Keep
your eyes open!...
June 28, 2019
(Luk 15:4-6)
What
man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of
them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that
which was lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, lay it
upon his shoulders, rejoicing? And coming home, call together his
friends and neighbours, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have
found my sheep that was lost?
POPE PIUS XII:
"Jesus has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, ‘is
quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that… love with
which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all
human beings’ without exception."
CATHOLIC HERALD: The time is ripe for a revival in devotion to the Sacred Heart by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
RHODE ISLAND CATHOLIC: The Sacred Heart: Love Divine by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin
The month of June is traditionally
dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the highest human expression of
divine love. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of
God’s mercy. (Pope Francis)
One of the great things about our
Catholic Faith is that we express our faith with very tangible signs
and symbols. We live our faith not just with our minds, but also
with our hearts. We don’t just espouse theological principles; we
freely show our emotions. And so it is with our devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, a beautiful devotion that has particular
prominence during the month of June.
As Pope Francis points out, the
Sacred Heart is the “highest expression of divine love; the ultimate
symbol of God’s mercy,” and surely that mercy and love are virtues we
need and treasure during our earthly pilgrimage.
We need to experience God’s mercy
and love in those moments of suffering and pain that we all encounter
at one time or another. In those moments we hear Jesus saying to
us tenderly: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
I am meek and humble of heart.” (Mt 11: 28-29)
We need to experience God’s mercy
and love whenever we’re exasperated by the emptiness of today’s secular
culture, when it seems that the world is spinning out of control, and
it’s become abundantly clear that human resources cannot redeem
us. Then we return to Jesus and say, as St. Peter did:
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life.” (Jn 6: 68)
We need to experience God’s mercy
and love when we admit the depths of our own sinfulness, when we
understand that our sins have offended God, who loves us so much, and
so often have hurt other people. But while gazing at the Sacred
Heart we remember how often and how eagerly Jesus extended the Father’s
forgiveness to sinners, while also encouraging them to do better.
And there we find renewed peace and hope.
What a comforting message we find in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source and sign of love divine.
Something to think about: As we
experience the mercy and love of God in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we
should try also to extend those same virtues to our neighbors.
CATHOLIC DIGEST:
The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus recalls Christ’s love
for us.
Here are five facts that you may not know about this
important feast of Our Lord.
1.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus took centuries to become a
universal celebration Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back
to the 11th century. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had
multiple visions of the Sacred Heart between 1673 and 1675.
However, it wasn’t until 90 years later in 1765, that the feast was
officially celebrated in France. In 1856, Pope Pius IX made the
feast of the Sacred Heart into a universal celebration.
2.
The first feast of the Sacred Heart was actually celebrated in 1670
Even before St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had her visions of the
Sacred Heart there was a recorded celebration of this feast.
St. Jean Eudes composed the first Office and Mass of the Sacred
Heart. The first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated on
Aug. 31, 1670 in Rennes, France.
3.
The feast takes place on the 19th day after Pentecost The feast of the
Sacred Heart is scheduled to be celebrated on the Friday after the
octave (eighth day) of the feast of Corpus Christi. Corpus
Christi is traditionally the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
However, in the United States, Corpus Christi is instead celebrated on
the following Sunday. Despite this, the feast of the Sacred Heart
still takes place 19 days after Pentecost.
4. Jesus made 12 promises to those who honor the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will comfort them in their trials.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and, above all, in death.
5. I will shed abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners will find in My Heart an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls will become fervent.
8. Fervent souls will rapidly grow in holiness and perfection.
9. I will bless every place where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. The names of those who promote this devotion will be written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise thee, in the
excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to
all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of nine
consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in
My disgrace nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Divine Heart
shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
5.
Congregations, states, and groups are consecrated to the Sacred Heart
In 1873, President Gabriel Garcia Moreno issued a petition that led to
Ecuador becoming the first country consecrated to the Sacred Heart.
MORE
Explaining the strange symbolism of the Sacred Heart
7 Ways to Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus can heal our broken hearts
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "Brief Summary on Discernment"
6. The helper and foundation of chastity is stillness.
The quenching of fleshly burning is fasting. The adversary of evil and
shameful thoughts is a contrite spirit.
June 26, 2019
(Isa
5:20) Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
for bitter.
NEWS REPORT: Doctors must not abort mentally-ill woman's baby, appeal judges rule
Doctors must not be allowed to perform an abortion on a pregnant mentally-ill woman, Court of Appeal judges have ruled.
A judge on Friday concluded that a pregnancy termination was in the woman's best interests.
Mrs Justice Lieven had analysed evidence at a hearing in the Court of
Protection, where issues relating to people who lack the mental
capacity to make decisions are considered, in London.
But three appeal judges on Monday over-ruled that decision after the woman's mother, a former midwife, mounted a challenge.
Lord Justice McCombe, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Peter Jackson
had considered the challenge at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.
They said they would give reasons for their decision at a later date.
Lawyers said they thought the circumstances of the case were unique.
MORE VIA LIFENEWS.COM: Appeals Court Overturns Judge’s Ruling Forcing Mentally Disabled Woman to Have Abortion
FIRST THINGS COMMENTARY: Murder Disguised as Care by Obianuju Ekeocha
STATEMENT: Bishop Sherrington's statement after last Friday's ruling in which UK court ordered forced abortion
"Every abortion is a tragedy. This tragedy is compounded in the
case of the recent legal decision of the Court of Protection to rule
that a mother, who is in her 20s and has a 'moderately severe' learning
disability and who wishes to keep her child at 22 weeks, must have an
abortion.
"The natural birth of her child is supported by her mother - who has
said she will care for the child - her social worker, and her legal
team.
