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October 30, 2005
A Sigh of Relief
This was one of those things I avoided as long as possible. But now it is now longer possible and I reveal the results of this:
"While the image is an inverse of St. Therese of Lisieux's "Elevator to God," it is, nevertheless an extremely appealing image. "
On your blog...
1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to it).
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 5:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A Suggested Prayer
Speculative Catholic offers a traditional prayer for those "difficult people."
from Speculative Catholic
Would it hurt you to say it once?
O Lord God Almighty, I beseech Thee by the Precious Body and Blood of Thy divine Son Jesus, which He Himself on the night before His Passion gave as meat and drink to His beloved Apostles and bequeathed to His Holy Church to be the perpetual Sacrifice and life-giving nourishment of His faithful people, deliver the souls in purgatory, but most of all, that soul which was least devoted to this mystery of infinite love, in order that it may praise Thee therefore, together with thy Divine Son and the Holy Spirit in Thy glory for ever. Amen
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
A Request for Prayers
I don't know if I made a point about this before, but even if so, it never hurts to renew a request for prayer.
I have recently volunteered, and ultimately been accepted, to take on pro tem the duties of both the Regional Coordinator AND the Regional Formation Director. As to the latter, I feel that the requirements of the duties fall well within my skill set. As to the former, administration is not something that comes to me naturally. I will need a lot of help, both corporal and in the realm of prayer. I'd greatly appreciate it if you would remember me and more particularly my duties and responsibiities in this capacity in your prayer. I am not a particularly capable leader where the every-day issues and messy adherence to regulations is called for. Nevertheless, I know without doubt that with God's help I can do enough to keep our region moving forward.
So, please just remember my region and pray that I might be able to act for the good of the entire Carmelite community until such time as God raises up for us a capable leader.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rejoice in the Lord
Okay, so it is a sermon from a Baptist Minister and you will need to overlook a few things here and there. But in the main, this is right on target and wonderful for us today.
from a Sermon by Geoff Thomas
Rejoicing in the Lord does not mean we are not to rejoice only in the Lord and not in all of God's temporal mercies to us. We can trace them all back to the goodness of the Lord. We are told to rejoice in the wife of our youth, in food on the table and full refrigerators, in oil to anoint the face and wine to gladden the heart, in deliverance from dangers, toils and snares, in arriving home at a journey's end, in healthy newly born babies and in long life, in feasts and birthdays, in the victorious end of just wars, in recovery from illness, chemotherapy and operations, in a harvest safely gathered in, in examinations passed, and jobs obtained. When you have found a delightful present for a family member at the right price you rejoice. When you find something at last that you have searched for half the morning you rejoice. When you look through some old photograph albums, or slides, and see the children as they used to be, and all the joy of earlier times comes flooding back, you rejoice. We join with the world in rejoicing in those things. Rejoicing for us is gratitude to a living personal God who is the author of such blessings and ten thousand more.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Following the Lead of Dappled Things
A neat mapping thing. Please feel free to add yourselves. Or not.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exultet!
Or, why keep it just for Easter. We need to hear these words every day.
Let now the heavenly hosts of angels rejoice
let the living mysteries be joyfully celebrated:
and let a sacred trumpet proclaim the victory of so great a King.Posted by Steven Riddle at 12:05 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Rejoicing
Psalm 122 1:4
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
In what should we rejoice?
In all things at all times. But we must not confuse rejoicing with happiness, contentment, or any number of other earth-bound "good" reactions to things. Rejoicing can take place in the midst of deep sorrow. Rejoicing is possible in deep pain. Rejoicing is even possible in the darkest of dark nights, when we are not even certain that God is there or ever has been--St. Therese of Lisieux showed us this. When sorely tempted against the faith, she rejoiced in the temptation and chose God.
I rejoiced when they said to me,
let us go unto the house of the Lord,
Standing there O Jerusalem,
In your gates, unto the house of the Lord.Today I rejoice in all my circumstances. I rejoice that God spoke to me a word of rejoicing. I rejoice that He asked me in the midst of pervasive and terrible pain to turn my life around. I rejoice in what He told me to remove and destroy and in the direction He has laid out for continuing.
If the true and the beautiful is not present, there is no purpose to pursuing it. In accordance, I will be dramatically reducing my time on-line. And it may come to pass that I dramatically reduce time elsewhere in St. Blogs. I have gone looking for a fight, and goodness knows I've found them wide and far. It's time to go looking for the good. And I know that I will find that wide and far also.
