Keep your eyes open!...






 

Lent, 2024         

(Ecc 3:1-7) All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

UPDATESNon-subscribers can access items emailed during Lent at Tribulaton Times - Google Groups.

ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: Self-denial of some kind or other is involved, as is evident, in the very notion of renewal and holy obedience. To change our hearts is to learn to love things which we do not naturally love—to unlearn the love of this world; but this involves, of course, a thwarting of our natural wishes and tastes. To be righteous and obedient implies self-command; but to possess power we must have gained it; nor can we gain it without a vigorous struggle, a persevering warfare against ourselves. The very notion of being religious implies self-denial, because by nature we do not love religion.

BISHOP ROBERT BARRON
: Let Lent Be Lent!

THE PILLAR: Bishop Varden: ‘By climbing we learn to pray’
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Lent and the Divine Life

CNA: Lent 2024: Catholic resources to help you grow in your faith

EASTER 2024 DATES

February 14 - Ash Wednesday

March 24 - Palm Sunday
March 28 - Maundy (Holy) Thursday
March 29 - Good Friday
March 31- Easter Sunday (Western Christianity - Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, Protestant Churches, etc.)
April 7-
Divine Mercy Sunday
May 5 - Orthodox Easter Sunday (Orthodox Christianity - Eastern Orthodox Churches)

LENTEN SABBATICAL

The TRIB TIMES will not be updated again this year during the Lenten season, extending to the first week after Easter.  My computer time will be limited to 30 minutes each morning and evening during Lent. I will read all emails I receive, and will answer all that I can, time permitting.  I may also occasionally email non-reformatted news articles to Trib Times subscribers that I find to be of particular interest. But barring a major event (admittedly not unlikely these days), the Trib Times web page itself will not be updated. 

I apologize to all who have recently subscribed but will keep your email information for use after my return.  God willing, the next issue of the Trib Times should be shortly after Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2024.  Please keep me in your prayers, and be assured that I will do the same.

I recommend the following links to keep up with unfolding events:

Catholic News
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/
https://www.ncregister.com/

Signs of the Times
http://www.spiritdaily.com/
https://www.lifesitenews.com/
http://www.lifenews.com/

Readings & Meditations for Lent & Holy Week
https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/
http://www.lentreflections.com/
http://dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/

Catholic Commentary
The Catholic Thing
Crisis Magazine
Aleteia

Newer subscribers may also be interested in a meditation that first appeared in the Trib Times in 2004, The Pain of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

LINK TO DONATE TO AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED:  https://aidtochurch.org/ways-to-give/make-a-donation

The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion

92. A hermit said this about evil thoughts, 'I beg you, my brothers, control your thoughts as you control your sins.'


February 8, 2024         

(1Ti 2:1-4) I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

TUCKER CARLSON VIDEO: Interview of Vladimir Putin

THE CATHOLIC ESQUIRE:
Liberalism Is Still a Sin

FIRST THINGS ARCHIVES
: Alexander Dugin Explained


ALEXANDER DUGIN (Via X): Tucker, Putin, and the Apocalypse

Why is Tucker Carlson’s interview considered pivotal for both the West and Russia?

Let us start with the simpler part: Russia. Here, Tucker Carlson has become a focal point for two polar opposites within Russian society: ideological patriots and elite Westernisers who nonetheless remain loyal to Putin and the Special Military Operation. For patriots, Tucker Carlson is simply ‘one of us’. He is a traditionalist, a right-wing conservative, and a staunch opponent of liberalism. This is what twenty-first-century emissaries to the Russian tsar look like.

Putin does not often interact with prominent representatives of the fundamentally conservative camp. The attention the Kremlin pays him ignites the patriot’s heart, inspiring the continuation of a conservative-traditionalist course in Russia itself. Now it is possible and necessary: Russian power has defined its ideology. We have embarked on this path and will not deviate from it. Yet, patriots are always afraid we will. No.

On the other hand, the Westernisers sighed with relief: see, not everything in the West is bad, and there are good and objective people, we told you! Let us be friends with such a West, think the Westernisers, even if the rest of the globalist liberal West does not want to be friends but only bombards us with sanctions, and with missiles and cluster bombs, killing our women, children, and the elderly. We are at war with the liberal West, so let there at least be friendship with the conservative West. Thus, Russian patriots and Russian Westernisers (increasingly more Russian and less Western) come to a consensus in the figure of Tucker Carlson.