"Forcing a woman to have an abortion against her will, and that of her
close family, infringes her human rights, not to mention the right of
her unborn child to life in a family that has committed to caring for
this child. In a free society like ours there is a delicate
balance between the rights of the individual and the powers of the
state.
"This is a sad and distressing decision for the whole family whom we
keep in our prayers. This case, for which all the information is
not available, raises serious questions about the meaning of ‘best
interests’ when a patient lacks mental capacity and is subject to the
court’s decision against her will."
EXCERPT HLI COMMENTARY: On "Development"
In his encyclical Caritas in
veritate, Pope Benedict XVI warned against this kind of poisoned
“development.” “Openness to life is at the center of true development,”
he wrote, warning that “when a society moves towards the denial or
suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary
motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good.”
“One of the most striking aspects of development in the present day is
the important question of respect for life, which cannot in any way be
detached from questions concerning the development of peoples,” he
added. Benedict XVI specifically denounces the fact that “some
parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control,
on the part of governments that often promote contraception and even go
so far as to impose abortion.”
“In economically developed countries legislation contrary to life is
very widespread, and it has already shaped moral attitudes and praxis,
contributing to the spread of an anti-birth mentality; frequent
attempts are made to export this mentality to other States as if it
were a form of cultural progress.”
RELATED: All-time high abortion rate in UK shows society has failed women, children
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "Brief Summary on Discernment"
5. Abstinence is the mother of health. The mother
of abstinence is the thought of death and firm remembrance of our Lord's
gall and vinegar.
June 23, 2019
(1Co 11:23-26) For I have received of
the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the
same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks,
broke and said: Take ye and eat: This is my body, which shall be
delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me. In like manner
also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new
testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the
commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink
the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come.
POPE FRANCIS:
“We must not get used to the Eucharist and go to Communion out of
habit: no! every time, we approach the altar to receive the
Eucharist we must truly renew our “Amen” to the Body of Christ.
When the priest says to us “the Body of Christ,” we say “Amen,” but it
must be an “Amen” that comes from the heart, with conviction.”
CATHOLICCITIZENS.ORG: The Eucharist
CATHOLIC COMPANY: The Story Behind the Feast of Corpus Christi
In 1263 a German priest, Fr.
Peter of Prague, made a pilgrimage to Rome. He stopped in
Bolsena, Italy, to celebrate Mass at the Church of St.
Christina. At the time he was having doubts about Jesus being
truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. He was affected by the
growing debate among certain theologians who, for the first time in the
history of the Church, began introducing doubts about the Body and
Blood of Christ being actually present in the consecrated bread and
wine. In response to his doubt, when he recited the prayer of
consecration as he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, blood
started seeping from the consecrated host and onto the altar and
corporal.
Fr. Peter reported this
miracle to Pope Urban IV, who at the time was nearby in Orvieto.
The pope sent delegates to investigate and ordered that host and
blood-stained corporal be brought to Orvieto. The relics were
then placed in the Cathedral of Orvieto, where they remain today.
This Eucharistic Miracle confirmed
the visions given to St. Juliana of Mont Cornillon in Belgium
(1193-1258). St. Juliana was a nun and mystic who had a
series of visions in which she was instructed by Our Lord to work to
establish a liturgical feast for the Holy Eucharist, to which she had a
great devotion.
After many years of trying, she
finally convinced the bishop, the future Pope Urban IV, to create this
special feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, where none had existed
before. Soon after her death, Pope Urban instituted Corpus
Christi for the Universal Church and celebrated it for the first time
in Orvieto in 1264, a year after the Eucharistic Miracle in Bolsena.
Inspired by the miracle, Pope Urban
commissioned a Dominican friar, St. Thomas Aquinas, to compose
the Mass and Office for the feast of Corpus Christi. Aquinas'
hymns in honor of the Holy Eucharist, Pange Lingua, Tantum Ergo, Panis
Angelicus, and O Salutaris Hostia are the beloved hymns the Church
sings on the feast of Corpus Christi as well as throughout the year
during Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
CORPUS CHRISTI ANECTDOTES:
Dominic Tang, the courageous Chinese archbishop, was imprisoned for
twenty-one years for nothing more than his loyalty to Christ and
Christ’s one, true Church. After he had spent five years of
solitary confinement in a windowless, damp cell, he was told by his
jailers that he could leave it for a few hours to do whatever he
wanted. Five years of solitary confinement and he had a couple of
hours to do what he wanted! What would it be? A hot
shower? A change of clothes? Certainly, a long walk
outside? A chance to call or write to family? What would it
be? the jailer asked him. “I would like to say Mass,”
replied Archbishop Tang. [Msgr. Timothy M. Dolan,
Priests of the Third Millennium (2000), p. 216].
The Vietnamese Jesuit, Joseph Nguyen-Cong Doan, who spent nine years in
labor camps in Vietnam, relates how he was finally able to say Mass
when a fellow priest-prisoner shared some of his own smuggled
supplies. “That night, when the other prisoners were asleep,
lying on the floor of my cell, I celebrated Mass with tears of
joy. My altar was my blanket, my prison clothes my
vestments. But I felt myself at the heart of humanity and of the
whole of creation.” (Ibid., p. 224). Today’s feast of the
Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus constantly calls us beyond ourselves
to sacrificial love for others.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "Brief Summary on Discernment"
3. Love of God is the foundation of exile. The
opposite of this is self-evident.
June 20, 2019
(Mat
16:17-18) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
MARK MALLET BLOG: Five Means to "Be Not Afraid"
REV. JOSEPH LEO IANNUZZI: Is it true that on account of its recent scandals and infiltration by the freemasons,“the Church has failed us?”
CATHOLIC CULTURE: Exit, voice, and loyalty in the Catholic Church By Phil Lawler
Different people react in different ways to the crisis in our Church.
