of something that the
faithful already knew and accepted: all they did was to bring it out
into the open, to explain its meaning and substance in other terms.
Above all, they made it most clear that this feast commemorated not
merely the fact that the blessed Virgin Mary did not experience bodily
decay, but also her triumph over death and her heavenly glory,
following the example of her only Son, Jesus Christ.
Thus St John Damascene, who is the
greatest exponent of this tradition, compares the bodily Assumption of
the revered Mother of God with her other gifts and privileges: It was
right that she who had kept her virginity unimpaired through the
process of giving birth should have kept her body without decay through
death. It was right that she who had given her Creator, as a child, a
place at her breast should be given a place in the dwelling-place of
her God. It was right that the bride espoused by the Father should
dwell in the heavenly bridal chamber. It was right that she who had
gazed on her Son on the cross, her heart pierced at that moment by the
sword of sorrow that she had escaped at his birth, should now gaze on
him seated with his Father. It was right that the Mother of God should
possess what belongs to her Son and be honoured by every creature as
God’s Mother and handmaid.
St Germanus of Constantinople
considered the preservation from decay of the body of the Mother of
God, the Virgin Mary, and its elevation to heaven as being not only
appropriate to her Motherhood but also to the peculiar sanctity of its
virgin state: It is written, that you appear in beauty, and your
virginal body is altogether holy, altogether chaste, altogether the
dwelling-place of God; from which it follows that it is not in its
nature to decay into dust, but that it is transformed, being human,
into a glorious and incorruptible life, the same body, living and
glorious, unharmed, sharing in perfect life.
Another very ancient author
asserts: Being the most glorious Mother of Christ our saviour and our
God, the giver of life and immortality, she is given life by him and
shares bodily incorruptibility for all eternity with him who raised her
from the grave and drew her up to him in a way that only he can
understand.
All that the holy fathers say
refers ultimately to Scripture as a foundation, which gives us the
vivid image of the great Mother of God as being closely attached to her
divine Son and always sharing his lot.
It is important to remember that
from the second century onwards the holy fathers have been talking of
the Virgin Mary as the new Eve for the new Adam: not equal to him, of
course, but closely joined with him in the battle against the enemy,
which ended in the triumph over sin and death that had been promised
even in Paradise. The glorious resurrection of Christ is essential to
this victory and its final prize, but the blessed Virgin’s share in
that fight must also have ended in the glorification of her body. For
as the Apostle says: When this mortal nature has put on immortality,
then the scripture will be fulfilled that says “Death is swallowed up
in victory”.
So then, the great Mother of God,
so mysteriously united to Jesus Christ from all eternity by the same
decree of predestination, immaculately conceived, an intact virgin
throughout her divine motherhood, a noble associate of our Redeemer as
he defeated sin and its consequences, received, as it were, the final
crowning privilege of being preserved from the corruption of the grave
and, following her Son in his victory over death, was brought, body and
soul, to the highest glory of heaven, to shine as Queen at the right
hand of that same Son, the immortal King of Ages.
ST. ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI:
The end of the life of Mary having now arrived, there was heard, as St.
Jerome relates, in the apartment where she lay, a great harmony; and
also, as it was revealed to St. Bridget, a great brightness was seen.
By this harmony and unusual splendor the holy Apostles perceived that
Mary was then departing, at which they broke forth again in tears and
prayers, and raising their hands, with one voice exclaimed: Oh, our
mother, now thou art going to heaven, and art leaving us, give us thy
last benediction, and do not forget us in our misery. And Mary, turning
her eyes around upon them all, as if bidding them for the last time
farewell, said: Adieu, my children: I bless you; do not fear that I
shall forget you. And now death came, not indeed clothed with mourning
and sadness, as it comes to others, but adorned with light and joy. But
why death, why death? Rather should we say that divine love came to cut
the thread of that noble life. And as a lamp before going out, her
life, amid these last flickerings, flashed forth more brightly, and
then expired. Thus, this beautiful soul, her Son inviting her to follow
Him, wrapped in the flame of her charity, and in the midst of her
amorous sighs, breathed forth a greater sigh of love, expired and died;
and thus that great soul, that beautiful dove of our Lord, was released
from the bonds of this life, and entered into the glory of the blessed,
where she sits, and will sit, as queen of paradise, for all eternity.