In the West, everything is even more fundamental. Tucker Carlson is a symbolic figure. He is now the main symbol of the America that hates Biden, liberals, and globalists and is preparing to vote for Trump. Trump, Carlson, and Musk, plus Texas Governor Abbott, are the faces of the looming American Revolution, this time a Conservative Revolution. To this already powerful resource, Russia connects. No, it is not about Putin supporting Trump, which could easily be dismissed in the context of war with the United States. Carlson’s visit is about something else. Biden and his maniacs have effectively attacked a great nuclear power through the hands of Kiev’s unleashed terrorists, and humanity is on the verge of destruction. Nothing more, nothing less.

The globalist media continue to spin a Marvel series for infants, where Spider-Man Zelensky magically wins with superpowers and magical pigs against the Kremlin’s ‘Dr. Evil’. However, this is just a cheap, silly series. In reality, everything is heading towards the use of nuclear weapons and possibly the destruction of humanity. Tucker Carlson conducts a reality check: does the West understand what it is doing, pushing the world towards the apocalypse? There is a real Putin and a real Russia, not these staged characters and settings from Marvel. Look what the globalists have done and how close we are to it!

It is not about the content of the interview with Putin. It is the fact that a person like Tucker Carlson is visiting a country like Russia to meet a political figure like Putin at such a critical time. Tucker Carlson’s trip to Moscow might be the last chance to stop the disappearance of humanity. The gigantic billion-strong attention to this pivotal interview from humanity itself, as well as the frenzied, inhuman rage of Biden, the globalists, and the world’s citizens intoxicated with decay, testify to humanity’s awareness of the seriousness of the situation.

The world can only be saved by stopping now. For that, America must choose Trump. And Tucker Carlson. And Elon Musk. And Abbott. Then we get a chance to pause on the brink of the abyss. Compared to this, everything else is secondary. Liberalism and its agenda have led humanity to a dead end. Now the choice is this: either liberals or humanity. Tucker Carlson chooses humanity, which is why he came to Moscow to meet Putin. The whole world understood why he came and how important it is.

The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion

90. A hermit said, 'Do not give to or receive anything from worldly people. Take no notice of women. Do not remain long in the company of a boy.'


February 6, 2024         

(Joh 14:27) Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid.


FATHER CELCUS HOMILY: Everyone Is Looking For You #TGBTG

ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: True Peace

1. Everybody desires peace, but very few people possess it. A good many profound and beautiful definitions have been attempted. Cicero called it "tranquilla libertas," which one might translate as "undisturbed freedom." His general idea was that there can be no peace without liberty. St. Augustine defined it as "hominum ordinata concordia" (De. Civ. Dei, XIX, 13) or "ordered agreement among men." St. Thomas followed on the same lines when he said that peace was "tranquillitas ordinis" (Summa, II-II, q. 29, a. 1 ad. 1) or "tranquillity of order." There are three necessary elements in peace. They are order, harmony, and liberty. Right order is the most important. Everything in us must be in its proper place. As we have shown in the preceding meditation, our lower faculties must be entirely subordinate to right reason, and this must be completely subject to the law of God.

Every act of rebellion against this proper order creates confusion in our nature and makes peace impossible. Furthermore, there must be harmony and agreement. This means that our minds must voluntarily accept and embrace this just order, and not merely endure it with reluctance. As St. Thomas says, peace is an act of charity; it comes indirectly from justice and directly from charity. (Summa, II-II, q. 29; a. 1, ad. 3) We have perfect peace when this just order holds sway within us, provided that we are not enduring it as if it were a yoke, but lovingly accepting it under the inspiration of divine charity. This is that genuine peace which gives us the liberty of the sons of God, that freedom from evil with which Christ has set us free. (Cf. Gal. 4:31; 2 Cor. 3:17) True peace flourishes in an atmosphere of goodness and perishes when it encounters evil. Whether it is in the field of social relations or in the spiritual life, peace without liberty is not peace at all, but slavery and death.