Reflecting on that fact, I find myself thinking about a little classic
of a book that was published almost 50 years ago: Exit, Voice, & Loyalty, by Albert O. Hirschman.
At a glance you might say that Hirschman’s book has nothing to do with
Catholicism, and you’d be right. Hirschman was an economist, and in
this book he was examining how individuals express their
dissatisfaction with the firms, organizations, or institutions with
which they are affiliated. Like most good social-science studies, the
book is filled with common-sense observations that might strike the
reader as obvious—until he realizes that he hadn’t made those
observations himself.
There are, Hirschman writes, three basic ways to respond to
dissatisfaction with an institution. You can exit—that is, walk away
from the institution. You can raise your voice and work to change
whatever it is that has caused your dissatisfaction. Or you can show
your loyalty by accepting the situation without complaint. (Of course
this is only a telegraphic explanation of the book’s analysis, and in
practice your reaction to dissatisfaction will probably be some mixture
of two, or perhaps even all three, of those basic approaches.)
You will lean toward exit when you have no particular ties to the
institution. You join a social club because you enjoy playing bridge.
Over time the membership of the club changes and you find that you
can’t drum up four players for a table. So you have no reason to
continue your membership. You exit.
You will show loyalty when you have particularly strong ties to the
institution. You enlist in the Marine Corps. You aren’t happy when the
Corp begins appointing female officers. But nobody asked for your
opinion, and you’re only five years away from retirement with a full
pension. You keep your mouth shut and do your job.
You raise your voice when you see the opportunity to change the things
that bother you. You love your family, but someone in the family is
doing something that harms everyone else. You can’t leave your
family—exit is not an option—but you can’t simply accept a toxic
situation. You have a chance to change things. More than that you have
a duty to change things.
How do these three approaches apply to Catholics in the current crisis?
For believing Catholics, exit is not an option. Where else can you find
the Eucharist? Where can you find a sure understanding of the Word of
God? “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One
of God.” [Jn 6:68-69]
Generations of good and faithful lay Catholics have responded to
problems with commendable displays of loyalty, humbly accepting
direction from the clergy and the bishops, swallowing hard and
suppressing any misgivings they might have felt. But that approach has
its limitations. Loyalty becomes dysfunctional when it requires
acceptance of objectively immoral situations. You should always show
respect for your father, but if your father’s behavior is harming the
entire family, you also have responsibilities to protect your mother
and your siblings. Pure loyalty may be required of consecrated
religious, who have taken vows of obedience. But for lay Catholics,
blind loyalty—that is, acquiescence—is not a moral option.
If you, as a morally responsible actor, recognize that the current
situation in the Church is harmful to the faithful, then you have a
responsibility to work for change. Exit is not an option. And loyalty?
Well, the question is: what are you loyal to? If your loyalty is to the
Church—to the Body of Christ, the People of God—then you have no real
choice but to raise your voice.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "Brief Summary on Discernment"
2. Unwavering hope is the door to detachment. The
opposite of this is self-evident.
June 18, 2019
(Joh 14:12-13) Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do
shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I
go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER: The Dads of Saints: Two Fathers Who Raised Holy Men
ALETEIA: This family’s son was cured from cancer with the help of St. Padre Pio’s intercession
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Frank Rega: Amazing Miracles of Padre Pio
Amazing Miracles of Padre Pio - and the stories behind them. That's the
title of my newest book, which contains thirty documented stories of
miracles and wonders performed through the intercession of St. Pio of
Pietrelcina. They include examples of his bilocations, healings,
reading of souls, and conversions, as well as more esoteric tales of
people seeing him crowned with thorns, seeing Jesus when they looked at
Padre Pio, and his visits from the souls in Purgatory. Many of his
miraculous gifts do not fit into any known categories. The book is
available in both print and e-book format, click Here.
VIA A Moment with Mary: Mary gives Padre Pio a spiritual daughter
It was January 18, 1905, in Italy. Padre Pio remembers: I was in the
choir with Brother Anastasio, at about 11 o’clock pm, when I suddenly
found myself in an upper-class home where a father was dying, and at
the same time a child was born. The Most Blessed Virgin Mary appeared
and said to me:
‘I entrust this creature to you. She is like a diamond in the rough,
you will need to polish her until she shines beautifully, because one
day I want to add her to my crown.
She will seek you out, but first you will meet her in St Peter’s.” After this I found myself again in the choir.
The rest of the story is equally amazing. Giovanna Rizzani, whose birth
Padre Pio had seen on January 18, 1905, went to St Peter's Basilica in
Rome one afternoon in the year 1922, and went to confession to a
Capuchin monk she had never met and who advised her to go to San
Giovanni Rotondo. She went there and was quite surprised to recognize
that the Capuchin who had heard her confession in St Peter's was Padre
Pio himself!
The holy monk surprised her even more when he told her that he had
witnessed her birth in Udine, describing to her in detail the house
where she was born. Giovanna became a Third Order Franciscan and a
devout spiritual daughter of Padre Pio.
SAINT PADRE PIO:
"Any mental picture of your life that focuses on past sins is a lie and
thus comes from the devil.Jesus loves you and has forgiven you your
sins,so there is no room for having a downcast spirit.Whatever
persuades you otherwise is truly a waste of time.It is also something
that offends the heart of your very tender Lover.On the other hand, if
the mental picture of your life consists in what you could be,then it
comes from God."
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "Brief Summary on Discernment"
1. Firm faith is the mother of renunciation. The
opposite of this is self-evident.
June 13, 2019
(Joh
16:33) These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have
peace. In the world you shall have distress. But have confidence. I
have overcome the world.