Now Mary has left the earth, now she is in heaven. From thence this
kind mother looks down upon us, who are still in this valley of tears,
compassionates us, and promises us her support if we wish for it. Let
us pray her always that by the merits of her blessed death she may
obtain for us a happy death; and if it please God, that she may obtain
for us to die on a Saturday, which is dedicated to her honor, or on a
day of the Novena, or of the octave of some of her feasts, as she has
obtained for so many of her servants, and especially for St. Stanislas
Kostka, for whom she obtained to die on the day of her glorious
Assumption, as Father Bartoli relates in his life of the saint.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
10. A hermit
said, 'Do not judge an adulterer if you are chaste or you will break
the law of God just as much as he does. For he who said 'Do not
commit adultery' also said 'Do not judge.'
August 13, 2023
(Joh 20:21-23)
He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath
sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them;
and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they
are retained.
BISHOP OF LANSING EARL BOYEA: On the Road to Emmaus: The Sacrament of Reconciliation
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BLOG: Catholic Historical Quotes: The Sacrament of Confession
CATHOLIC INSIGHT: Rediscovering the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Saint Joseph is
our most powerful intercessor in preparing a soul for the great
sacrament of mercy. The story is set in Eastern Poland in Boryslaw, the
diocese of Lwów (Lviv), in 1930 where the spouse of the Blessed Virgin
Mary reportedly manifested himself to an assistant pastor, Father Adam
Sikora.
“One day, at the end of the
afternoon Fr. Adam was exhausted and fell asleep. All of a sudden,
someone loudly knocked on the window and woke him up crying out
insistently: ‘Please, get up immediately and visit a sick person who is
dying in the second floor apartment at 50 Sobieskiego Street (in
Lwów).”’ The priest rose, went to the porch to meet the person who
would lead him to the sick but no one was there. However, after a short
time, the same happened again. The priest went out to the porch but
nobody was found. “Maybe somebody wants to drag me out of the house at
night and kill me” he thought.
This time Fr. Adam lay down on the
bed in clerical clothing. After a while, although the doors were
locked, an old man came in, approached the bed, and grabbing the
terrified priest he yelled: ”Go to the given address because that man
is dying!”. Next the mysterious figure disappeared.
The clergyman realized that
something supernatural had happened to him and he should not oppose to
it. He hurried to the church for Viaticum and for the Anointing of the
Sick and set out to help the sick.
The doctor’s wife was standing at
the doorstep. “What brings you here at this time, Father?” she inquired
anxiously. “Neither of us has called the priest, we are both atheists”,
she added.
When the priest told the
extraordinary story of his arrival, the doctor was so moved that he
asked his wife to fetch the holy image from the next room. Fr. Adam
recognized at once in the image, the bearded, elderly man who had
forced him to come there.
Then the doctor’s voice broke with
emotion and recalled his mother leaving this earthly life. That
poignant moment she handed him the image of St. Joseph with the advice
that he should throughout his life say the prayer to Saint Joseph for a
happy death. “In spite of losing faith in God to be faithful to the
promise, I mechanically said this prayer. Now I see that St. Joseph did
not let my soul die. I want to make a confession and reconcile with
God.” said the sick doctor.
Fr. Adam thanked God for the grace of providing spiritual comfort and
the sacraments to the sick man, and left the apartment. As he was
reaching the elevator the doctor’s wife came running up and cried out
“Father, my husband is dying!”
In 1954, at the meeting of priests of the diocese of Przemysl, Fr. Adam
Sikora described this very well in his account of the events.
Whoever
confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your
sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner
are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear “man” — this is what God
has made; when you hear “sinner” — this is what man himself has made.
Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . .
. When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good
works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil
works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You
do the truth and come to the light.
—Saint Augustine, In Jo. ev. 12, 13: PL 35, 1491, quoted in CCC 1458.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
8. A brother asked Poemen, 'What am I to do, for I become weak just by
sitting in my cell?' He said, 'Despise no one, condemn no one, revile
no one: and God will give you quietness, and you will sit at peace in
your cell.'
August 10, 2023
(Luk 18:7-8) And will not God revenge
his elect who cry to him day and night? And will he have patience in
their regard? I say to you that he will quickly revenge them. But yet
the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on
earth?