Praise God and thank Him in all that you do. In praising Him is the source of all joy, because He comes to rest in our hearts and to carry us home.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:26 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 31, 2005
Distractions in Prayer
Distraction may be the chief complaint levied about one’s prayer life. Regarding distraction, here is something from the two leading teachers of prayer in the Carmelite tradition.
from Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century
Ed. Fr. Keith J. Egan“Contemplation and the Stream of Consciousness�
by Fr. Kiernan KavanaughWith little difficulty we can recognize the similarities between Teresa’s teaching on prayer and contemplation and John’s. Both admit to an activity on our own part, especially at the beginning, an activity of reading, thinking, and recollection. Both direct this activity to the loving knowledge of, or presence to, or relationship with Christ. In both, we find descriptions of the prayer of recollection active and passive, of quiet, and of union. Both admit that the wandering mind or imagination is an accompaniment to prayer and contemplation.
In fact, after a lifetime of distraction and pain from distraction St.Teresa finally has this advice to offer:
from “ Jesus Christ in Carmelite Prayer�
by Sr. Mary Dorgan“Taking it upon oneself to stop and suspend thought is what I mean should not be done. . . . “ She tells us that in regard to “. . . this effort to suspend the intellect . . . labor will be wasted. . . “(BL. 12.5). She warns against a kind of mental coercion to empty ourselves of thoughts in order to achieve a held absorption. St Teresa was too familiar with this experience in herself and in others, based on a too-demanding cut-down of outside stimuli, that could lead to quietism. “To be always withdrawn for corporeal things. . . is the trait of angelic spirits, not of those who live in mortal bodies. . . . How much more is it necessary not to withdraw through one’s own efforts from all our good and help with is the most sacred humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ� (IC 6.7.6).
For Teresa and for John as well, this constant babble of wayward thoughts is part and parcel of who we are. To deny it is to deny who we are. I would go further to say that this constant stream of thought defines, in a special way, who we are. More than that, this constant stream of thought forms the ostinato against which the melody of prayer plays out. That is to say, that these very real, very present concerns are a real part of prayer. When they invade, they do so out of two causes—one is that we are insufficiently focused on our goal—thus they serve as the watchdogs of prayer. The other is that they are real and present concerns that define in part where we are in our day and in our lives. To deny them is, in a way, denying access to a real and important part of ourselves to the dearest friend we have. It would be rather like chatting about the weather to our best friend just prior to the time we are going to enter the hospital to have some serious medical tests. We haven’t told our best friend and we are screening out that concern. Only it is worse because our friend already knows about these concerns because He lives within and sees them flitting about batting their wings against the cages we try to make for them.
What then to do about distractions? Accept them. Don’t welcome them, but accept them, and turn back to the conversation. Think about a conversation on your front porch on a fine spring say as your children are running on the lawn and playing. If your children are normal they are up on that porch at least as much as they are kicking a ball or playing catch or hide-and-seek. However, it is a fine day, your friend as much as you enjoys the sounds and sights and presence of the children, and when they break into the conversation, He doesn’t regard them with exasperation, but with the loving, doting look of one who has sat many a time watching them play. When the concerns of the children are finished, the matter of a moment or two, we return to the conversation.
That is the important point—we may be dragged off-course, but always return, gently, lovingly, longingly, to the conversation.
On a personal note—I have often been battered by distractions. Until recently they would completely derail my efforts at any sort of coherent conversation. And then, suddenly, as in a coup de grace, they became integrated into my prayer, they would appear and drop away and I would not worry myself about their intrusion, but, as in contemplating the mysteries of the Rosary, I would allow them to sound and then gently fall back below the surface. They continued throughout the prayer, but the prayer continued as well. No, I didn’t achieve transports of union—but then I’m not there at this point. I am still learning to talk and to listen and to offer who I am and what I am concerned about.
So my advice for those distracted in prayer—don’t focus on the distraction, focus on the person with Whom you are conversing. He knows what is playing through your brain. He knows who and what you are, and He is patient and welcoming to all of you—distraction, intentions, and conversation. Don’t worry about it. Prayer will not be perfectly quiet until it is time for it—and then the Lord will lead. Otherwise, don’t fret. Through her entire life, St. Teresa of Avila was plagued with distraction, and yet she is no less a saint for all of that.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:29 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Science Fiction Classics
Such as The Black Star Passes by J.W. Campbell, works of Andre Norton, Lester Del Rey, H. Beam Piper, and Murray Leinster.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 1, 2005
The Blessed Lady Theotokos
Rejoice for the gift of Christ Jesus that came to us through the most sacred vessel of His Mother, our hope in despair and our constant companion in prayer. O Blessed Theotokos, mother of contemplatives, pray for us who would pray with thee.
from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, ever blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify you.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rejoicing in the Lord Here and Now
We are always and everywhere to rejoice in the Lord. That means starting here and now and moving on into eternity. What better time to take the Lord up on His offer of blessings and eternal life? Of rejoicing now to echo in eternity, St. Augustine has this to say:
Excerpt from a Sermon of St. Augustine
Let joy in the Lord win and go on winning, until people take no more joy in the world. Let joy in the Lord always go on growing, and joy in the world always go on shrinking until it is reduced to nothing. I do not mean that we should not rejoice as long as we are in this world, but that even while we do find ourselves in this world, we should already be rejoicing in the Lord.