MSGR. CHARLES POPE: The Power of Metaphor
MARK MALLET BLOG: The Divine Arrow
LIFESITENEWS.COM: Homily of Archbishop Léonard in Chartres, Pentecost Monday 2019
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, AMEN!
We all know, my brothers and
sisters, the multinationals that trade all over the world. Well, and
this is a scoop, the most impressive multinational in the world is the
Catholic Church that spreads among all nations. And we owe it to the
Holy Spirit and to St. Peter, in the reading the Acts of the Apostles
of today. Peter went to Cornelius, a pagan, a Roman soldier, and all
his entourage; he entered his house – which is forbidden for a Jew! –
and lo, at Cornelius' request, Peter evangelizes him, he speaks to him
about Jesus, true God, true man, crucified and risen. As soon as he
finished his sermon, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and all his
family … and Peter was faced with a problem. They had already received
the sacrament of confirmation, how could they be denied the water of
baptism? So Peter baptized these pagans after an extremely short
catechumenate.
It is thanks, therefore, to the
Holy Spirit, and thanks to Peter and then to Paul that the Church has
become a true multinational, no longer bound to one people but the
multinational of faith, hope and charity throughout the world. And this
is what allowed us here, Gauls, Celts, Attuatians, Nervians and Eburons
and other peoples of the time to finally enter the Catholic Church. And
this Catholic Church, we dare in the Creed to say that it is one, holy,
Catholic and apostolic. I sometimes hear people, in this day and age,
after the revelation of so many scandals that have hurt us, say, “Can
we still say that the Church is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic?”
Well, yes, it is holy, even though it is made up of sinners – the proof
of that is that we are here. It is composed of sinners.
But she is holy because the Holy
One of God, Jesus, is her head, because the Holy Spirit is her soul,
because the Most Blessed Virgin Mary is her heart, because to guide her
on the path of history she is supported by the Holy Tradition that
comes from the apostles, and she is illuminated by the Holy Scriptures,
and because at the heart of the life of the Church there is what we do
now: there is the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. And moreover,
over the centuries, the Church, from the sinners who compose it, is
capable of producing saints – and we will all have the duty to become
that sooner or later.
And to fulfill her mission, the
Church has as a source of hope and as a source of peace the words we
heard in the Gospel: these are the two most precious verses of the
whole New Testament: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that whoever believes in him may not perish but instead have eternal
life, for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world
but that the world may be saved.” They are a pure marvel.
St. Paul summarized that in his
second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 5, verse 21, when he said,
“He who had not known sin, the Holy One of God” - this is how the demon
addressed Jesus, “we know who you are, Jesus of Nazareth, you are the
Holy One of God” - well, says Paul, “he who was without sin, the Holy
of God, God identified him for us with sin, he put him in the rank of
sinners so that we sinners, can have a part in the holiness of God.” If
we realize this, if we realize why Jesus descended so low into an abyss
of loneliness, dereliction, fear, anguish, feeling abandoned by his
disciples, and even, apparently, abandoned by his Father to the point
of crying: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”; if he
descended so low, it is to reach every man and woman, however profound
be their disgrace.
Well, he who believes in this, he
who puts his faith in Jesus who descended to the bottom of the abyss,
is inhabited by an inextinguishable hope and receives the gift of peace
– but at what a price! The price paid by the one who saved us. On
Easter evening in John's Gospel, Jesus twice addresses the disciples
saying to them: “Peace be with you.” And he shows them the wounds of
his hands and the wound on his side – the price he paid, coming up from
the abyss, to give us the gift of peace.
This was the theme of your
pilgrimage: to be a missionary of peace. But there is a price, and a
price we have to think about. For it is said in John's Gospel in the
verses following the words that I just quoted: “Men have preferred
darkness to light,” and we must choose light and conform to the will,
act according to the will of the Lord upon us. And it will be a fight.
Jesus came to give us peace. He
said it explicitly on the evening of the Last Supper: “I give you
peace, I give you my peace. I do not give it as the world gives it.”
And in the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke – we hear these
somewhat surprising words: “Do you think, says Jesus, that I have come
to bring peace? No, but rather division and combat.” Well, my brothers
and sisters, missionaries of hope and missionaries of peace, there will
be a battle to fight anyway. We are currently experiencing great
political confusion in Europe. There will be a battle to be fought.
There is also a lot of confusion at
the moment in the Catholic Church on important points that affect the
indissolubility of marriage, the relationship of the Conjugal Alliance
with the Alliance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the question of
the indissolubility of marriage, the question of homosexual practices,
the question of the celibacy of priests in the Latin Church and so many
other subjects: a great confusion. And it's going in every direction.
And we must be grateful when on some of these points our current Pope,
Pope Francis, speaks clearly. And we can also continue to be inspired
by the very clear and also very merciful teaching given to us by Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, and by St. John Paul II. We will have to fight
with firmness, kindness, listening and mercy, but there will be battles
to be fought.
And Jesus warned us: in the world you will have to suffer, but trust me, I have overcome the world.
I will close with a little message.
I was very impressed to see all the families who are gathered here with
people who already have their state of life, who are married, or who
are single by choice, or who are single because of life's
circumstances. There are ordained ministers, there are consecrated
persons... But also so many young people!
So, my dear young people who are
present here, stay always very close to Jesus. That is a source of
peace, but it can also be very disturbing. He will ask a majority of
you to found a solid home one day, that is, a man and a woman and the
Lord in the middle: a beautiful “ménage à trois,” a man, a woman and
the Lord who is the deep unity of a couple. He will ask some to live
out a forced celibacy that wasn’t chosen because they never found a
soul mate in life. And he will ask these people to live their celibacy
in truth.
