Around St. Blog's: November 2005 Archives
Blog-by-the-Sea has moved to other shores. Please stop by and welcome Ms. Polk to her new digs.
Do yourself a favor and head over to read this wonderful reflection and the comments that accompany it. They blessed me for the last two days. Thanks Tom.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