Someone may argue, “I am in the world; so obviously, if I rejoice, I rejoice where I am�. What of it? Because you are in the world, does it mean that you are not in the Lord? Listen to the same Apostle in the Acts of the Apostles, speaking to the Athenians, and saying about God and about the Lord, our Creator, In him we live, and move, and are. Since he is everywhere, there is nowhere that he is not. Is it not precisely this that he is emphasising to encourage us? The Lord is very near; do not be anxious about anything.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rejoice Despite Pain and Sorrow
It's difficult to understand rejoicing. It is particularly difficult when you consider that rejoicing can and should be part of our lives under the most difficult circumstances. St. Paul rejoices from prison. Countless martyrs rejoiced even in the midst of enormous fear of losing their lives. Rejoicing is a prayerful choice, made from the fullness of the heart and directed toward the establishment of the Kingdom here on earth. No sound is more abhorrent to Satan; no attitude more provoking; no discipline (save love) more effective in destroying His power over us and those we love.
from a Sermon by Abbot John Eudes Bamberger
St. Paul too points up joy as a fruit of turning wholeheartedly to the Lord. In his list of the fruits of the Spirit only love is mentioned before joy. In today’s second reading he exhorts the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. Earlier in this letter he had proposed to all believers to follow Christ who denied himself to fulfill his Father’s will. “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God… became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.� Obviously Paul discerns no inherent conflict between joy and self-denial, even to the point of painful suffering. On the contrary, he obviously considers that those who put into practice his teaching on living for others, on putting concern for God’s honor and service ahead of all other considerations, brings a person to a state of mind and heart that is marked by a quiet, abiding joy.
To avoid any misunderstanding Paul adds the reason for our joy: ‘Rejoice always; the Lord is near.’ He is near as our Savior, to bring us a fuller life, the only true life for it is not fated to end with death but to attain its fullness in the presence of the glory of God. On the night of our Lord’s birth the angels will announce to the shepherds “tidings of great joy for to you is born on this day a Savior, Christ the Lord.� This is the name that sums up the meaning of Jesus’ birth, life death and resurrection. He who brings life, the Savior, is near. He comes to share with us all that we are created for. To assure that we receive what he comes to give, he will teach us the ways that lead to life. More, he will strengthen us as we walk those ways, striving for that purity of life that John the Baptist called for. For our experience shows us daily that it is a great achievement to be truly upright, honest and truthful in all our dealings, fair and considerate with all whether they appreciate us or not.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 6:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A Resource for Inspiration
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In This Way, We Rejoice
A site with references to the Scriptures that instruct us to rejoice, for in the words of C.S. Lewis, "Joy is the serious business of Heaven."
When we rejoice, we rejoice in the Lord. When we rejoice, we make present for those who do not already see it, the Kingdom of heaven. Our rejoicing is our evangelism. For joy makes Christianity real to those who suffer. It makes Christianity and the promises of Christ real to those of us in the world.
Let all the world rejoice because of the Savior who gives each one life.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Love's Last Letter
If I could wish for one thing, I would wish that under similar circumstances, I would have the strength to write such a letter as the one referenced above. Reminiscent of St. Thomas More's great final letters and admonitions, this is the work of Christopher Love, convicted and executed for opposition to Cromwell's government. An excerpt follows.
from Christopher Love's Last Letter to His Wife
11. Rejoice in my joy. To mourn for me inordinately argues, that you either envy or suspect my happiness. The joy of the Lord is my strength; Oh! Let it be yours also! Dear wife, farewell: I will call thee wife no more: I shall see thy face no more: yet I am not much troubled, for now I am going to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, to whom I shall be eternally married.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Joy for the Day
A couple of favorite verses to get the day started:
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. --Nehemiah 8:10, KJV
And, from the prophet who brought you Lamentations and weeping:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 RSV
All our joy is in the Lord here and now in the eternal present. When we lift ourselves beyond the mere passage of time and join Him, however briefly, then we experience joy.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Perfect Peace Brings Forth Joy
And who, you may ask, has perfect peace?
Ah, there is an answer:
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
Perfect peace blossoms forth from trusting God. From love blossoms trust; from trust unfolds peace; from peace flows joy; and on joy the Kingdom of God is built. We make it real when we love, trust, and rejoice. We emerge from the tomb with Lazarus and put on real life when we learn to rejoice.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
An End to Anger?