But he will certainly want to find,
among you young people, girls who think that Jesus is the most
beautiful, and who for the sake of his beautiful eyes will embrace one
form or another of consecrated life. Be on your guard, and be
welcoming, ladies! And among the young boys, he will want to find some
who will accept to become priests for the service of the Church. In all
the dioceses of France and Europe, starting with the diocese of
Chartres, there is a need everywhere for young people who are so
passionate about Jesus that they decide to dedicate their whole lives
to him and the people he loves.
Do not be afraid. In the world, you
will have to suffer and make demanding choices but trust, Jesus tells
us, “I have defeated the world.” Amen, alleluia!
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
88. By the ineffable providence of God, some have
received holy returns for their toiling before their labours, some during
their labours, some after labours, and some at the time of their death.
It is a question which of them was rendered more humble.
June 11, 2019
(Psa 127:3-5) Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the
reward, the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so
the children of them that have been shaken. Blessed is the man that
hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he
shall speak to his enemies in the gate.
POPE FRANCIS:
"Abortion is never the answer. Human life is sacred and inviolable and
the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes must be strongly
discouraged, because it is the expression of an inhuman eugenic
mentality, which deprives families of the possibility of welcoming,
embracing and loving their weakest children."
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: A new kind of sacrament
NEWS REPORT: Bishop bans Communion for abortion-rights supporters
VICTIMS OF ABORTION NEWSLETTER: Broken Branches Issue 131 – June/July 2019
NCR: New ‘Declaration of Truths’ Affirms Key Church Teachings
EXCERPT: The Law of God
12.A justified person has the sufficient strength with God’s grace to
carry out the objective demands of the Divine law, since all of the
commandments of God are possible for the justified. God’s grace, when it
justifies the sinner, does of its nature produce conversion from all
serious sin (see Council of Trent, sess. 6,Decree on Justification, c.
11; c. 13).
13.“The faithful are obliged to acknowledge and respect the specific
moral precepts declared and taught by the Church in the name
of God, the Creator and Lord. Love of God and of one’s neighbor cannot
be separated from the observance of the commandments of the Covenant
renewed in the blood of Jesus Christ and in the gift of the Spirit”
(John Paul II, Encyclical Veritatis Splendor, 76). According to the
teaching of the same Encyclical the opinion of those is wrong,who
“believe they can justify, as morally good, deliberate choices of kinds
of behavior contrary to the commandments of the Divine and natural law.”
Thus, “these theories cannot claim to be grounded in the Catholic
moral tradition” (ibid.).
14.All of the commandments of God are equally just and merciful. The
opinion is, therefore, wrong that says that a person is able, by
obeying a Divine prohibition - for example, the sixth commandment not to
commit adultery - to sin against God by this act of obedience, or to
morally harm himself, or to sin against another.
15.“No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit
an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the Law
of God, which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason
itself, and proclaimed by the Church” (John Paul II,
Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, 62). There are moral principles and moral
truths contained in Divine revelation and in the natural law which
include negative prohibitions that absolutely forbid certain kinds of
action, in as much as these kinds of action are always gravely unlawful
on account of their object. Hence, the opinion is wrong that says that
a good intention or a good consequence is or can ever be sufficient to
justify the commission of such kinds of action (see Council of Trent,
sess. 6 de iustificatione, c. 15; JohnPaul II, Apostolic Exhortation,
Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 17; Encyclical Veritatis Splendor,
80).
16.A woman who has conceived a child within her womb is forbidden by
natural and Divine law to kill this human life within her, by
herself or by others, whether directly or indirectly (see John Paul II,
EncyclicalEvangelium Vitae, 62).
17.Procedures which cause conception to happen outside of the womb “are
morally unacceptable,since they separate procreation from the fully
human context of the conjugal act” (John Paul II, EncyclicalEvangelium
Vitae, 14).
18.No human being may ever be morally justified to kill himself or to
cause himself to be put to death by others, even if the intention is to
escape suffering. “Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God,
since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human
person. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written
word of God, is transmitted by the Church's Tradition and taught by the
ordinary and universal Magisterium” (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium
Vitae, 65).
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
86. Our own strong desire and intention, with God's
cooperation, precede every spiritual labour, both visible and mental; for
if the first has not paved the way, the second is apt not to follow.
June 9, 2019
(Act
2:1-4) And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were
all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,
as of a mighty wind coming: and it filled the whole house where they
were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of
fire: and it sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost: and they began to speak with divers tongues, according
as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.
POPE FRANCIS:
“I encourage everyone open themselves with docility to the action of
the Holy Spirit, offering the world testimony of a variety of charisms
and the image of fraternity in communion”.
THE CATHOLIC THING: Rediscovering the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky
EXCERPT UNIVERSALIS: From the treatise "Against the Heresies" by St Irenaeus The sending of the Holy Spirit
This was why the Lord had promised
to send the Advocate: he was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like
dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread,
without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus
without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground,
which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once
like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without
this abundant rainfall from above. Through the baptism that liberates
us from change and decay we have become one in body; through the Spirit
we have become one in soul.
The Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of
knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in
turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending the Advocate from heaven
into all the world into which, according to his own words, the devil
too had been cast down like lightning.
If we are not to be scorched and
made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we
need an advocate as well. And so the Lord in his pity for man, who had
fallen into the hands of brigands, having himself bound up his wounds
and left for his care two coins bearing the royal image, entrusted him
to the Holy Spirit. Now, through the Spirit, the image and inscription
of the Father and the Son have been given to us, and it is our duty to
use the coin committed to our charge and make it yield a rich profit
for the Lord.
EXCERPT VATICANNEWS.VA: Role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and of the Church further explained
How beautiful is the thought that
the Holy Spirit lives within us! Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian
community of this fact when he asks, "Do you not know that you are
God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?" (I Corinthians
3:16). It is the Holy Spirit who develops our intimacy with God. "God
has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba!'