MARK MALLET BLOG: Church on a Precipice
SANDRO MAGISTER: The Church and "Inclusion"
THE CATHOLIC THING: The Worsening Crisis
The worsening crisis in the Catholic Church is the product of bold,
unapologetic doctrinal infidelity spearheaded by influential churchmen
and women who calmly operate without the least sign of papal
disapproval. In fact, many of them are favored and promoted by Pope
Francis. They argue that various Catholic teachings stand in need of
improvement, remediation, and refashioning. They call for the use of
less “offensive” and more “inclusive” words. They mislabel this
attempted destruction of Catholic doctrine as nothing more than
classical “doctrinal development,” under the banner of a new, Holy
Spirit-inspired synodal style. They are trying to overthrow Church
teaching, while assuring us that they have no such intention. They
simply want, they say, to remedy “insufficiencies” in that teaching.
It feels as though we have been thrown back into the maelstrom of the
late 1960s upheaval in the Church, only this time the pope is not
rebuking the men and women promoting error, as did Paul VI, but rather
appointing those very people to influential roles where they will
single-mindedly pursue their objectives, confident that they will
receive papal support.
Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have been cordoned off from
consideration as normative, as if the papal magisterium from 1978 to
2005 has been placed in a hermetically sealed container, to be treated
as a kind of viral threat to arrival at the destination to which “the
Spirit is leading the Church today.” Outspoken and authoritative
opponents of doctrinal infidelity are absent from the upcoming Synod on
Synodality, except for Gerhard Cardinal Mueller. Further, in a
month-long meeting of around 400 delegates, the speeches will be
largely a sideshow. The synodal leadership and their chosen experts
will steer the proceedings in the desired direction and produce written
propositions that will not disappoint those who believe that Cardinal
Mueller is wrong on most things.
Dietrich von Hildebrand published The Devastated Vineyard in 1973, a
pointed analysis of the troubled state of the Church fifty years ago.
He asked, “how should we respond in the present situation when the
vineyard of the Lord is devastated?” His response is instructive: “[I]t
would be thoroughly false to say: since God allows it, it must be
according to His will, and so we have nothing to do but say, ‘Thy will
be done,’ even if this devastation breaks our heart.”
Hildebrand continued:
As St. Paul says,
God allows these evils in order to test us. But it is a deadly and
radically false notion to think that, because God allows heresies to be
readily spread, we should not fight against them but should go along
with them in a spirit of resignation. This is a false interpretation of
resignation to God’s will. The devastation of the vineyard of the Lord
should instead fill us with the deepest pain, and mobilize us for the
fight, to be fought with all legitimate means, against everything which
is evil and offensive to God, against all heresies.
And he reminds us that our time has a parallel in past Church history:
“We have to realize that our time is like the time of Arianism, and so
we have to be extremely careful lest we be poisoned ourselves without
noticing it. We must not underestimate the power of those ideas which
fill the intellectual atmosphere of the time, nor the danger of being
infected by them when we are daily breathing this atmosphere. Nor
should we underestimate the danger of getting used to the evils of the
times, and them becoming insensitive to them. . .”
Hildebrand’s salutary advice is sobering yet hopeful as we prepare
ourselves for the inevitable strife occasioned by the present crisis of
faith, soon to be on full display at the October Synodal Assembly:
But today these
[bad] trends are able to develop within the Church. We can clearly
discern them in sermons, in pastoral letters and in books by well-known
theologians. Since these bad trends encounter so little resistance
within the Church, it has become much more difficult for the simple
faithful to grasp their incompatibility with the deposit of faith. . .
.today we have to develop in ourselves a special awareness, a holy
mistrust, for we not only live in a poisoned world, but in a devastated
Church. In our present trial God requires of us this watchfulness, this
holy fear of being infected. It would be a lack of humility to think we
are in no danger of being infected. It would be a false security rooted
in pride if we were to think that we are immune. Each of us must become
aware of his frailty, and understand that special watchfulness is
required of us by God in the trial we are going through.
So we see that God expects us, in the present devastation of His
vineyard, to respond first of all by growing in faith, hope, and love;
secondly, by being especially watchful lest we be infected in any way;
thirdly, by struggling against the devastation with all the means at
our disposal; and fourthly, by not forgetting that the absolute truth
of the deposit of the Catholic Faith objectively remains untouched by
all the empty talk of certain theologians.
We must never forget that in spite of all diabolic devastation of the
vineyard of the Lord, the glory of the holy Church, the bride of
Christ, and the glory of all saints nevertheless remains untouched in
its reality, indeed it is the one true reality. What do all the
changing trends of the time really amount to? They are so much “sound
and fury, signifying nothing” when compared with the eternal truth and
the objective glory of Jesus Christ, with the holiness of the saints
which glorifies God.