Tom has been posting a beautiful series of posts on anger. An excerpt of one of the most recent appears below:
from Disputations
We are, of course, obliged to pray for our enemies, an obligation that would seem to extend to those who aren't our enemies so much as people we flat don't like. It is, I find, a very liberating experience -- animosity and anger being what we're liberated from -- to simply pray that God give them the graces they need to fulfill God's will for them, without reminding God what His will for them is. That is, to pray, "Fill his heart with Your love," without adding, "so that he'll finally stop being such an idjit."
Haloscan appeared to have problems communicating with my browser this morning. I had left the message that follows as a comment in the thread, but I don't know if it ever took. so I take the liberty of posting a response here.
Dear Tom,
Perhaps the best way of avoiding anger--and here I'm talking about the general disseminated anger that is so debilitating--is to cultivate a more immediate response that is not anger.
Often anger emerges from fear. We are angry because it gives us a more "proactive" approach to what we fear. People angry about the liturgy fear the loss of meaning that they perceive. People angry about this or that abuse fear the destruction such abuses may cause. Not all anger stems from fear, but much does.
We turn to the Bible and see that "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment." (1 John 4:18 KJV) Perfect love casts out fear--the same fear that can give rise to this dissipative, poisonous anger. When we look at Jesus in the temple, we can see the difference between His anger and our own. His anger is "zeal for the House of His Father." There is no touch of fear or dread. When His fear was greatest and nearly overwhelming, He poured out His love as drops of blood and was able to do His Father's will in perfect forgiveness, joy, and peace. There is no trace of anger in the passion--though He certainly had cause.
So perhaps if we cultivate this perfect love in prayer, if we spend time with Jesus in the Scriptures, if we learn to trust Him and hold Him up as our example, if, in short we learn to Love Him as perfect Love demands, then anger will become an "also-ran," a secondary recourse, a support from the framework of love--rare, zealous, and perfecting.
shalom,
Steven
I just felt it went with the theme of the day, and the theme on which I hope to rebuild much of my faith and devotion.
God bless and keep everyone who visits here today. And may He bless you especially with the blessings of His Joy, Peace, and Love. May the joy of the Lord be your strength and shield from this day forward.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Blessed Feast of All Saints
A Chain of Thoughts for All Saints Day
May you find food for thought, prayer, and meditation throughout the day in this selection of offerings from our Carmelite Saints and from others. Thanks Teresa--this post is by way of my comment to you--hoping to send many to profit from your hard work.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Ecstatic Humanity in Carmelite Prayer
I thought this passage a revelation and an illumination:
from Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century
Ed. Fr. Keith J. Egan"Contemplation and the Stream of Consciousness"
Fr. Kiernan KavanaughThe human person is created in the image and likeness of the God who goes out, an ecstatic God in eternal Filiation and Spiration, ecstatic in the missions of the Son and Holy Spirit. The human being in its inmost activity is essentially and passionately other-directed, self-losing.
The ecstatic nature of the human person is ultimately rooted in the mystery of the inwardly self-giving Trinity. As Father and Son are for each other in the unity of the Holy Spirit, the human person is always a being for, not a being established in and unto self.
In Carmelite prayer, then, the loving awareness or presence to Christ in faith, in mystery, whether active or passive, is what one seeks to sustain. This is a relationship of love, of friendship, of being for and toward the other.
I'm inclined to think the first two paragraphs have universal relevance. This is for the Christian and the Catholic at large. The third paragraph, being qualified as talking about Carmelite prayer, may seem to be slightly less universal. But while it is a particular charism of the order, I suspect that all are invited, if not necessarily expected to participate in this form of prayer.
This formless form, this waiting and being in presence, is one of the reasons that it is difficult to speak about a Carmelite "method" of prayer. I'm not sure there is a "method," except, as is described here, reaching out to take the hand of a friend and spending time with a friend.
As you read Carmelite sources, you discover means of predisposing yourself to receive and engage in this kind of prayer, but no one ever really tells you much except to spend time in the presence of the one you love. That is the key. ". . . [H]er heart or love will not be set on herself or her own satisfaction and gain, but on please God and giving Him honor and glory."(Spiritual Canticle 9:5 St. John of the Cross).
Note--There is so much good and helpful in this essay that to do it justice, I would have to quote most of it. While I know such things are hard to come by, see if your library can ILL this book. There are other essays also well worth your time. While the subject is Carmelite prayer, I think the teaching has applications for all.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Christ's Knowledge of Self
speculative catholic: Anne Rice's 'Christ the Lord'
An interesting discussion is occurring in the comments column of this review of Anne Rice's new book. If there are those who understand better what the Church teaches about Christ's knowledge and understanding of self, I'm sure your input would be helpful. If not, go and enjoy the speculation.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
From St. Ephrem the Syrian
A friend sent this to me and it really spoke, so I share it.
Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian
Who will not lament for me, who have renounced the eternal kingdom for the sake of meager pleasures, ignoring the eternal fire?