('Father!’)” (Gal 4:6). "God’s love has been poured into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). "No one can
say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:3).
Moreover, we know that the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray (Romans
8:26). By the power of the Spirit, we also know the Lord Jesus through
his Church.
Pentecost Sunday is the birth date
of the Church, which the Holy Spirit enlivens, enlightens, guides, and
sanctifies. The Psalm refrain for this Sunday says it so well: “Lord,
send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” We know Jesus
through the Sacramental Mysteries of the Church, and Holy Spirit is at
the heart of the Sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation
and Holy Orders are the Sacramental Mysteries through which people
receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for us to
receive Jesus in the Eucharist without the descent of the Holy Spirit
at the Epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy. Even the forgiveness of sins
comes through the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). The Holy Spirit both
confirmed the apostles in Holy Orders as priests and empowered them to
forgive sins by His power, a work which He continues today in each of
our priests.
VIA A MOMENT WITH MARY: Pentecost is also a fruit of the Blessed Virgin’s incessant prayer
During that prayer in the Upper
Room, in an attitude of deep communion with the Apostles, with some
women and with Jesus’ “brethren,” the Mother of the Lord prays for the
gift of the Spirit for herself and for the community.
It was appropriate that the first
outpouring of the Spirit upon her, which had happened in view of her
divine motherhood, should be repeated and reinforced. Indeed, at the
foot of the Cross Mary was entrusted with a new motherhood, which
concerned Jesus’ disciples. It was precisely this mission that demanded
a renewed gift of the Spirit. The Blessed Virgin therefore wanted it
for the fruitfulness of her spiritual motherhood.
While at the moment of the
Incarnation the Holy Spirit had descended upon her as a person called
to take part worthily in the great mystery, everything is now
accomplished for the sake of the Church, whose image, model and mother
Mary is called to be.
In the Church and for the Church,
mindful of Jesus’ promise, she waits for Pentecost and implores a
multiplicity of gifts for everyone, in accordance with each one's
personality and mission.
Mary’s prayer has particular
significance in the Christian community: it fosters the coming of the
Spirit, imploring his action in the hearts of the disciples and in the
world. Just as in the Incarnation the Spirit had formed the physical
body of Christ in her virginal womb, now in the Upper Room the same
Spirit comes down to give life to the Mystical Body.
Thus Pentecost is also a fruit of
the Blessed Virgin’s incessant prayer, which is accepted by the
Paraclete with special favor because it is an expression of her
motherly love for the Lord’s disciples.
In contemplating Mary’s powerful
intercession as she waits for the Holy Spirit, Christians of every age
have frequently had recourse to her intercession on the long and tiring
journey to salvation, in order to receive the gifts of the Paraclete in
greater abundance.
-Saint John Paul II General Audience of Wednesday, May 28, 1997
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
85. Some have said that demons work against demons;
but I know that they all seek our destruction.
June 7, 2019
(Rom 12:1-2) I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind,
that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable and the perfect
will of God.
MICHAEL O'BRIEN:
"The human community is never more endangered than when totalitarianism
appears to be benevolent. The new totalitarian’s idealism, his
“humanitarianism”, his public image, may all communicate to us many
good things, and thus our imagination is captured to the detriment of
real discernment. We soon find ourselves succumbing to a magnetic
attraction, and voting for leaders whose agendas mix admirable elements
and fatal flaws. We then discover that we have elevated to positions of
maximum influence men who would sacrifice human lives for the sake of
“peace” or a thriving economy or some other value. Our guilt is denied,
our sense of personal responsibility is numbed, to the degree that we
perceive the sacrificed lives as statistical abstractions and our
personal comforts as more real. By such choices we are revealed to
ourselves. Where our treasure is, there is our heart."
CATHOLIC ANSWERS: Being in, but Not of, the World
THE B.C. CATHOLIC: Our enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil by Father Vincent Hawkswell
In Acts Acts 14:21b-27, we hear that Paul and Barnabas “strengthened
the souls of the disciples” by saying, “It is through many persecutions
that we must enter the Kingdom of God.”
“Persecution” is not just something that used to happen in ancient
Rome, or is only happening today in other parts of the world. We, too,
suffer persecution, here and now, from the world, the flesh, and the
devil.
We are experiencing pressure from “the world” when we say “Everybody’s
doing it” as a reason for doing it ourselves. There is the pressure to
miss Mass on Sundays to play sports or keep our job, or to speak or act
dishonestly at work or school to keep “in” with the “right” people.
“The world” is clearly in league with “the flesh” in its temptations
against purity: to dress immodestly to be fashionable, or to commit
other sins against purity to keep our boyfriends, girlfriends, or
spouses.
And it is not exaggeration to describe as “persecution” the barrage of
pornographic pictures as we pay for our groceries, the over-exposure of
the body as we talk to our friends, the immorality intrinsic to even a
“good” movie, the dirty jokes we hear even from “nice” people.
“It can’t be that bad,” we object. “Everybody does it.”
“It does not matter how small the sins are,” one devil tells another in
C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, as long as “their cumulative effect
is to edge the man away from the light and out into the nothing. Murder
is no better than cards if cards will do the trick. Indeed, the safest
road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot,
without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
How can we avoid sin when it is all around us, when everything urges us in that direction?
First, God knows our situation. “The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” as we say in this Psalm
145. “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he
has made.”
Second, it is only “through many persecutions” that we can “enter the
kingdom of God.” In John 13, after Judas had left and Jesus knew that
now he was facing arrest, condemnation, torture, and death, he spoke
only of “glorification.”
Third, the struggle is worth it. God gives us enough time on earth to
show him that we love him above everything else; then he will take us
to himself. In his kingdom, all things will be new; the old things will
have passed away, as we hear in Rev 21. There will be no more sin,
death, mourning, crying, or pain; sin will have been conquered, and
everything will be centred on God, for all eternity.