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“The woman’s soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold.”
“Each woman who lives in the light of eternity can fulfill her
vocation, no matter if it is in marriage, in a religious order, or in a
worldly profession.”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
6. A brother said to Poemen, 'If I see my brother sin is it really
right not to tell anyone about it?' He said, 'When we cover our
brother's sin, God covers our sin. When we tell people about our
brother's guilt, God does the same with ours.'
August 8, 2023
(1Pe 4:8-10) But before all things
have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a
multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards another, without
murmuring, As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one
to another: as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
With regard to yesterday's "Our Lady of Haste" posting, I can testify
that my prayer to our Blessed Mother under this title was answered
within one day. Praised be Jesus!!
FR. MARK GORING: Day 1- Nine Day Post World Youth Day Retreat
CATHOLIC DAILY REFLECTIONS: Giving What You Receive
Taking the five loaves and the two
fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left
over—twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19–20
An important aspect of this miracle that is easy to miss is that Jesus
multiplied the loaves and fishes through His disciples’
instrumentality. He did this by inviting them to assist in the
distribution of the loaves and in the gathering of the fragments left
over. This reveals that God often uses us as mediators of His
superabundant graces given to others. Though God could pour forth His
mercy directly, most often He does so through others.
As you ponder this miracle, try to see yourself as one of the disciples
who was invited to distribute the bread to the people. If you were
there and were hungry and then were given bread, you would be tempted
to eat the bread yourself before giving any away. But Jesus gave the
bread to His hungry disciples with the instruction to first give it to
others.
Sometimes, when God calls us to give His mercy to others, we become
selfish. It’s easy to think that we must first take care of ourselves
and our own needs. We erroneously believe that we can only offer mercy
to others after our needs are met. Imagine, for example, if upon
receiving the bread from Jesus the disciples would have decided that
they should eat of it first. Then, if there was anything extra, they
could give it to others. Had they done this, the superabundance of the
multiplication of the loaves would not have happened. In the end, the
disciples themselves received a superabundance of food—precisely
because they first gave away what they had received.
Spiritually speaking, the same is true with us. When we receive
spiritual nourishment from our Lord, our first thought must be to give
it away. We must first see all that we receive from God as an
opportunity to bestow those blessings upon others. This is the nature
of grace. For example, if we are given a sense of peace or joy within
our hearts, we must realize that this peace or joy we receive is a gift
that must be immediately offered to others. If we are given a spiritual
insight into the Scriptures, this is given to us first and foremost to
share with others. Every gift we receive from God must be understood as
a gift given to us so that we can immediately share it with others. The
good news is that when we seek to give away that which we have
received, more is given to us and, in the end, we will be far richer.
Reflect, today, upon the action of the disciples receiving this food
from our Lord and immediately giving it away. See yourself in this
miracle, and see the bread as a symbol of every grace you receive from
God. What have you received that God wants you to distribute to others?
Are there graces you have received that you selfishly try to hold onto?
The nature of grace is that it is given to give it to others. Seek to
do this with every spiritual gift you receive, and you will find that
the graces multiply to the point that you receive more than you could
ever imagine.
Most generous Lord, You pour forth Your grace and mercy in
superabundance. As I receive all that You bestow, please fill my heart
with generosity so that I will never hesitate to offer Your mercy to
others. Please use me as Your instrument, dear Lord, so that, through
me, You may abundantly feed others. Jesus, I trust in You.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
5. Joseph asked Poemen, 'Tell me how to become a monk.' He said,
'If you want to find rest in this life and the next, say at every
moment, "Who am I" and judge no one.'
August 7, 2023
(Luk 1:39-40)
And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste
into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary and
saluted Elizabeth.
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Popes John Paul II and Francis have echoed and amplified Our Lord’s call to be salt of the earth and light of the world.
ALETEIA: Pope in Fatima: Mary always welcomes us and comes to our aid in haste
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I thank Bishop Ornelas for his greeting, and I thank all of you for
your presence and your prayer. We have recited the Rosary, a very
beautiful and vital prayer; vital because it connects us with the lives
of Jesus and Mary. We meditated on the Joyful Mysteries, which remind
us that the Church can only be a house of joy. This Chapel of the
Apparitions is a beautiful image of the Church: welcoming and without
doors. Indeed, the Church has no doors in order that everyone may
enter. Here, in this place, we must insist that everyone can enter,
because this is the Mother’s house, and a mother’s heart is always open
to all her children, everyone, everyone, everyone, excluding no one.