Having surrendered myself to the passions, I have destroyed the integrity of my soul and become like the unreasoning beasts.At one time I found myself rich with gifts, but now I have come to love the poverty of the passions. I have become a stranger to the virtues and departed for the distant land of corruption. I am half dead; I have only a tiny remnant of life in me.
Because I am this way by mine own free choice, I cannot even raise mine eyes to the kindhearted Lord.
Lament, O blessed and righteous ones, for me who am caught in the embrace of passions and sin.
Lament, O ascetics, for me who am a glutton and voluptuary.
Lament, O merciful and condescending ones, for me who am hardhearted and cause much grief.
Lament, O God-pleasers, for me who strives to please men (and women).
Lament, O you who have attained meekness, for me who am irritable and wrathful.
Lament, O humble ones, for me who am pompous and arrogant.
Lament, O you who have attained the nonacquisitiveness of the apostles, for me who, burdened by my love for possessions, cling to material things.
Lament, O you who have loved lamentation and hated laughter, for me who have loved laughter and hated lamentation.
Lament, you who contemplate the judgement that will come after death, for me who affirms that I remember the judgement but act to the contrary.
Pray, O saints of God, for my soul which is convulsed by all manner of passions. Inasmuch as you are able, help me, O saints of God.
For I know that if you beseech God, the Lover of mankind, all will be granted to you from the sea of His kindness. And, like our man-befriending God, so also when I, a sinner, beseech you, do not despise my supplication; for I have not the boldness to pray to Him myself because of the multitude of my sins.
Your role is is, O saints, to intercede for sinners; God's role it is to have mercy on those who despair.
O saints of God, pray to the King on behalf of the prisoner. Pray to the Pastor on behalf of the sheep. Pray to Life on behalf of the corpse, that He might lend His hand to aid me and strengthen my humble soul in its feebleness.
So appropriate for All Saints Day.
Note that even as we implore their lamentation, we encourage their joy because, "There is as much joy in heaven over the return of one sinner. . ."
Posted by Steven Riddle at 11:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
To All the Saints. . .
From Julie D. at Happy Catholic:
Jean at Catholic Fire is expressing gratitude to her favorite saints for their help on the way by listing them with a few of the traits she admires most. Great idea!Julie shares her list, and I shall share mine. I'm certain that much of it will surprise no one--but there may be a few surprises.
St Augustine--his real and arduous struggle against the sins of the flesh and his ecstatic love of God.
St. Benedict--level-headedness and clarity, as well as charity in the development of the rule for relilgious life.
St. Catherine of Siena--her determination, her courage, her hard work
Dorothy Day--her sheer grit and determination, her love for the poor, her humility
St. Frances de Sales--his brilliant writing, his pastoral personality
St. Ignatius of Loyola--his missionary zeal, his solid teaching and training in prayer
St. John of the Cross--his poetry, his gentleness, his humor, and his solid, clear teaching.
St. Katherine Drexel--her love for the poor and underprivileged, her life of total self-giving
The Martyrs of Compeigne--their faithful, true and abiding witness to the truth, their prayer for their country, their intercession in bringing about the end of the reign of terror
St. Maximilian Kolbe--his imitation of Christ, his example of love
St. (Blessed?) Nils Stensen--his perfect combination of pastoral ministry as bishop and profound exploration of science. (We have him to thank for the principle of superposition, the principle of original horizontality, his Prodromus--all of which paved the way for the scientific pursuit of paleontology; and Steno's law, or the first law of crystolography [the angles between corresponding faces of a crystal remain constant and characteristic.
St. Paul--his intellect, his will, and his sheer vision and power and his ability to make some of the most complex things simple (and some of the simplest things complex).
St. Teresa of Avila--her down-to-earth humor, her practicality, her rich spirituality.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross--her love for her people, her intellect, and her passion.
St. Teresa Margaret Redi--Her pure and simple love of God, her self-sacrificing service
St. Teresa of the Andes--her pure and abiding love and drive toward God
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta--her joy, her simplicity, her example of service
St. Therese of Lisieux--her strength, her simplicity, her deep love
St. Thomas More--his integrity, his consistency, his nobility, his love of wife and family
My, what a lot of Teresas and derivitives!Posted by Steven Riddle at 3:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 2, 2005
Love and Joy
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
(John 15:10-12)
When we set out on the road to joy, to reveling in the kingdom, what is the path? Where is it marked out for us?
Clearly, these are some simple instructions. If one obeys Jesus one is showing love. If the level of obedience rises above compliance to arrive at something that resembles enthusiasm, that is even stronger evidence of His love.
Now which commands shall we obey. Jesus boils it all down to this--"Love one another as I have loved you." This is the particular synthesis of all of his commandments that is to be the measure of obedience.