I am not suggesting that we develop persecution complexes or see
ourselves as martyrs. That can lead to the dangerous frame of mind in
which we view any opposition from humans as approval from God. Indeed,
we should not think about ourselves at all; our attention should be
fixed on God.
However, I am suggesting that we take stock of our world to see just
how it urges us in the opposite direction. For example, most of the
public media completely ignore God and his kingdom, as if they do not
exist, and the same objection can be made to much of the Internet’s
content.
Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote,
“It is time to find again the courage of nonconformism, the capacity to
oppose many of the trends of the surrounding culture.
He wrote, “It is time that the Christian reacquire the consciousness of
belonging to a minority and of often being in opposition to what is
obvious, plausible, and natural for that mentality which the New
Testament calls – and certainly not in a positive sense – the ‘spirit
of the world.’”
It is time, he said, “to find again the courage of nonconformism, the
capacity to oppose many of the trends of the surrounding culture.”
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
84. There is a demon avarice which often apes humility;
and there is a demon of vainglory, and one of sensuality too, which both
urge to almsgiving. However, if we are clear of them both, we should not
stint our deeds of mercy wherever we are.
June 5, 2019
(Joh 15:18)
If the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated me before you.
NEWS REPORT: U.S Abortion Bans Are ‘Extremist Hate’ and ‘Torture,’ Says U.N. Commissioner
EDITORIAL RHODE ISLAND CATHOLIC: Christian persecution is ever-present, and not just a thing of the past
REVIEW GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "Rarely Reported by the Media Anymore": Persecution of Christians
OPINION: Why is media ignoring Christian persecution? by Rev. John. J. Lombardi
Some media and
others today either ignore or deplore claims of Christian persecution,
even though prominent and numerous facts mount.
Witness the recent Easter Sri Lanka
slaughter of hundreds. On Mother’s Day, a Catholic priest was killed
with six others during a mass in West Africa. The ruling Chinese
Communist party has destroyed churches and jailed evangelical
preachers. There is a near genocide of Christians in Iraq.
Vice President Mike Pence recently
gave a speech at Liberty University and warned the graduates there of
Christian persecution. And he was pilloried.
Lest you think all this is hyped, a
recent study by the Anglican Church, ordered by Britain’s Foreign
Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, found that 80 percent of religious persecution
is against Christians.
We may also recall, near and far,
present and past: Chik-fil-A boycotts. Beheadings in the Mediterranean.
Nearly 300 girls abducted and enslaved by Boko-Haram in Nigeria.
Southern Baptist worshippers killed by a racist- nationalist. The
Sudan-Darfur massacres.
Add to the above, the Christian
baker in Denver persecuted. Terrorists bombing Catholics in the
Philippines. The recent ransacking of churches in France. Tim Teebow,
football star, ridiculed for his “Christian purity,” and the Little
Sisters of the Poor in California being pushed to act against their
religion.
I recently said mass in Washington,
and a young man vibrantly decried the lack of leadership regarding our
Catholic Church abuses and cover-ups, “I want someone to get angry and
speak about this!” He is right. But where is the outrage for Christian
persecution?
There is discrimination and
persecution against Muslims and Jews, for sure, but not at the level
Christians around the world see. Both in number and proportion, no
other religion or group has been persecuted and killed like Christians.
Perhaps we neglect or reject that
fact because Christians have been dominant in the West for nearly 2,000
years, and some think it’s time for a change. And so, media
under-report Christian persecution. Basically, as Britain’s Foreign
Secretary, Mr. Hunt, said, it’s “political correctness” that silences
the outcry against Christian persecution — along with charges of
“colonialism” against Christianity.
And yet, the British Anglican
report outlined discrimination against Christians through destruction
of Christian symbols, abduction of clergy, biased education textbooks,
hate speech targeting believers, arrests and intimidation.
Further, Mr. Hunt said that most of
the persecutions today are against poor and non-white persons. Could
the media and the West now be biased against minorities, even Christian
ones?
Every month, about 345 Christians
are killed and 105 churches or Christian buildings are razed or
pillaged, according to Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute. Ten percent
of Christians worldwide experience persecution. There is the
“hard-core” kind, including physical violence against Christians,
usually overseas; and the “soft-core” kind, such as religious
discrimination and bigotry as we see more of in our country.
But acknowledging it is somehow seen as an affront to “multi-culturalism” or anti-modern.
Meanwhile, people are dying.
Where is the passionate cry of that
young man I met in Washington, that combines courage and wisdom for
Christians today, minority and otherwise?
MORE: Iraqi Christianity May Soon Be Persecuted to Its End, Archbishop Warns
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
82. It is impossible for all to become dispassionate,
but it is not impossible for all to be saved and reconciled to God.
June 4,
2019
(Num 24:9) Lying down he hath slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom
none shall dare to rouse. He that blesseth thee, shall also himself be
blessed: he that curseth thee shall be reckoned accursed.
OPINION: The Prospect of an Iran-Israel Escalation
The recent rise in military
tensions in the Persian Gulf between the US and Iran introduces a
heightened possibility that Iran will activate proxies against Israel,
or respond more fiercely to alleged Israeli airstrikes on Iranian
assets in Syria.
Currently, the Islamic Republic is
pursuing a policy based on a phased deterioration of regional
stability. Its object is to extract what Tehran perceives as a
“proportionate” price for the Trump administration’s chokehold on the
Iranian economy.
At the time of writing, this policy
has seen the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthis in Yemen launch long-range
explosive drone attacks targeting oil facilities near Riyadh, the
Iranian-orchestrated sabotage of commercial ships docked at an oil
tanker port in the UAE, and a rocket attack on the US Embassy in
Baghdad.