We are here [as pilgrims], under Mary’s maternal gaze; we are here as
the Church, Mother Church. Pilgrimage is a particularly Marian trait,
because the first one to go on pilgrimage after the annunciation of
Jesus, was Mary. As soon as she heard that her elderly relative –
although already advanced in years – was pregnant, Mary ran out. That
is a somewhat free translation, for the Gospel says she “went with
haste”; yet we could say she ran out, ran eagerly to help, to be
present.
Mary has many titles, but we can think of another that we could add to
them: “Our Lady who runs”, every time there is a problem; whenever we
seek her aid, she does not delay, she comes to us, she hastens. She is
“Our Lady of haste”. Do you like that? Let us say it all together: Our
Lady of haste. She hastens to be near to us; she hastens because she is
our Mother. Bishop Ornelas told me that the Portuguese word [for haste]
is apressada. That is how Mary accompanies Jesus throughout his life;
and she does not draw back after the Resurrection, but accompanies the
disciples, waiting for the Holy Spirit. She also accompanies the Church
that begins to grow after Pentecost. Our Lady of haste and Our Lady who
accompanies. She always accompanies, never taking pride of place!
Mary’s gesture of welcoming is twofold: she first welcomes and then
points to Jesus. Mary does nothing in her life except point to Jesus:
“Do whatever he tells you”; follow Jesus.
These are the two gestures of Mary, let us reflect on them well. She
welcomes all of us and she points to Jesus, and she does this in
something of a hurry, with haste, apressada. Our Lady of haste, who
welcomes us all and directs us to Jesus. Every time we come to Fatima,
we remember that Mary appeared here in a special way, in order that so
many unbelieving hearts would be opened to Jesus. By her presence, she
directs us to Jesus; always to Jesus. She is here among us also today.
Even though she is always among us, today we sense that Our Lady of
haste is even closer to us.
Dear friends, Jesus loves us so such that he identifies with us, and he
asks us to work together with him. Mary shows us what Jesus is asking
of us: that we journey through life and share in his work. Today, I
would like us to look at the image of Mary, and ask ourselves, “What is
Mary saying to me as Mother? What is she showing me?”. She is directing
us to Jesus; yet, sometimes, she also shows us aspects of our lives
that are not going so well, but she always directs us to Jesus.
“Mother, what is it that you wish to show me?”. Let us spend a few
moments in silence, each one of us asking in our hearts: “Mother, what
is it that you wish to show me? What is it in my life that you are
concerned about? What is there in my life that stirs your heart? What
is there in my life that interests you? Please, show me”. And her heart
directs us thus, so that Jesus will come. And just as she points us to
Jesus, she points out to Jesus each of our hearts.
Dear brothers and sisters, today let us sense the presence of Mary our
Mother, the Mother who will always say, “do whatever Jesus tells you”.
She shows Jesus to us. Yet, she is also the Mother who says to Jesus:
“do what these are asking of you”. This is Mary. That is our Mother,
Our Lady who hastens to be close to us. May she intercede for us all.
Amen!
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
4. In Scetis a brother was once found guilty. They assembled the
brothers, and sent a message to Moses telling him to come. But he
would not come. Then the presbyter sent again saying, 'Come, for
the gathering of monks is waiting for you.' Moses got up and
went. He took with him an old basket, which he filled with sand
and carried on his back. They went to meet him and said, 'What
does this mean, abba?' He said, 'My sins run out behind me and I do not
see them and I have come here today to judge another.' They
listened to him and said no more to the brother who had sinned but
forgave him.'
August 4, 2023
(Luk 12:16-21) And he spoke a
similitude to them, saying: The land of a certain rich man brought
forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: What
shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he
said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns and will build greater:
and into them will I gather all things that are grown to me and my
goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years. Take thy rest: eat, drink, make good cheer. But God
said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee.
And whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.
PETER KREEFT: Time
CATHOLIC CULTURE: The Transcendent Value of Every Person
The last homily of Fr. Mark Pilon,
who passed away on March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph. Father Pilon was
always rooted in the sufferings of Christ. In this article, he said,
“The true value of each and every soul is completely beyond human
determination, beyond any value system proper to this world, and only
the God who created us and redeemed us can determine the true measure
of our worth.”