2. When He came into the world, Jesus proclaimed peace. The Angels hovering over His humble manger sang songs of glory to God on high and of peace to men of good will on earth. During His earthly pilgrimage He often spoke of peace. When He forgave sinners their faults, He said to each of them: “Go in peace,” and “sin no more.” (Luke 7:50; 8:48; John 8:11) When He was leaving this earth He bequeathed His peace to His Apostles as if it were a sacred heirloom: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. (John 14:27) We can see from these words that the peace of Jesus is not the same as worldly peace. The Church in its liturgy implores from God that peace which the world cannot give. When the world speaks of peace, it means normally the external, public peace which flows from respect for the law and for the established regime. This is peace; there is no doubt about that. It is necessary and is a gift from God. But it is not enough. We need the inner peace of soul of which we have already spoken, for it is the only true and solid foundation for external peace. Without this peace of soul, external peace is uncertain and fleeting. We have said that true peace is based on three things: Right order, harmony, and liberty. But in order to obtain full and perfect peace still one more thing is necessary; complete and loving abandonment to the will of God. The beginning of real peace and holiness lies in doing the will of God in every detail. The perfection of peace and holiness is to do the will of God in everything purely from love for Him. Dante expresses this profound idea when he describes the peace of the blessed in Heaven, now unshakable in their joyful compliance with the divine will.

"E la sua volontate é nostra pace:
Ella é quel mare, al qual tutto si move ciò ch' ella crea e che natura face."
(Paradiso, III, 85-87)
"His will is our repose:
He is the ocean into which everything flows Which He has created in the universe."

3. This absolute and loving abandonment to the will of God in all things brings complete inner peace, but it does not exclude conflict. Interior peace is the result of the practice of virtue and therefore of the struggle against evil. When Our Lord had repeated several times that He had given us His peace, He said also: “Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace.” (Mt. 10:34) These apparently contradictory words of Our Lord are explained by the fact that the peace of Jesus does not consist in inactivity, but demands action and strife and the conquest of evil. It is a militant peace which Our Lord desires us to possess. Only when we have controlled our passions, when we have made our wills entirely subject to the will of God and have renounced ourselves so that the justice and charity of Jesus Christ can triumph in us, only then shall we reach those serene heights where storms from below cannot come near us and the peace of God reigns supreme.

We find examples of this true and perfect peace among the Saints, Martyrs and Apostles. We read of the Apostles that “they departed... rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.” (Acts 5:41) This is an example of that genuine peace which is the result of victory in the combat against evil and of complete and loving submission to the will of God.

DYNAMIC CATHOLIC: God is inviting you to trust him today! No matter what you're facing, bring it to him, and experience peace.

The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion

89. A hermit said, 'We are not condemned if bad thoughts enter our minds, but only if we use them badly. Because of our thoughts we may suffer shipwreck, but because of our thoughts we may also earn a crown.'


February 2, 2024         

(Luk 2:22-24) And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons:

CATHOLIC HERALD: Celebrating the Presentation of the Lord

SIMPLY CATHOLIC
: The Feast of the Presentation

According to the Church’s liturgical calendar, the feast held on Feb. 2 each year is in honor of the Presentation of the Lord. Some Catholics recall this day as the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary because such was the feast day named until the 1969 changes in the Church’s calendar.

In fact, according to Luke’s Gospel, the presentation of Jesus and the purification of the Blessed Mother took place in the Temple on the same day, and both are remembered during Mass on Feb. 2. Also, in several countries, Candlemas is simultaneously celebrated on this day and involves a candlelight procession that was popularized in the Middle Ages. Until the Second Vatican Council the feasts on Feb. 2 ended the Christmas season. Today, the season ends in January on the feast of the Baptism of our Lord.

As early as the fourth century Christians commemorated the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, but, at the time, there was no feast name attached. In seventh-century Rome, the Church named the celebration the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mother Mary, and it remained that way for nearly 1,300 years. In the reforms after Vatican II, the feast was given a stronger focus on Jesus (by stressing the Presentation of Jesus), but clearly the events of purification and presentation that took place when Jesus was 40 days old (see Lk 2:22-39) are tied together and thus commemorated together.

EWTN: What Is Candlemas? The Beautiful Biblical Celebration Explained

CATHOLIC ANSWERS: The Tradition of Candlemas


UNIVERSALIS
: From a sermon by Saint Sophronius, bishop

Let us receive the light whose brilliance is eternal

In honour of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light.

Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendour of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.

The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet him.

The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all together to meet our God.

The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this light. Let all of us share in its splendour, and be so filled with it that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendour.

Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our old state of sinfulness.

By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms, we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every year we keep a feast in his honour.

The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Discretion

87. A hermit said, "If a man has words but no works, he is like a tree with leaves but no fruit. Just as a tree laden with fruit is also leafy, the man of good works will also have good words.'
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Jubilee 2000: Bringing the World to Jesus

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