The road to Joy is love. Jesus has told us that He has spoken the command of love so that our joy may be complete. And the reality is that we are most joyful when least encased in ourselves. I think of Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem "The Windhover." Hopkins tells us:
My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!Our hearts spend much time in hiding, but it is in the small wonders of nature that we find ourselves yanked out of self and into the mystery of God. It is when we choose to emerge from self, for however brief a time, that we step into joy. And what better way to emerge from self than to love someone else.
St Therese of Lisieux (among others) taught us that love without works is dead. She wasn't the first. James asks:
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:15-16)
Love demands a response, an action, a fulfillment. It is in the response of love that we leave ourselves and begin to participate in eternity. There is where we will find joy--not in the dark interior ways, not in the eternal echo-chamber of our own minds, but in service to those around us. For when we serve them, we serve Christ. When we serve them, we love them, and thus we love Christ.
Love is the key to joy. Love is the way out of self. The path is clearly marked and yet so difficult to walk because there are other guidelines. Didn't Jesus remark that if you love those who love you, what have you accomplished? Even the worst criminals do that. The real accomplishment of love is to love those who bear you ill-will, those who despise you. If you can love and serve those who frighten you or anger you, then your service is meaningful and your love is true. If you can love those from whom you expect nothing in return, love is real.
But to give you an example of how difficult this can be, I know that I find myself grumbling inwardly if I hold open a door for someone and they walk through without acknowledgment, without a thank you. What chances I miss to rejoice in being unnoticed, being a real servant. But rather, I want the momentary, transient, fleeting reward of a thank you.
When I look at these kinds of tendencies, I begin to understand the saints who want heaped upon themselves ignominy and ridicule and disfavor when they perform charitable acts. I begin to understand that the way of love seeks completely the other. And it is in the way of love that one finds the only pathway to joy.
Later: Application:What better way to show our love on this All Soul's Day, than to pray for the release of the poor souls in purgatory. Now and throughout the month of November we can show our love in the suffrages we offer those whose imperfections have held them bound away from the beatific vision. How much better can we show love than to act out these spiritual works of mercy?
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Prayer for Help in the Day
Lord,
I praise You for Your goodness and mercy; I rejoice in Your wisdom; I trust in Your loving kindness. For You made me who I am in strength and in weakness.
My strengths You have given me for service to all, that Your name is glorified and a cause for joy.
My weaknesses You have given me that I might come to rely upon You alone and rejoice and give glory to Your name.
Lord, prosper my strengths to better serve You and bolster my weaknesses that I give Your people no scandal and that I do not languish and fall away.
All of this I ask through You with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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The End of Prayer
from Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century
Ed. Fr. Keith J. Egan"Contemplation and the Stream of Consciousness"
Fr. Kiernan KavanaughIn the seventh dwelling places of The Interior Castle, Martha and Mary join hands together. Action flows into contemplation and contemplation pours over into action. The two are not at odds, the troublesome disassociation ends, "the cavalry at the sight of the waters descended" (Spiritual Canticle 40:5). God is found present, though ever hidden, in all of life's activities and events. And the little streams of memories and plans about our past and future all flow easily into God. The spiritual marriage "is like what we have when a little stream enters the sea, there is no means of separating the two" (Interior Castle 7.2.4)
When we look at the life of St. Teresa of Avila, we can readily see that contemplation cannot help but to flow over into action. St. Teresa established at least 13 foundations throughout Spain. She ran almost every convent she lived in, and she produced a remarkable volume of spiritual guidance and letters. This spilling over into action is not always transparent. In the case of the cloistered, the action is hidden, but very real. For example, St. Thérèse desperately wanted to become a missionary nun in Vietnam. Given her health and other considerations, this was not a possibility, but it did not stop the longing. Indeed, so great was her yearning that it was recognized in elevating her to Patroness of the Missions.
But how can we love God without wanting to serve in some substantive way? How can we embrace our spouse and then say that His children mean nothing to us? It isn't possible. When we join in spiritual marriage, the welfare of all of his children becomes our overriding concern. Time and again in Carmelite writings we are encouraged to pray for all whose souls are endangered that everyone might join the banquet in Heaven.
The end of contemplation, most particularly for a lay person, is substantive action that builds or at least supports the Kingdom here on Earth. Love that does not spill over into action is mere sentiment. Love that does not honor the beloved in honoring His intent is mere illusion and blindness. Love is, above all else, hard-working, endlessly laboring to please the One who is Love.
And when we love, we join in the vast ocean of His love, still ourselves but much more in His image, and inseperable from the vast ocean of mercy that carries every child home.
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The Limits to Language
I promise not to rant. But I did want to make one small point about my own inadequacies.
"God's covenant love with Israel becomes enfleshed in Jesus whose life and teaching unfold the deep mystery of trinitarian communion. In the Gospel of John, Jesus invites his followers into an intimacy of indwelling just as Father and Son indwell each other in the Holy Spirit."