THE SHIELD OF FAITH: Time is a Treasure. St. Alphonsus on the Value of Time.
Time is a treasure of inestimable value, because in every moment of
time we may gain an increase of grace and eternal glory. In hell the
lost souls are tormented with the thought, and bitterly lament, that
now there is no more time for them in which to rescue themselves by
repentance from eternal misery. What would they give but for one hour
of time to save themselves by an act of true sorrow from destruction!
In heaven there is no grief, but if the blessed could grieve, they
would do so for having lost so much time during life, in which they
might have acquired greater glory, and because time is now no longer
theirs.
A deceased Benedictine nun appeared
in glory to a certain person, and said that she was perfectly happy,
but that if she could desire anything, it would be to return to life,
and to suffer pains and privations in order to merit an increase of
glory. She added, that, for the glory which corresponds to a single Ave
Maria, she would be content to endure till the day of judgment the
painful illness which caused her death.
Time is a treasure which is found
only in this life; it is not found in the next, either in hell or in
heaven. The very pagans knew the value of time. Seneca said that no
price is an equivalent for it. But the saints have understood its value
still better. According to St. Bernadine of Siena, a moment of time is
of as much value as God; because in each moment a man can, by acts of
contrition or of love, acquire the grace of God and eternal glory.
I give thee thanks O God for giving
me time to bewail my sins! And to make amends by my love for the
offenses I have committed against thee.
Nothing is so precious as time; and
yet how comes it that nothing is so little valued? Men will spend hours
in jesting, or standing at a window or in the middle of the road, to
see what passes; and if you ask them what they are doing, they will
tell you they are passing away the time. O time, now so much despised!
Thou will be of all things else the most valued by such persons when
death shall have surprised them. What will they then be willing to give
for one hour of so much lost time. But time will remain no longer for
them when it is said to each of them, “Go forth, Christian soul, out of
this world.”
My brother, how do you spend your time? Why do you always defer till
tomorrow what you can do today? Remember that the time which is past is
no longer yours; the future is not under your control; you have only
the present for the performance of good works. “Why, O miserable man,”
says St. Bernard, “do you presume on the future, as if the Father had
placed time in your power?” St. Augustine asks: “How can you, who are
not sure of an hour, promise yourself tomorrow?” “If then,” says St.
Teresa, “you are not prepared for death today, tremble lest you die an
unhappy death.”
Walk whilst you have the light [John 12: 35]. The time of death is the
time of night when nothing can any longer be seen, nor anything be
accomplished. The night cometh in which no man can work [John 9:4].
Hence the holy spirit admonishes us to walk in the way of the Lord,
whilst we have the light and the day before us. Can we reflect that the
time is near approaching in which the cause of our eternal salvation is
to be decided, and still squander away time? Let us not delay, but
immediately put our accounts in order, because when we least think of
it, Jesus Christ will come to judge us. At what hour ye think not, the
Son of man will come [Luke 12:40].
On the day of judgment, Jesus Christ will demand an account of every
idle word. All the time that is not spent for God is lost time.
“Believe,” says St. Bernard, “that you have lost all the time in which
you have not thought of God.” Hence, the Holy Ghost says, “Whatsoever
thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly, for neither work nor reason
shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening” [Eccles. 9:10]. The
Venerable Sister Jane of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Order of St.
Teresa, used to say that, in the lives of the saints, there is no
tomorrow. Tomorrow is found in the lives of sinners, who always say:
hereafter, hereafter; and in this state they continue till death.
Behold, now is the acceptable time [2 Cor. 6:2]. If today you should
hear His voice, harden not your hearts [Ps. 4:8]. If God calls you
today to do good, do it; for tomorrow it may happen that for you time
will be no more, or that God will call you no more.
Hasten then, my Jesus, hasten to pardon me. And shall I delay? Shall I
delay until I am cast into that eternal prison, where with the rest of
the condemned souls, I must forever lament, saying “The summer is past,
and we are not saved [Jer. 8:20]. No my Lord, I will no longer resist
thy loving invitations. I desire never more to offend thee, but to
forever love thee. I ask two graces: give me perseverance in Thy grace,
give my Thy love; and then do with me what Thou pleasest. O Mary refuge
of sinners, in thee do I place my confidence. Most Holy Mary my mother,
obtain for me the grace always to recommend myself to God, and to ask
him for perseverance and for his holy love.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Non-Judgement
2. A brother sinned and the presbyter ordered him to out of church. But
Besasarion got up and went out with him, saying 'I too, am a sinner.'