It has also seen reported
suspicious movements of Iranian proxy forces, Iranian missile boats,
and Quds Force activities in the region, in what appear to be
preparations for escalating the security situation if ordered to by
Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei.
So far, Iran’s message to
Washington has been that it will not give in to American demands to
renegotiate the nuclear deal or discuss any limitations to its
ballistic missile program. Iran has already announced that it will
increase its level of low enriched uranium beyond JCPOA limits – a
threat that it could break out to the nuclear weapons production stage
in future.
In addition, Iran is warning that
the closer it comes to economic crisis and resulting domestic
instability because of US sanctions, the more unstable and dangerous
the region will become for America’s Sunni allies, for their ability to
export oil, and for Israel’s security.
Israel must assume that Iran’s
plans include, in the event of further escalation, the possibility of
proxy attacks on its territory and on overseas Israeli targets. In
light of this possibility, it is worth examining some of Iran’s likely
escalation options, as well as Israeli potential countermeasures.
Some observers have assessed that
Iran’s inflammatory policy in response to US economic pressure was
visible on May 4, when the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad
(PIJ), the second-largest terror faction in Gaza, initiated a sniper
attack on IDF personnel on the Gaza border, triggering two days of
intensive fighting.
The Meir Amit Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center said that in this eighth round of violence
in the past year in Gaza, “Iran’s involvement could also be detected,
through the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In an interview to the
al-Mayadin network, the Secretary General of the organization, Ziad
al-Nakhla, stated that Islamic Jihad did not consult Iran during the
latest escalatory round, but emphasized that his group maintains
ongoing contact with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah.” The Center stated
that Iran is linked to “a combative policy in Gaza of the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad Organization, Iran’s preferred proxy, which recently
orchestrated an escalatory round in the Gaza Strip, the worst since the
2014 conflict.” Gaza’s growing instability, which was apparent months
ago, and which is also fueled by Hamas’s strategic distress and
isolation, is a central reason behind a decision by IDF Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi to prioritize this arena in terms of military
readiness.
Iran and PIJ may have an interest
in dragging Israel into a prolonged Gazan campaign, which could develop
into a ground operation. Israel will be unable to tolerate further
frequent rocket fire on its civilian home front. The defense
establishment and security cabinet will therefore need to select
response options that combine the need to respond forcefully to further
PIJ provocations with Israel’s broader strategic interests.
As it appears to have done in May,
Israel should dodge Iranian ensnarement schemes in Gaza at times that
are inconvenient for it but convenient for Tehran. It should seek to
choose its own timing for offensives, if they prove necessary.
Another trouble spot where Iran
could seek to turn up the heat on Israel is Syria, where Israel and
Iran have been fighting a lengthy shadow war. On May 18, there were
reports that Israel had conducted missile strikes on a target south of
Damascus; while in April, the Assad regime’s official media said Israel
had attacked a target in the northwestern Syrian city of Masyaf. At the
end of March, reports emerged of significant strikes targeting what
appears to be a missile production facility, in which Iranian and
pro-Iranian personnel were reportedly killed.
Israel maintains a firm policy of
preventative, low profile action against Iranian attempts to build
military attack bases, weapons production centers, and weapons transfer
stations (to Hezbollah in Lebanon) on Syrian soil.
Iran, for its part, maintains
Shiite militia forces in Syria totaling some 80,000 fighters from
around the region, including Iraqi, Afghan, and local Syrian members,
as well as contingents of Lebanese Hezbollah forces (many of whom are
now returning to Hezbollah bases in Lebanon as the Syria war winds
down).
The Islamic Republican Guards Corps
and its overseas operations unit, the Quds Force, headed by General
Qassam Soleimani, remain highly committed to turning Syria into a zone
of Iranian influence and control and a future launchpad for attacks
against Israel. As part of its wider regional deterioration options,
Iran could plan to use its assets in Syria to attack Israel, whether by
anti-tank missile fire, ballistic projectiles, or cross-border terror
cell raids.
The IDF’s Northern Command and
Military Intelligence Branch are presumably on the lookout for signs of
such activity and are preparing any necessary responses for these
contingencies. Israel’s response to such attacks will have to contain
an operational logic that decides whether to retaliate forcefully and
consider the matter closed, or counter-escalate and enter into a
rolling campaign to extract a higher price from the Iranian axis.
Iran’s primary proxy force in the
region, Hezbollah in Lebanon, represents the least likely yet most
dangerous escalation channel. Hezbollah’s mammoth arsenal of some
150,000 projectiles and well-trained terrorist army represent the
foremost military challenge to Israel, and the IDF has spent recent
years preparing and adapting itself to meet this challenge.
Any escalation from the direction
of Lebanon brings with it the risk of all-out war, which would entail a
large-scale Israeli ground and air operation. Hezbollah would likely
sustain enormous damage in the aftermath. As Tehran is likely keen to
save Hezbollah for future challenges, it is unlikely to order
provocations out of Lebanon. Hezbollah itself, still keenly aware of
the damage Lebanon incurred in the 2006 Second Lebanon War, appears
reluctant at this stage to initiate conflict and expose itself to the
IDF.
Nevertheless, the higher regional
tensions climb, the greater the chance of miscalculation and
inadvertent escalation. Israel has little choice but to prepare itself
and be on the highest alert for Iranian escalation as Iran’s economy
continues to deteriorate and the regime feels increasingly cornered.
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Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 26- "On discernment of thoughts, passions,
and virtues"
81. Just as those whose sense of smell is healthy
can tell who has hidden perfumes, so the pure soul can recognize in others
both the fragrance which he himself has obtained from God and the stench
form which he has been freed, though this is imperceptible to others.
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