When I read sentences like these my mind whirls and my thoughts spin off into important things like when the Sponge-Bob Christmas Special is going to start to air. Phrasing like this bounces off my shield of invincible ignorance and slithers to the ground there to thrash around and distract me from other more important things. I don't know why I have this reaction, but honestly these sentences point at something but don't seem to say anything that is particularly relevant to me. It seems a gossamer fabric of high language that forms more a web than a garment. But that is my limitation, not necessarily a comment on the skill of the writer who composed the sentences above.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:49 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
A Gentle Reminder/Request
Because my map is now so far buried under the avalanche of yesterday and today, if you're of a mind to, it would be very nice for you to add your name and location to my map. If not, that's fine too--no pressure. But I wanted to make sure that everyone who wanted to had the opportunity.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 10:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 3, 2005
Living with Distractions
I know that I have tried your patience with excerpts from this single essay, but all I can say is that I have found its insights so helpful I cannot resist sharing. However, this will be the last. Once again, I cannot reccommend this book highly enough. While it is about the Carmelite tradition of prayer, its insights (it would seem) can be helpful to anyone in any walk of life interested in prayer.
from Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century
Ed. Fr. Keith J. Egan"Contemplation and the Stream of Consciousness"
Fr. Kiernan KavanaughWhat can we do then about the stream of consciousness? In a sense the response, "Welcome to planet earth" fits the reality of distraction in prayer. Rather than trying to stop the stream of consciousness during our prayer, we can influence it indirectly through love, detachment, and humility, the Christian virtues stressed by our [Carmelite] saints As the love of God grows, God will enter all the more frequently into the stream of consciousness. John teaches that the soul lives where it loves, lives through love in the object of its love (Spiritual Canticle 8.3). Through love the soul spurs itself to seek and find God everywhere, in all the creatures of the summer heat, in the winter snowflakes at our feet, in all things, all events. The impassioned lover will go out from self and become fixed on the loved object. God will go out from self and become fixed on the loved object. God begins to pervade all the pieces, large and small, of the bride-soul's consciousness. Especially does she discover Christ in her neighbor which prompts her to the services of love. In going out ot the Beloved, then, she goes out in freedom from the many entanglements of her attachments and self-interests. The effect left on her consciousness is humility, "her heart of love will not be set on herself or her own satisfaction and gain, but on pleasing God and giving him honor and glory" (Spiritual Canticle 9.5)
In short, do not do violence to prayer by trying to force those things that are so uniquely you out of the picture. Be gentle; let the distractions flow around and always gently, lovingly, return to the center. Yes, you may be distracted for a while about some particularly knotty problem, but when you become aware of it, gently turn the eyes of the soul back to Jesus. Often recommended is a prayer word, or a short prayer, some meaningful reminder to you of Jesus in your life. For example, I prefer, "My Lord and my God." (Despite appearances I have secret sympathies for the monarchists out there.)
But the important part of prayer is to continue despite the swarm of gnats we call thoughts or stream of consciousness. These gnats are who you are and where you are right here and now. They are integral to what you are as a person and God loves them as He loves the entire person. When we share those we are sharing a part of ourselves. We should not be ashamed we do not have the strength to throw them off. Think of small children. For example, my conversations with Sam follow some alien trajectory that always ends up somewhere in Sponge-Bob land or roller coasters no matter where they start. I cherish this deeply because it is so much who he is. So God is with us, cherishing us for our childlike babbling and sharing of so many unrelated things. He will enter in and organize as He sees fit, so long as we continue to approach Him in love.
The most important point is not to let distraction stop you from talking to God. If you want to, make them the topic of conversation some time. But continue to talk, continue to spend time with the Beloved. For, as in any relationship, time spent increases the bond of love and understanding and makes us more amenable to the ways of the One who is Loved.
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The Indwelling God
So, now I move on to a different essay, with different insights.
from Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century
Ed. Fr. Keith J. Egan"Transformation and Divine Union in the Carmelite Tradition"
Sr. Vilma Seelaus, O.C.D.From profound experience, mystics like Teresa and John of the Cross knew with certitude that God is personally present where we are most ourselves. In fact, the soul's center is God. . . . From the dark closet of his imprisonment, John learned that no time or place or circumstance exists in which God is not present. Event in the worst of circumstances, God is always present as abiding offer.
It should be known that God dwells secretly in all souls and is hidden in their substance, for otherwise they would not last. . . .In some souls he dwells alone, and in others he does not dwell alone. . . . He lives in some as though in his own house, commanding and ruling everything, and in others as though a stranger in a strange house, where he is not permitted to give orders or do anything.
Which begs the question, what dwelling does He find in me? And further, am I content in the place that He finds for Himself, or would I prefer it to be other? Have I shown the greatest Guest into a house in disarray, where one can hardly wind one's way through for all the years of junk and debris that have accumulated? Or have I shown Him into a place so spare and lean and short and narrow that it threatens to crush Him with each heartbeat? Regardless of the accommodation I have made Him, He lives there nevertheless. It makes me rather more inclined to get the house in order when I think of what a poor host I have been.