August 2, 2023
(Mat 5:10-12) Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice'
sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they
shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against
you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very
great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before
you.
ACN REVIEW: The truth about Christian persecution in Nigeria
THE PILLAR: ‘I still see my friends in my dreams’ - Stories from Boko Haram survivors
CATHOLIC REVIEW: U.S. official calls state of religious freedom in Nigeria ‘abysmal,’ says country in ‘slow -motion genocide’
The chairman of U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, has described
religious freedom conditions in Nigeria as “abysmal.”
Speaking July 18 at a House subcommittee hearing on religious freedom,
he pointed to the country’s “blasphemy laws and armed attacks on
believers that have continued to worsen,” and noted that Africa’s most
populous nation is like “a slow-motion genocide.”
The country has maintained its rather unflattering status as a place
where it is increasingly becoming harder to live as a Christian, with
instances of crime against Christians happening every day and
kidnapping of priests seen as organized crimes.
On July 10, Father Joseph Azubuike
at St. Charles Parish in the Diocese of Abakaliki in Ebonyi state was
abducted, along with three other people, not far from his rectory. The
event occurred as he was traveling home from a pastoral engagement. The
abductees were led into a forest.
According to the diocesan vicar
general, Father Donatus O. Chukwu, the kidnappers demanded $66,000 or,
they threatened, the kidnapped priest would be killed. The abductees
were however released the following day, without the church having to
pay a dime, much to the relief of the religious community.
The chancellor of the diocese,
Father Matthew Uzoma Opoke, said it was “a thing of joy that God
answered our prayers” and brought about “the unconditional release of
his servant in a very remarkable way.”
“We are grateful to God for effecting this release. We are grateful to
all those who swung into action on hearing the ugly news of his
abduction together with three other persons,” he added in the July 11
statement published on the parish’s Facebook page.
Father Uzoma said Gov. Francis
Nwifuru of Ebonyi state played a key role in the release of the
hostages, and he thanked the governor “for his determination and
concern towards the safety of those who were abducted.” The kidnapping
of the priest is just one of many targeting the clergy and Christians
in Nigeria — not all of them have such a happy ending.
According to Father Chukwu, nearly every diocese in Nigeria has reported the kidnapping or killing of a priest.
According to a January report by
research organization SB Morgen Intelligence, not fewer than 39
Catholic priests were killed by gunmen in 2022, while 30 others were
abducted. The report also showed that 145 attacks on Catholic priests
were recorded within the same period.
Attacks on Christians have become
worse with the exponential rise in the number of armed groups in
Nigeria. A July 18 report by a leading Nigerian human rights
organization, Intersociety, indicates that over 50 armed groups — most
of them jihadist movements — have sprung up in Nigeria since 2015,
targeting Christians.
Nigeria was home to three major
jihadist armed opposition groups in May 2015, including Boko Haram,
ANSARU (Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa) and
Fulani jihadists.
According to the April 10 report by
Intersociety, more than 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria
over the last 14 years.
“What is happening in my home
country, Nigeria, breaks my heart,” Stan Chu Ilo, a research professor
of world Christianity and African studies at the Center for World
Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University in Chicago,
told OSV News.
U.S. lawmakers and religious
freedom watchdogs are calling on President Joe Biden’s administration
to send Nigeria’s newly elected leader, President Bola Tinubu, a clear
message that America takes religious freedom very seriously. They are
advocating that Nigeria be designated a “Country of Particular
Concern,” which means a nation so designated engages in severe
violations of religious freedom under the International Religious
Freedom Act. First passed by the U.S. in 1998, IRFA is centered on
promoting religious freedom as recognized in international law.
“When I visited Nigeria, we were
told that this is a tribal conflict, not a sectarian one, but the
killing of priests on holy days shows that religion and theology do
play a role,” said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., during the July 18 House
hearing.
MORE: Nigeria on the brink of collapse – Catholic bishops
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
24. A hermit said, 'When you flee from the company of other people, or
when you despise the world and worldlings, take care to do so as if it
were you who was being idiotic.'
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