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November 4, 2005
Robert Hugh Benson
I belong to the Yahoo discussion group on Robert Hugh Benson. The link above will take you to a website devoted to a publisher who is reprinting much, if not all of Benson's oeuvre. Benson is a unique voice in the Catholic world--circulating during part of the same time as Chesterton and Belloc, his tone and his mode are quite different and refreshing. His books range from the science-fictional Lord of the World to the historical Come Rack, Come Rope. Go and take a look and help out these publishers if you're of a mind to. If not, or if you want a sampling first, simply Google Robert Hugh Benson and you'll discover a number of e-texts available for sampling before you buy.
A voice that deserves to be heard today and always. I begin to think that we are experience a "Catholic Renaissance" even if it is in the resurrection of work that has largely fallen from sight.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:45 AM | TrackBack
I Followed My Own Advice. . .
And look what I found! Until recently this was one of the major works I wanted to read that was not available on-line. I'll still probably buy it, but now I can carry it around in my pocket. How wonderful.
Excerpt from the preface:
from Come Rack! Come Rope!
Robert Hugh BensonVery nearly the whole of this book is sober historical fact; and by far the greater number of the personages named in it once lived and acted in the manner in which I have presented them. My hero and my heroine are fictitious; so also are the parents of my heroine, the father of my hero, one lawyer, one woman, two servants, a farmer and his wife, the landlord of an inn, and a few other entirely negligible characters. But the family of the FitzHerberts passed precisely through the fortunes which I have described; they had their confessors and their one traitor (as I have said). Mr. Anthony Babington plotted, and fell, in the manner that is related; Mary languished in Chartley under Sir Amyas Paulet; was assisted by Mr. Bourgoign; was betrayed by her secretary and Mr. Gifford, and died at Fotheringay; Mr. Garlick and Mr. Ludlam and Mr. Simpson received their vocations, passed through their adventures; were captured at Padley, and died in Derby. Father Campion (from whose speech after torture the title of the book is taken) suffered on the rack and was executed at Tyburn. Mr. Topcliffe tormented the Catholics that fell into his hands; plotted with Mr. Thomas FitzHerbert, and bargained for Padley (which he subsequently lost again) on the terms here drawn out. My Lord Shrewsbury rode about Derbyshire, directed the search for recusants and presided at their deaths; priests of all kinds came and went in disguise; Mr. Owen went about constructing hiding-holes; Mr. Bassett lived defiantly at Langleys, and dabbled a little (I am afraid) in occultism; Mr. Fenton was often to be found in Hathersage—all these things took place as nearly as I have had the power of relating them. Two localities only, I think, are disguised under their names—Booth's Edge and Matstead. Padley, or rather the chapel in which the last mass was said under the circumstances described in this book, remains, to this day, close to Grindleford Station. A Catholic pilgrimage is made there every year; and I have myself once had the honour of preaching on such an occasion, leaning against the wall of the old hall that is immediately beneath the chapel where Mr. Garlick and Mr. Ludlam said their last masses, and were captured. If the book is too sensational, it is no more sensational than life itself was to Derbyshire folk between 1579 and 1588.
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Another E-Book Offering
An Introduction to Vulgar Latin - Google Print
When I have little to say otherwise, expect I'll keep you apprised of what's happening in the e-book world. (At least to the extent that I can.)
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:12 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
More Benson-From Notre Dame
A nice selection of the nonfiction of Robert Hugh Benson
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Benson and Redeeming History
from Essays "The Death-Beds of "Bloody Mary" and "Good Queen Bess"
Robert Hugh Benson" 'BLOODY MARY,' a sour, bigoted heartless, superstitious woman, reigned five years, and failed in everything which she attemptcd. She burned in Smithfield hundreds of sincere godly persons; she went down to her grave, hated by her husband, despised by her servants, loathed her her people, and condemned by God. 'Good Queen Bess' followed her, a generous, stout-hearted strong-minded woman, characteristically English; and reigned forty-five years. Under her wise and beneficent rule her people prospered she was tolerant in religion and severe only to traitors; she went down to her grave after a reign of unparalleled magnificence and success, a virgin queen, secure in the loyalty of her subjects, loved by her friends, in favour with God and man. "
So we can imagine some modern Englishman summing up the reigns of these two half-sisters who ruled England successively in the sixteenth century -- an Englishman better acquainted with history-books than with history, and in love with ideas rather than facts.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:15 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Please Indulge Me This One Last Time
Blackmask Online : Search Results
A nice listing of the available fiction in a variety of formats. More than you'll find elsewhere.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 9:43 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack